Le Taillevent
“Two stars, tableside carving and a cellar of 3,800 references in the Morny mansion. Book it to close a deal.”
About Le Taillevent
Andre Vrinat opened Taillevent in 1946 and named it for Guillaume Tirel, the medieval cook who wrote Le Viandier for the kings of France. Since 1950 the restaurant has occupied the former mansion of the Duke of Morny at 15 rue Lamennais, a private house of oak panels and quiet corridors off avenue de Friedland. The Gardinier family, owners of Les Crayeres in Reims, run it today. The house held Michelin's third star from 1973 to 2007; the 2026 guide keeps it at two.
Giuliano Sperandio has run the kitchen since 2021, an Italian trained beside Christophe Pele at Le Clarence, and he treats the canon as living matter rather than museum stock. The gueridon still rolls: a veal chop or Pornic pigeon arrives on the trolley and is served in two courses, the catch comes from small boats, and crepes Suzette are flambeed twice, first with Grand Marnier, then with cognac. Michelin's inspectors also single out the pastry section, a rarity in a house this classical.
The rhythm is strictly a working week: lunch from Tuesday to Friday, dinner from Monday to Friday, weekends dark. Menus run €245 for the four course Heritage and €295 for Gestures, the format that leans hardest on tableside craft, and the cellar behind them lists about 3,800 wines and spirits, one of the great books of Paris. Reserve two to three weeks ahead through the restaurant's site; the private salons upstairs absorb boards and closing dinners, and regulars treat the room as an office with better sauces.
The Room
Oak boiseries, deep carpet, wide tables and a hush that predates open kitchens: the Morny mansion reads as a club that admits you for one evening. Service moves in the old choreography, carving and saucing at the trolley. Jackets are expected and worn without complaint. Ask for the main salon on a first visit; the private rooms upstairs suit six or more and serious negotiations.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
The score explains the kitchen. It does not tell you which night belongs here. These do.
For the client who measures houses by their cellars
Taillevent's list runs to about 3,800 references and the sommeliers know where every bottle sleeps. Bring the guest who has eaten everywhere: the room signals seriousness without theatre, the trolley service reads as confidence rather than nostalgia, and the working week calendar means your dinner sits inside their schedule, not against it. Ask the sommelier for an older Bordeaux poured at the table and let the house's memory do the impressing.
For the lunch where Paris still signs
Generations of French business have closed at these tables, and the format survives: lunch runs Tuesday to Friday, service paces itself to your agenda, and the salons upstairs seat a negotiation in full privacy with their own waiters. Book a private room for anything sensitive, or a corner of the main salon for a softer read. The Heritage menu at €245 keeps the meal inside two hours when you say so.
For an anniversary that trusts the classics
Couples who have done the tasting counters owe themselves one dinner in the old style: pigeon carved beside the table, crepes Suzette lit twice, a room quiet enough to hear a toast land. Tell the house the occasion and ask for one of the alcove tables; the staff pace the evening generously and the cellar holds half bottles for a proper start and finish. Remember the house sleeps on weekends, so celebrate on a Friday.
What to order
The carte honours a canon, so the decisions are format, trolley and bottle. These are the calls that repay the ticket.
- The trolley served in two courses
Veal chop or Pornic pigeon carved at the gueridon, the first service rare, the second sauced. The house argument in one dish.
- Crepes Suzette
Flambeed at the table first with Grand Marnier, then with cognac; no dessert in the 8th ends an evening better.
- The Gestures menu at €295
The format built around tableside craft; take it when the table wants the full choreography.
- A bottle from the deep cellar
About 3,800 references and sommeliers who love old vintages; give them a region and a decade and say yes.
Practical
- Address
- 15 rue Lamennais, 8th
- Reservations
- Restaurant site · two to three weeks ahead
- Menus
- Heritage €245 · Gestures €295
- Stars
- Two Michelin stars, 2026 guide
- Chef
- Giuliano Sperandio, since 2021
- Days
- Lunch Tuesday to Friday · dinner Monday to Friday
- Wine
- About 3,800 references
- Dress
- Jackets expected
Questions diners ask
Is Le Taillevent worth it?
Yes, as the definitive classical table of Paris. Two Michelin stars in the 2026 guide, a cellar of about 3,800 references and service that still carves and flambes at the trolley make the €245 Heritage menu a fair ticket by 8th arrondissement mathematics. Diners chasing experimentation should book Pierre Gagnaire instead; this house perfects rather than surprises.
How do I get a reservation at Le Taillevent?
Book through the restaurant's site two to three weeks ahead for dinner; lunch, served Tuesday to Friday, opens sooner. The house serves dinner Monday to Friday and closes entirely on weekends, so Friday evenings carry the most demand. Private salons for six to a few dozen guests book by email and absorb the business dinners the main room cannot.
What is the dress code at Le Taillevent?
Jackets are expected and the room wears them naturally; this is one of the last Paris houses where the formality is structural rather than decorative. Ties are common at lunch and optional at dinner. The salons are warm, the chairs deep, and the average table dresses somewhere between board meeting and family celebration.
What does dinner at Le Taillevent cost?
The Heritage menu runs €245 and the Gestures menu €295, before wine. The cellar can hold the bill steady with regional bottles or multiply it with old Bordeaux; figure €350 to €600 a head all in. Lunch on the same menus with a modest bottle lands lower, and the private salon formats start near €115.