The general public discovered him in Top Chef, with his cap always screwed on his head and his sound advice spouting off by the minute. He may be a judge on the culinary competition, but Paul Pairet is above all the chef at the head of Ultraviolet, a Shanghai restaurant awarded 3 Michelin stars in 2017.
A chef of many hats - no pun intended - Paul Pairet traveled extensively before settling in Shanghai in 2005, where he now runs three very different restaurants. While Ultraviolet is internationally renowned for its avant-garde multi-sensory concept, Mr & Mrs Bund is more of a contemporary brasserie, while Polux pays homage to the great French brasseries and the culinary traditions that go with them.
Earlier this year, Chef Pairet embarked on a new adventure, this time in France, and more specifically in Paris. TheHôtel de Crillon has called on him to completely rethink the Brasserie d'Aumont, located in the Place de la Concorde palace. A return to his roots for the chef, this was his first menu in France and Europe since the 2000s.
The result is Nonos, a chic restaurant that pays tribute to the French grill, a cuisine that you wouldn't necessarily expect to find in a Parisian palace these days - and yet, what a great idea! Meat, of course, but also fish and vegetables are gilded on the grill, which marks flesh and vegetables with its biting striations.
But before that, the bistro-style starters and hors d'oeuvres parade past: simple buttery radishes (8€), mayo whelks (14€), Arnaud Nicolas pâté en croûte (26€), mimosa eggs (14€), minute preserves of winged octopus (12€), or pimientos del piquillo (10€) grilled to perfection; while the Oyster Bar unveils its beautiful shells by the half-dozen.
Hot starters are also on the menu, with onion soup (18€), grilled octopus (26€), escargots maître d'hôtel (18€) and the famous Gruyère soufflé (18€), made voluptuous before our very eyes by a generous siphon stroke.
Then come the beasts of beauty: the devilishly melt-in-your-mouth teriyaki-lacquered beef ribs (58€), one of the Maison's signature dishes; Angus beef ribs (110€ for two) or Tomahawk beef ribs (250€ for two), steak-frites (28€), beef tenderloin (48€) ormatured entrecôte, whether Simmental (38€) or Normande (52€).
Pork, lamb, poultry, beef or veal; ribs, entrecôtes or chops, filets or contre-filets, and even a 'mixed grill' (88€) that combines a little of all these at once, all meats are featured and all parts too, without concession. But seafood is not to be outdone, with grilled half-lobster (38€), American-style fricasseed whole lobster (88€), seared anchovies (8€), grilled sea bass (46€) and XL sole meunière (150€ for two).
Certain meats are cut at the table, so the show is on, while the grill 's fragrance and grooves highlight the best cuts, which are accompanied byspinach with garlic and sesame (8€), ham and cheese coquillettes (12€), or a creamy, regressive potato gratin (12€).
The cheese platter is a pleasure to look at, smell and taste - with a special mention for the unique smoked munster - while the desserts are in keeping with the traditional style of the place, with rum-raisin rice pudding (12€), tarte à la crème (12€) made airy and crisp by the use of filo pastry, chocolate mousse (12€), Grand Marnier soufflé (14€) with a passion fruit twist, and a more contemporary weekly pastry (14€) by the palace's pastry chef Matthieu Carlin.
Alongside Nonos, Paul Pairet has also thought up Comestibles, a second space in the style of a larder or grocery counter, where charcuterie, smoked fish and cheeses can be found at any time of day and at more affordable prices.
What's certain is that with Nonos, Paul Pairet has created a very generous restaurant-grill, and such cuisine is a welcome addition to the world of palaces, whose restaurants are considered (sometimes wrongly, sometimes not) to be over-mannered places with sparing plates. This is not the case here, and it's a refreshing realization.
Location
Nonos
10 Place de la Concorde
75008 Paris 8
Official website
www.rosewoodhotels.com
