How fortunate to have had memories of exquisite meals under the helm of Alain Ducasse. Real Food Traveler’s Europe Editor, Irvina Lew, has that good fortune and recounts recent and previous Ducasse dining experiences in France in Alain Ducasse Restaurant Experiences in Paris and Beyond: Way Back When and Now…

Save this article about Alain Ducasse restaurants to Pinterest to help plan your culinary adventure. Eiffel Tower/Ducasse sur Seine photo by Pierre Monetta. Others by Irvina Lew. Graphic by Real Food Traveler.

Hungry for more? Irvina tells us where to eat in Paris near popular sites.

In the world of haute cuisine, Alain Ducasse has the lofty title as the current living chef with the most Michelin stars in the world – 19 at the moment – and the only chef to have Michelin three-star restaurants in three cities. At current count, he is involved in about 34 world-wide restaurants, and I’ve delighted in dining at least a dozen times in various Ducasse-affiliated restaurants, from Hong Kong to Saint Petersburg, Russia, and in France, Monaco and the United States. What I’ve noticed is that whether his culinary ambition is to achieve gastronomy or fine-dining, serve traditionally French or Mediterranean fare, and whether the ambiance is modern or classic, each of his outlets showcase the finest ingredients, elevate service to an art-form and provide an incredibly focused attention to detail in the space, at the table and on the plate.

What’s more, guests actually feel his vision; there are always apparent efforts to attain something innovative, original and excellent. Those last factors may account for his new venture, a short-term collaboration with another talented chef, Albert Adrià, from Barcelona, who is best known for his molecular cuisine experimentations and his teamwork with his brother, Ferrán Adrià, at El Bulli. Before that legendary restaurant closed in 2011, it earned the title as #1 of the World’s Best 50 Restaurants multiple times: in 2002, 2006,2007, 2008, 2009. And, the brothers appear on the popular Netflix program, Chef’s Table Season 5 Episode 4 during which viewers see Alberto in his dual roles as pastry chef and test kitchen leader. In February 2020, just weeks before the Covid-era shut downs, I tasted some of Albert Adrià’s sophisticated tapas and phantasmagoric molecular creations at his Barcelona-based restaurant Tickets, which closed, in April 2021.

On November 9, 2021, the Double A superstars – Alain and Albert – launched ADMO, a pop-up venture at Les Ombres, atop Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, which will delight guests until it closes on March 3rd, 2022. The venture, which includes Ducasse’s executive chef Romain Meder and pastry chef Jessica Préalpato, serves meat-free, ”southern European” cuisine and features sustainably caught seafood. The seven-course tasting menu paired with wines includes three new Dom Perignon rose Champagnes and is priced at about $440 per person. Coincidentally, ADMO opened the same day I traveled home from Paris; however, I was able to dine at three Ducasse outlets during that trip: a special-occasion dinner cruise on Ducasse-sur-Seine; a sophisticated, albeit traditional, lunch at Aux Lyonnais; and, an ethereal breakfast overlooking the gardens at Château de Versailles Le Grand Contrôle, the newly launched, exclusive 14-room hotel at Versailles Palace.

Ducasse sur Seine and the Eiffel Tower. Photo by Pierre Monetta.

From the moment I stepped aboard the yacht, the Ducasse experience was like a taste of the Proustian madeleine and brought to mind former gastronomic meals by Alain Ducasse. The first was at LE LOUIS XV, within Hotel de Paris, in Monte Carlo, where my late husband, Bob, and I memorably lunched at the first hotel-based restaurant to earn three Michelin stars (1987). That Riviera-centric menu glorified local produce, before many Americans identified as vegetarian, or were even aware of farm-to-table fare; that grand menu featured fresh pea soup, artichokes, eggplant and asparagus, garden vegetables and three mushroom preparations. Bien sur, the illustrious chef prepared them with panache; he added truffles, sauce mousseline or simply, the finest Ligurian olive oil and balsamic vinegar and served them artfully. Along with local shellfish and Mediterranean loup, the lobster came from Brittany, the Turbot hailed from Normandy and the salmon was sauvage (wild). Yet, what I recall most were the exciting first-for-me experiences. A little stool on which to perch my purse was placed by my chair. Even if that idea was not unique to Ducasse, his execution was clearly extraordinary: each stool was upholstered with a one-of-a-kind, hand-stitched, needlepoint tapestry. My second memory was a long, elegant-looking cart laden with pots, brimming with live herbs; the server picked up his silver scissor and clipped whatever fresh greenery was appropriate for the dish, or requested. WOW!

