Restaurant Le Dali at Le Meurice (Paris, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

Having spent much of our time in Paris out on the streets from dusk till dawn, I knew getting take-away desserts from La Pâtisserie du Meurice par Cédric Grolet was just not going to work for us. But as the hottest French patisserie in Paris these days, there was no way I was going to miss out on their exquisite collection of mouthwatering pastries. Not in a million years! However, since they’re only open for 4 hours daily (noon till 4PM), which means I would be carrying my sweet treats around all day. And the likely outcome, the pastries won’t make it back to the hotel in one piece. What to do...

Since take-away is not an option, I was left with the choice of dining in at Restaurant Le Dali, a lobby restaurant and café at Le Meurice which has been really famous for its afternoon tea set.



This is one of the most prestigious tea salons in Paris so finding a table is never going to be easy. Thankfully, our wait was a very short one.



Restaurant Le Dali is probably my pick for the grandest tea salons in all of Paris.



Cédric Grolet, the head pastry chef at Hôtel Meurice, has been one of the hottest names in the business. After being recognized as Pâtissier of the Year 2015 by Le Chef Magazine, the Best Pastry Chef 2016 by Relais Desserts Excellence Awards, and the winner of Les Grandes Tables du Monde’s Best Restaurant Pastry Chef 2017, he was recently named "The World's Best Pastry Chef 2018" by the World's Best 50 Restaurants. The pastry star best known for his visually-stunning confections, he's quietly being dubbed as the new Pierre Hermé.



First thing first, let’s start with the talented Cédric Grolet’s creations first. While the famed patissier’s pastries are available here all day, I was disappointed to find that only a small fraction of his work (about 5-6 including his chocolate tart, lemon tart, pistachio Paris-Brest, coffee Religieuse and Grapefruit) is served at the restaurant. That’s not nearly enough to satisfy my craving.




Pistachio Paris-Brest (€23.00) - This is a stunning beautifully pistachio Paris-Brest. Almost too pretty to be eaten.



I love the very rich and fine pistachio flavor. The puff pastry topped with pistachio crumble and roasted pistachio was just perfect, and surprisingly, the pistachio praline cream wasn't too sweet. This was amazing.



Grapefruit (€23.00) - Grolet is famous for his fruit pastries so we knew this had to be part of the equation. Its close resemblance to a real grapefruit was jaw-dropping and that’s really Chef Grolet at his very best. It’s the art of pastry making at the highest level.



I was a little surprised by the sharp acidity from the grapefruit compote in the middle but the grapefruit flavored cream cheese and white chocolate (from the shell) did a fine job balancing things out. Just when I thought it was over, there was something in there that made taste buds numb. Sichuan pepper? 



Hot chocolate from Alain Ducasse Manufacture (€14.00) - This was made with the high-end Alain Ducasse chocolate fabricated in the manufacture in Paris. I thought it was just too bitter and thick for me. Even adding the sizzling hot milk didn't help the cause (the Alain Ducasse milk and dark chocolates were pretty tasty though!).



Like a million others, I have been following Cédric Grolet on IG for a while so I was both happy and relieved to finally check out his pistachio Paris-Brest. It's probably one of the most expensive Paris-Brest I've ever been associated with but it’s from the best pastry chef in the world so it’s all worth the heavy price tag.




Food Rating: 6.9/10
Price: €€€€€
Address: G/F Le Meurice, 228 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France
Closest Metro Station: Tuileries
Tel: +33 (0)1 4458-1044
Website: www.ducasse-paris.com/en/addresses/dali