Bistro de Paris to get new name and menu post-refurb.

[Sweet Melissa]

This will likely mark the end of my lauding this restaurant. Sounds like they're going for another "2 points but not really signature" dining experience like Le Cellier.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/08/major-makeover-for-the-france-pavilion-at-epcot

Jerome Bocuse: It’s all new – new name, new dining room, new costumes for the servers, new menu. We’re still aiming for haute cuisine, but with a less formal atmosphere. Guests are in the park with their families, so we want to create an elegant, nice ambience, but not stuffy. Our guests want to experience true French cuisine.

 

[The Incredible Schmulk]

Aw, that's unfortunate. Why is it such a bad thing to have one, just one, fine dining experience in Epcot?

I don't get it. I'll give it a go, but I'm not stoked about the announcement.

 

[LizC]

I am so dissapointed! This was by far my favorite restaurant in all of WDW. My husband and I skipped it on our last trip (it was a very short trip) and now it seems it will be gone forever, at least in the way we remember it. I always thought it was strange how empty it was compared to other "fine dining" restaurants in WDW.

I will miss the old Bistro de Paris.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We'll have to wait & see how he "New" restaurant is classified. I suspect you are dead right, based on where their quality was headed for a good year now - IF they are classified as a Sig? I'll certainly go one more time - then call "Sig" or "Fake Sig" based on offerings & performance. I personally hope WDW DOES NOT do this again: every time the Sig title is used as a 2 point DDP escape hatch, it degrades the REAL Sigs.

Comments from Pam Brandon on the blog post linked above state that the restaurant will still require two points on the Dining Plan when it reopens. I hope the vibe at Bistro (or whatever they plan to call it now) is still nice and that the menu still warrants those two credits, but I have no hope whatsoever that the restaurant will be the cozy, intimate respite that it once was. All the talk of making the restaurant less formal and more accessible to families kind of makes my heart sink.

 

[littleroo]

This was also our favorite Disney fine dining meal! I fear it will become the norm!

 

[crispy]

Jerome Bocuse is a huge name in fine dining (his father founded the Bocuse D'or Cuisine Competition) so I wouldn't lose heart that this is a bad move. I don't think he would put his name on it if it was anything less than stellar.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

He's had his name on les Chefs de France for the last 15 years or so and I don't think that's stellar either. But you're right that the menu could surprise me. I just have no faith that the restaurant's ambiance will ever again be like it used to be.

 

[rufio]

Any idea when the new restaurant is opening? Our trip is in December and we have ADRs for Christmas dinner.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I've heard early November.

 

[wiigirl]

Jerome Bocuse is a huge name in fine dining (his father founded the Bocuse D'or Cuisine Competition) so I wouldn't lose heart that this is a bad move. I don't think he would put his name on it if it was anything less than stellar.

Yum....actually can't wait to eat there!

 

[worldfanatic]

I always thought it was strange how empty it was compared to other "fine dining" restaurants in WDW.

That line right there says it all.
Hopefully the changes help them attract more diners.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

First folks there - post a review... we won't be able to do so until April, as all our November dining is already booked.

Seconded. We didn't make a room in our schedule for Bistro on our November visit. We tend to not make many reservations inside Epcot when we visit during the Food & Wine Festival.