Alain Senderens/Hors D'oeuvre Froids

Last night, I was invited to dine at Alain Senderens (formerly known as Lucas Carton), a 3-star Michelin restaurant headed by Alain Senderens himself in the 8th arrondissement and arguably one of the 'founding fathers' of nouvelle cuisine in France. I read last week in Gayot that the chef himself wanted to renounce his stars as he wanted to simplify his cooking and reduce the average check to about 100 euros. 

               

I was not an immense fan of the restaurant decor. Once you go through the glass doors, you are met by red lights in the restaurant almost like a lounge/club adorned with long mirrors and flowery furniture. We sat upstairs in the second dining room which was well lit, more quiet and decorated in solid light colors such as yellow and green. The service, unfortunately was a bit slow, perhaps too informal for a 3-star Michelin restaurant and I think too overstaffed, as many were standing around and chit-chatting while I was trying to wave my hand to get their attention. But they were friendly and attentive once you caught their eye, the sommelier too was very knowledgable and recommended well-priced and a suitable wine for our meal: 2001 Saint-Emilion (Chateau Milens).


I wasn't expecting any overseas influence in his cuisine but was surprised to see a cast of mediterranean and asian (particularly Japanese) ingredients in almost every single dish at the table. We were a party of 4 and 2 of us wanted to get the tasting menu, but apparently, if one customer ordered it then all customers at the table had to do the same; so we opted for a la carte instead - which I thought was a great decision!
The dishes are well-portioned for their price and the plating was simple yet colorful.

First Amuse-Bouche: Pasta with minced shallots and caviar accompanied by a jus

Starters:

Crusty langoustines, coriander and herbs

Thick slice of half-smoked salmon, shredded celery with remoulade sauce and radish "au caviar des champs"

Sweet Cevennes onions, garden peas with perfect yellow egg, crispy bacon

Main Courses:

Filet of duckling, marinated 18 hours in Sake, fresh figs and sultanas

Traditional French veal and langoustine tartare served with Chinese noodles  and an Italian Parmeggiano Reggiano parmesan 

Crusty whiting "with fresh and cooked" cep mushrooms 

Dessert:

Selection of ice-creams and sorbets

Final Amuse-Bouches:

Bourbon gelee with taro and apple cream

Dark chocolate tarte and Apple filled custard

Overall, a good meal!

Alain Senderens

9, Place De La Madeleine, 75008

Metro: Madeleine

01 42 65 22 90

Today in class we continued with les hors d'oeuvre froids greek style (but more french style).

We had to cut artichokes, zucchinis, baby mushrooms, baby carrots, celeriac, pearl onions, and cauliflower with sultanas and cook them separately with diced onions, garlic, white wine and some water with herbs and coriander grains and then put them in the blast freezer to be served cold. The end result tasted great! Though I have to remember to put more cooked sauce! 

Chef turning artichokes - be careful in the middle there are spikes!

Vegetables a la grecque

Roberto loving his mini-carrots

It was a bit more hectic in the kitchen this morning but good in preparation for tomorrow - DINNER SERVICE (hopefully I'll have time to take quick pics, but if not forgive me!)