Hotel Plaza
Athénée, 25 Avenue Montaigne, 8th. 01.53.67.65.00. Metro
Alma-Marceau.
Open : Mon-Wed 8-10h30pm. Closed last two weeks in Dec, mid-July to
mid-Aug.. Average : 220 Euros. Credit : Amex,
DC, MC, V.
Perhaps
the best measure of an haute
cuisine meal is the claim it makes on your attention span. In the case
of a dinner at Alain Ducasse, two or three of the dishes we sampled
were still on our minds a week later. We also came away in reverent
admiration of the service; which is probably the most professional,
engaging and precise of any restaurant in Paris. The decor by
Patrick Jouin, however, is starting to seem a little gimmicky a few
years on. This quibble aside, we had a spectacular meal, greedily
devouring amuse-bouches of perfectly poached langoustines topped with
caviar, and spider crab served in its orange shell beneath a bubbly
foam of coral. Next, two brilliant first courses : French asparagus
from Pertuis in Provence, poached and served under fine leaves of
melted comté cheese with an exquisite sauce of black truffles
and vin jaune of the Jura, and plumb langoustines on a bed of
first-of-season ceps - both sauteed and raw - red onion, and herbs.
Sauteed Breton lobster with asparagus tips and morels in a light sauce
of its own cooking juice with morels was perfectly executed but
clearly aimed at more timid palates. Chef Jean-François Piege's
real art is often almost undetectable, since the consistent goal is to
enhance the natural flavours of the best french seasonal produce. After
a superb plate of cheese from Bernard Anthony, the famous Alsatian
fromager, and parisian Marie-Anne Cantin, desserts concluded the meal
on a note of operatic triumph. Strawberries from Plougastel in Brittany
were cut into matchsticks, carefully arranged on a pastry cream on a
rectangle of puff pastry and topped with a caramelised stalk of poached
rhubarb : brilliant.