Well-deserved 3 Michelin stars with an unacceptable waiting time for the cheese waggon: Restaurant L’Assiette Champenoise (19. May 2023)
It is a bit ago since I’ve last been to a restaurant with 3 Michelin stars, so I was looking forward quite a bit to dine at the L’Assiette Champenoise. When you enter the place, you can see that quite some thought has been put into the overall setup.
At the entrance, there is modern and interesting decoration like a panther Mickey Mouse, which was something I definitely found entertaining.
Once you have arrived, you’re led into the garden are where you get to sit down and relax in one of the sofas to enjoy your first amuse bouches.
You are getting one menu which is relatively sturdy, but interesting to look at. And ultimately, you have the option for the “Tasting Menu” (EUR 385.00), which is definitely on the pricier side of things, but still cheaper than if you were to go à la carte with a starter, a main and a dessert.
As soon as you have placed your order, you are served a few bites in the garden, which were great in terms of flavour and structure.
However, it was a bit confusing, since we were a group of five people, and some of the amuse bouches were brought five times, others eight times. Not sure why, but I definitely found it quite confusing.
Finally, it’s time to enter the restaurant, where you’re sent on an hours-long culinary journey through the courses of the tasting menu.
Once seated, you’re looking at some kind of thing, which looks interesting and is quite heavy. Turns out, this is nothing but decoration. No secret mechanism, no surprise – unfortunately!
The evening inside then starts with “home-made bread with regular butter, salted butter, and smoked and salted butter” and I must say, I absolutely loved the smoked and salted butter. It went perfectly well with the, admittedly, very tasty bread.
The first course was the “bee hive from our garden” – and I must say, it was a great start into the evening. The honey flavours from the bee hive and the sourness of the cream. An absolutely great combination!
The “green asparagus from S. Erhardt / egg juice” was nice and refined, so it turned out to be enjoyable.
What I truly liked though was the combination with the “brioche” and the two sauces. In general, the whole experience turned out to be quite of a saucey experience (in its literal sense) since the father of the chef was an actual sauce expert. And this tradition carries on in the family.
Next in line were “peas with cream cheese” and I must say I do like peas. However, unfortunately, they were not the lagrima peas I love so much, but they were, nevertheless, a good bite and had an interesting add to give it a bit of texture.
Next in line was a dish I absolutely liked. Simple, sure, but also great! The “mashed potato with caviar” was amazing since the mashed potatoes were prepared with a lot of butter, so they were super aromatic and flavour-intense. On top of that, the caviar added to the dish since it helped balanced the smoothness of the mashed potatoes with the saltiness of the caviar. Simple, but delicious!
Personally, I was a bit disappointed by the “Brittany blue lobster – in homage to my father”. I mean, it was absolutely a good dish, no complaints, but in terms of flavour explosion, this turned out to be relatively ‘un-eventful’. Compared to something like a carabiñero, the flavour of the lobster was just not at the same level.
Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed the “red mullet with shellfish cream” quite a bit. I mean, not because I generally dislike red mullet, but it’s often a fish, which isn’t prepared in a very appealing manner. Very differently in this case!
One of my absolutely favourite dishes that evening was the “squab pigeon pie with foie gras and spinach”. When I saw the description and got it served, I didn’t feel like this was going to make me very happy. But when I had the first bite, it did. Usually, pigeon has a bit of a gamey texture and I just couldn’t imagine this in combination with foie gras, but it turns out that this works great. And the reduction with which it is served just works absolutely perfectly!
Then it was time for a little dish after the main, a “salad with yogurt lettuce cream” (aka ‘the vinaigrette’). It looked relatively dull, but actually turned out to be a tasty bite. Given that one of the party didn’t like ‘vinaigrette’, the tartelet was brought again without vinaigrette, which led to a massive delay in the orchestration and …
… we ended up waiting a solid 40 minutes to get the cheese from the “cheese waggon”, turning a great dinner in a bit of a downer. I mean, when it’s 10:38pm when you get the ‘salad’ served and you’re almost done, then you kind of look forward to an end. And it turns out the cheese was ultimately served at 11:20pm, which is just too long a waiting time for it to be pleasant.
Last but not least, the “friandises” were a nice ending to the evening. But … turns out, they were not the ending. Usually, they are the very last bite, but somehow, this wasn’t the case here and after the friandises, it was time for dessert.
The dessert was “valrhona chocolate with orange bio Sicily” and I must say, despite the fact that I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, the dish turned out to be exquisite.
What I absolutely loved was the “chocolate sorbet”. Yes, sorbet! In this form, I think I’d be able to enjoy chocolate more often than I usually do.
In summary, the L’Assiette Champenoise had a fulminant start and then a very confusing ending, which is a bit of a pity because you leave a bit dissatisfied with a sour aftertaste after the whole waiting episode. To be fair, the atmosphere is great, the service does a good job, the sommelier was on point with his recommendations and was still very jovial, and the food is good as well. A few nice surprises, but nothing which I will remember for the rest of my life from a flavour perspective. Maybe the chocolate sorbet. Worth booking, but definitely on the pricier side of things.
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Contact Details:
Restaurant L’Assiette Champenoise
Av. Paul Vaillant-Couturier 40
51430 Tinqueux (F)
Tel.: +33 3 26 84 64 64
E-Mail: infos@assiettechampenoise.com
Homepage: http://www.assiettechampenoise.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
