Baume Restaurant

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Baume Restaurant
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Baume Restaurant

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Address:
201 South California Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306

Neighborhood:
Palo Alto

Getting there ›
Cuisine:
French

Price: $50 and over

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Baume Restaurant Details

Dining Style: Fine Dining
Website: http://www.baumerestaurant.com
Email: info@baumerestaurant.com
Phone: (650) 328-8899
Hours of Operation: Lunch: Friday ONLY: 11:30am - 1:00pm; Dinner: Wednesday - Thursday: 5:30pm - 8:30pm, Friday: 5:30pm - 9:00pm, Saturday: 5:00pm - 9:00pm, Sunday: 5:00pm - 8:30pm;
Payment Options: AMEX, Carte Blanche, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, Visa
Cuisine: French, Californian
Executive Chef: Bruno Chemel
Dress Code: Casual Dress
Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
Additional Details: Gluten-free Menu, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Wheelchair Access, Wine
Private Party Facilities: Our private dining space can accommodate up to 5 guests, and features our 12 course tasting menu, offered at $178 per guest. Optional wine pairing is available. Special accommodations can be made with advanced notice. The entire restaurant can also be reserved for a special event. The maximum number of guests is 22. Please contact the restaurant for more information about our private dining space, and restaurant buy-outs.
Private Party Contact: Baumé Restaurant (650) 328-8899

Getting there

Cross Street: Park Boulevard
Public Transit: One block from California Avenue train station, Palo Alto, CA
Parking: Street Parking
Parking Details: Easy street parking and public parking lots close to restaurant.

A word from Baume Restaurant

Leave it to Baumé Restaurant to introduce you to an extraordinary meeting of solid traditional French cuisine and dramatically innovative cooking. Chef Bruno Chemel loves taking his guests on a fun and unexpected journey of the senses, where saveurs and textures shine in entirely new ways. The path… that led him from Paris to Tokyo to Palo Alto has enabled him to develop a rich creative palette, yet his love for adventurous cooking is grounded in his passion for simple, high-quality ingredients sourced sustainably. Influenced by his days in Asia, the stylish dining room was designed with guests' privacy in mind, while discreet and impeccable service contributes to lending this Zen-like space a flavor of exquisite tranquility. Enjoy a 12 course tasting menu offered at $178 per guest. The wine list was thoughtfully selected to provide perfect pairings."Continued

Baume Restaurant

4.6

127 $50 and over restaurant

Awards voted by OpenTable diners

Diners' Choice WinnerFrench
Diners' Choice WinnerPeninsula
Diners' Choice WinnerSpecial Occasion

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Featured Reviews

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Reviews from OpenTable Diners Learn More

134 Current Reviews

Summary of Diner Ratings & Reviews

Overall

(Outstanding) 4.6 / 5

Food

(Outstanding) 4.7 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 4.7 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 4.6 / 5

Noise Level

Moderate

134 Current Reviews

Summary of Diner Ratings & Reviews

Overall

(Outstanding) 4.6 / 5

Food

(Outstanding) 4.7 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 4.7 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 4.6 / 5

Noise Level

Moderate

Filter Reviews By:

Diners classify this restaurant as:

special occasion(117)
fit for foodies(114)
romantic(99)

notable wine list(48)
neighborhood gem(25)
great for lunch(2)

Current OpenTable.com Diner Reviews (134)

Overall rating

(Fair) 2 / 5

The food was good, but not

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/14/2012

2000

Dined on 04/14/2012

2000

Food

(Fair) 2 / 5

Service

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Ambiance

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"The food was good, but not outstanding. There were two dishes from the entire tasting menu that are memorable for me. The others not so much. For the price, jump through hoops and go to the French Laundry. Much more memorable all around."

Dined on 04/14/2012

2000

Special Features: fit for foodies, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

genuinely world class

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/13/2012

2012

Dined on 04/13/2012

2012

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"We had an incredible experience, with the impeccable food, but mostly the staff making the experience greater than the sum of its parts. The food was as memorable as, guess what, French Laundry. Service is attentive, genuinely world class."

