• Home
  • Choose a tour
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Wonderful Time Blog

You love to travel, but you hate being a tourist ? Meet our local Talents for a unique experience in France.

Encounter Coco Chanel in Paris with Wonderful Time, Banner Ad
  • Accommodation
  • Events
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Tours
  • Wine

Behind the scenes with a food critic

8 July 2014 By Stéphanie Hajjar

Food critic Pierre-Yves Chupin brought back the Lebey restaurant guides. He and his team of 20 culinary experts test the best restaurants in the capital and surrounding areas. As someone who has his finger on the pulse of the culinary scene, he shares with us the latest trends and changes in Parisian restaurant culture.

2014-05-13 15.16.31 

Pierre-Yves is on WonderfulTime with Franck, chef at Le caillebotte, Paris

What is the first thing you notice when you go to a restaurant?

First, the quality of the cooking: the freshness of the products, the integrity of the dish, its presentation, its temperature. We also pay close attention to the wine list, as well as the coffee and the bread. And of course, the atmosphere and service. Our golden rule is to never go to a restaurant on its opening day. You have to give a chef time to settle in and get his or her bearings.

In your opinion, what makes a good chef?

There are two types of great chefs: the creative ones, who dare to combine foods in innovative ways, and who use innovative preparation methods, and the technical experts, who focus on the products used, respecting traditional methods, and discipline in cooking. I have equal respect for both.

Paris no longer has a monopoly on gastronomy. Will it be passed up by other European cities?

Stockholm, London and Barcelona in particular use gastronomy as a marketing tool by promoting their best restaurants. But tourists can’t be fooled. They still consider Paris the ultimate culinary destination with its historic restaurants and contemporary bistros. Every week a new restaurant opens, and there is a sort of noble competitiveness here when it comes to culinary achievement. Paris also attracts many foreign chefs who want to learn and test themselves against our expertise. There have never been as many Japanese chefs in Paris as there are now. They take their own culture as seriously as they do our culinary heritage to the point of becoming the best ambassadors of our classics. There is nothing better than a pot au feu prepared by a Japanese chef!

Your two guides cover more than 1,000 restaurants.What type of cuisine is most popular at the moment?

Bistros are hotter than they have ever been. This can be explained by the proximity of the chef, dishes focused on the ingredients, the friendly atmosphere… Bistros are the Parisians’ second dining room.

And this is why you take WonderfulTime visitors to Caillebotte.

Exactly. I want to help them get into this Parisian bistro we named “Best Bistro of the Year,” take the time to have a gourmet dinner with them, let them spend a moment in the shoes of a food critic and learn what to look for when critiquing a restaurant. They’ll meet the chef in conditions normally reserved for journalists, and he’ll take some time to explain his work and even share some of his best recipes with them.

Experience a wonderful time:

www.wonderfultime.com/en/paris/experiences/discover/index/20-behind-the-scenes-with-a-food-critic

 

 

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Bistronomy, culinary trends, food critic, gastronomy, Paris

Stay in tune with Paris

Get the latest updates via email. Also hear about special events for your upcoming trip to Paris.

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

MORE PARIS ADVENTURES

Jardin du Luxembourg, summertime.

Paris Summer Nights | 16 Parks & Gardens in Paris Open 24/7

8 August 2017 By Stéphanie Hajjar

Coco Chanel, the life and legend in Paris

An intimate encounter with Coco Chanel in Paris

13 June 2017 By Stéphanie Hajjar

Gold and silver lion door-knob, N°16 rue Séguier, Paris, France.

Everything you need near Place Saint-Michel in Paris

18 April 2017 By Stéphanie Hajjar

Discover the secrets of making French baguettes with Wonderful Time, Sidebar Ad

YOUR WONDERFUL TIME

TAGS

baking Bistronomy books bread brothels cooking culinary trends explore fashion food critic French Fête de la Gastronomie Fête des Jardins gardens gastronomy haute couture haute cuisine Heritage Days lifestyle marais Michelin museums Paris paris le marais parks travel wine Yves Saint Laurent

SEARCH

Copyright © 2023 · Wonderful Time

GET YOUR FREE COPY OF 10 PARIS LOCALS

qlkshflqkshdfqlkhsf