As I look through my menu collection (which I found during the Covid quarantine), one was from a dinner at Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athenée, in Paris, dated 12 mai,1999, before it was awarded its third star (2001). It listed our 7-course meal plus his famed Paté en Croute and post-dessert confisseries et friandises. My eldest daughter, Alison, was with me; so was her well-traveled friend, Ellen, who, when I recently saw her for the first time in 20 years, commented: “That was the best meal of my life.” The menu cited duck foie gras sourced in Landes, where Ducasse was raised on the family farm; langoustines served with osetra caviar, Brittany lobster, filet of sole, milk-fed veal served with almonds, a cheese course and baba au rhum. The paired wines were also listed: Champagne Paul Drouet, Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, 1996 and Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru. I recall that the wait staff lined up to greet us, like West Point Cadets without swords, when we arrived and again, when we left: Bonsoir Madame to me; and, Bonsoir Mademoiselle, to each of my young guests.

By the time he opened Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in New York, the chef’s reputation was world famous; so, the New York food media pounced. They criticized the price, even though the cost was pretty much the same for an a la carte meal at any of the city’s top steak houses. Alison, an award-winning cookbook designer, described her dish best: “These scallops taste like the sea,” she remarked about a simple serving of scallops, with Osetra caviar. I still have two of the menus from the meals that I ate at ADNY. The Ducasse-signed one is dated in French: 28 mars 2000, and that may have been dinner after one of the proudest moments in my food-writing career: I interviewed Alain Ducasse, in French, at the French Consulate, a gorgeous mansion facing Central Park, on Manhattan’s upper Fifth Avenue. I scribbled on the back of the other menu: Bob 2/12/2002. Our meal was during black truffle season, because the menu has an entire truffle section, with truffle-enhanced salad, ravioli, chicken breast, striped bass, baby artichokes and sweet Maine shrimp. Still, what I recall best are the gougères: the lightest and flakiest cheese-stuffed pastry that I was ever served. (I am still trying to master the craft of making them.)

It won’t surprise you, Dear Reader, that chef Alain Ducasse, as an entrepreneurial restaurateur, creates enticing destinations for culinary travelers; only some are gastronomic but each has a unique personality whether it’s named: miX, SPOON, RIVEA or CUCINA BYBLOS, or, temporarily: ADMO. The Ducasse-Paris website lists 34 current restaurants worldwide. As a reader and food traveler, you’ll appreciate dining at any of them just as I did at these three on a recent visit to Paris.

Hungry for more? Read about the importance of Salade Nicoise in France and a recipe too.

Alain Ducasse Restaurant Experiences

Ducasse-sur-Seine: Our 2021 journey  

There’s something particularly Parisian about walking along the Seine River, after dark, when it is lighted by the Eiffel Tower. It’s romantic to stroll past a yacht with a candle-lined white carpet leading to large, lighted letters, which spell: MARRY ME. My friend, Val and I were about to embark on a 2.5-hour cruise aboard the most splendid of all the yachts docked along the quai at Port Debilly in the 16th Arrondissement. The luxe, electric – and silent – 200 passenger yacht with a custom-fit galley–where chef Pierre Marty and his 36-member brigade works – was designed by naval architect Gerard Ronzatti, and launched in 2018. We were formally greeted by a host in a Captain’s uniform, who walked us up the gang plank to the host desk, where a Maître d’ escorted us to our table.

The author, right, and friend Val, left, seated on the Ducasse Sur Seine with a view of the EIffel Tower. Photo courtesy of the kind waiter.

It was our second night in Paris and our first gastronomic dinner. We were seated in a gracious window-walled salon decorated by the fashion-design team Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancma, with doors leading to an outside deck. Our table was perfectly located, by the far window in full view of the Eiffel Tower, which sparkles on the hour, and with the best views of Les Invalides, the National Assembly and more. It was Friday night and every table full of well-dressed couples; our menu was a five-course meal, called: Nuit Étoilée (Starry Night) which includes choices for each of two starters, hot and cold, a fish and meat dish and dessert–complete with sommelier-selected wines; the amuse, water coffee and the post-dessert sweets called mignardises, are included.

While sipping that first coupe de Champagne (Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut), I couldn’t resist telling Val about sitting next to Benoît Gouez, the cellar master at Moet & Chandon and Winemaker of the Year (2013), at a gala luncheon at Moet & Chandon, in Epernay. Our first dishes looked like floral displays; one, with teeny halves of yellow and red cherry tomatoes and some kind of crispy chip; the other, a mini-herb-crusted cauliflower perched on a what looked like a beet preparation. There was a Paté en Croute, a specialty dish with layered duck livers with duck foie gras and game in puff pastry; and, Homard Blu, a blue lobster specialite; the filet of beef came with pommes frites, little golden lattice work rounds. I was also served my favorite comfort food: a bowl of creamy, uber-rich mashed potatoes topped with scallion threads. The array of desserts included a chocolate éclair, apple on sauce, lady fingers and ice cream. After all the wines – Domaine de l’Ile PORQUEROLLES 2020, vin biologique (the Porquerolles is a very underpopulated island preserve off the Mediterranean coast) and a red VOLNAY PAUX BOIS, Ségla MARGAUX 2014, (with the filet of beef) and all the desserts and post-dessert delights, we were tremendously satisfied and asked the host to call a taxi. It was quite the event!

