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Dine like King Louis XIV – Plaza Athénée
The Plaza Athénée has been offered the Garden of the Château de Versailles! What an immense success for a Palace. It is a wonder that no one has thought of this before! Many hotels around the world have developed their own gardens, whether in their parks or on the rooftops of their buildings (as is increasingly the case in the United States). Six Senses Hotels, for example, cultivate their own vegetables on-site in the majority of their hotels. As a result, the hotels’ head chefs are able to oversee the quality of the products that will go into their dishes.
Alain Baraton, the Head Gardener of Trianon and the Grand Park of Versailles, has come together with Alain Ducasse to form an exceptional collaboration that will allow the restaurant’s clients to savor the vegetables and fruits cultivated in Versailles exclusively for their appetite. What an extraordinary liaison—and one that will be sure to give you the impression of dining in the king’s court.
For this initiative, the Queen’s Garden at Trianon has been phased back into cultivation, and the gardens around the homes of the Queen’s Hamlet have also been cultivated. The kaleidoscope of sorrel, squash, beans, zucchini, eggplants, cabbage, green beans, onions, shallots, and rhubarb will be sure to garner the delight of all produce lovers.
Root vegetables, turnips, celery, and carrots are slated to feature on the menu. Numerous varieties of potato will also make appearances, including the famous Bonnotte variety, which will be cultivated for the first time outside of Noirmoutier.
There will also be a variety of red fruits (including raspberries, blackcurrants, and redcurrants). Not to mention tomatoes, a fruit long considered toxic and whose history has been traced back directly to the French Revolution.
Needless to say, these fruits and vegetables will never see the least touch of pesticide treatment. They will develop under the attentive watch of the gardeners and will be cut while young to preserve their taste and tenderness. Once harvested in the morning, they will appear in the kitchen only a few hours later.
Learn more about room rates at the Plaza Athénée by clicking here.
Alain Ducasse and Romain Meder, Executive Chef of the Plaza Athénée
Discover my other articles on the Plaza Athénée:
The History behind the Plaza Athénée
Performance In Luxury Hotels- The Social Dimension of Plaza Athénée
Meeting with Alain Ducasse
Update
After the departure of multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse from the Plaza Athénée, Jean Imbert will succeed him at the head of the kitchens of the palace since July 2021. Revealed by the cooking show Top Chef broadcast on M6 in 2012, he is in charge of the hotel’s six restaurants, namely the Table Gastronomique, the Cour Jardin, the Galerie, the Relais Plaza, the Montaigne terrace and the Bar. More recently, at the end of 2020 and during 2021, he has begun several collaborations with the luxury house of Dior.
Laurent Delporte, an editor and conference speaker, is a strategic expert in the sector of hotels. A visionary, he brings his unique look on hotels in service to the decision-makers in the industry, whether to enhance the development of new projects or strategic visions.
Laurent has visited and audited over 350 hotels across the world and also participates in mystery visits to provide quality control for the world’s finest hotels.
