Dialogue with Thomas Millet, head sommelier, and Giuliano Sperandio, head chef at Le Taillevent
Thomas Millet, head sommelier, and Giuliano Sperandio, head chef at Le Taillevent
By Katia Kulawick-Assante
What makes Taillevent unique?
Thomas Millet: I would say its constantly evolving gastronomic tradition. Our ‘Heritage’ tasting menu features the restaurant’s legendary dishes: shellfish black pudding, beef Wellington – the restaurant has a long tradition of making pies, with recipes that change with the seasons – a selection of mature cheeses, and baba for dessert. We worked with Nicolas Wictorsson, the pastry chef, to create a gin baba flavoured with citrus fruits, an elegant winter vegetable dish that brings sunshine and freshness.
The ‘Gestures’ menu reserves a gesture of service for each course of the meal. The restaurant’s great tradition is to revive rituals that are no longer common in gastronomy today: flambéing lobster as a starter, carving meat or fish according to availability, cutting cheese at the trolley and flambéing crêpes Suzette for dessert. The seasonal menu is renewed every 6-8 weeks depending on availability, with fish or meat for lunch and fish and meat for dinner. The carte blanche menu, called ‘Instant Partagé’ (Shared Moment), is a surprise from start to finish and gives free rein to the chef’s inspiration. It is served in limited edition in the evening.
Taillevent has been awarded the Entreprise de Patrimoine Vivant (EPV) label and is a member of the Comité Colbert. What does this mean for the restaurant?
Thomas Millet: Taillevent owes its name to Guillaume Tirel, chef to Kings Charles V and VI and author of ‘Le Viandier’, the first French cookbook, published in 1486. His name at court was Sire Taillevent, due to his reputation for ‘cutting faster than the wind’. We are in a historic location here, and there is a respect for the building, the former mansion of the Duke of Morny: there are sculptures such as that of Diana with her arrow pointing at the lying dog, cut stones, pilasters, a magnificent staircase, etc. The restaurant is divided into three rooms: on the first floor, the Lamennais room is the main dining room, decorated with straw marquetry from the Lison de Caunes workshops, oak panelling on the walls and gilded copper. In the entrance hall, the Trianon lounge has beautiful alcoves, intimate spaces for a business meeting, a romantic dinner or a family with children. Finally, the chef’s table seats 11 and is designed to be modular. We have reduced the number of seats in the restaurant and the space is brighter and more open, while retaining the identity of the place, i.e. the marquetry and illuminations chosen by Mr Vrinat, the founder. We are fortunate to have maître d’s who have been working here for 20 years and who knew Mr Vrinat, so they embody this history. The restaurant is about to celebrate its 80th anniversary, but when you’ve been here for 20 years, you’ve written part of that history… The first few times you arrive here as an employee, you feel tiny. You think to yourself, “Wow, I’m really at Taillevent”. It’s a restaurant that hums when it’s busy, when the service is very lively. I watch people toasting and laughing, we’re really at the service of what’s happening and… it’s beautiful!
The Taillevent cellar, created in 1946, has 40,000 bottles of the most prestigious wines and the cellar book has nearly 3,800 references… How do you manage such a heritage?
Thomas Millet: Here again, we are continuing the traditions with a few touches of novelty. We have the most sought-after allocations in France – and abroad – bottles that enthusiasts have dreamed of having in their cellars for 80 years. The restaurant was created by a lover of wine and winemakers: today, few restaurants have such a deep cellar covering so many estates at once. It’s a strength. The cellar is the backbone of this heritage; it’s an incredible opportunity and a privilege. For a sommelier, it’s like being a child in a sweet shop: you can touch the rarest bottles. The aim today is to continue this tradition, with a reasonable pricing policy. We are really committed to working on a wine list that I cannot say is accessible, because a bottle costing £500-600 is a lot of money, but some of these bottles can sometimes be found for £1,000, £2,000 or £3,000 more on the black market. At Taillevent, the aim is not to speculate, because we respect both the winegrower and the customer: we prefer to sell two bottles at a reasonable price rather than one at a high price. The idea is to continue in the same vein as Mr Vrinat, who was a pioneer in his selection back in the 1950s, at a time when Bordeaux wines dominated wine lists, when people inevitably drank a fine Bordeaux château and Burgundy was reserved for aperitifs! André Vrinat was the first to promote Burgundy through estates such as Raveneau, Rousseau, Mortet and Leflaive, which were not yet considered great wines at the time.
Do you continue to buy wine?
