'Monkfish in lobster sauce, 31€.'
Hôtel Trémoille has never really succeeded in being the hot address Terence Conran dreamed of. The sleek bar has given up on DJ nights, but the restaurant is trying to resurrect itself with a new chef, 28-year-old Frédéric Duca. The Haussmannian surroundings are elegant but at the same time rather soulless, and the same could be said of the diners. The meal got off to an excellent start with an amuse-bouche of hot artichoke hearts, and starters of quail and fig salad and foie gras for which the waiter suggested an interesting Banyuls wine. Neither of our fish mains or desserts were extraordinary however. The service does the place credit, and it’s a good business lunch choice, but we could understand why Edouard Baer and his date in Mensonges et Trahisons left early to have rampant sex in the scene filmed here – there is just no compelling reason to stay.