Photo : D.R.
You could call this a positive effect of the financial crisis: refined dishes concocted by great chefs are becoming more accessible. However, Guillaume Delage, Head Chef of the new bistro Jadis close to the Palais des Expositions in Paris does not want to hear any mention of the recession. He is offering his menus, at lunchtime and dinnertime, for 32 euros: “This is the price that I’ve wanted to offer for a long time now. It corresponds to the expectations of many businesspeople or tourists. This is a price that works at the moment.”
Originally from Limoges, Guillaume Delage, formerly at the helm of Pierre Gagnaire’s Gaya, is now cooking up original, even ancestral dishes at the Jadis: his lentil and whelk marinière is followed by grilled head cheese with brain meunière and swedes, or else wasabi ocean perch. Mains can be nicely rounded off by the enchantingly named apple flognard with a “lazy” calvados cream.
“At lunchtime, people want good quality but they don’t want to spend too much,” observes Jean-Paul Arabian at Le Caméléon, the new favourite restaurant in Paris Montparnasse. This is a place to rub shoulders with international businessmen, editors and the Left Bank bourgeoisie. You will also find red velvet chairs, heavy wood, ceiling mouldings and the best calf’s liver in Paris, cut in slices, perfectly pan-fried and deglazed with vinegar. This melt-in-the-mouth dish makes an ideal marriage with green lentils from Puy. The lunch menus at 25 or 30 euros are great classics based on refined quality products. “At lunchtime, I offer a 50 % discount,” admits Jean-Paul Arabian, a man who is both straightforward and elegant. This emblematic figure of the Parisian restaurant scene formerly managed the Ledoyen.
Client numbers at restaurants have without a doubt dropped in recent times. The idea of making lunchtime menus into foretastes for dinner offerings is also practised in Berlin. “We are offering a light business lunch so that people will come back in the evening,” confirms Kerstin Riedel, Communications Manager for the restaurant Vox at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in the modern Potsdamer Platz district in Berlin. This establishment attracts financial and media types. At lunch, you can taste a duck breast with a duck leg ragout, almond mousse and peppered cherries, with vegetables or potatoes, for 14 euros. Also in Berlin, the lunchtime concept that borrows from evening menus is available at the venerable Refugium. This restaurant was entirely renovated in 2006, but you can still lunch under its baroque vaults: smoked salmon and caviar for starters, blood sausage and foie gras for mains, and a coconut crème brûlée (29 euros).
Meanwhile, in London, lunch is on at the restaurant L’Oranger, holder of 3 Michelin stars, close to Piccadilly, where the French head chef from the Périgord, Laurent Michel draws inspiration from the Mediterranean, with menus ranging from 25 pounds or 28.20 euros (for 2 courses), to 29 pounds or 32 euros (for 3 courses): mushroom and mascarpone risotto or rib-eye steak with pepper sauce… At the Chor Bizarre, the décor may be retro, but prices are fashionable: this is one of London’s top Indian restaurants, where tables are much sought after by Mayfair’s business crowd. You can dine regally here for 15 euros.
Finally, in Paris, the recession has led the very hip La Maison Blanche (literally, the White House) to launch its New Deal, in the evening as well as at lunch. The new measures are highly attractive: dishes, which previously cost around 100 to 150 euros à la carte, can now be tasted in a 69 euro menu, dessert and view over Paris rooftops included.
Best to book:
Chor Bizarre
16 Albemarie Street
Mayfair, London
00.44.(0) 871.971.6387
Jadis
208, rue de la Croix-Nivert
75015 Paris
00.33.(0) 1.45.57.73.20
La Maison Blanche
15 avenue Montaigne
75008 PARIS
00.33.(0) 1 47 23 55 99
Le Caméléon
20 rue de Monttessuy
75006 Paris
00.33.(0) 1.45.51.21.55
L’Oranger
5 St James’s Street
St James, London
00.44 .(0) 872.148.4134
Refugium
5 Gendarmenmarkt
Berlin
00.49.(0) 30.2291.661
Vox
2 Marlene-Dietrich-Platz
Berlin
0049.(0) 30.2553.1772
English 
