Le Comptoir du Relais
French chef Yves Camdeborde is widely recognized as the pioneer of the neo-bistro, a concept he created in the ’90s to make haute cuisine more accessible to diners. Dubbed the chef of "bistronomy,” in 1995, he opened his Art Deco restaurant in the 17th-century Hôtel Le Relais Saint-Germain, where he expertly toes the line between bistro and neo-bistro. During lunch, the Comptoir is a simple brasserie; in the evenings, however, the 20-seat restaurant becomes a temple to Camdeborde’s philosophy of elevating classic bistro dishes. One of Paris’ toughest reservations, there is no dinner menu. Diners eat whatever inventive, abundantly fresh, elevated bistro dishes Camdeborde chooses to cook that evening. The five-course prix fixe may feature haute cuisine versions of croque monsieur, salade niçoise, steak-frites or rolled saddle of lamb with vegetable-stuffed “Basque ravioli.” Camdeborde cooks brasserie fare from noon to 6 p.m. and on weekend nights, and his five-course prix fixe feast on weekday evenings. The catch? Dinner is booked as much as six months in advance.