Aux Lyonnais- Alain Ducasse – Paris

This Parisian restaurant pays homage to the bouchons in the city of Lyon, the small restaurants originally started by the Mères Lyonnaises, 18th century female cooks, who served lusty, pork-centric, fixed-price meals to the canuts (silkworkers). Here, Ducasse nods to that tradition with a female chef, Marie-Victorine Manoa, who meticulously executes his vision and with a workers-priced formule menu, hand-written on the blackboard. Aux Lyonnais is housed within a restaurant dating from 1890; its vintage Third Republic interior by Louis Majorelle showcases authentic floor and wall tiles, stair railings, large mirrors and chandeliers. Bright period posters, red leather upholstery, wood-topped tables dressed with a red and white checked cloth enhance the look; the pickle-stuffed pottery jar and the bread-in-a-cloth-bag illustrate the home-style leitmotif. We drank Garnier & Fils Chablis, 2019, from the impressive wine list, while looking at two menus; one menu is simply a cartoon-like image of a pig, with each part – from hure (head), to filet and epaule (shoulder), to queue (tail), individually priced. We ordered from the regular menu, which had a selection of Hors d’Oeuvres, Entrées (starters), Plats (main dishes), Fromage (cheese) and Desserts. We ordered two starters: Terrine de pâté en croute au cochon Mangalica, a crust-topped combination of flavored meats dish featuring a famed Hungarian pig, and les escargots francais; snails within the flakiest puff pastry presented topped with teeny flowers; and, served with a salad of Swiss chard, parsley, herbs and walnuts. A specialité of the Rhone-Alpes region, La Volaille de Bresse au vinaigre, is a dish for two featuring the famed, red-combed, blue-footed chickens raised in Bresse, outside Lyon, which have their own AOC, l’Appellation d’origine contrôlée, (AOC legally requires that the bird be born, raised and slaughtered in Bresse). First, the sliced whole breast arrived on a silver platter; next, the blue- footed, tagged, legs appeared in a big red pot, accompanied by macaroni and cheese in a black cast iron casserole. Amazing desserts ended the meal: plums roasted in eau de vie (brandy) and mousse au chocolat with Peruvian chocolate. If Aux Lyonnais had been our only fine-dining experience in Paris, we would have considered ourselves fortunate.

Poulet de Bresse at Aux Lyonnais. See the Plums Roasted in eau de vie in the Pinterest graphic, above. 

Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle

It’s only about a fifteen-mile taxi ride from Paris to Versailles, where we were transported back in time, the moment a valet in an 18th century costume greeted us at the gated entry court of the newly-opened, exclusive Airelles hotel. The 14-room/three suite uber-luxurious lodging is housed within three, historic, 17th century buildings on the Versailles Palace grounds. (They originally housed court officials to Kings Louis XIV, XV and XVI, who were important enough to have their own private housing, yet within corridor-access when they were summoned to the king’s chambers.) Architect/interior designer Christophe Tollemer transformed these buildings to a time certain: 1788, the date of the last inventory records. What guests see is the result of four years (and nearly 50 million euro) of artisanal work and high-tech, 21st century technical infrastructure (complete with an indoor pool in the Valmont spa). The gilded walls, wallpaper, mirrors, sconces and chandeliers, marble and parquet floors, fabrics and furnishings – many of them rare antiques – are all authentic to the period. So, who better than Alain Ducasse to create the fantasy? Dinner is presented with an ambiance – complete with classical music by Bach and Vivaldi, candlelight service by a costumed waitstaff presented on gold, silver or vermeil dome-covered dishes – and, carefully curated. Brunches are Royal Feasts that reinterpret King Louis XVI’s extravagant meals.

A table in the Airelles dining room. Photo by Renee Kemps.

We were invited for breakfast and seated at a round table with upholstered chair backs facing Le Notre’s famed L’Orangerie; it overlooked the grand,100-step staircase to the upper garden, the chateau entrance to the royal apartments and the canal leading to Le Grand Trianon, which we later toured, with in-house guests permitted to visit the palace before or after the public hours.

The ambiance was ethereal; the server was dressed in period costume and even the china was so extraordinary that I turned some of the dishes over to read the labels, called backstamps. At this meal, the Limoges china said: Ancienne Manufacture ROYALE fabricated at Sevres: one dish was originally made for Louis XV another, dated 1833, for Louis Philippe, when he was king.

The table was laden with artfully prepared pastries: croissants, pain au chocolat and sliced breads, sliced fruit, a variety of butters; we were served freshly squeeze orange juice, a platter of meats, made-to-order omelets, which were all wonderful, as one would expect. But, frankly, the food was just one aspect of the experience; I can only imagine how marvelous it must be, at the Royal Brunch on Sundays, when the impressive buffet adds to classic dishes, such as the King’s Soup, which are inspired by “Le Grand Couvert,” the ritual during which the king and queen would dine in front of the public.

I had assumed that this overnight visit to Versailles would be my last; now, I can’t wait to go back!

-Article and photos, unless otherwise noted, by Irvina Lew, Real Food Traveler Europe Editor

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