Lucas Carton — Restaurant in Paris

#45 follow my MichelinStarsChallenge Marathon Caught by surprise !

I have to humbly admit: I was caught by surprise by the chef. Lucas Carton is a myth. It received 3 stars the year Michelin invented the 3rd stars. The last time it had 3 stars, the chef gave them away in 2005. So I walk in with preconceived notions. I was thinking: “ok, this is going to be an old school classical Michelin”. I was wrong. At first, things looked like I thought. Extremely beautiful art nouveau, excellent service, loved the tableware… speaking of Art nouveau (the style behind the subway entrance), the restaurant is now owned by Vranken. But then we got the starters, and then I knew. I understood the chef hides his skills, like he hides little surprises in his dishes. He’s full of surprises and I was caught by it. Even his chef pâtissier got me with his cassis coconut. It’s Haute Cuisine, it’s smart, witty and tasteful. I went with a nephew, she is in her twenties, despite being not the target, she loved it. Which brings me to the crowd. It’s a classical myth, so it does attract a crowd that is impressed by the name (a bit like la tour d argent). We had family “bourgeoise” and couples. Being a Saturday, no business, but the place is great for that (minus the sound). Still, I was sad. This restaurant deserves a bigger and younger crowd. You want it to be vibrant, full of energy, like it was when created. The art nouveau atmosphere is perfect for younger lovers. I really wish this chef a great success that he deserves, I really wish that the Bistronomic crowd comes here to experience the beauty of an iconic Michelin star restaurant. The dress code/mood: of course you can go upper class/bourgeois style, but thanks to the art nouveau, you can perfectly go with designers and fashion pieces. And I think It will even be more respectful for what the restaurant was designed to be more than 100 years ago Very solid one star, pushing to reach the top. Very impressive for a chef that just started a few weeks ago My experience: Caught by surprise. Really. I had a great time. I’ll come back with my darling to enjoy the experience together.

Update 2022: I can’t believe it took me than a year to come back. 14 months. Well the reason was that I enjoyed it so much the first time that I really wanted to come back for dinner and with my darling. This time I took the full menu to really appreciate the full scope of the chef skills.

It was even better! As usual I’ll focus on a few points only. Today, it’ll be two. First, I think it was better because the chef settled down. When I came the first time, he had just arrived, now he has arrived! For example, he now has a pastry chef that is completely in line with him and even complement him perfectly, Jordan Talbot. But it’s not the only thing, that makes me think that the chef Hugo Bourny has now arrived. Before he was a bit more hidden, now he does express himself more clearly. Funny thing is that I noted that he had a very specific palate. When exchanging with him, I discovered the reason. He worked for Pic at Valence. Everything became clear ! This extraordinary « finesse de palais » is a gift from working with Anne Sophie Pic for years. Still, you can feel the influence and the training, but he has his very unique style. That we love. I guess the next fight will be to be bigger than the place, than the name. But now the chef is there for the fight. I’ll be back to see that.

Don’t let your judgment been overshadowed be the place and its history, now it’s a clear top tiers one star...

I would need to give it 4.1 star.

We did have the cheaper menu at 150 euro if you are less than 35 years old with champagne and 2 wines.

For the price we had a great dinner.

The place has so much history and you can feel it, the service is very good quality overall, finished plates where sometimes left on the table along with crumbs till the main waiter took them off.

The food was very nice and tasted good overall especially for this unique menu, however I was expecting more from 1 Michelin star.

The small hors d’œuvres where very creative and we felt impressed and where very taken away. Especially with the artichoke chips, very creative with new thecniques never seen before Then the bun with smoked cream and different textures of tomato was creative, however just boring, you get a bun then home made bread, it didn’t feel special. We followed with Tuna and beet sorbet, it was a great palette cleaner, the taste was great and our daughter loved it. However there wasn’t a wow factor, that we can normally find for such amazing product. Next was the scallop, the taste was good and plating was fun, the scallop éclaté was a new experience however the flavours where okay together but yet again missing harmony, the brown sauce tasted good but didn’t look appealing with the plate, the purée was chunky I guess the chef wanted it that way but I felt it didn’t add anything a purée more smooth would have been better. The chicken cooked sous vide with a caramlized top with an excellent crumble a creative sabayon served on the side was fun, the fennel was nice but a bit boring, could have been worked in more detail then randomly they came with chicken legs and a roasted chicken consumé this was a very fun touch and we appreciated it very much. The green apple and celery was great and refreshing , the powder all over the bowl was playful and creative. The chocolate dessert and calamansi was missing a bit of balance and I didn’t feel like they went together, however this is very personal. Very hard work went into the dish and was very beautiful. Mignardises were beautiful and overall good. The champagne was excellent quality and very good, white wine was just okay, their red wine was really excellent! Overall very happy with the pairing. The service and staff where very good, they brought out plates at the same took the time to serve every plate at the same time, there was a nice flow. However the feel was very robotic and was missing a friendly feel.

Only after asking did we find out the history of the building and the restaurant Lucas Carton, we would have loved a bit more of the story behind this beautiful restaurant and have a more Human relationship with the staff.

However the service was excellent and well executed. The cutlery and the fineness of the architecture was amazing! Another table got a cheese plate and the cheese cart looked amazing. All these details do explain the Michelin star. Maybe my expectations where very elevated with that title and we did have the cheaper menu.

However I was just missing some wow factors and a sense of warmth that I was expecting in a Michelin start restaurant.

But for the price we paid it was a very nice experience we really...

This review is specifically for the "Marche" eatery upstairs at lunch. If you're coming here in hopes of a good value Michelin dining experience in Paris I'd highly discourage it. Not only was this among the most disappointing 1-star or even bib-gourmand restaurants I've encountered, but the attitude, menu, and attention to detail were egregiously lacking for a 100 euro meal.

The food was fine to decent - not much better than your typical brasserie fare anywhere in Paris, the best part of the meal probably the bacon and egg appetizer.

The biggest hitch was the game pie which was not only disgustingly salty, but also had literal buckshot (as in bullet shrapnel) in the meat filling. The spectre of lead poisoning is not something one should pay 50 euros a person to confront and a Michelin restaurant should be able to source a half-decent butcher if they could be bothered. The fish course my companion ordered appeared adequate but was literally a square of fish on a plate with a single decorative pastry on top. Perhaps cooked decently but hardly inspired or worthy of any reputation whatsoever. Anyone with a stove and seven minutes time could've come pretty close to matching the kitchen on it.

From an attitude perspective if you are there for the lunch menu at the Marche you will be treated as an inconvenience at best. They literally sent us out a back door after we finished so that the patrons in the main dining room would not have to suffer the sight of impoverished clientele who had only paid 100 euro for their lackluster meal.

We cannot drink alcohol but the waiter seemed to take personal offense to our decision to order water (at 6 euros mind you) and cooled noticably towards us. Perhaps due to our wine choice, language/accents, or attire we were regularly served after other patrons who had arrived later or finished their courses later than ourselves. This left absurd 15+ minute gaps between our courses. Even paying for the travesty took a good half hour of staring absently at our empty water jug while more important patrons were attended to by the lone and overworked waiter on the upper floor.

From a pacing, creativity, ingredient quality, and service perspective this place rates far lower than any other Michelin honored kitchen I have visited across three continents - be it 3-star or bib gourmand.

I cannot speak to the "true" dining room at Lucas Carton - and will certainly not take the risk of attending it after this experience but I'd strongly advise any diner to prefer a kitchen that respects all of their clientele - regardless of what they order, spend, or wear. Lucas Carton is clearly no...