A gustatory trip to Paris with chef Ollie Dabbous

This article is part of a guide to Paris from FT Globetrotter

For summer holidays, I love rough and ready, rustic and unrefined, sandy and scruffy. For city breaks, I head for the other end of the spectrum: something rather more indulgent and sophisticated. It should feel like a treat, though it doesn’t have to cost the earth. Luxury, for myself, is not just what I am enjoying, but actually having the time to do so.

I finally made it to Paris, one of my favourite cities, this spring for a weekend made even better by glorious weather. We stayed at the Grand Powers hotel, which is well located on Rue François 1er in the “Golden Triangle”. It has a touch of the Wes Anderson about it and offers fantastic value, especially given where it is. The staff couldn’t be more helpful or personable.

My first stop was the Château Voltaire hotel’s Brasserie Émil, which was a highly polished, no-nonsense encounter. Black-and-white-tiled floors and deep wooden banquettes are the backdrop for a simple menu of delicious homely cooking, which is somehow quite decadent in its service: shiny copper pans and well-groomed waiters — this was cosseting à la YSL. I recommend starting with the sliced sea bass, prepared simply with olive oil and lemon, followed by a steak frites with peppercorn sauce. For dessert: chocolate mousse. The portions are enormous, you only need to order one for two people, and probably still won’t manage to finish it.

The next day brought us to La Cour Jardin at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, the iconic courtyard adorned with red awnings and seriously impressive foliage: creepers cascading down eight floors, tangled and tussled but meticulously maintained. At a time when every new or struggling restaurant seems to throw fake flowers all over entrances for the inane Instagram addicts, this offers a timely reminder of how nature simply cannot be replicated. That sense of wellbeing when in the sun, in a beautiful space and surrounded by lush greenery, is hard to beat — let alone when that is captured in the heart of Paris.

The menu itself, in both form and content, is a joy. It’s decorated with botanical prints — I wanted to just enjoy looking at it before properly reading its pitch-perfect collection of dishes, offering exactly what one wants to eat in France in the warmer months. There are plenty of vegetables and fish on offer, and no gimmickry in sight. It’s hard not to crack a smile when one of the dishes is simply called “artichokes with my brother’s goat’s cheese”. The service was friendly, and the bill was not as unfriendly as you might imagine. I would go back again in a heartbeat.

The final stop was perhaps the least known and the most enigmatic: Pétrelle, a small restaurant on a street that bears the same name, just east of Pigalle. It serves only a tasting menu and (at weekends) a set lunch: diners have no choice, but there’s no need. Tasting menus, in the hands of chefs who love food and love to eat, can feel like a privilege, as if you are at the hands of a master of their trade. The most memorable dishes were the lamb tartare with broad beans, and a chilled asparagus soup that was served with fresh seaweed. Though every course was a delight — as was our waiter, the sole waiter in fact, in this tiny establishment. The empty tables at the end of the night were a like a still-life of good times had. It was the best combination of humility and hospitality, the amazing staff breathing life into the dishes and the service. Pétrelle was both utterly charming in its lack of pretence and dignified in its sincerity.

Apparently there is such a thing as Paris Syndrome, which occurs when tourists are disappointed when the reality of the city doesn’t meet their unrealistic expectations. They expect to see the Eiffel Tower in beautiful blazing sunshine, not the chewing gum or rubbish on its surrounding streets. But cities don’t exist without people and people are flawed; Paris would not be Paris without Parisians, who do make their city extraordinary. As a chef during a time when service industries in London are struggling and people are turning their backs on customer-facing positions, it was a joy to be a customer for a change, especially in a place where people are genuine professionals in their field and take pride in their job: the chef, the waiter, the bellboy. I left replete in every sense.

Ollie Dabbous is the co-founder and executive chef of the Michelin starred Hide in Piccadilly, London

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