silex74

Hi there... my husband and I just got back from a weekend in Paris (we live in London and were there to meet up some friends from NY). We had dinner at Helene Darroze (2 michelin stars) in St. Germain and wanted to warn everyone about the service... it was terrible! It began with the sommelier referring to us as amateurs to one of his colleagues in french b/c the bottle of wine we ordered was 'only' €75, we ordered foie gras as an appetizer and waited 20 minutes for the bread, they never cleared our appetizer plates so when the entree arrived they didn't know what to do, there were several occassions when all of our wine glasses were empty and we had to ask for our bottle, and to top it off...when we ordered coffee we waited 25 minutes for the sugar! The waiters were completely unattentive to our table, yet they were hovering around the other tables as they were filled with locals.

At this point, we finally complained to the maitre'd and all he did was offer us a glass of champagne! At this point, our evening had been ruined (and three of us were celebrating our 30th birthday), so we asked for the bill and left. We have eaten at many michelin star restaurants in NY, Paris, Rome & London...and this was by far THE WORST service we have ever received. It is a shame because the food is very, very good, but at €200+ per person, Helene Darroze should be embarassed at the service she offers.

mamc

We have been hearing worse and worse things about the service at Helene Darroze. In addition, I have heard that the restaurant looks a bit careworn and the food is not living up to the raves of two or three years ago. Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience. I'll take it off the "maybe" list for our October trip.

ira

Real bummer, silex.

Have you written Mlle Darroze?

Scarlett

Oh what a shame! That is terrible and I do hope you write a nice letter to Mlle Darroze and tell her exactly how you liked the treatment her employees offered you!
Was this in the Upstairs part of the restaurant?
We were there about 3 years ago and everything was perfect, but that might have been because they were new and trying harder.
Do write to her!!
I hope the rest of your weekend made up for that few hours of annoyance.

silex74

We did dine upstairs and the food was excellent, and the decor very nice...however, the service was a nightmare...and although I hate to think this, we felt that they were particulary rude b/c we were the only americans in the restaurant (however 2 of do speak french). The other tables seemed to be getting alot of attention and service. Its a shame b/c we were debating between Helene Darroze and Plaza Athenee and chose Darroze b/c of the great reviews we read and of course, now we regret it.

One place that I highly recommend for a bistro type dinner is Chez Georges in the Bourse area. We had a wonderful meal (foie gras, escargot, cote de bouef with beranise, frites, profiteroles drowning in chocolate). It was filled with locals, yet the staff was so nice and tried very hard to make us feel welcome. Our waitress was a lovely older woman who was a gem - it was perfect!

Barb

silex74: Can you tell me exactly where Chez George is. I am not familiar with the Bourse area. I will be in Paris next week and would like to add this to my list of eateries. Thanks

111op

I believe it's this one:

Chez Georges
1, rue du Mail - 75002 Paris - France
01 47 03 34 28

I've seen it recommended by a bunch of sources but I've never eaten there. It sounds lovely (it's an old-style bistro, if I read the reviews correctly).

dlgnyc

We ate there in January, and were VERY disappointed. We had dined there two years ago and had such an amazing experience that we decided to go back for a belated Birthday dinner. The service was bad, sommelier rude, my main course was cold (and they reheated it instead of remaking it) and to top it all off the prices had more than doubled. A meal that was $250 Euros in 2002, was over $500 in 2004. We still love the armagnac but will not go back for the food.

awbaker

We ate there (the upstairs restaurant) last year, and we were also appalled by the service and with some of the shabby decor. When we arrived the maitre d' wouldn't even grant us a smile as she greeted us. Then she showed us to a table right by the kitchen, at which I was presented a very stained velvet chair. The entire restaurant upstairs was decorated in brilliant shades of velvet but some of it looked stained or worn.

We ordered the tasting menu, paired with wine for my husband but not for me since I was pregnant. They still poured a tiny bit of wine for me at every course -- although they never did charge me for my wine pairings. This and the food were the only nice things we found with our experience there. The service was very spotty. I didn't feel that the wait staff was rude, but they just seemed so unprofessional and sometimes rather clueless compared to other michelin-starred restaurants or good restaurants here in NY. We, like you, also had horribly long waits between each course, so the meal ended up being 4 1/2 hours long. And also like you, we regretted the money and time we spent there. We had been so excited to dine there, too, especially since she had just earned her second star a month before we dined there.

cigalechanta

It's amazing how many people have complained about her restaurant. On another forum, a food writer went three times to make sure he didn't misjudge the place. He won't go again.