ze kitchen galerie was the restaurant which kicked off our little unintended 8-star, 4-day gastronomic tour in Paris.

IT’s friends booked this restaurant for us because it was the first night when all of us arrived in Paris and the restaurant is within walking distance of where we were staying in the Latin Quarter. We did not know it received one Michelin star until I started writing the posts about our Paris trip.

The chef – William Leudeuil – said on the restaurant’s web site that he wants the place to function as a studio/restaurant/gallery – so the food is prepared in an open kitchen the dining room has a rotating art exhibition. I(Chris) did not think it worked because of the physical space – too small and crowded.   While the concept is laudable, its execution was not effective – at least we did not feel the atmosphere. For the idea to work, I think it requires a warehouse or at least a loft – there are plenty of  successful examples in New York’s meatpacking district.

The restaurant was packed and most of the patrons as far as we could tell were Parisians, which was reassuring. Eat where the locals eat.

We ordered à la carte and found quite a few Thai-inspired dishes. In fact, the chef stated that he wants to reinterpret Asian flavors to create new fusions.

Same dish before and after a sauce/soup was poured atop.

Overall, we liked ze kitchen galerie. It deserves its one Michelin star. But we will only go there when we are in the mood of Thai-French fusion dishes which were inventive and well prepared.

ze kitchen galerie is at 4 rue des Grands Augustins – the nearest metro is St Michel.