Astrance – cooking inside Joël Robuchon's old kitchen

Astrance occupies 32 rue de Longchamp in Paris's 16th arrondissement, inside the dining rooms where Joël Robuchon once ran his legendary Jamin. Pascal Barbot and Christophe Rohat, who worked together under Alain Passard at L'Arpège, opened the original, pocket-sized Astrance on a side street off rue Beethoven in October 2000; it won a first Michelin star within months, a second in 2005 and a third in March 2007, a run the pair held until 2019. After two years of renovation they reopened in these larger, Robuchon-haunted premises at the very end of December 2022, and by March 2023 Astrance had earned back a star of its own — it holds One MICHELIN Star today. The move traded the old address's famous intimacy for three linked floors, a kitchen the diners can see into, and a private salon named, fittingly, for the house's former owner.

01The room and the setting

The new Astrance spreads over roughly 380 square metres and three storeys linked by a lift: a main dining room at street level, a private salon on the first floor and a wine cellar below. The kitchen itself takes up about 70 of those square metres and stays visible from the tables, a deliberate echo of the open, miniature kitchen Barbot and Rohat worked from on rue Beethoven for two decades before the move.

On the first floor sits the Salon Joël, a hushed, self-contained space for six to fourteen guests that the house built as a direct tribute to Joël Robuchon, the previous tenant of these walls. Fitted with its own mini-bar, it is bookable for private lunches, business dinners or bespoke events — a restaurant within the restaurant, as the house itself describes it.

Between floors, the cellar is entirely glazed, so it is glimpsed rather than hidden as guests move from one level to another — a theatrical touch that turns storage into scenery.

02The chef

Pascal Barbot was born on 7 June 1972 in Vichy, and trained before joining Alain Passard's L'Arpège in the late 1990s, where he met Christophe Rohat, who ran the dining room there. Barbot's travels took him into the South Pacific as chef to the Admiral of the French Naval fleet during his military service, and he later spent time in Sydney — journeys that left him with a magpie's taste for soy, lemongrass and other ingredients rarely seen in classic French kitchens at the time.

Insider tip

Closed Saturday and Sunday; lunch menu from €85; nearest metro Boissière, line 6.

Barbot and Rohat left L'Arpège in 2000 to open their own address, choosing a near-anonymous side street for what would become one of the most quietly influential kitchens in Paris. The restaurant was named after the astrance, a modest, star-shaped mountain flower whose understated looks conceal real sophistication — a fair description of Barbot's own cooking.

03The cooking

The carte is built around produce rather than category: the house studies ingredients such as Challans duck, koshihikari rice or citrus with equal care, then pairs each with small 'satellite' dishes designed to be shared at the centre of the table. Sections carry names like 'Vapeurs de ce jour', 'Du côté de la braise' and 'Piano', steering guests toward steamed, grilled or pan-cooked dishes rather than a fixed hierarchy of starter, main and dessert.

Since the move, the kitchen has also begun reinventing itself at weekends around a simpler, more accessible register, while the full Astrance experience — the one regulars know from rue Beethoven onward — continues the rest of the week.

04Wine and drinks

The cellar has been built up over more than twenty years and now runs to over 1,500 references, moving between classic appellations and natural wines with the same insistence on quality throughout. Bread comes from Ten Belles Bread, served with butter from Belle Miss'Terre in Le Pin-en-Mauges, and coffee is sourced from Café Lomi.

05When to go and booking

Astrance serves lunch from noon to 2pm and dinner from 7.30pm to 9.30pm (last orders), Monday to Friday, and is closed on Saturdays and Sundays except for occasional special dates. The nearest metro is Boissière on line 6, about a fifteen-minute walk from the Champs-Élysées, and given the small, 36-cover main room, booking ahead is essential — especially around set dates such as the house's Valentine's and Easter menus.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.