Alleno (Paris, 3 stars)

Recently dined at Alleno at Pavillon Ledoyen to celebrate a special occasion. Everything about this dinner was truly top tier in every single manner imaginable, from the building, to the dining room, the service, the wine pairing, the small touches from the team, and, most of all, the food.

The Pavillon Ledoyen is a gorgeous and historical setting, and the Chef Yannick Alleno’s flagship, eponymous, 3-star restaurant is located on the second floor. The building itself actually houses a 1-star, 2-star, and this 3-star restaurant. The dining is gorgeous, with each table made to feel quasi-private, set off by sheer curtains.

While the restaurant offers a couple different tasting menus, the reality is that each meal is somewhat curated to the individual reservation. The restaurant has a team that calls each reservation holder about a few days to a week in advance of the reservation to understand your party’s preferences for the menu, the type of service, and any other requests. We were celebrating an important event, and the team did a magnificent job. We arrived to find menus printed on very high quality stationary, in personally addressed envelopes, with menus for each of our individual diners. The small touches here are truly fantastic. For example, as part of the pre-arrival planning, I had ordered a special wine to be included in the pairing, and the team did an amazing presentation of the bottle, and once we finished it, without us even asking, they perfectly removed the label, laminated it, and sent it home with our guest of honor as a keepsake. The service at Alleno, including the attention to even the smallest details, is the absolute best I’ve ever experienced at any fine dining restaurant.

Turning to the food, every dish was nearly flawless. Chef Alleno is certainly a master of modern techniques. If you aren’t familiar with him, one of his signatures is modernizing French sauces using what he calls extractions and fermentations (and other techniques) to distill the essence of flavor of a sauce but capture that flavor in a lighter sauce that requires very little of it to make a big flavor impact on the plate. Despite his mastery of modern gastronomy, the plates don’t necessarily show off technique for technique’s sake.

In this way, the complexity and technique was layered and even hidden, such that dishes appeared simple but were nothing of the sort. In this way, food all looked like actual food; nothing abstract or reconceptualized. Looking at a plate, you might even think “I can make this.” But then you’d discover a hidden sauce (often done as extractions or fermentations to get the essence of the flavor, concentrated, but somehow still light and only needing a small dab), or other subtle components of a dish that reflect insanely impressive techniques and demonstrate years of perfecting a craft. Each dish was reduced only to essential components, and there was never a single extraneous or unnecessary element, garnish, or touch on the plate. If something was on a dish, it served an important piece of the dish; if something was lacking (even if it makes you think the presentation is too simple), it’s missing deliberately.

First bites included a gently fried smelt bursting with flavor and a snail with curry and foie gras.

Next we had a dish called “a walk through the forest,” with an assortment of veggies and herbs, all prepared differently, and scattered around an herb extracted jelly, which we were told to include with all the bites. We were told to make our way around the plate however we wanted, just like wandering in the forest. This was exciting and so many flavors and techniques on a single plate. (In another post I recently made, someone commented about Alleno, Table by Bruno Verjus, and Arpege all having a vegetable medley plate as an early dish in the meal. To me, Alleno’s stood out because it wasn’t just raw vegetables, but there were also a lot of cooking on the plate, with a host of different textures and techniques, coupled with the herb jelly extraction, made this plate the most interesting of the similar dishes).

Next up was bread. One member of our party called it the best bread that they had ever tasted. Whether or not it was the best ever, I can’t say, but it would certainly be on my short list. But the real star is the butter, made from a farm in Brittany that has only 30 cows, so very limited. Without fail this was the most flavorful and exception butter I’ve ever had. The staff must have overheard us talking about how much we loved it, because they packaged up some butter for us to take home. Like I said, the small touches from the staff were exceptionally thoughtful.

Langoustine up next, which was poached in a flavorful green broth, hence the green color. Never had any shellfish done so perfectly. Melted in your mouth. And the green sauce next to it was exceptional too. Don’t recall the details but it had 3 components all in that small dollop. This was probably the best shellfish dish I've ever had, and it stood out as a real highlight for me.

Next was a French pastry of sorts, PACKED full of caviar, and topped with a type of creme fraiche with smoked bacon powder. The concept was a sort of surf and turf with caviar and bacon. This was rich and with all the luxurious taste that I want from my caviar courses.

Next we had sea bass topped with muscles. The sauce is what the muscles were cooked in, so the flavor profile was very strong on the muscles and sauce, and the silky smooth sea bass was the perfect canvass and medium to sop up those flavors. Another home run.

Japanese Wagyu (A4) up next with a mushroom sauce. Served with lightly grilled lettuce to add a bittering element. Worked exceptionally well together. As at Kei, Alleno also used an A4 instead of A5, which they also explained was to allow the beef flavor to come through and not be completely overshadowed by the fat. It was a great choice and from a unique prefecture. Hard to go wrong with Japanese Wagyu and a French sauce composed by a modern sauce master. Another exceptional plate.

Next comes the cheese cart, and let me tell you I would have taken home every cheese on it. Wonderfully curated selection. Served with a new type of bread—rye with black garlic. And as is tradition in French cuisine, we had salad here too. Super fresh, with an exceptionally flavorful raspberry dressing. Yes, even the small salad was noteworthy.

Multiple desserts, with the first being almost like a dessert salad that was meant to bridge the gap between dinner and dessert. Not overly sweet, but very strong. Had celery and rhubarb in it (both possibly raw, given the tart and crunch). Then a rhubarb cake, which was moist, sweet, and the right level of tart of balance it out. Fruit-based desserts are my favorite, so this was excellent. Finally, a candied lemon and chocolate vanilla pod. This was quite possibly the best chocolate I’ve ever eaten.

The entire pairing was exceptional. Other than the special bottle that I had purchased for inclusion in the pairing, we otherwise had the standard wine pairing. It was an excellent pairing, with probably 3 or 4 bottles that we took pictures of and hope to purchase for ourselves.

Overall, I really cannot overstate how exceptional and nearly flawless this dinner experience was for us. Each plate was incredible, and the progression of the tasting menu was thoughtful. If you want even more modern techniques and presentation, and the almost deceptive type of dining, this restaurant might not impress you at first glance. But make no mistake, hidden underneath what appear to be simple dishes is loads of modern techniques, carefully perfected and balanced flavors, and a genius chef at the height of his career. And all of this stellar food is presented in a gorgeous, historical space by an impeccable and thoughtful team.