L’Assiette Champenoise

This is Part 2 of a three-part series on the top tables in the Champagne region, all well worth the short trip from Paris for a memorable gourmet feast.

The first view of L’Assiette Champenoise is misleading. Entering a small park in the Reims suburbs, you find a pretty late-19th-century residence. No surprise there. But cross the threshold and you find yourself in a resolutely contemporary environment, but as warm and welcoming as a family home. In fact, chef Arnaud Lallement does work with his family—his mother, sister and wife—all three smiling and efficient.

The story begins in 1986 when Jean-Paul and Colette, Arnaud’s parents, took over the restaurant. In 2000, age 25, Arnaud became head of the kitchen; at 26 he won his first Michelin star and in 2005, his second.

That was the moment when he decided it was time to reinvent the whole establishment. He wanted a modern place in tune with his contemporary cuisine. So little by little the dining rooms were renovated, the kitchen enlarged, the hotel rooms transformed.

Comfort, high-tech and a sense of fun now reign. Electronics are everywhere, for lighting, music and everything else. Bathrooms are spacious. And in the bedrooms, instead of headboards there are wall-sized reproductions of famous paintings: Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette, Ingres and his Grande Odalisque, Caillebotte’s parquet-scraping Raboteurs and, in the largest suite, Géricault’s dramatic Le Radeau de la Méduse. Add a big heated indoor pool, a quiet garden and the attentions of an amiable staff, and the result is pure pleasure.

Lallement works with seasonal products, and half of his short menu changes every month. His talent for bringing out the best flavors equals his technical skills. Among his signature dishes are langoustine Royale—truly regal-sized—and fillet of line-caught sea bass seared on one side to a golden-crisp crust, served with girolles in a light ginger sauce. On the menu this fall: a cèpe tartare with crawfish.

When asked if his cooking is influenced by champagne, he laughs. In fact all his cuisine is based on it—he wants all his dishes to pair well with champagne and admits he has lots of experiments yet to try. But although he adores bubbly’s festive character, he also deplores it, because merrymakers are prone to overlook the fact that champagne is often wine of the highest quality, and that a good cuvée can be the match of even the most renowned still wine.

Since he likes to serve champagne throughout the meal, he conspires with longtime head sommelier Frédéric Bouché to organize experimental tasting meals. They might choose recipes that marry well with one single champagne, or serve a different brand with each course, or choose different cuvées of a single brand.

They constantly revise the pairings to complement the ever-changing menus. “Once we’ve come to an agreement the whole team of sommeliers does a tasting,” says Bouché, “so they can explain the pairings to clients.” A tasting can be an unforgettable experience. “We’re not trying to tell clients what they should do, but to spend an enjoyable time together,” says Lallement. “It should be a succession of pleasures.”

Bouché, who was born in Champagne and has been sommelier here for 29 years, knows the chief winemakers of all the champagne houses, and almost every house is on his wine list. He also owns 25 acres of his own vines on the hill of Vertus and sells his grapes to Krug, whose brand has become the house emblem. Nowhere in the world are so many bottles of Krug uncorked—even the champagne served by the glass is the Krug Grande Cuvée.

40 ave Paul Vaillant Couturier, Tinqueux, 03.26.84.64.64. www.assiettechampenoise.com.

Rooms €195–€595. Menus €65 (weekday lunch), €138, €158, €198; à la carte €170

Originally published in the November 2012 issue of France Today