Pizzeria with anchovies lacks flavor

Loulou is the restaurant of the moment, it opened last May at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and when I went for lunch, I ran into a few people who worked in media and design. Until the end of September, its white canopy is set in the Tuileries gardens and it offers a last moment of vacation in the center of Paris. But the Italian style cuisine is not very interesting, and the waitress with a large tattoo on her arm and dirty hair was nice but not appealing.

The terrace in the Tuileries gardens with Musée d’Orsay in the back,  is stunning

This new restaurant named after Loulou de la Falaise (so says the head waiter), is meant to become the new meeting place for fashionistas at the Louvre, taking over from Café Marly. The team behind it, is the same as Monsieur Bleu’s at Musée d’Art Moderne, but the food seemed much less interesting and the prices cheaper.

The logo designer by Jean Charles de Castelbajac

I had vitello tonnato which is one of my favorite dishes and it was incredibly disappointing with hardly any tuna sauce and rolled up vitello with no taste. I chose the pizzeria with anchovies to follow, and again tomatoes were colorless and tasteless and the anchovies tasted like they had remained in unsalted water for too long. My friend took a good aubergine parmigiana and bream with artichokes, a very small portion, but pretty and good.

The menus designed by Castelbajac are charming

I was trying to listen to the conversation on my right between two high level tv executives and enjoyed the last sun of the summer. The service was charming with young men dressed in black pants and striped blue shirts and aprons. The girls all wore high, high heels and platform shoes.

Little tiny cakes with café gourmand served on a pretty plate

It says that Benoît Dargère, the chef (who is superb at Monsieur Bleu) is advised by Diego Compagno (from Padua) for the Italian style cooking, but the products were really disappointing. They should get help from East Mama who imports directly from Italy! Coffee was excellent though!

The decor by Joseph Dirand is pure Knoll

Jean Charles de Castelbajac designed very pretty menus and Joseph Dirand found a perfect decor for inside with vintage Knoll furniture. But Loulou lacks a certain elegance and flair. This might evolve in the autumn. (110€ for two at lunch with no wine)