Dined on 04/13/2012

2012

Special Features: fit for foodies, neighborhood gem, notable wine list, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Fantastic Experience

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"Fantastic experience. Came all the way from NYC and we looked forward to a great experience. We were not dissappointed; the service was both extremely professional and friendly. The food was impressive, as expected, and the small servings and surprises in between completed the show"

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Special Features: fit for foodies, notable wine list, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

If you want an culinary experience,

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"If you want an culinary experience, Baume is the place to go. California Ave isn't normally the place where you would expect fine-dining, but this restaurant matches the best of any in the Bay Area and beyond.

A quiet, subdued atmosphere make it a great place to take that special someone out. Each dish has several special things about it, from colors and presentation to textures and aftertaste. For our particular 12 course tasting menu each dish seemed to surpass the last - highly recommended, regardless of the cost."

Dined on 04/08/2012

2011

Special Features: fit for foodies, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Fair) 2 / 5

Overrated

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/04/2012

2002

Dined on 04/04/2012

2002

Food

(Fair) 2 / 5

Service

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Ambiance

(Fair) 2 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"I had great expectations from this 2 Michelein Star restaurant but was greatly disappointed. The ambiance first of all is close to being creepy with only 3 tables in the entire place occupied with only 5 total. I felt like I was eating in someone's living room. The food was very uninspiring and tastelsss in general. For example one dish was a garlic soup and could not taste the garlic. A 12 course dinner at an exorbinant price and felt like I had to stop at In and Out Burger on the way home as I left hungry. We odered the wine pairing which included 8 different wines (way too many) that were mostly bad, almost all white, and did not fit well with the taste of the foods served. It felt like an after thought and were just thrown in there."

Dined on 04/04/2012

2002

Special Features: fit for foodies

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Overall rating

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Our waiter responded politely,

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 04/01/2012

2010

Dined on 04/01/2012

2010

Food

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Service

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Ambiance

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"Our waiter responded politely, but perhaps too succinctly when I asked multiple and repeated questions about ingredients (I'm a gourmet foodie). He was pleasant, but gave only the bare minimum answers (speaking too rapidly), when I would have enjoyed more information since the courses were not explained in a menu apriori (menu was provided upon request after the meal was finished).

The serving dishes and servingware presentations were spectacular, arresting, beautiful, fun and inspiring!

Every course was delicious, beautiful, thoughtful, deeply creative and stunning in presentation. However, my husband was still hungry after 12 courses. I can rarely make it through a tasting menu, so it was perfect for me however."

Dined on 04/01/2012

2010

Special Features: fit for foodies, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Fair) 2 / 5

Disappointed in the food.

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 03/31/2012

2005

Dined on 03/31/2012

2005

Food

(Fair) 2 / 5

Service

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Ambiance

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"Disappointed in the food. Food is creative but not good or enjoyable."

Dined on 03/31/2012

2005

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

superb cuisine again

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 03/30/2012

2012

Dined on 03/30/2012

2012

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"superb dinner with creative cuisine and amazing dessert.will be back soon"

Dined on 03/30/2012

2012

Special Features: fit for foodies, notable wine list, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

The food was superb. Service

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 03/30/2012

2007

Dined on 03/30/2012

2007

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Ambiance

(Very Good) 4 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"The food was superb. Service was excellent, but not superb (just slightly off and frequent interruptions of table conversation. The wine pairing was wonderful. For a normal restaurant, Baume would get highest marks on every category, but this is not a normal restaurant. The price for 3 people, including tip, but only one wine pairing, was $850. So we expect better. Thus, Baume is not as good as Alinea in Chicago -- Alinea's service was impeccable. this one was simply excellent. (But Alinea is also rated as one of the best restaurants in the US, so this is high praise for Baume. Ambiance: nice, but world class food should be supported by a world class interior designer."

Dined on 03/30/2012

2007

Special Features: fit for foodies, romantic, special occasion

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Overall rating

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

first visit

OpenTable Diner Since

Dined on 03/28/2012

2012

Dined on 03/28/2012

2012

Food

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Service

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Ambiance

(Outstanding) 5 / 5

Noise Level

Quiet

"This was our first visit to the restaurant so we had no idea as to what we were going to experience. It was, by far, the best I've ever experienced after have eaten at hundreds of restaurants all over the U.S."