L'Herbier Secret — The Chef's Table in the aromatic garden of the Hôtel de Crillon
An ultra-confidential experience: a single table for 4 to 6 guests per evening in the palace's aromatic herb garden, a 5-course menu by executive chef Alan Taudon (plant- and sea-driven cuisine built around herbs grown on site), 250 EUR per guest, wine or alcohol-free pairings available as an option (+140 EUR).
Line-up : Alan Taudon (executive chef, formerly of the George V)
Access
Book directly with the Crillon's restaurant/concierge (rosewoodhotels.com/crillon) well in advance — only one table per service. For an August stay, aim exclusively for 27-29 August.
The turnkey stay
On the second floor of the Hôtel de Crillon, a terrace kept secret becomes a living herbarium, suspended opposite the historic salons, a few metres above the Place de la Concorde. From Thursday to Saturday, a single table for four is set there: chef Alan Taudon himself composes, in an open kitchen, a five-act menu in which the vegetal converses with the sea, at the unhurried pace of a summer evening. It is the most confidential table of the Parisian summer — four covers per evening, not one more.
Where to stay
- La Réserve Paris, Hotel and Spa — A palace hotel in the 8th arrondissement, at the corner of Avenue Gabriel and Rue du Cirque, set back from the Champs-Élysées and a few minutes' walk from the Place de la Concorde. Awarded the Palace distinction as early as 2016, with a spa and, from its upper floors, views over the Concorde obelisk, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower — the most hushed address from which to reach the Crillon on foot.
- Le Meurice, Dorchester Collection — A historic palace hotel at 228 Rue de Rivoli, facing the Tuileries Garden, between the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre — the Crillon is a few minutes' walk away. A Parisian institution since 1835, with décor reimagined by Philippe Starck and Alain Ducasse's two-star restaurant under the same roof.
Where to dine
- Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen — Yannick Alléno's three-Michelin-star table, in the neoclassical pavilion of the Champs-Élysées gardens, a few minutes' walk from the Place de la Concorde. Cuisine of high technical mastery, famed for its extractions and its sauces, within the most starred independent house in the world.
- Restaurant Le Meurice Alain Ducasse — Two Michelin stars at the heart of the palace hotel Le Meurice, facing the Tuileries and a few minutes' walk from the Concorde. Executive chef Amaury Bouhours, trained at the Louis XV in Monaco, serves tasting menus that marry French tradition with contemporary creation.
What to experience
- Visite guidée du Potager du Roi, Versailles — The perfect echo of the chef's herbarium: the kitchen garden created for Louis XIV between 1678 and 1683 by Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie to supply the King's table, today entrusted to the École nationale supérieure de paysage. A garden listed as a historic monument, open to visitors with regular guided tours in season (times on the official website), a few minutes' walk from the Palace of Versailles.
- Maison Guerlain, 68 avenue des Champs-Élysées — Extend the aromatic journey into an olfactory herbarium: the private mansion built by the Guerlain family in 1914, listed among the Monuments historiques and reinvented by Peter Marino, houses private salons devoted to the creation of bespoke perfume — a few minutes from the Concorde.
Official event website →