L’ENTRECÔTE: ITS SECRET SAUCE IS WORTH A RETURN TRIP TO PARIS

The last day of Riviera Travel’s MS Jane Austen Normandy cruise deposited me in Paris for a great steak with secret sauce I can never get enough of. 

A sweet, civilized encore after cider country, Monet’s gardens, and the D-Day beaches. Oddly enough, for a ship filled with British passengers, I was astonished at how many hadn’t set foot in London for years, if not ever—even though it’s now just a two-hour hop away by Eurostar.

So here I was, back in Paris…

I decided to take full advantage of Riviera’s truly deluxe tour buses—a feature that does set Riviera apart from its river-cruise brethren. I hopped on one as a convenient way to get to lunch. We rolled past the Eiffel Tower and onto the Jardin du Luxembourg.  All the while, Sabine, our tour guide,  slipped in Parisian history that I’d never heard before on this, at least my tenth visit to Paris.

When I finally hopped off, I ambled through Les Jardins and onto the streets of the 6ᵉ arrondissement. 20 minutes later, I arrived at Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte—the Saint-Germain-des-Prés branch of the fabled chain (Here’s a link to all the others: https://www.relaisentrecote.fr/?page_id=69&lang=en_GB).  When Andrew and I were in Paris in May, the lines had stretched for literally a block. This was my make-up visit, a second chance to savor L’Entrecôte and its incredible secret sauce.

Inside, the ritual unfolds like clockwork:

No menu, no decisions, just steak and frites, cooked to your liking and bathed in that glorious, herb-flecked green sauce that has become one of the most closely guarded secrets in France. Over the years, countless chefs and food writers have tried to unlock its mystery. I finally tracked down the most convincing version yet—rich, velvety, and astonishingly close to the real thing.

A Little Sauce History

The sauce at L’Entrecôte has its roots in another French legend: the Café de Paris butter sauce from Geneva, created in the 1940s. It’s a silky emulsion of butter, herbs, mustard, anchovies, and capers—so perfectly balanced it makes everything it touches taste richer. Both Café de Paris and L’Entrecôte have guarded their exact recipes for decades, but devoted gourmands (and a few mischievous food writers) have reverse-engineered credible facsimiles.

The version below is my favorite—it captures the complexity and buttery luxury of the real thing. Pour it generously over your steak, and you’ll understand why Parisians—and visitors—line up around the block for it.

L’Entrecôte’s “Secret” Sauce (Almost!)

November 5, 2025

Servings: 4

Total: 20 min

Difficulty: The Food Processor makes this easy to make

A silky emulsion of butter, herbs, mustard, anchovies, and capers—so perfectly balanced it makes everything it touches taste richer

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, very soft
• 1 medium shallot or small onion, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped tarragon leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped chervil or parsley
• 4 sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 3–4 anchovy fillets)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Step 1 Melt about ¼ of the butter in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add the shallots and cook gently until translucent, not browned.
• Step 2 Transfer to a blender or food processor and add the remaining butter, herbs, capers, anchovies, nutmeg, and a little pepper. Blend until smooth.In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolk, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar or lemon juice.
• Step 3 Gradually whisk in the herb-butter mixture until it forms a thick, velvety emulsion. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Step 4 Reheat gently over low heat just until warm—don’t let it separate.
• Step 5 Serve immediately over steak and a mountain of crispy fries.

The Perfect Steak to Go With It

Of course, the sauce is only half the story. The steak itself deserves proper treatment, and I still swear by my foolproof method—one of the most-read posts on Chewing The Fat:
https://chewingthefat.us.com/2020/04/forget-everything-you-know-about-cooking-a-great-steak.html

It’s the perfect partner for this Parisian classic—a golden, buttery marriage that would make Julia Child swoon.

Final Thoughts

Maybe it was the soft autumn light on the Seine or the fact that I’d come full circle—from river to city, from cruise ship to café—but there was something magical about that lunch at L’Entrecôte. The sauce may be a secret, but its spell is no mystery: it’s the taste of Paris itself—elegant, indulgent, and impossible to forget.

#LEntrecoteParis #RivieraTravel #RivieraJaneAusten #ParisRestaurants #SteakFrites #ChewingTheFat