I had the privilege of visiting Restaurant Anne in Paris a few weeks ago during my European trip. Restaurant Anne is a Michelin star restaurant headed up by Chef Mathieu Pacaud. For those who don’t know, Chef Mathieu was essentially born into the culinary industry; he is the son of two highly renowned chefs. Restaurant Anne is located in the beautiful 5 star hotel, Pavillon de la Reine & Spa, in the heart of Place des Vosges.

Where to even begin with this review… Let me start off with Wow! Wow, what an incredible experience it was to dine at Restaurant Anne. The food was superb and the service nothing short of brilliant. So here goes…

We arrived at Pavillon de la Reine and were astonished by the beautiful courtyard and vine covered exterior of the building. Once entering, we were shown to our table which was beautifully and pristinely set. We had booked for the lunch tasting menu and paired it with a gorgeous Bordeaux style cabernet sauvignon; the sommelier’s recommendation within our price range. (In case you may have missed this tip in one of my previous reviews, I always recommend rather going for lunch when visiting popular Michelin star restaurants. Lunch is typically more affordable than dinner and there are often great weekday specials. So be sure to book well in advance and rather opt for a weekday lunch.) We were very quickly served a beautifully plated amuse bouche. It was a pigeon croquet served with wasabi. To my South African readers, you read that correctly. Pigeon. I’ll be honest, it was a bit of a mental challenge to convince myself to give the croquet a try (I’m not exactly a fan of live pigeons either – I have a slight irrational phobia). But I was pleasantly surprised. It did taste good and had I not known it was pigeon, I’d probably have loved it. For starters I opted for the butternut which was served in a brown butter emulsion and sorrel (tart fruity rhubarb like) fondue topped with black truffle. The truffle was shaved over the plates at our table. What a lovely starter. For my second course, I selected the Sole Amandine which consisted of a succulent piece of sole topped with almonds and served with daikon, clams and the most immaculate lemon cream sauce I have ever tasted. This dish was absolutely phenomenal! I could, honestly, have eaten four of these dishes and nothing else and still left feeling extremely satisfied. The third course was the saddle of lamb served with millefeuille potato and scamorza cheese. The lamb was beautifully cooked and well paired with the tasty potato side. For dessert I chose the poached pear which was served with wine, a caramel honey crisp and gingerbread ice-cream. It was a perfectly balanced fresh and decadent dessert. We ended off our meal with two gorgeous little petit fours; a lovely end to an incredible meal.

Restaurant Anne is truly gorgeous, boasting a clean elegant feel to it. Quite fittingly, the restaurant also shares a name with my grandmother, making my experience even more memorable. The dishes were magnificent and all beautifully presented. The service from Restaurant Anne staff was incredible. Thoroughly enjoyed my experience. I hope to visit again one day and enjoy more of that phenomenal Sole Amandine.