RealFoodTraveler.com’s Europe Editor, Irvina Lew, is our consistent guide for all things French, including finding the most memorable places to dine. Each Michelin-star restaurant in Paris mentioned here offers an exquisite experience that’s only enhanced by the beautiful destination itself.

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A Duo of Michelin Star Restaurants in Paris

Michelin one, two, or three-star awards reflect: “superb food, fine wines, faultless service, elegant surroundings,” all good reasons why it is always a privilege to experience a gastronomic meal by a chef recognized by the famous tire company. Michelin began recommending restaurants in 1926; aiming to give French drivers – particularly those traveling between Paris and the Riviera – more of a reason to linger, en route, rather than rush. Their “worth the detour” restaurants also encouraged driving to the countryside for long-leisurely meals, with perhaps an overnight, at a country inn; a pursuit which enhanced tire sales.

Since the early 90s, when my restaurant features expanded beyond New York and Long Island, my bucket-list destinations have often focused on these exceptional dining venues. Many were – and are – housed in luxury five-star hotels, affiliated with hotel groups such Relais & Chateaux, Small Luxury Hotels, Leading Hotels of the World, Marriott Luxury Collection or Les Collectionneurs, Oetker Collection, Four Seasons and others.

For me, the occasional culinary splurge—like attending a theatrical event—is magical: part cultural discovery, part theater and part pleasure. Dining at this refined level encompasses a certain sense of art de vivre that begins at the entry–with a warm welcome–and extends until the parting moment, sometimes, with an edible gift. The experience very much elevates how guests feel: important, satisfied, superb. To those who question whether ambiance, creativity, presentation and service are worth the price-tag, I propose comparing the cost of a dinner at a top steak house — where a la carte appetizers, side dishes and desserts raise the cost exponentially — with the price for a fixed, three-course menu at a well-reviewed, award-winning–if not Michelin-starred—restaurant, among which some offer a well-priced menu option that guarantees repeat business clientele and lures newcomers, especially those seeking a celebratory meal.

If you speak to friends about a meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef, you may hear about a menu that it is etched in their memory, in that special department reserved for extraordinary moments, as some are indelibly engraved in mine. For example, this past fall, when we were walking through the arched galleries at the Palais Royale, I wished that I was headed for a second marvelous lunch at Guy Martin’s Le Grand Véfour; likewise, when departing the Musée Rodin, we passed Arpège, where I wish we were having lunch; I still dream about Alain Passard’s sweet onion tarte, which I savored in the 90s. Every time I see Molten Chocolate Cake or Lava Cake on the menu, I remember my first dinner at Restaurant Michel Rostang, where I first tasted it and , where, the following morning, the pastry chef taught me how to make it. My memory bank recalls lots of other long-ago meals at Parisian restaurants with star chefs, where I would have been glad to have returned. I didn’t because You Can’t Do It All, the mantra that titled my first book, reminds me that I couldn’t both repeat former experiences and participate in new ones.

So, in October 2021, my childhood pal and I dined, for the first time, at two Michelin-starred restaurants that illustrate a worthwhile level of excellence; we witnessed the craft of glorifying the finest ingredients, executing precise preparations, creating exquisitely artful presentations and serving with the utmost skill and hospitality.

Hungry for more? Read about Le Grand Vefour dining experience.

Michelin-star restaurant in Paris: Le Gabriel

Le Gabriel is the gastronomic restaurant at La Réserve, a very exclusive boutique hotel with just 25 suites and 15 rooms, housed within a palatial mansion off the Champs Elysées gardens in the chic 8th arrondissement. We arrived into a small, very formal, lobby with gilded woodwork, a floral rug, a candelabra over the fireplace, a red damask, fringed, circular tête à tête seating banquette, over-the-top floral arrangements and ornate period furnishings; one Louis XV piece is topped with family photos.

Elegant, circular seating awaits at Le Reserve in Paris. Photo by Irvina Lew.

