So what's it like to eat at a Michelin-starred French restaurant?

About Michelin restaurants in France

There is no doubt that food is an important and inseparable part of French culture. Since the 17th century, French cooking has become not only an unfailing source of flavors and aromas but a true art, no less important than other plastic arts such as painting or sculpture. And if French haute cuisine has become a kind of religion, approached with reverence, then the Michelin Guide is no less than its Bible.

And like the Bible, the Michelin Guide has its own rules, according to which it determines the quality of the restaurants it reviews. True, over the years, other guides have been added, such as Gault-Millau, and in recent years, rating sites based on the wisdom of crowds have joined them, but despite all this, the Michelin Guide continues to maintain its almost religious status. And if we consider the statements of the Michelin Guide as absolute truth, then at the top of the world's culinary scene are the restaurants that have earned, with great effort, three stars, the maximum score in the Michelin Guide.

Eating at these restaurants is perceived, even by most Francophiles, as something unattainable and inaccessible. The main reason for this is of course the price, which can easily, together with the wine, cost as much as a week in a nice apartment in Paris . And the truth is, until recently I also saw in these restaurants something that is equivalent to Hanukkah candles (only to look at them), but two reasons made me, for the first time in my life, look at the star-studded sky of French culinary art, reach out and pick some. The first reason was my 40th birthday, which was approaching and demanded a special experience in light of the round number. And the second is Arik Ziv’s book “ 50 Michelin Stars .”

50 Michelin Stars – A Culinary and Spiritual Journey of “A Man from the Village”

Arik Ziv, who calls himself “Tsalek” in the book, did not come from the culinary fraternity of chefs, cookbook writers, and food writers. He is a senior executive who comes from the world of high-tech and who made culinary pursuits (eating and later cooking) one of his hobbies. I bring this biographical detail right at the beginning because it influences the entire book and makes it so special.

During his culinary journey that takes place in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany, the author visits 9 restaurants, each of which has three Michelin stars. Each meal at these restaurants is described in detail from the moment of arrival to the moment of departure, without ever veering into tedium or “cheesiness” (you are invited to read about the author’s visit to one of the restaurants in this article and be impressed for yourself).

In my opinion, this is the greatness of the book, because it manages to make the reader feel and understand precisely the essence of the experience of visiting a restaurant that serves haute cuisine. The result is a kind of virtual journey for the reader inside the restaurant and its kitchen and a feeling as if he is sitting with the author and eating with him. In this way, Arik Ziv manages to make the haute cooking experience accessible even to “mere” food lovers, who have not yet had the opportunity to eat in restaurants of this type.

One of the dangers of this type of book is that the constant preoccupation with restaurants and their food can eventually tire the reader. It is similar to a tour of a huge museum, such as the Louvre , which contains an enormous amount of artwork, more than the average person can digest (this is what I call “art poisoning”). Fortunately, Eric manages to avoid this danger through what I call a literary Amuse Bouche.

The Amuse Bouche (literally translated into Hebrew, they can be called “entertainment of the mouth”) are small dishes that are served between courses and their purpose is to cleanse the palate of the flavors of the previous course in order to maximize the enjoyment of the next course. And so between visits to one restaurant and another, Eric writes about a variety of interesting topics, from how he became interested in culinary art and even learned to cook to spiritual topics such as what enlightenment is. In my opinion, these parts of the book make a decisive contribution to its success because they create intimacy with the reader and a feeling of a couple’s meal in excellent company.

So there is no doubt that if you are interested in culinary art and are interested in an in-depth book that is told at "eye level", then I highly recommend that you buy "50 Michelin Stars", which can be obtained here.

My 40th birthday celebrations in Rollenge

A round birthday is undoubtedly a reason to party and there is no better way to deal with the mid-forties crisis than with a particularly good meal, so as mentioned, I decided that this time we would go for the real thing – a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Of course, you can't go wrong with such a choice, so I turned to Avital Inbar , one of the greatest gastronomes in the country and the man who wrote the best guide to the City of Lights ever published in Hebrew, in my opinion. Suitable for anyone looking for Michelin restaurants in Paris. Since I decided to spend the last few days before returning to Guernsey in Brittany, Avital Inbar recommended Roellinger's restaurant , which is not far from Cancale, and I immediately made a reservation there.

The appetizer and first courses

The restaurant is located in a 19th-century building that also serves as a boutique hotel (Ronja has another hotel in Cancale). As soon as we arrived, the head waiter took us to the lounge where we could relax on sofas and leisurely browse the menu. While we were doing so, we were served three appetizers: eggplant, potato, and a piece of tender cod. The three courses were served in oysters to remind us of the proximity to the sea and Cancale, known for its excellent oysters. The result was three textures and flavors that blended together wonderfully. A fitting prelude to a 40th birthday meal indeed.

After the appetizers were served, we continued reading the menu and decided to go for 3 business meals, which cost about 60 euros per person. Not cheap but definitely not something that can't be afforded. Also, because it was still my 40th birthday, I decided to treat myself to lobster meat that was caught not far away, which made the menu a little more expensive. After we chose the dishes, we were led to the restaurant itself and to my great delight, we got to sit by the window with a view of the garden and the sea…

They were served two types of fresh bread (white and brown) with two types of excellent butter (one regular and one spiced). Both types of butter came from Bratten, of course, and were produced in Bordeaux, which Goni Burstein wrote about in the past.

