Josephine Lee
Google
I was in Paris on a work trip and came here for a break from being professionally "on" all week. To be honest, Frederic Simonin was not my first choice, but it was the closest Michelin-starred restaurant to my hotel and you know how it is when you're an introvert.
For a one-star restaurant, the experience was disappointingly average--and I say this based on having been to one Michelin-starred restaurants all over the world (yes, the world, not just Europe). The dishes were well-cooked, but not particularly unique or creative, and even by French fine dining standards, it felt like the chef played it too safe.
I did the five-course Tentation menu. The most promising bites were honestly the two amuse bouches: 1) Radish jelly, horseradish cream, bread, and 2) A mushroom tartelette and curry yuzu tartelette with fois gras.
Then things got boring with a dish of asparagus, mustard seeds, and matcha powder. I appreciated the fresh mustard seeds, but the asparagus was unseasoned and the use of matcha just eye-rolling. Some homemade buckwheat bread and buckwheat butter came after, which was nice, but they took my bread away before I had a chance to finish it all!
Next was a dish of monkfish with daikon, mushrooms, chive flowers, and dill, which was perfectly cooked but too salty. The next dish of seared veal was unfortunately even more oversalted, though the accompanying swiss chard-wrapped dumplings were great.
I was at a loss when my server set down a large bowl of "super-sized mashed potatoes a la Joël Robuchon". By "super-sized", I guess they mean that this one has even more butter than Chef Robuchon's...but the whole thing felt bizarre and out of place for a tasting menu that's supposed to celebrate the produce of spring.
Dessert was better: a hazelnut cigar with oranges, raw hazelnuts, orange slices, and a delicious scoop of saffron ice-cream. The obligatory petit fours were a bit lackluster: a yuzu marshmallow, a candied pear gelée, caramel, and a pear and almond financier--but I suppose it's not nice to complain about freebies.
Where FS really fell flat was the service. I had multiple servers throughout the dinner, and they were all at least a BIT snooty. Look, I lived in France many years ago, grew up speaking French and have been to Paris many, many times. I expect a bit of that French haughtiness everywhere I go. But at a Michelin-starred restaurant, the service shouldn't be like this. I've dined at enough to know. The service was the worst part of Frederic Simonin.
