L'Abeille

It was a dark and stormy night when we arrived at 10 Avenue d’Iena. Umbrellas were pointless against the relentless rain—falling in sheets as the wind lashed the Paris streets. What a place to take shelter. All marble and gilded accents, the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris occupies the sumptuous 19th-century mansion built for Prince Roland Bonaparte, Napoleon’s grand-nephew. And L’Abeille, the gastronomic restaurant named for Napoleon’s imperial insignia, the bee, is a soothing, elegant escape from everyday worries. And then we looked up just in time to see the Eiffel Tower light up on the hour. We ran outside, giddy from the delicious meal, and watched The Iron Lady put on her sparkling show from the hotel’s verdant courtyard garden. The rain had stopped, and Paris was ours for the taking. A memorable soiree, indeed.

There’s definitely a new buzz at L’Abeille (The Bee), the elegant French haute cuisine restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel, Paris in the 16th arrondissement since chef Christophe Moret took over several months ago. Moret most recently cooked at Lasserre, and was previously chef at Restaurant Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, both of which are in Paris. Service in this hushed dining room is charming and friendly, and the grande finale of the evening was just that, a magnificent honeycomb wafer filled with acacia honey ice cream, caramelised walnuts and candied figs, and a golden sauce of olive oil and honey. This charming, appropriately Napoleonic flourish—the bee is the symbol of the Bonaparte family, and this hotel was once the residence of Prince Roland Bonaparte, Napoleon’s grand-nephew—was just as beautiful to behold as it was delicious to eat. Though L’Abeille is expensive the quality of the cooking and service here mean that it’s an excellent choice for that special one-off meal in Paris.

The arrival at the start of the year of Christophe Moret at Shangri-La’s attractive L’Abeille haute cuisine restaurant, named after the Napoleonic bee symbol, has seen the chef really come into his own. Some describe his style as less intellectual than predecessor Philippe Labbé, but this is refreshing and updated grand French cuisine that gives priority to superb ingredients and seasonal produce, whether it’s an homage to the tomato, spider crab or excellent John Dory. Happily, now also open for Thursday and Friday lunch. Moret also oversees the cosmopolitan Franco-Asian all-day Bauhinia restaurant, in the former circular cinema, so too the one-star Shang Palace in the basement, where chef Samuel Lee Sum serves probably the best, most authentic Cantonese cuisine in town.

There is only one thing worse than being served a terrible meal—being served a terrible meal by earnest waiters who have no idea just how awful the thing they are serving you is. And so, to L’Abeille or the scene of the crime as I now like to call it. In terms of value for money and the total expectation L’Abeille supplied by far the worst restaurant experience, I have endured in my 18 years in this job. This, it must be said, is an achievement of sorts. The dining room, deep in the hotel, is a broad space of high ceilings and coving, with thick carpets to muffle the screams. It is decorated in various shades of tape and biscuit. There’s a little gilt here and there, to remind us that this is a room designed for people of superior refinement. It shouts money as much as football chants do back at the lads hanging. Well, of course, there is.