Having left to open the Auberge du Bassin in Cap Ferret, chef Mélanie Serre has returned to Paris with a new project: the inauguration of her restaurant Temple & Chapon, located, as its name suggests, at the corner of rue du Temple and rue Chapon, within theExperimental Marais, the5-star hotel of the L'Experimental group.
This opening is an opportunity for the chef to imagine a place that blends French qualities with New York traditions. "For the Temple & Chapon restaurant, we wanted to create a bridge between France and the United States, the vibrant country in which I lived at the age of 17 and which marked me by its effervescence. The idea was to offer a menu of refined dishes inherited from our French heritage, with a few American twists", she declared.
Having worked at Joël Robuchon's L'Atelier Étoile Paris and Louis Vins, Mélanie Serre 's new 100-cover restaurant is inspired by the Americanchophouses of the 1950s. The menu features American classics (but not only!), to be enjoyed in the elegant setting of a cathedral room with glass ceiling.
The decor is absolutely charming (greenery climbing up behind large bay windows, comfortable leather banquettes and a zenithal glass roof that bathes the place in natural light until late in the summer), as is the chef's menu.
Highlights include oven-baked oysters à la Rockefeller, lobster roll, crab cake, cured meats, grilled meats and high-end cuts of beef (porterhouse, T-bone), as well as other great dishes to share that will evolve with the seasons.
As for the chef's more personal dishes, these include seafood dishes such as carpaccio de maigre (18€), sole meunière or grilled, or whole Breton lobster, grilled a la plancha (79€). Enough for everyone to stay on the French coast or cross the Atlantic in search of more Anglo-Saxon recipes.
For our part, we chose to indulge in dishes typical of the Big Apple... and what wonderful discoveries we made. Perfectly executed, gourmet, generous, with the right pairings and condiments, Temple & Chapon 's American dishes hit the nail on the head.
Like this fabulous lobster roll (29€), with its crisp, golden brioche topped with chunks of lobster served pearly, avocado and honey mustard; or these crunchy crab cakes (24€) with crabmeat, escorted by a celery remoulade to break up the fat of the frying and add freshness - a clever combination.
The same goes for the pot pie with its seasonal vegetables roasted in a crust (24€), the pork belly confit with honey and spices (28€) with melting carrots and cumin, and the mac and cheese (7€) as a side dish: each of these dishes is a success, thought through to provide maximum pleasure and comfort, right down to the vinaigrette on the sucrine, radish and crunchy fennel salad (7€) - which, for once, is not a sight to behold - and the dessert (a cheesecake with candied kumquats; 13€).
If the solid menu is a success, so is the liquid menu, with some real risk-taking when it comes to cocktails. We're still thinking about The Expedition cocktail (gin, pandan, passion, zaatar; €17) and The Fusion cocktail (pisco, umeshu, peony, rhubarb; €17).
Cocktails that pay homage to the restaurant's New York roots are also featured (Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Penicilin), to be accompanied by finger food - caviar, oysters, mini burgers, small fish and chips - if you're more the type to sit at the kitchen counter for a good evening.
Taking the place of the late Hotel Sinner,Experimental Marais and its restaurant Temple & Chapon quickly became one of the must-visit addresses in the Haut-Marais district.
This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.
Location
Temple & Chapon
116 Rue du Temple
75003 Paris 3
Official website
www.templeetchapon.com
