Reviewed: Restaurant Alan Geaam in Paris

The story of Paris chef Alan Geaam’s life would have all the makings of the plot of a Graham Greene novel, except for the fact that it’s had such a sunny happy denouement. The 42-year-old chef was born to Lebanese parents in Liberia, and lived in Lebanon, the United States, Italy, and the Czech Republic before arriving in France 20 years ago. He spoke no French  and had only about $100 in his pocket, but found work in a variety of restaurant kitchens, where he realised his true passion.

Today, self-taught Geaam owns and runs four restaurants in Paris: L’Auberge Nicolas Flamel, the oldest restaurant in the city, AG Saint-Germain, AG Les Halles, and his latest, Restaurant Alan Geaam, which opened in the 16th this spring.

“My new restaurant is my most ambitious,” the chef told me when I went for dinner a few nights after it opened. “At my other tables, I serve a sort of inventive modern French bistro cooking, but here I aspire to something more refined, gastronomic and personal,” he added.

If our seven-course tasting menu began with an impeccable seasonal dish of asparagus, morels and breaded deep-fried quail’s egg with Hollandaise, Geaam’s subtle touch appeared more legibly in a composition of langoustine and langoustine ravioli with garnishes of nori seaweed and a langoustine-head sauce seasoned with Vietnamese cardamom. “After so many years of mastering the techniques of French cooking, I now feel confident enough to respectfully revise and tweak traditional French dishes to reflect my palate and my culinary story,” the soft-spoken chef said with a grin.

Geaam’s signatures are a deep respect for the natural tastes of the best quality French produce he works with and a fascinating use of spices, like the vadouvan (a French curry mixture that includes curry leaves, mustard seeds, fenugreek and other spices) used in a brilliantly subtle dish of pan-fried monkfish with seared leeks and leeks stuffed with monkfish. Next, pigeon roasted with pomegranate molasses (a nod at his Lebanese heritage) and then a cheese plate from Bernard Antony, the Alsatian cheesemonger, with date chutney. An outstanding meal, and very good value for money given the quality of the cooking.

19 rue Lauriston, Paris 16th. Tel: +33 (0)1 45 01 72 97. Prix-fixe menus €40, €60, €80. Website: www.alangeaam.fr

From France Today magazine