Restaurant Alan Geaam — Restaurant in Paris

#12 in my Michelin Stars Challenge in Paris. Follow me and check the full list. Alan Geaam. A cuisine with soul. And what a soul!

First, for those who went before, let me warn you that the chef used the lockdown to rethink and work on his menu. So “mind the gap”! A leap seems to have been made. You’re now in a top tiers Michelin experience. There are plenty of Michelin Star restaurants that are technically great, but are missing a “je ne sais quoi”. Here, it’s not missing, it’s there. Alan is infusing his soul (his origin, his culture, his culinary experience) in his creation. I had the good fortune of visiting and working in Lebanon. You can feel the resourcefulness, inventiveness, playfulness in his cuisine. His culinary education in France allows him to Revisit Lebanese food and be in between. Let me be clear, you’re not in a Lebanese restaurant where the chef is doing a great Michelin job. No, you’re in an French adopted Lebanese that is daydreaming of an imaginary country, and he is welcoming you in this wonderland! You’ll go back to childhood, he’ll trick you with a peanut that is actually foie gras… literally a box of tricks so that you enter in his wonderland and forget yours. Because this is my trick to differentiate the Étoilés. A good étoilé experience is when you’re derailed by the food. You come to speak about a subject (work, relationships, etc..) and suddenly you speak about the dishes and where the chef is taking you. You forget about your mondaine issue, and off you go in another universe for the time you’re there. Well, Alan is amongst the group that is after this one. You re carried away while you’re there, you’re thinking about it days after, you’ll want to share this experience with someone special.

The service is at the same level the restaurant is. Top notch. The crowd was mainly business and friends for Lunch. It’s perfect to impress a client and create a memory. Dinner should be perfect for dates. I’ll go with my special darling very soon.

Top tiers one star Michelin. Two stars contender.

2022 Update : The new pics and videos were uploaded directly (there’s too many to be attached to the review) I went back indeed quickly after finishing my challenge (completed under a year), but not with my darling ! With a foodie friend. It did improved. First the staff, there’s more people (and of quality), second the wine list is improving (the new wine list was not published but the wine is there, so we had a great champagne) and third, the dishes improved. Some elements are the same as last year, some are slightly changed for the best (like the foie gras), some are new. I wish that one day I’ll meet the chef to exchange with him. Bottom line, even if I was there last year, I had another great experience and I’ll gladly come back (especially since they are going to redesign the place)

It only reinforces me thinking that’s a Top Tiers one star that is in contention for a second one.

Ps: for some obscure technical reasons this review has been moderated. I hope you...

We got there 5 minutes early, someone else was already waiting. They opened the door exactly at 7:30PM to let us in. Asked us to choose a seat. The seats were very comfortable. We chose the 7 course signature tasting. Told the waiter that we don’t like cheese if they could replace it with something. But they chose to just remove it. Charged us the same amount! Boo! They started our experience with a drink from test tubes and told us there were crackers hanging on the plant on our table. This experience has a lot of surprises. The drink was pretty good. The crackers we took off the plant was thyme. Was good too. First course was a mini taco with caviar, too fishy for me, don’t remember what was in the bowl, could hear the waiter most of the time. Just nodded. The ball was a falafel in some corn soup. Was good. They also hid in the peanuts foie gras in the shape of a peanut. Didn’t really like it. After we finished the waiter comes and uncovers another thing under the taco. It was a crab bite. Was good. Next they gave us a croissant in the shape of a cube. Supposed to peel it and eat it. Was also very good. They make the olive oil sauce with a special blend of spices. It is a good sauce, but I mostly prefer to eat my bread plain. Next course was the scallop dish. One was cooked and the other is raw. Not bad. Came to give us another piece of bread, this time sour dough. Then they reveal the butter was on our table the whole time. Next course was a langoustine. The separate dish had a ball of sauce that you are supposed to pierce. I didn’t enjoy this dish. Then came something that looks like a cupcake with some plants on it. I don’t remember how this was. I like the creativity. But didn’t really enjoy it. Another roll on top of some seeds. Didn’t enjoy this one either. Good presentation. Next course was fish with lots of pumpkin in different forms. Was pretty good. Next was veal tart. Didn’t enjoy this either. Next was the veal, the part they served was from the throat. Don’t like this at all. The texture is odd. Very powdery. Not a good taste or texture. Don’t know how to describe it. More like cooked pus. Last was some dumpling. Was good. Next was on to the dessert. This white chocolate balls that burst in your mouth. Very sour. Next was a carrot dish with all different carrots. Was ok. After we asked for the check, they gave us another three desserts. One was charred in front of us then in the draws were some more. One was in a tube that you have to puncture and suck out. The other is like a cube of candy. All in all it was a long 2.5 hour experience. Lots of creativity, but I think they miss the mark for me in terms of taste. Would recommend you try...

Restaurant Alan Geeam was our first Michelin star experience. Our expectations, while somewhat vague, were quite high, and Alan Geeam did not disappoint in the least. It largely fit our stereotype of "Michelin star restaurant", and where it diverged from that it was for the best.

For starters, since this was our first visit to Paris, we weren't familiar with local conditions and customs, and, in particular, we had no idea how stupid it was to book a restaurant that was quite far from our hotel. We thought we had accounted for that, having called a taxi well before the time of our reservation, but peak hour traffic turned out to be much, much worse than we imagined. Fifty euro poorer, thirty minutes late, and still half a mile from the restaurant, we had to jog there, and dark sense of foreboding hung over us, since we heard that classy restaurants could be very strict, and maliciously vindictive about missed reservations. As we learned two days later, there's a grain of truth to those rumours, but Alan Geaam at least simply waved off us being late, and welcomed us with open arms.

We ordered a five course tasting menu for two, accompanied by a few glasses of wonderful Paul Leredde champagne, and as far as taste, flavour and presentation were concerned, the stereotype was met in full. I dare not try explaining what the food was like, but at every turn my taste buds were stunned, excited and overwhelmed - in half a dozen different fashions. The staff took great care of us, making sure we were educated, entertained and served in a very timely fashion.

My one small regret is that we didn't go for a seven course tasting menu, but, on balance, and contrary to the Michelin stereotype, we were stuffed even after five courses. Yes, individual portions can be quite small, but when a long gallery of amuse bouches, entrees, and, seemingly, just random culinary interludes to keep the patrons occupied is paraded in front of you, there's absolutely no risk of remaining hungry after your meal.

Alan Geaam earns my heartfelt recommendation, and, in fact, I would say that it's an absolutely excellent introduction to the world of haute cuisine. Expect to spend between 100 and 200 euro per person, depending on which flavour of the menu you decide to pick, and on the...