La Maison de la Truffe Gourmet shop and restaurant in Paris
The precious fruiting fungus known as a truffle is prised in the world of gastronomy, and created back in 1932, the Maison de la Truffe provides multiple varieties of truffles and truffle products, plus has a gourmet restaurant to enjoy this culinary delight even further.
A bit of history
Carpentras in the Provence-Alps Cote d’Azur region of France is well known for its traditional truffle market, and brokers are used as the intermediaries in which to get the prized truffles from the finders to the retailers.
Certain brokers had the idea of creating the Maison de la Truffe, so that they could sell the truffles directly to the public, and with their experience, a shop was set up on the Place de la Madeleine back in 1932, which was an instant success.
Over the years it became one of the main places for gourmets, the wealthy and chefs to meet, so that they could purchase a variety of different truffles and truffle products and was going from strength to strength.
Then a chef called Guy Monier purchased the Maison de la Truffe in 1978 and decided to develop it further by transforming it into a luxury gourmet food store along with a tasting area, plus there is now the restaurant.
And today, this family run business has become a key location for enthusiasts and truffle gourmets from throughout the World that wish to discover the fine gem that has been highly prized for by nobility for hundreds of years.
About La Maison de la Truffe
Since it was first created, the Maison de la truffe has maintained privileged relationships with truffle growers and those that find the wild fungus, which ensures that the very best products and produce is available to its clients, along with a team that prepares and preserves the truffles plus provides advice and their expertise from this long tradition.
They have also invested in laboratories to perfect new products and methods of conservation, along with new recipes that ensure a flawless quality of product for all to enjoy.
The Gourmet Truffle Shop
With its exposed stone walls and limestone columns in between which are wood and glass shelves that display products for all tastes and pockets, the Maison de la truffe will be a pleasure to the senses with the distinct aroma of truffles.
And depending upon the season you can opt for a fresh truffle that has been hand-picked and prepared with the utmost of care, or alternatively a wide range of truffle preserves, along with oils and vinegars, condiments, terrines and Foie Gras, Spanish hams, mushrooms, cheeses, prepared dishes, pasta and risotto in addition to the sweet delights to tempt you.
The Maison de la Truffe Restaurant
Having been completely renovated in 2008, this restaurant in Paris known as a tasting room, has an elegant and sophisticated décor with soft tones that make a confortable and relaxing setting for a gourmet meal.
There are traditional choices of French cuisine along with others that are more creative and these are able to satisfy all gourmets and most pockets to ensure a one of a kind experience in the capital city of France.
You will find that you have a choice of a dish without truffle, with Season truffle or with Black Melanasporum truffle and each dish has a separate pricing depending upon what you choose. For instance you could have the Crazy King Prawns Salad that contains mixed salad leaves, pan sauteed king prawns, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and grated parmesan cheese and without truffle is €23 as of 2013, but with the Season truffle the cost is €30 and with Black Melanasporum truffle it is €46.
Now there are a wide variety of dishes on the a la carte menu and these do change regularly according to what produce is available, but for starters it could be Creamy cauliflower du Barry soup, Beef Carpaccio with rocket salad and parmesan or Small raviolis with scampi & Foie Gras in an herb broth.
Main dishes could be a Fillet of Gilt-head bream in tender thinly sliced potatoes with market vegetables or Lamb chops with a strong gravy and shredded potatoes.
Yet there are also house classics available like French Omelette with truffle and green salad, Tagliatelles with truffles, Foie Gras and truffled cream or Risotto with scampi and truffles.
You could also choose from a variety of Foie Gras dishes, caviar from Kaspia’s served with blinis, plus a variety of different cheeses and tempting desserts. However, there is also a tasting menu available at a dinner time, which consists of five dishes with Season truffle from the menu for €89 as of 2013 or €119 with Black Melanosporum truffle instead. But for this tasting menu, we would like to point out that it is only served per table.
Access La Maison de la Truffe shop and restaurant
You will find the store itself open on a Monday to Saturday from 10am through to 10pm and the tasting room or restaurant is open from midday through to 10.30pm and valet parking is available.
However, if you are thinking of arriving via the public transport in Paris, then you would need the Madeleine stop on the Metro via lines 8, 12 or 14 or the bus numbers 24, 42, 52, 84 and 94.
