The “Baltard Au Louvre” restaurant

They are experts with taste! Laurent Fréchet (Pirouette rue Mondétour  and Zebulon at the Palais Royal) and Vincent Sitz opened “Baltard au Louvre” last July, in place of an old and beautiful business that had been closed for 10 years, the Pavillon Baltard, located 600 meters from the Relais du Louvre.

The neighborhood is changing tremendously. The Les Halles underpass, which caused the decline of the old address, is now closed to traffic and just opposite the restaurant is the beautiful Bourse du Commerce, currently under construction. The architect Tadao Ando was chosen to transform this unique place and, in a few months time, turn it into a museum of contemporary art which would welcome the Pinault collections. We will go into details later…

The decor is sleek with a pleasant glass roof overlooking a beautiful terrace across from the future museum, just next to the Jardin des Halles. It is a great location, neither stuffy nor conservative.

The cuisine is French, traditional, and with gourmet appeal. It is distinguished by Ewout Vranckx.

This 35-year-old chef from Antwerp has worked alongside the most prestigious chefs in the best French restaurants: Louis XV under Alain Ducasse,  Ledoyen Pavilion with Christian Le Squer , and Restaurant Meurice under Yannick Alléno. 

Here’s a little bit more about the chef

The chef offers a 3 or 4 course service, with a choice from among twenty dishes and desserts, all prepared on the spot. The 3-course menu is offered at €39 and the 4-course menu at €45, but you can, of course, order à la carte. We are offered accessible gourmet food.

It emphasizes the know-how of small regional producers in a sustainable development approach: Seasonal products, short menu, sorting of bio-waste…

We started out with these roasted langoustine prawns, pickles in cream, and an emulsion of carrots with horseradish (€14). It’s very fresh, the vegetables have a great taste, and the emulsion is slightly highlighted by the taste of horseradish. Remarkable.

We also enjoyed the very balanced mixture of the scallops with candied chestnuts and emulsion of chestnuts (€18). 

We must also mention the black sesame cake, topped with crispy white sesame seeds and kumquat (€13). It is soft and mellow in contrast to the acidity of kumquat and the crispy white sesame granola.

There is also the pan-fried foie gras with lemon and satay, and quinoa (€23). It was a good idea to have married a crunchy food with a fondant foie gras.

And to finish, a wonderful lemon chocolate! Another creative idea that associates cocoa with the acidity of lemon. A success.

The wine list, rich in organic and natural flasks, includes 160 references and is signed by the talented enologist Jean-Marie Fréchet.

The presentation is aesthetic, the welcome is authentic, and the prices, hoping they don’t rise, are quite correct for the quality of the cuisine and the place.

BALTARD AU LOUVRE

9 rue Coquillière – 75001 Paris

09 83 32 01 29

Open from Monday to Saturday, 12 pm to 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm to 10 pm. Sunday, from 12 pm to 2:30 pm

https://www.baltard.com/english