It's hard not to be excited by Le Chateaubriand. It is effortlessly cool, understated yet accomplished, democratic, affordable and, perhaps most importantly, fun. Its lack of airs and graces – hard chairs and bare tables, the take-it-or-leave-it five-course fixed-price menu and the championing of natural wines – is not to everyone's tastes, but Le Chateaubriand doesn't really care. Inaki Aizpitarte, the rock-star chef of this restaurant, speaks another dialect entirely. In his case, it’s Basque: strong, palate-rousing flavors and brash presentations that smack of the art student. Whether a particular dish resembles Action Art or naturalism, everything is expertly, calculatedly off-the-cuff. The self-taught chef made his name at La Famille, a boho Montmartre spot, with an intellectual approach that sometimes bordered on painful. Happily, now that he’s moved to the 11th Arrondissement he’s eschewed such gimmickry in favor of the raw and the sous vide. It’s gutsy food, and he doesn’t care if you like it: he’s full every night anyway. (The trick is to have an early nibble, then show up, say, at 10, for the second seating, for which they don’t take reservations.) Chef Inaki Aizpitarte is the unofficial leader (and handsome poster boy) of France's neo-bistrot movement, and Le Chateaubriand was recently rated the 11th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, the highest ranking for any French restaurant. Aizpitarte's regularly changing 45€ prix-fixe menu offers no choices, but open-minded diners are rewarded with some of the most innovative flavor pairings in Paris. You may try rare tuna slices in pink beet foam flavored with pomegranate seeds or eel flavored with orange juice and olive oil. Not every single plate is a winner, but usually at least three of four dishes tend to be brilliant.
Contact Details
Address: 129 Avenue Parmentier, Paris 75011, France
