Le Dauphin

A lot of ink has been spilled on Le Dauphin, so I’ll keep it brief. It’s one of the funnest tables in town. The tapas-y style menu lets you eat as much as you want. The arty farty crowd is perfect to make fun of while swilling decent natural wines and cracking jokes at their expense. The interminable line forming in front of the next door Chateaubriand is also quite amusing. Standout dishes were a delicious wagyu with onions, their usual amazing burrata and roast potatoes on the side as well as the ribaut ice cream. Tandoori octopus needed more spice and the mixed mushroom and ricotta dish lacked zing. But we really didn’t care.

Mixed mushroom and ricotta dish

Tandoori octopus

Melt in the mouth wagyu

Creamy buratta 

Lait Ribot ice cream

Condé Nast Traveler Hot List 2011

There's a fine line between liking and eating in new restaurants and then writing about them, getting them massive exposure and ruining the possibility of other people getting in because of the increased demand. Sorry peoples..

So, without further adieu, here is my latest sinful work in choosing the Paris and Copenhagen sections of the Condé Nast Traveler Hot Tables List 2011. If you can't get in, it's partly my fault. Consider me your gastronomic Jesus up on the cross to pay for your hot insider tables.

Le Dauphin

Rino

Relae

A day in the life

Walking into Inaki and being introduced to Rene Redzipe in front of the Verre Volé and the ensuing couple hours of drinking, conversing and generally having a fun time was the high point of my day. Week. Month. Blogging any more about it seems wrong.

Inaki Aizpitarte's new restaurant Le Dauphin

...doesn't look like it's ready for opening anytime soon, and despite having won the Le Fooding prize for "Best Decor", everything I saw looked either unfinished or covered up in plastic. Very much a work-in-progress that seemed to be composed of a lot of mirrored surfaces and marble.

That being said, the fact that people were actually working on a Saturday probably means that they hope to welcome diners soon.

For those of you not in the know, this is a rare restaurant designed by superstarchitect Rem Koolhaas (and his collaborator, Clement Blanchet) and will be a much more flexible , tapas style eatery serving lunch and dinner and drinks ,right  next to Inaki's other no choice, market menu restaurant, Le Chateaubriand.

Le Dauphin
131 avenue Parmentier , 75011 Paris
+33 1 55 28 78 88