Fortunately, we were not allowed to stay with this wonderful bread alone for too long and the first courses arrived at the table. However, this was where we were a bit disappointed. First came a Tonkin-style seafood soup. The seafood was indeed fresh, of course, but there was nothing good about this soup. I have eaten in East Asia and even in Paris ’s “Chinatown” in the 13th arrondissement, quite a few soups like this, and they were no less good than this and sometimes even surpassed it in quality. In short, a nice soup but not much more than that.

The second course was oysters (Huître) in curry sauce. The oysters themselves were excellent, just as oysters caught on the shores of Cancale should be. However, the curry sauce was too aggressive for my taste and instead of complementing the flavor of the oysters, it fought against them for attention, which is a shame.

Last but not least was the “gardener’s style” salad that my father, who is not known for his love of seafood, ordered. The vegetables were of course fresh and created a colorful dish. On the other hand, despite the elegance and freshness, there was something missing from this salad to create the “wow” effect (or in French, “mon dia”). On the other hand, anyone who orders a salad at a restaurant like this… deserves it!

The main courses but before that a few words about how excellent service should be

We finished the first courses and until the main courses arrive I will say a few words about the service. Until you go to Michelin-starred restaurants you don't understand what really good service is. True, you have probably encountered a waitress in France who hasn't taken a course in advanced misanthropy or a waiter who knows what every dish on the menu consists of and you thought you received excellent service. However, this is only good service.

Excellent service is a waiter who knows exactly what you need before you know it and is ready to serve it to you. Excellent service is waiters who don't come up a minute after the dishes have been served to ask you, right when you're in the middle of a bite, if everything is okay. Waiters in such restaurants know this even without asking. They are present absent, seeing and not being seen and making the eating experience a continuous journey without interruptions between the different senses. And not surprisingly, the service we received from start to finish at Rollenger was no less excellent, service that even before the first bite makes you realize that you are in a place that gives maximum respect to its diners and the culinary experience they are going through.

But let's get back to the meal itself. As mentioned, the starters were a bit disappointing, but after them came the main courses that completely changed the culinary picture. Let's start with a lamb dish that was made in two ways. Rollenje is a restaurant that specializes in fish and seafood. However, since my father doesn't like seafood, my parents decided to order this dish (it's a double dish).

I admit that we were a little apprehensive about ordering a meat dish at a restaurant that specializes in seafood, but fortunately our concerns were dispelled with the first bite. The meat was delicious and served with root vegetables that were cooked to just the right degree and were an excellent accompaniment to the dish. However, what upgraded this dish and made it special were the spices that Rollenje grew himself and that came directly from his garden and gave the dish a joy of flavors that did not fight with the meat for attention but simply emphasized its quality.

Then came the lobster… True, fresh lobster from Brittany waters is a delicacy even if it is not served in a Michelin-starred restaurant. True, the method of preparation was classic without any sophistication, but my God, how delicious this lobster was! And in the end, as Eric Ziv wrote in his book, the taste of the food is the most important measure of all.

The last dishes

After we finished enjoying the main courses, the dessert cart arrived. From the book “50 Michelin Stars” I learned that in restaurants of this type it is customary to serve such a cart that allows the customer to try several desserts instead of choosing one dessert. However, until now I have never encountered such a thing myself. And there is no doubt that when such a cart arrives at the table, it is a very impressive sight.

As you can see, it is a cart with several floors, each floor has different desserts. The waiter approached us and each of us chose what he wanted. The question that immediately arose was how we could choose from such a great wealth of sweets, but then I was happy to learn that we didn't really have to choose because each of us gets 4 desserts from the cart, so if we each take different desserts, we could taste them all.

For people with a sweet tooth, there couldn't be better news than this. In order not to overwhelm ourselves, we each tasted a spoonful of each dessert and each one turned out to be better than the other. There is no doubt that this part of the meal simply amazed me. It was inconceivable to me how each type of dessert was nothing less than perfect. Therefore, it is very difficult for me to tell you which of the desserts in the picture above I liked the most. What is more, the pistachio profiteroles were the most photogenic, so I decided to give you a close-up photo of them.

At this point, while I felt like I was about to burst, I was served a kind of birthday cake, a gift from the restaurant, three excellent profiteroles (different from the pistachio profiteroles) that I somehow managed to taste even though I was already about to collapse from sugar poisoning.

And then, just when we thought that was it, a box of candy suddenly arrived, putting my dietary conscience and stomach in a Shakespearean dilemma. To taste or not to taste? That is the question!

So yes, I tried with all my strength the Madeleine cookies, which were excellent. I couldn't do any better than that...

And that's it, my birthday meal ended with a generous dose of sugar. In the end, I really enjoyed it and I feel like I definitely got more than my money's worth. And my message to all Francophiles out there, life is short, so it's recommended that each and every one of you eat at least once in your life at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. And since life is also unpredictable, I recommend starting with dessert 🙂

For those coming to Brittany and interested in pampering themselves, more information about Rollenge's restaurant can be found here.

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