Restaurant Guy Savoy Au Paris: Best in the World (Paris Restaurant Review No. 1)

We have been back from Paris for over a month but life has been a little hectic and we wanted to make sure we had the time to do justice to the restaurants we visited. Restaurant Guy Savoy is the last restaurant we dined at in Paris, and it was the best food we've ever eaten.

The decor of the restaurant was the closest to what we would consider authentic French of all the restaurants we tried. It was sort of like a modern French country house with light rose upholstery and gaily colored walls. Lisa loved Guy Savoy especially because the maitre d' mistook her and Steve for French people, at least for a few minutes, until we explained we could only speak a little French. Unlike the stereotype, everyone here, from the maitre d' to the sommelier to the waiters, was friendly and consumately professional. And no one minded describing the dishes in English, though we did understand generally what was on the menu.

We started with a bottle of Pomerol suggested by the sommelier. Unfortunately, we don't remember the vintage, but we really liked it. Similarly, the amuse bouches were excellent, and there were several, but the passage of time leaves us at a loss as to exactly what they were (except for the dessert ones, which Lisa remembers). We do remember the excellent appetizers. We shared the Colors of Caviar, which included various types of caviar from orange to black, with plenty of good accompaniments. Lisa also had the artichoke and black truffle soup, which was creamy and tasted wonderful. We both thought the caviar was as good as we have ever had.

For main courses, Lisa had le homard bleu (lobster) and Steve ordered lamb -- which became his staple in Paris since none of the good restaurants seemed to offer beef that appealed to him. While both of us enjoyed these dishes, they were not quite as great as everything else, but they were still top quality.

One of the many reasons we both loved Paris is that all the restaurants offer a cheese course in addition to, rather than in place of, dessert and the waiters always seemed quite pleased when we ordered it. Here, the cheese came on a giant trolley with at least twenty different selections. We were encouraged to take as many as we wanted and we took many, including fantastic goat cheese with what looked like black bark for a rind. It was very smooth and creamy. Steve really liked the bleu cheese, which was Roquefort. Lisa found it a bit strong, but still liked it. All the cheeses had distinct flavors and the course was tremendously satisfying.

The dessert made us wish we could give a rating above a ten. Lisa had Noir, which consisted of three types of dark chocolate desserts. The first was a chocolate biscuit made with marzipan and marinated in lime juice. The second was chocolate ganache flavored with black pepper and cardamom. The third was a dark chocolate sorbet. All tasted very dark and nuanced. Lisa does not think she's ever had such a wonderful dessert. Steve had an unforgettable dessert trolley, which had three shelves of confections, including delicious ice creams, decadent pastries, cookies, pink marshmallows, and chocolate. Steve could have kept eating from that trolley for about five hours, but fortunately he marginally controlled himself and had about 6 or 7 choices. After that, we were treated to a dessert amuse bouche, which included wafer and sandwich cookies. Though stuffed, we ate them anyway, kidding ourselves that the walk back from the restaurant to the hotel would burn off the calories. (Ha!)

The only thing about Guy Savoy that was a bit incongruous was the bathrooms. Steve described them as airplane bathrooms because they were so small. While clean, the lack of space, coupled with the sparse decor led to a less-than-perfect experience.

Guy Savoy is definitely not cheap. Our total bill was 750 Euros (about $1200) and would have still been about $900 with wine by the glass. Nonetheless, we felt it was worth every penny and was, in fact, the best restaurant we have ever eaten at. If you are going to Paris and can afford one major splurge, this is a must. You will thank us for the recommendation.

Our ratings for Restaurant Guy Savoy, 18 Rue Troyon, Paris:

10 of 10 Berets (seems more appropriate than steak knives for Paris) and 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes