Article: Meatless in Paris

Tuesday July 28, 2009

By JENNY BARCHFIELD

Fine dining for vegetarians at Michelin three-star restaurant.

CÔTE du boeuf, foie gras, escargot. French cuisine is hardly the stuff of vegetarians' dreams.

In Paris restaurants, vegetarians often are met with looks of pity, headshaking incomprehension, even snorts of disgust. Eating out for vegetarians can mean endless salades au chevre chaud, the warm goat cheese salads that are the only reliable meat-free menu item.

Veg out: French chef Alain Passard makes vegetables the centrepiece of his cuisine at his Michelin-starred restaurant L'Arpège.

But veggie visitors need not despair. Tasty meatless dining is possible in Paris, where choices include L'Arpège – a Michelin-starred establishment renowned for garden-fresh vegetable dishes.

At L'Arpège, vegetables are the centrepiece – literally. All the tables in this chic restaurant are adorned not with a tasteful floral arrangement but with ripe vegetables, like artfully sculpted crookneck squash or bouquets of asparagus stalks.

One of just 26 restaurants in France with a top, three-star rating by the Michelin Guide – the country's culinary bible – L'Arpège is the only one dedicated to vegetables.

Its most celebrated dishes include tomate confite aux douze saveurs (a stuffed, preserved tomato), and l'oeuf fermier de la Bigottiere en chaud et froid (a concoction of egg yolk, whipped cream and maple syrup served in the eggshell as an appetiser).

Long a bastion of slow-grilled meats, L'Arpège sent shockwaves through France's gourmet circles by announcing it was going – more or less – veggie in 2001. The restaurant still serves some meat, such as free-range chicken and mutton as well as seafood, but vegetables are the uncontested stars.

L'Arpège's celebrated chef, Alain Passard, said his decision was not motivated by ethical or health concerns, but rather by a quest for a new challenge.

"One day, I woke up and asked myself, 'What have I done with a leek, with a carrot? Nothing, or maybe just 10% of what can be done with a carrot,'" said Passard.

All the vegetables served at the restaurant – some 40 tons annually – come from its three organic gardens in the Sarthe, Eure and Manche regions of northern France.

And the menus reflect what's in season: mostly tubers and leafy greens in the winter and a strange and copious variety, including blue kohlrabi, globe turnips and purple asparagus in the summer months.

But don't expect veggie fare to be easier on the wallet. Even if L'Arpège serves up more spinach than lobster, its prices remain in line with those of other three-star restaurants. At lunch, its eight-course tasting menu runs US$170 (RM600). At dinner, the 10-course menu costs US$450 (RM1,600), not including wine.

"We want to create a grand cru from vegetables," said Passard. "I talk about carrots the way others talk about Chardonnay or Sauvignon." – AP

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Living 28 July 2009