As lovers of fine cuisine, when we travel to the world’s great cities, you can count on us to share with you some of the world’s best restaurants.

During our recent stay at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris, the former palace of Prince Roland Bonaparte, we were very excited to sample the cuisine of the hotel’s signature restaurant: L’Abeille.

Named in homage to Napoleon’s favorite emblem, the bee, the French gastronomic restaurant L’Abeille offers sophisticated cuisine created by renowned chef Philippe Labbé, awarded 2 Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide 2012.

Awarded a Michelin star in 2003, Executive Chef  Philippe Labbé was awarded two Michelin stars less than a year after the opening of L’Abeille as well as the title of ‘Cuisinier de l’Année 2013’ (chef of the year) by the Gault & Millau Guide.  

One of the things that we’ve come to greatly enjoy with French chefs in the league of Philippe Labbé is not only the remarkable tastes and aromas to the palate, but the meticulous attention to detail that is present to the eye on the plate as well as the presentation of the dish to the table.  When the servers present your dish, and proclaim “voilà”, you just know you’re in for a real treat!

Take a moment and take a peek at our slideshow of photographs from our dining experience at L’Abeille…

Chef Labbé’s dishes are beautiful to look at, are they not?

The thing is, while beautiful to behold, the real delight comes when your palate comes to the party and gets to satiate the desires that are beckoning in your mouth.  Ooh La La!

While everything was nearly unbelievable, the real standouts for me were the tomatoes (slide 3), and the wild pigeon (slide 6).

Plus, every single course came with a delightful presentation.  For example, three gentlemen brought our sea bass entrées to the table.  Two of them set our plates in front of us with our entrées underneath glass domes.  After a brief moment to collect our oohs and aahs, the two gentlemen lifted the glass domes from the plates, tilted them 90 degrees and swooshed the captured aromas from the glass dome into our waiting nostrils.  And, after the required “voilá”, the other gentlemen explained each of the details and ingredients that went into the preparation of this culinary masterpiece.

The world’s best restaurants have figured out that an amazing culinary experience must involve not only a feast for the senses, but also an execution table-side that embellishes the meticulous and masterful skills found in the kitchen.

The L’Abeille restaurant accomplishes this in league with the very best restaurants in the world. In fact, if I weren’t a bit on the quiet side, I might have been tempted to stand on the table and give the chef a standing ovation when he came out to greet us.  Our experience was that good! Bravo!

When you’re in Paris, we highly recommend that you enjoy a fabulous evening of French cuisine with Executive Chef Philippe Labbé.  You’ll thank us later, I promise.

Link: L’Abeille Restaurant

Disclosure: our dining experience was provided by the kind folks at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris. The Roaming Boomers maintains all publishing control and we’re happy to share our experiences with you without interference.  We call ‘em as we see ‘em.  Note: photography by David A. Porter

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