Chef Thibault Nizard took a major step forward this year with the opening of his first restaurant in Paris, a stone's throw from the Palais-Royal and the Louvre, soberly named L'Aube, like a poetic, long-desired birth. At the age of 30, the Paris-born chef has taken his time, acquiring over the years experience in the finest French gastronomy, as well as a precise idea of what his first table would one day be.
From the stoves of Le Collectionneur and Le Chiberta, where he began his apprenticeship, Thibault Nizard went on to rub shoulders with three-star chefs Alain Solivérès at Le Taillevent and Gérald Passédat at Le Petit Nice, before returning to Le Taillevent, first in the 110, then as sous-chef of thehistoric address. Undeniably drawn to the three-star level, the young sous-chef later joined Guy Savoy at La Monnaie de Paris, and completed his journey of the belles Maisons at Drouant, asEmile Cotte 's second and then head chef at just 28 years of age.
Excellence, elegance, rigor and discipline in mind, Thibault Nizard opens L'Aube in place of Zebulon. With its double exposure, the restaurant extends its 320m2 from the rue de Richelieu to the rue de Montpensier, all in sobriety and contemporaneity. With gray and blue tones and designer lighting in the shape of ship's blades, the restaurant plays the purity card.
Yet it's in this hushed setting, with its crisp white tablecloths and meticulous service, that everything is played out before aesthetes' eyes. The kitchen opens onto the dining room, and the chef's table seats six, with a front-row seat in front of the black granite pass where Thibault Nizard prepares the dishes and desserts at a moment's notice; but also with the cutting and flambéing carried out directly in the dining room, under the direction ofElinor Nizard, the chef's wife.
Whether it's the food or the beverages, the idea here is to let yourself be carried away and have blind faith in this chef, who has trained with some of the greatest - which is to say, it's easy to be convinced. The menu is divided into several tasting menus: 3-course lunch (€49), 5-course lunch and dinner (€95), 7- and 9-course dinner only (€150, €190), and even an after-show menu, available by reservation between 10 and 11 pm to coincide with the closing of nearby theaters.
The 300 or so wine references can be discovered through food and wine pairings dreamed up by the head sommelier and the well-stocked cellars - 6000 bottles strong - located beneath the restaurant and open to visitors before dinner.
L'Aube is undeniably gastronomic in its dressings, service, pairings and table preparations, and is even aiming for the stars of a certain red guide. Lunch gets off to a gentle start with tomato amuse-bouches (confit, tartar with pickles and vanilla vinaigrette, parfait givré) and a dish vying for the title of 'best foie gras creation' in the Lebey guide: foie gras in ice cider jelly and apple compote deglazed with cider, chutney-style.
But it's afterwards that things really get going, with these mussels in Sichuan curry butter, deglazed in a carrot reduction and served with chorizo, yellow and red tomatoes from Ile-de-France, a chorizo emulsion and a devilishly tasty mussel au gratin.
Lunch even ends on a high note, with a charolais beef chuck that looks like a royal hare, covered in a red wine sauce with foie gras butter (devilishly reduced and glazed, not surprising for this chef, a trained saucier), and raviole stuffed with mushroom duxelles. We dive into autumn without looking back!
Thibault Nizard is also at work on the sweet side, with a palet of plum marinated in plum and lavender juice, red plum and greengage compote, vanilla tuile and lavender ice cream.
We're not taking too many risks in announcing that Thibault Nizard's L'Aube has everything it takes to compete for the Michelin 2024 guide.
Official website
www.laube-paris.com
