There is a touch of magic which surrounds the small dining room of just 26 seats at the Beethoven street in Paris. The enchanting room of high ceilings and tables on two levels instantly embraces you. Within five seconds someone from the restaurant will escort you to your table, which is a place you will not forget in a hurry because you will have a meal you will remember. There is no menu. You simply tell the waiter what you do not like and the Chef will make you a surprise menu of pure brilliance.

The cuisine is constantly changing at Astrance even if the core is French contemporary with Asian impressions. Chef Patron Pascal Barbot has a passion for citrus fruits and an enormous respect for all the ingredients of which he makes some of the best surprise dishes available anywhere. It depends on the season what the Chef will cook for you. If it is autumn you can expect to have pork with white truffles all over it, but it depends on what the Chef likes to do each specific evening. However there are signature dishes like the mushroom tart with foie gras and lemon which are served rather often, but you will never have exactly the same meal twice at Astrance.

The respect to the ingredients is something you constantly will be reminded about during your dinner at Astrance. There is nothing on your plate which has not been treated with the utmost respect and care. It all makes sense when you consider Chef Pascal Barbot’s background. He worked five years, 1993 to 1998, for Chef Alain Passard at his legendary Arpège in Paris. There are few other chefs in the world with the same attention to details and obsession with the most ultimate quality when it comes to vegetables and herbs as Chef Passard, so Pascal Barbot has worked with one of the very best in the business and obviously he has taken all that knowledge to his own restaurant which was founded in 2000.

Pascal Barbot worked with Christophe Rohat at Arpège and today they own Astrance together. Christophe Rohat is the Restaurant Manager, but he also has an enormous passion and talent for wines so he supports Head Sommelier Alexandre Jean in all his impeccable wine selections. The service at Astrance is second to none so you will have a very comfortable evening during your tasting session of Chef Barbot’s amazing cuisine.

It is far from easy to secure a reservation at the always fully booked Astrance so make sure to be flexible with your reservation and make it well in advance. It can be tedious, but it is so worth it when you eventually manage to make a reservation.

Astrance is a personal dining experience; it affects you and takes you to a gastronomic paradise you did not think existed. Food lovers from all over the world secure reservations at the wonder restaurant in Paris’ sixteenth arrondissement and so should you!

Written by Andy