It quickly became one of the jewels of Parisian haute-gastronomy and it is not by chance that it joined, a few months after obtaining a second Michelin star in 2020, the Relais & Châteaux. The restaurant David Toutain, in the 7th district, is now a must in the capital.
By Romain Rivière
Perpendicular to the rue Saint-Dominique and the rue de l’Université, in the very chic 7th arrondissement of Paris, the small rue Surcouf is home to an address that is now unmissable: it is there, in fact, that the young chef David Toutain set up his eponymous restaurant at the end of 2013. There he obtained, in 2015, his first Michelin star and, in 2020, his second. Having become a figure of Parisian haute-gastronomy, the establishment joined the prestigious Relais & Châteaux network a few months ago.
David Toutain had dreamed of it being warm and friendly. So he dressed it with modern colors, raw materials such as oak that occupies a central place, and some copper chandeliers giving the upper room a little touch of design. The atmosphere is pure and serene. On a human scale, the 22-seat dining room is overlooked by a mezzanine that is conducive to intimacy and tranquility. For a few weeks now, the back of the room has been opened, so that the guest can see the brigade at work through large bay windows, and vice versa.
David Toutain’s cuisine, particularly vegetal and creative, is at once gourmet, technical and refined. In his book, the chef talks about it this way: “a lot of technique, a lot of research, with an eye toward simplification and visual and gustatory readability.” He adds: “I cook with products but my main concern is that it is good and tasty”, he assures. This concern for gourmandise is found in particular in seasonings or sauces with full textures, subtly fatty, which are not without evoking the Norman origins of David Toutain, who likes to recharge his batteries on weekends in his native land. These round sauces are the beauty of the cuttlefish, lemon and verbena tagliatelle, or the iconic eel with black sesame sauce, which is undoubtedly the chef’s signature dish: the eel is cold-smoked, caramelized at the last minute, and served with a warm black sesame mousse accompanied by a brunoise of granny smith. The dish is then deglazed with vinegar and wonderfully concentrates the technical mastery, the precision and the concern of greediness.
A la carte, very little choice. Since the opening of the restaurant, the guest comes to David Toutain’s to live an experience and, most of the time, chooses to let himself be carried away by a declination of “carte banche” menus with poetic evocations attached to the earth: Lemon balm, Primrose, Meadowsweet, or even Ground Ivy Each menu dictates the number of courses, but allows the chef a great deal of latitude. Certainly, David Toutain, well at home, shows a maturity that allows him to master his creativity in the service of taste. Wine pairings are handled by Suzanne Cochran, head sommelier from the Hôtel de Crillon. On the menu, some happy discoveries from the relatively confidential vineyard of Saint-Pourçain, in the Allier region, which produces its dry and lively white wines based on tressalier.
> 29 rue Surcouf, 75007 PARIS