Thomas Millet: Absolutely, there’s no question of resting on our laurels! We taste a lot, whether it’s young winemakers or well-known appellations, younger estates or regions waiting to be discovered. Today, we are particularly highlighting the Loire Valley, the Jura, Alsace, the Rhône Valley and foreign countries on our wine list because we are fortunate to have a company that has quickly opened up to other origins. We are strengthening our presence in Italy, Spain, Austria and Germany, which now offers white wines around 10-11% alcohol, something our clientele is really looking for – something that is becoming more complicated in France for climatic reasons. Taillevent’s wine list continues its heritage with new additions, keeping it in step with our times… and with the future, because if we only look at our heritage, we will not move forward! I have been working at Taillevent for three years. Before changing anything on the wine list, the chef said to me when I arrived: ‘Understand the establishment, because it has a long history before us and will have just as much after us. Understand the clientele, because they are the reason we get up every morning. Then you will know what to bring.’ He was right.
Do customers ask you to buy certain bottles?
Thomas Millet: We have two shops for selling bottles, Les Caves de Taillevent, in Paris, on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré and in the 16th arrondissement (plus one in Tokyo and one in Beirut – ed.), which allows us to direct our customers to make purchases. 110 Taillevent, located just opposite Les Caves de Taillevent, a stone’s throw from here, has more of a brasserie feel, in the noble sense of the term, with beautiful classic French dishes such as vol-au-vent, pâté en croûte and a fine selection of wines by the glass. The idea is that people can taste lots of different things, find these bottles at Les Caves de Taillevent and then come here, to Taillevent, to drink an exceptional bottle. It’s a wonderful synergy to have all these complementary offerings, and that’s the advantage of being part of a group – Gardinier (owner of Domaine Les Crayères, Le Comptoir du Caviar, Drouant, etc. – ed.), which bought the house in 2012 and whose motto is ‘live the emotion’. This allows us to promote the estates at different levels, between restaurants and shops. It’s exciting for everyone.
Do you organise any experiences specifically around wine?
Thomas Millet: Two or three times a year, we organise a ‘Winemaker’s Dinner’, where the chef adapts to the estate and the regions. The aim is to work with historic estates. We have organised it for François Raveneau (Chablis), Domaine Jamet (Côte-Rôtie), Ghislaine Barthod (Chambolle Musigny), Domaine Prieuré Roch and Benjamin Benoit (Le Cellier Saint-Benoit, Arbois-Pupillin), an up-and-coming estate in the Jura. It’s also an opportunity for us to take the time to visit the winemaker, taste with him, see the plots, how he works and transcribe that into the restaurant.
How did you discover the world of sommelierie?
Thomas Millet: By chance! I studied law, Khâgne, CELSA, then a Master’s degree in research on Michel Audiard, and I found myself working in a wine bar and loved it. One thing led to another, and I realised that I wanted to be a sommelier rather than work in cinema… I had my first experience with a Michelin-starred chef at Antonin Bonnet’s Quinsou restaurant. I arrived at Taillevent at the age of 26.
What is the philosophy behind the cuisine at Taillevent?
Giuliano Sperandio: First of all, you have to understand that this place existed before us and will continue to exist after us… But it’s up to us to keep the magic alive. At Taillevent, the most important thing is to understand that you have to serve the establishment: Taillevent has never been a chef’s establishment, it was created by a front-of-house manager, André Vrinat, as was the case in the days of Laurent, Lasserre and La Tour d’Argent. These were not chefs’ establishments, but masters’ establishments. The chef was a “worker” behind the stoves. So, at Taillevent, you have to understand that you have to put your ego aside a little and perpetuate the classicism that is part of the place, part of the DNA of the establishment. You have to bring a certain nostalgia to the dining room, which can be found in the service, the wine list and the food.
How did you end up in Paris?
Giuliano Sperandio: I’ve been in Paris for 20 years. For me, the city has been, is and always will be the capital of gastronomy. This is where it all began, ever since Auguste Escoffier codified recipes. All the chefs I’ve worked with before around the world learned to cook in France: I wanted to go and see the source! And I never left…
Tell us about the ‘Instant Partagé’ menu, this creative menu that gives you carte blanche?
Giuliano Sperandio: As soon as the customer arrives, I take a look around the room to try to understand the energy of the moment. It’s a mixture of instinct, sensitivity, logic and practice. Then I retreat into my bubble and create my menu: I called it ‘Instant Partagé’ because it’s a link between me and the customer. I try to accompany people in their desires and satisfy them, always with great discretion – because I believe that the table is an intimate place and you don’t necessarily want a loudmouth coming to your table! I find that this is increasingly the case today because the chef, the maître d’hôtel and the sommelier take up this space and sometimes you have to rein them in so that people can enjoy their experience… The trend in restaurants is towards a shorter format: at Taillevent, we don’t make people stay at the table for four hours. We serve fairly quickly and don’t have long menus – lunch takes about two hours. We are one of the last great Parisian establishments. Today, a two-Michelin-star restaurant can operate with four people in the kitchen and front of house. At Taillevent, there are 50 of us.
Le Taillevent, 15, rue Lamennais, 75008 Paris
