41, Avenue
Gabriel, 8th. 01.42.25.00.39. Metro Champs-Elysees Clemenceau.
Open : Mon-Fri 12h30-2pm, 7h30-10pm. Average : 150 Euros. Credit :
Amex,
DC, MC, V.
With
its combination of elegant
setting, refined cuisine and relaxed atmosphere, Laurent has long been
one of the unsung sleepers among Paris'top restaurant. The three-course
lunch menu, allowing a reasonable choice if dishes that are also (much
more expensively) on the carte, plus a visit from the mahogany cheese
car, is a good sampling of Alain Peguret's style, which combines
classicism with a partiality for sweet glazes and bitter
accents. The soupe des maraichers of a starting deep green had a
delicious sorrel tang and came dotted with "pickles" of girolle
mushrooms. Violet artichokes sauteed with bacon and herb were
more rustic, topped by parmesan wafers and a perfectly
mastered oeuf mollet with a golden butter and breadcrumb crust.
Next, a generous, fleshy section of monkfish on the bone with an
intense orange reduction, paired with tender fennel glazed with
orange and coriander. Pigeon roast in a honey glaze was more
classic, save for the thin sheets of peanut brittle posed on the meat.,
though it was the baby turnips with a speckled Bourbon vanilla
glaze that pleased us most. Cheese, deep red bitter cherry sauce
and roast peaches in a frothy sabayon with verbena ice cream rounded
off the meal. In summer, the action moves outside from the pretty
Napoleon III pavilion to the lovely garden. The sight of Mick
Jagger lunching with Charlie's Watts and business magnates saluting
each other somehow seemed a typically Parisian gourmet mix.
