This 80 Year Old Restaurant Has A Sunroof!

Lasserre is an 80 year old, one Michelin star restaurant in Paris. For a recent trip, I booked it because it ticked all the boxes for me that I wanted in my first dinner in Paris post COVID.

1. it had a Michelin star
2. it had old school French classics on the menu
3. it had a tasting menu
4. it was grand, in that old school Paris luxurious way
5. it required men to wear jackets

Even though we were 30 minutes late for our reservation that was close to the restaurant’s “closing time”, they were accommodating and assured us the restaurant actually closed very late (we started at about 930PM and finished at midnight). Upon arrival, I was not disappointed. The room was gorgeous. We started with an amuse and in the video below you will see them and the incredible dining room.

The first was guacamole and ikura crisp that was ok but tasted like a fusion sushi roll. Not the best start. The second was a beet crisp, also not that great. It was like the chef diced some beets and put them on top of crisps. No transformation of ingredients. With the AMUSE, the kitchen should be setting the tone for the rest of the evening and showing off what they can do. Usually, my experience is amazing amuse, and then disappointment because the amuse sets the bar so high. At Lasserre, it was totally opposite as I was about to find out.

The next dish was a bean and mushroom soup where the kitchen stepped up the complexity level and was good.

This was followed by this dish where the taste of mushroom was very subtle, delicate and refined. There were hints of popcorn taste/texture and hazelnut. Very good.

The next dish was scallop with lobster bisque. The cooking was good but the bisque did not explode with flavor like I would want. My wife was more happy with the delicate flavors.

The next dish was simply Devine and is something the restaurant is known for – “truffle mac”.

After that, pigeon stuffed with foie gras. The pigeon was perfectly cooked and considering the foie, the dish never felt heavy. In fact, the portions at this restaurant were perfect. I never felt stuffed.

Before moving on to dessert, I want to share a couple things about why I enjoyed dining here so much.

1. Sunroof/Stadium Roof. 50 years ago, the owner of this place thought it would be cool to have a retractable roof. So he built one. Imagine how innovative that would of been back then. Even today. Now consider that type of thinking in a “stuffy” restaurant. Way ahead of his time. Here is some video of when they first opened it during dinner (I jokingly requested it, and never expected them to actually do it as it was fairly cold that evening; and then again at the end of the night).

2. They invented crepes suzette. The dining room would erupt in flames with each order. Unfortunately, it was not part of the tasting menu and an excuse to go back.

3. They have a collection of super old bottles in the lobby. One from 1811.

Now for the desserts. First was apple and ginger with a creme brulee ice cream that will make you go wow.

Next, chocolate souffle – it was like air.

Last was a vanilla cake dip and some crunch for texture.

Overall, the service was incredible. The food, dining room, and experience were all on point. Some of the food could be more bold which is keeping me from giving this a 10, but its definitely a place I would recommend and return.