Continuing with our impromptu gastronomic tour of Paris …

Beside Passage 53 (posted here), another 2-star restaurant we went to was Thierry Marx‘s Sur Mesure in the Mandarin Oriental on Rue Saint-Honoré.  

The interior of the restaurant is rather unusual. The walls and the ceiling are all covered by white leather and occasionally, the leather formed bubbles or it was torn and then folded into abstract 3-D things on the wall. The photo below shows the entrance to the restaurant which had a large mirrored door.

The dining room reminded me (Chris) of a padded cell where crazy people in strait jacket are held so that they cannot hurt themselves. Because of the sound absorbing quality of the walls and ceiling, it is a very tranquil place even when the restaurant is full.  Some aspects of the room suggest a refined, hi-tech environment – like that air created in Ridley Scott’s recent movie Prometheus. The Michelin guide praised the decor as stunning, immaculate and ethereal.

Celebrity sighting !  – IT recognized the small lady (facing-in) as the fashion designer – Sonia Rykiel.

The chef, Thierry Marx, is known to apply molecular techniques. The ambiance of the dining room matched the food which were served in clear glass bowl resembling laboratory glassware.

Small bites. Packed with combos of flavors.

The waiter explained to us the dishes that were served, as they are not listed on the menu.

Cold fresh pea soup with a drop of flavored oil (forgot the flavor)

Egg yolk / minty green peas / tomatoes foccacia

The presentation of this dish is dramatic.

A starter.

As we went during lunch time, the menu had only 5 items but they served us several additional small delicacies.

 

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The meal ended with these little sweet things.

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We only had lunch but was happy with our food and the attentive service. Contrast this with our disappointing experience at Alain Passard’s L’Arpège (posted here).

We all agreed that it is worth revisiting Sur Mesure for dinner when we are back in town. This post concludes the sharing of our 8-star, 4 day gastronomic tour of Paris.