Norbert Tarayre opens La Table de Norbert in Versailles

La Table de Norbert, the first restaurant Norbert Tarayre has opened under his own name, served its first lunch on Tuesday 20 October at 10 rue de Satory in Versailles, a short walk from the château.

The address is not new to diners in the town. According to Tendances Restauration, the room previously housed the Bistrot du 11, run by Jean-Baptiste Lavergne-Morazzani, whose La Table du 11 took the Gault&Millau Paris gold in September and stays open. Tarayre announced the purchase in a TikTok video in September, telling followers he had the keys, 750g reported.

Tarayre came to public attention in 2012, when he finished third in the third season of Top Chef on M6. He has since fronted several television formats and runs the kitchen at 19.20, the bistro of the Prince de Galles hotel in Paris. Versailles differs in one respect: according to Tendances Restauration, he financed it with his own money.

Two versions of every product, one price for five courses, and a street already shared with a Gault&Millau gold.

How La Table de Norbert's menu works

The menu drops the usual split between starter and main course. Diners first choose a product, then the way it is cooked: Brut, close to the product's natural taste and texture, or Sublime, the more elaborate version. At opening the products are artichoke, beef, lobster, monkfish and duck, according to tv78 and Tendances Restauration.

For tables that want to share, the kitchen cooks a Salers côte de bœuf and a turbot, with an optional food and wine pairing. Desserts follow the same logic around Madagascar vanilla, grand cru chocolate and Louise Bonne pear. A five-course tasting menu, savoury and sweet, costs €90 per person.

“Here it's different. It's my table,” Tarayre told Tendances Restauration. The Brut side, he said, is the cook viewers already know from television and social media.

Booked until Christmas before opening

JDS describes a room in deep blue with gold details, woodwork, low lighting and an LTN monogram. When the site was still under works, 750g reported a second, more intimate room with a cocktail bar and a wine cellar visible from the tables.

Demand ran ahead of the kitchen. Tendances Restauration counted more than 3,000 reservations before the first service, with the restaurant full until Christmas. For visitors who usually plan around the best restaurants in Paris, it adds a reason to stay in Versailles after the château closes.

The real test comes in January, when the launch curiosity has been served and the bookings have to come back on their own.