{"id":213,"date":"2010-11-02T07:50:29","date_gmt":"2010-11-02T15:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/?p=213"},"modified":"2011-06-18T20:55:31","modified_gmt":"2011-06-19T04:55:31","slug":"venez-avec-moi-a-drouant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/venez-avec-moi-a-drouant","title":{"rendered":"venez avec moi Chez Drouant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are over 40,000 restaurants in Paris.\u00a0 Yet, with all of these choices, do you want to know where the chefs dine? \u00a0 Chefs dine at <\/span>Drouant<\/span><\/em>, one of Chef Antoine Westermann\u2019s newest restaurants settled in a quiet section of the 2\u00e8me arrondissement.\u00a0 So, <\/span>venez avec moi Chez Drouant<\/span><\/em> (come with me to Drouant) <\/span><\/span>and find out why.<\/span><\/p>\n

LM<\/span><\/p>\n

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Drouant: where chefs dine<\/span><\/p>\n

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joking around with Chef Michel Richard at Drouant<\/span><\/p>\n

Parisian chefs.\u00a0 International chefs.\u00a0 Drouant is where they go.\u00a0 I know because I was there and I saw them gathering and dining.\u00a0 I shared time with some of them. \u00a0 Why Drouant?\u00a0 What is it about this restaurant that chefs migrate to and the <\/span>Goncourt Academy <\/span><\/em>calls its own?\u00a0 It is simple.\u00a0 Owner, Michelin-starred Chef Antoine Westermann and Director Chef Antony Cl\u00e9mot have combined the quality and elegance you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber with the devotion and love you could only expect from your own grandmother (your culinary-trained, Michelin-starred grandmother).<\/span><\/p>\n


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Elegant, but not fancy, Drouant\u2019s focus is on the food.\u00a0 While the portions are generous (shockingly generous particularly given the reasonable prices) and the menu is diverse (ranging from traditional French fare to International tastes), Drouant understands that the key to excellent food is <\/span><\/span>superior food prepared in a way that permits the quality of the food itself to take center stage<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0 At Drouant, the food is the star.<\/span><\/p>\n

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You cannot truly appreciate superior food until you have had it.\u00a0 Once you have this \u201ceureka\u201d moment, the food you thought was good before you suddenly cannot remember.\u00a0 An example lies in the humble potato.\u00a0 It grows underground.\u00a0 It can be stored for months.\u00a0 Potatoes are around all year long, all over the world.\u00a0 We use them in a number of ways.\u00a0 However, have you ever had a really good potato?\u00a0 A potato freshly dug from the rich soil of France?\u00a0 Do you know what it tastes like?\u00a0 I thought I did, but I have never tasted anything like the potatoes at Drouant.\u00a0 Roasted or fried, these simple, humble tubers were bursting with an earthy, buttery depth of flavor.\u00a0 The texture was soft, creamy, and slightly granular.\u00a0 They were amazing.\u00a0 I have never tasted potatoes like that before.\u00a0 It was an \u201ca-ha\u201d moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Importantly, the potatoes were not unique.\u00a0 I dined at Drouant several times and everything I ate, from the ground up, animal or vegetable, savory or sweet, burst with flavor.\u00a0 The freshness and quality of the product was beyond compare.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yet, it is not the superior quality of food alone that makes Drouant. \u00a0 It is the passion and generosity-of-self that every person at Drouant puts into their work that separates Drouant from the thousands of other restaurants in Paris (and elsewhere). \u00a0 In his book <\/span>The Prophet, <\/span><\/em>Kahlil Gibran said that \u201c<\/span>to work with love<\/span><\/em> … is to <\/span>charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit<\/span><\/em>. … [and] [that] work is love made visible.\u201d \u00a0 As I sat one night on Drouant\u2019s large patio under the Paris stars, looking at the signatures of famous French authors on the fa\u00e7ade, I thought of this quote.\u00a0 It reminded me of Drouant because of the honest enthusiasm and care that the Drouant staff exhibited in their work, whether it be preparing my meal, plating my meal, serving my meal, or selecting the perfect wine.\u00a0 One night, unbeknownst to Chef Cl\u00e9mot,\u00a0 I observed him watch other guests to see their reactions to their meal.\u00a0 He did so because he cared about their dining experience.\u00a0 It was endearing to witness.\u00a0 To welcome guests into your restaurant and feed and care for them as if they are your family is rare.\u00a0 But that is how you will feel dining at Drouant, chef or no chef.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I am not a food critic nor a travel journalist.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 I am a chef and I do know food. \u00a0 I know where chefs go to dine.\u00a0 I know I cannot wait to return to Drouant the next time I am in Paris.\u00a0 Now, you know too.<\/span><\/p>\n

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chefs joking around at Drouant<\/span><\/p>\n


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Drouant<\/span>
\n16-18, place\u00a0 Gaillon<\/span>
\nPARIS 75002<\/span>
\n(T) 33 01 42 65 15 16
\n<\/span>(F) 33 01 49 24 01 15
\nwww.drouant.com<\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/a>
\n<\/span><\/a>reservations@drouant.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are over 40,000 restaurants in Paris.\u00a0 Yet, with all of these choices, do you want to know where the chefs dine? \u00a0 Chefs dine at Drouant, one of Chef Antoine Westermann\u2019s newest restaurants settled in a quiet section of the 2\u00e8me arrondissement.\u00a0 So, venez avec moi Chez Drouant (come with me to Drouant) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[35,36,37,33,34,1439],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-france","category-paris","tag-anthony-clemot","tag-antoine-westermann","tag-dine","tag-drouant","tag-michel-richard","tag-paris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/2530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}