Paris restaurant with three Michelin stars skewered by critic who finds a piece of PLASTIC in food

A three-Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, which charges £430 for its tasting menu – excluding drinks – has come under fire after it served a top French critic a dish with a piece of plastic.

Considered one of the world’s finest restaurants, L’Arpège is run by “legendary” chef Alain Passard, who is said to personally inspect every meal before it goes out the door.

Passard, 66, is known for being at the forefront of farm-to-table cooking, and was featured in Netflix’s Chef’s Table series after his 36-year-old restaurant ditched meat and focused on defending vegetables.

Chef Alain Passard, 66, is known for being at the forefront of farm-to-table cooking

But last week, a customer – who was basically a food critic for the French newspaper Le Figaro – was served his fleur de courgette with a ‘two centimeters’ piece of soft plastic in it.

In his scathing review, Stéphane Durand-Souffland wrote that the mistake was only part of the meal, leaving him and his fellow guests feeling like they’d been “taken for a ride.”

He describes some of the expensive dishes on the tasting menu, which have become a tourist attraction in their own right, as “banal” and said the whole experience left him “stunned”.

In his scathing review, Stéphane Durand-Souffland wrote that the mistake was only part of the meal, leaving him and his fellow diners feeling like they’d been “taken for a ride.”

The restaurant’s tasting menus cost €490 and include dishes such as sushi

“Passard was passive, without energy, as if he was going through a soulless routine. In this category, for this price, it is unforgivable.’

To make up for the plastic in the zucchini flower, the waiter brought Durand-Souffland one of Passard’s signature dishes, a lamb and pigeon fusion for £189.

The critic said of the dish, which was inspired by the work of Thomas Grünfeld, a German sculptor known for his “Misfits” series of imaginary hybrid animals: “Sorry, but I didn’t get a kick out of this Frankenstein writ.”

L’Arpège has had its Michelin status for a quarter of a century and is currently ranked 31st in the 50 best restaurants in the world

In 2016, Passard was featured in Netflix’s Chef’s Table, in which he admitted: ‘A three-star restaurant is very demanding, everything has to be perfect’

He concluded his review with the words: ‘Three stars? Really?’

“There’s nothing worse than a dinner that makes you sad.”

The critic got just £60 off, according to The Sunday Times.

Founded in 1986, L’Arpège has had its Michelin status for a quarter of a century and is currently ranked 31st in the 50 best restaurants in the world.

Passard shocked the culinary world in 2001 by announcing that he would stop cooking meat, despite his restaurant being known for its roasts.

The critic concluded his review of the restaurant: ‘There’s nothing worse than a dinner that makes you sad’

Fish and meat dishes are now back on the menu, but vegetables are still central to the menu and restaurant ethos

Items on the lunch menu cost dinners between €54 and €220, while the ‘Gardeners Lunch’ costs €185

Passard shocked the culinary world in 2001 by announcing that he would stop cooking meat, despite his restaurant being known for its roasts.

Instead, he decided to focus on vegetable production from biodynamic farms he had set up in France and soon became known as the ‘King of the Turnip’ for the personal care he took for the plants.

Fish and meat dishes are now back on the menu, but vegetables are still central to the menu and restaurant ethos.

In 2016, he was featured in Netflix’s Chef’s Table, in which he admitted, “A three-star restaurant is demanding, everything has to be perfect.”

Before Passard announced he would stop cooking meat at his restaurant, it was known as a rotisserie.

Considered one of the world’s best restaurants, L’Arpège is the brainchild of “legendary” chef Alain Passard, who is said to personally check every meal before it goes out the door.

His restaurant’s tasting menus are priced at €490 and include dishes such as sushi and a “golden onion side with Parmigiano Reggiano.”

Meanwhile, items on the lunch menu cost dinners between €54 and €220, while the ‘Gardeners Lunch’ costs €185.

L’Arpège has been contacted for comment.