Dining in Rive-Gauche Parisian style - Brasserie Lutetia, Paris
Dear readers, perhaps it might sound a bit silly, but how many of you know how the city name ‘Paris’ came about? At first, it was my curiosity, and then one day I stopped by a French bookstore and started to find out that the name ‘Paris’, should be traced back to the Gallic tribe back in the Iron Age and the Roman era, around the middle of the third century BCE, a larger group of the Gallic tribe, named ‘Parisii’, settled on a small island in the middle of the Seine river, which is the present-day’s Île de la Cité, and this Gallo-Roman town was called ‘Lutetia’ (or ‘Lutetia Parisorum’ – ‘Lutetia of the Parisii’). In the fifth century when it became the capital of the Merovingian dynasty of French kings, the town then became ‘Paris’ as what we know today, as a result, Paris also has a ‘nickname’ called Lutetia. From here, you may ask: “What does all this do with refined menswear or luxury lifestyle?”, and that’s because I am going to take you all to experience a wonderful dinner at the fine restaurant located in the luxurious Parisian hotel - Hôtel Lutetia.
photo source: tripadvisor.com
Located in the chic ‘Rive Gauche’ (right bank) of Paris in the heart of Saint Germain des Prés, Hôtel Lutetia combined modern Parisian chic, luxury travel, and its profound association of art-of-living with esteemed artists, intellectuals, and even fashion designer in the past. I first came across this beautiful hotel back in 2006 when I was watching the reality fashion TV show ‘Project Runway’ season 3, the episode when those designer contestants were headed to Paris for a couture competition, and then my visit to Le Bon Marché back in some years back for a quick glimpse of the exterior of the hotel. I learnt that the hotel was undergoing some renovation during the pandemic a few years back, and I always have a thought of having an afternoon tea there if I can revisit Paris again; fast forward to July last year, I eventually made it to Hôtel Lutetia, instead of having an afternoon tea, I decided to go for a great dinner at their Brasserie Lutetia this time.
The modern sleek interior of Brasserie Lutetia brings contemporary Parisian chic to life, playing the simplicity chic in a dark ambient with the interior of white walls, soothing warm light, and the black-and-white marble flooring, the thoughtful and stylish dining furniture in sleek white marble table top, matching with black steel chairs in simple design, and a wooden long dining table with a set of tangerine-colored cushioned wooden chairs, giving a combination of soft-and-hard modernity to the overall mood. Now we have a delightful atmosphere, but what about the food?
The dish is indeed as chic and impressive as the interior; I started with a glass of champagne as a refreshing aperitif (of course! It’s Paris.), and then I went straight to the main course, the dish that I ordered was an organic grilled Salmon “café de Paris” with green vegetables, the presentation is just neat and chic, the salmon is succulent without burning it too char nor overdone, and the green vegetable is the fresh baby green beans, cooked with mild oil and green herbs, which was prepared nicely and tasty (even though I am not exactly a fan of green beans, it’s still delicious that I can able to finish that up).
While there are a variety of pastries as dessert, I decided to go for the strawberry cake in the end, the little delicate dark chocolate disc with the restaurant logo on, with the freshly cut ruby-red strawberries and the thick layer of a solid cream, this little piece of delicious pastry simply giving a beautiful finale of the whole dining experience, something tasty but not too sweet, delicate and memorable, it reminds me how much I have been yearning for, to be here in person at this historic and sumptuous Parisian hotel, to experience a quintessential modern Parisian dining experience with a flair of fashionable Rive-Gauche chic.
cover pic: tripadvisor.com