La Reserve has a long, library-like dining room, with a green velvet couch and chairs, a breakfast niche in an ante room with foods, wine and a breakfast buffet, a cigar room for private members, and La Pagode de Cas, an all-day dining room, with marble checkered flooring, old-fashioned floor lamps with exposed bulbs and seating upholstered in red velvet and floral brocade. Here, Executive Chef Jérôme Banctel offers less formal fare than at Le Gabriel, for which he was awarded two Michelin stars and where there are three-to-five-course fixed menus served at lunch and dinner. (One three-course lunch is priced at $75 Euro, about what we spent, a la carte, at nice, but not outstanding, restaurants.)

Le Gabriel is a quietly posh room with a wood-tiled parquet floor, like those at Versailles Palace; its monochromatic leather-wrapped columns, dividers and walls are embossed in a floral pattern. Plant topped, black-trimmed dividers separate tables for privacy and on the ceiling, there’s a black and gold geometric pattern. Similar shapes are repeated on the backs of armchairs that hide pull-out shelves under the seat, which slide out to hold a purse. (Val, my fashion-savvy friend, who knows about these items, spotted some very pricey ones, nearby: a leather Birken, an ostrich Birken and an Yves Saint Laurent crocodile bag.) It was quite a setting for the 20 people whom I counted at lunch. (All but one table was full when we entered.)

Once seated, we noticed that the table was set with Lalique water glasses, and embossed linen napkins monogrammed with hotel owner Michel Reybier’s elephant R logo. The entrepreneurial M. Reybier also produces wine in Bordeaux, Champagne and Provence and we were greeted with a wonderful one: Michel Reybier Champagne brut Premier Cru, Cos d’Estournel 2017. Our five-course meal—a seasonal culinary journey through Brittany—featured Chef Banctel’s favorite producers and wine pairings with Reybier wines.

A bottle of Michel Reybier champagne brut Premier Cru, Cost d’Estournel 2017. Poto by Irvina Lew.

We started with a four-bite amuse, including a fried potato with nori seaweed and Kristal caviar; a buckwheat cracker topped with “gwell” cream and smoked sardine; a lentil crisp with confit egg yolk and shallots in vinegar; and flame-grilled salmon atop a beetroot tartlet. Then, a Kristal caviar-topped blini with haddock fish cream; three styles of artichoke hearts: crisps, pureed and roasted with dabs of cherry blossom vinegar gelée; the porcini mushroom and white truffles from Alba dish was topped with a transparent sheet of ravioli and arrived under a glass dome with a hole in the top through which the server poured mushroom sauce over the ravioli; the seared tuna squares in satay sauce were presented with small, sculpted, sweet potato logs; a thick slice of chicken was served alongside confit celeriac and a buckwheat and cottage cheese ravioli topped with a traditional Brittany lait de ribot (buttermilk) emulsion.

Dessert was an exquisite little oval, a chocolate-dusted, coffee-bean merengue filled with cream and birch syrup. We spied the cheese selection on a marble board, but couldn’t possibly eat any. We did, however, welcome the rolling wooden box, a post-dessert Chariot à mignardises; it stops. Then, the top pops open and a tray rises and appears laden with little delicate pastries, including a lemon tartlet with shizo, a chocolate marbré and a crispy rice ball with yuzu gel. Amazing, indeed!

A variety of Gabriel Mignardises desserts. Photo by Irvina Lew.

