Le Cinq**

Paris, FR

I'm glad to say I've dined at many of the best restaurants in California. But I'm guessing if I told a New Yorker that, they'd probably just chuckle thinking that dumb Californians don't know fine dining. Well, I think that's the same response Parisians would give Americans in general until they dined at their Michelin starred establishments. And after experiencing fine dining at Le Cinq, I get it. It's on a totally different playing field in regards to service and was one of those eye opening foodie moments for us, like our TFL meal.

Dining room

Located in the Four Seasons, George V, Le Cinq's dining room is gorgeous. From the chandeliers, the thirty foot ceilings, to the towering fresh floral arrangements, it's just a beautiful room to see, let alone dine and be served at.

Seeing these large vases with orchids and lillys made me think of what Eric Ripert's decor at Le Bernardin was trying to do, but did not succeed like Le Cinq's. It's like this throughout the dining room, lobby and hallways of the entire hotel. 

Even the place setting was something to behold, everything in a pinpointed placed location, from the dish, to the napkins, forks, and knives and were constantly being perfectly and properly readjusted throughout each course. We were handed menus with pretty outrageous prices, but as I flipped to the last page, I finally found the 85 Euro three course lunch menu that we were there for. A first for us, we found it pretty humorous that Chu-Toro's menu did not show any prices, not to sway a lady from ordering exactly what she would want regardless of cost. That's how we got caught up ordering a 25 Euro glass from the champagne cart. My drink of choice was a Kronenburg 1664 beer.

Calamari

As we looked at the menus, they brought out a steaming plate of fresh calamari. They also provided us with the appropriate appetizer forks for these deliciously light and tender first bites. 

Bread

There were only three bread choices, but all were delicious, in particular the brioche roll above. 

Seaweed butter

But for the first time ever, the butter was star of the bread course. We were provide two towers of fresh butter, a classic one and a seaweed butter (above) that Chu-Toro wanted to sneak away in her purse. A unique saltiness added by the seaweed making it the best butter that Chu-Toro has ever had. She still talks about it at least once a week. 

Amuse Bouche

We started off with three amuse bouche bites, starting from left to right, edamame peas formed in a dome gelee atop a cracker, light and fresh. A milk marinated fish square with black sesame, creamy and soft. And third a passionfruit foam with a piece of foie gras buried underneath.

Passionfruit and Foie Gras

This flavor combination is something we recently had at WD-50 in New York and it was a success at Le Cinq as well. There's something about the tart, sweet fruit that perfectly balances the rich foie. This little bite of foie was my favorite during our entire time in Paris.

Melon de Provence, millefeuille pasteque a la burrata

Chu-Toro's first course, melons from the Provence region millefeuille with burrata, was a gorgeous tower of thinly sliced melons and burrata providing a light, fresh, sweet delicious concoction. 

Smoked anchovies pissaladiere

There were three components to Chu-Toro's first course, this second plate consisted of smoked anchovies pissaladiere. We're not partial to anchovies and we didn't know what pissaladiere was, so didn't know what to expect. It turns out pissaladiere is a pizza like dish made in southern France, that uses a thicker dough than a classic pizza. I felt it was more like a thick cracker or pita chip than a pizza, but tasty nonetheless. The anchovy bits were smoky and salty and overall it was a nice bite.

Iceburg glace au poivron

The third dish of Chu-Toro's first course was a sweet pepper iceburg, an iced puree/soup with a peppery finish. 

Tartare de veau de lait, aux huitres de l'stang de Thau, condiments aux algues

Although Chu-Toro's three synchronously presented plates to her first course were impressive, it did not compare to the best tartar I've ever had. The smooth, surprisingly light, very fresh, flavorful, milk fed veal tartar was one of my best bites of the year. It also came topped with chopped oysters from lake of Thau and seaweed condiments, overall a perfect dish. 

Coeur de saumon extra-frais, Crouustillant a la feuille de shiso, 
Pousses croquantes au sesame noir

For Chu-Toro's entree, she received the most beautiful salmon dish we've ever seen in our lives. The heart of salmon with crunchy shiso leaf was presented upright, looking like a diagonally cut egg roll, with a side salad of thinly shaven crisp shoots with black sesame. The salmon itself was extremely tender, just barely cooked, like salmon sashimi. It was wrapped in a thinly crisp exterior with crunchy shiso leaf, one of my favorite flavors in any dish. Although it didn't look like a large course, it was actually very filling and very good but we couldn't finish all of it.

Lamb chops and sweetbreads with parsley and garlic

My allaiton lamb course consisted of two sections, the first, two chops with sweetbreads flavored with parsley and garlic. The chops, perfectly cooked, had a great crust and juicy medium rare interior. The sweetbreads were creamy and delicate simply prepared with parsley and garlic.

Comme un navarin d'agneau allaiton aux legumes primeurs

The second section of the plate, was the stewed allaiton lamb with early vegetables. The lamb was fork tender, the veggies, fresh and crunchy, and jus, sweet and rich, a well executed dish all around. 

Goat cheese sorbet, oil olive, candied kumquat

Our pallet cleanser course was a goat cheese sorbet, with olive oil and topped by the candied kumquat. Chu-Toro is not a fan of goat cheese, and to date has only tasted one goat cheese course she really loved (a souffle at Chez Panisse) but she loved this pallet cleanser. It tasted like a light cream cheese sorbet with a tiny goat cheese finish. The olive oil added a nuttiness and the candied kumquat added the sweetness, an overall well balanced dish.

Fraises "ciflorette" d'un jardin. Rafraiches a la rhubarbe vanillee, creme glacee a l'eau de rose

Chu-Toro's dessert was chilled "ciflorette" strawberry from a garden and vanilla rhubarb, rose water sorbet.  Another gorgeous presentation, but Chu-Toro preferred the previous sorbet more. 

Sable chocolat lacte aux framboises, Sorbet auz piments doux

I had the milky chocolate and raspberry shortbread, with sweet pepper sorbet. I was starting to get tired from the marathon lunch, so I didn't eat too much of this one, but Chu-Toro said the flavors reminded her of our wedding cake and enjoyed it.

Black Forest water

Usually, this is the time for a coffee, but we were just too full to eat anything else. Full and sleepy. So because we declined a coffee or port, they served us Black Forest water from Germany, apparently a good digestive. Amazing to be served high filtered water as a digestive. Speaking of water, our Chateldon water was 12 Euros a bottle. I thought it was just pricey at Le Cinq, but we learned later on our trip that this water is expensive everywhere. It's regulated on how many canisters can be bottled each year, making it luxury item.

Candy cart

Since we couldn't handle any more food, we asked that our selections from the candy cart be packed for us. There were a variety of sweets, from fresh marshmallows, home made caramels and small baked cakes. All beautiful, but we just couldn't look at anymore food.

After we paid the bill, we given individual really nice printed menus, a couple tiny boxes for our candy cart goodies and mignardises and a single rose for Chu-Toro while we walked out. Kind of corny, kind of classy, but definitely a first for us.

This meal was the favorite of our trip and one of the best meals we've ever had. The service raised the bar to our expectations at fine dining restaurants and was probably one of the best ever (with TFL).  The food was perfectly executed and would recommended it for anyone who wants an amazing fine dining experience in Paris. We'll definitely be back on our next visit.

Overall 8.5/10

May 30th, 2011