Michelin-Star Restaurant in Paris: L’Écrin

The word écrin translates to jewel box; which is quite an appropriate name for this elegant, 22-seat salon, within Rosewood’s Hotel de Crillon. The historic landmark was totally redone in recent years, and during the refurbishment, they added a fabulous SENSE spa, where, in fact, I had an extraordinary facial in the most magnificent couple’s suite with its own bathroom and dressing room, just before going to dinner. I had peaked into the posh restaurant in 2018, when I was sipping champagne in the adjacent Jardin d’Hiver, while there to see the makeover of the 18th century palace, facing the Egyptian Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, where the Count de Crillon family lived until 1904. I admired its pale palette, with warm velvets on armchairs and sofas-for-two, and its mirrors, drapes, artwork and chandeliers and vowed to return. That day revived memories from 1990, when the editor of Madame Figaro interviewed me about the French edition of my book for working moms. I was thrilled about that and pretty impressed with the gastronomic lunch, at Les Ambassadeurs, the marble-floored, gilded-wall and sky-blue ceilinged formal dining room. The space, once reserved for a few fine-dining patrons, has been transformed into a popular gathering spot, as it serves guests in Bar Les Ambassadeurs, an all-day venue that transforms into a late-night boite, with live music.

One memory–when my late husband and I stayed at the hotel, in 2002–is tinged with some anxiety. Bob had a high fever; I called the concierge, he contacted an English-speaking doctor who rushed to our room and arranged for him to go directly to the American Hospital in Paris. We were lucky to have been in a hotel with such great service.

Michelin-star Executive Chef Boris Campanella reigns over the grande cuisine, which centers around vegetables – as he believes our diets should. “At L’Écrin the wine dictates the dish, and the vegetables dictate the plate.” Our multi-course dinner started when the sommelier presented Champagne Jaquesson, vintage 2006, Cuvé 736 in a footless glass. A small, circular bauble at the end of the stem replaced where the round, flat foot, usually is; so, we had to set the glass down on its side. We learned that it was a tribute to Queen Marie Antoinette, who took piano lessons at the Hotel de Crillon; she ordered glasses without a foot so that her guests would finish the drink before putting the glass down.

Sip from a dramatic, footless glass at Micheline-starred L’Ecrin in Paris. Photo by Irvina Lew.

When the artistic menu appeared, the list featured a list of Our Products, and Our Producers, with margins that formed the shape of a wine bottle. We didn’t select from specific dishes on a formal menu; instead, the Maitre d’ asked about our food preferences, allergies and the ingredients we avoid. Then, Chef Boris Campanella prepared a series of individualized dishes, accordingly. “All the vegetables are cooked as whole as they come, in the oven or stewed, in order to maximize their authentic tastes.”

Along with thick slices of country bread, an unusual butter dish arrived that looked as if it were covered with little china bubbles, reminiscent of bubbling yeast; it held three mounds of butter: salted, lemon-flavored and wine-infused.

Sample unique butters with delicious bread at L’Ecrin in Paris. Photo by Irvina Lew.

The amuse arrived with four exquisite bite-sized tastings presented in an open log; my favorite was a stuffed brown mushroom rolled in brioche crumbs and roasted.

L’ecrin aperitives. Photo by Victor Bellot.

The appetizer was simmered Slagou chickpeas originating from chef Campanella’s home region, and served with a crispy fresh Tomme crayeuse cheese and crunchy celery and celery leaves. The pasta dish, macaroni stuffed with thinly sliced artichoke and white truffles from Alba, was topped with a glaze made with Isigny cream and parmesan cream. Then, the sommelier poured Meursault 2018 Henri Boillot to accompany the rosy, sliced veal chop which was roasted in semi-salted, organic Haute Folie butter from Normandy; and served with herb-stewed parsnips, glazed apple, Dauphiné nut praline and veal jus. It was all magnificent.

Since our meal, in October, 2021, the concept of the restaurant has evolved; now, wine, under the guidance of Head Sommelier, Xavier Thuizat, has become the focal point of the menu. Diners choose the number of courses (3,5 or 8) and, with the sommelier, decide which wines to order. Then, on the spot, Chef Campanella creates seasonal dishes, from autumnal game or white truffles, tailor-made to pair with the wine; so does Pastry Chef Matthieu Carlin, who might integrate Reine des reinettes (King of the Pippins) apples, into his unique offering.

The world recognizes Paris for its countless culinary traditions; it’s no secret that this traveler is on a lifelong quest to savor these and other Michelin-starred meals, there.

-Story by Irvina Lew, Real Food Traveler Europe Editor

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