Le Cinq

How does one return to terra firma from gastronomy domine? I guess the "easiest" way would be to move from 3 Michelin stars to 2 stars to soften the blow? :) And so it was...to the studied opulence of the 4 Seasons on Rue George V to Le Cinq. Rushing past all the high fashion in this trés-chic part of town, it took long swigs of Châteldon before I could settle down and admire the cool beauty of the Le Cinq dining room. The interior is a grand salon with high ceilings and an overall classical décor (Louis XIV and XVI). Again, I was quite amused to be presented with a small stool to put my not-chic-at-all messenger bag.
Le Cinq had to suffer the loss of its 3rd star in 2007 (the former chef left in 2008), but the new chef Eric Briffard has been steadily but surely inching towards regaining that elusive pinnacle again. The pre-amuse bouche this time was fried calamari delightfully wrapped in a little napkin. Picking at this somewhat weighty starter, I should have had some idea of the much heavier lunch I was to experience. For the bread, in addition to virgin olive oil from Tuscany, I was presented with two delightful "towers" of butter. Each pat came in a little bell Le Cinq V jar, the regular kind accompanied by "seaweed butter", an unusual (for me) spread that was just perfect on baguettes.
The amuse bouche was spectacular – petite vegetables with squid and a melon emulsion. This fine melding of sweet and sour primed my palate just right.
For my entrée, I selected the carpaccio of bream with spicy squids and crunchy vegetables (Denti de Méditerannée en carpaccio à la tomate verte, chipirons épicés aux légumes croquants). This was accompanied by a puree of green tomatoes that came in a little vessel that was chilled by dry ice cubes that had been dropped into water. This resulted in a really cool effect with smoke billowing over the table. A bit of molecular gastronomy I thought – my favorite kind – the melding of science and food!! The sommelier helped with some wine selections and for my entrée, I was paired with a Mersault chardonnay. This with the fish, the sourness of little greens and vegetables created a wonderful effect, while I grudgingly admit that I felt that the tomato was a bit bland and didn’t add to the overall taste (yikes!).
My main course was lamb chops (Côtelettes d'agneau allaiton). Topped with cream and lemon preserves (caille de brebis au citron confit) and with some perfectly roasted provençal baby potatoes this was classic comfort food like no other. Complementing this was a terrific 2nd wine from the Château Haut-Brion. Having long heard of this wine (well at least the 1st wine), I was extremely excited to find that it was truly brilliant with the chops. Side note – The Haut-Brion was the first recorded first growth wine to be imported to the US by none other than VA’s favorite son – Thomas Jefferson in the 18th century. I was fully filled and happy by now but I knew dessert was on its way. But first, a little strawberry and watermelon jelly.
Hoping to score two 10s in a row, I decided to get the dessert of strawberry/lime emulsion with a white cheese sorbet (fraises de bois d'ile de France à l'émulsion fraise/citron vert, sorbet fromage blanc). Pretty with foam and little gold encrusted spear, this was yet another spectacular dessert, with the marshmallows and lime adding complexity and tart to the fresh strawberries.
Finally, the icing on the cake was the confectionary cart. I wanted to run away with this cart, with its assortment of macarons, nougats, marzipan, caramels, pistachios and chocolates. A little Willie Wonka dream. The macarons here put the ones at Laduree to shame. Perhaps they read my mind (not really) but a petit box (“pour l'urgence”) with some goodies was there for later. Washing it all down was a glass of wattwiller water, apparently noted for its digestive abilities!
Next to me at LC were a perfectly coutured couple who looked right out of a society page. They too were not immune to exclamations of ooh la la's as each dish outdid its predecessor. (Their à la carte meal was a bit more packed with oomph than mine :)... I guess they were important, because the chef Eric Briffard showed up at the end to talk to them. Worked well, because I was able to briefly exchange pleasantries with him as well. For a superstar, he was awfully nice.)
This time, I was truly exhausted after another 3 hour meal. My stomach and mind quite filled, I slowly trudged to the beautiful courtyard of the George V and had to collect my thoughts on yet another fabulous meal.

Final thoughts:
No tears but this was another almost perfect meal (Le cinq was a le neuf for me). It is really hard to compare the two places really. Perhaps, Le Cinq lacked some of the "surprise element" of Ledoyen, but the food was obviously great at both. One thing that really stands out is the individualized attention in the rarified atmosphere of the Michelin star universe (France has only 26 such places, NYC 6). This is a truly exceptional (albeit heavily biased to a certain cuisine) set of ridiculously expensive restaurants. While several criticisms have been leveled at these places, the experience I have to say was truly remarkable. I guess one of my favorite things is the ability of the chefs to meld diverse ingredients and create unusual combinations instead of taking an easy, predictable path. This kind of adventurous innovation is simply delightful to behold.
The food was impeccable. And it wasn’t that the dishes were needlessly complicated. Several dishes were just simple with delicate twists of genius. I almost felt like they took individualized attention to each little ingredient that went into a dish. Nothing out of place. Every little strawberry perfectly ripe, every little vegetable or piece of meat just perfectly cooked and each little frond of green in just the right place. And the net effect is truly sublime!! The service outstanding without being obsequious (or condescending, my poor French was apparently excusable, or maybe its just the recession !) The service at LC was much more friendlier and personal. In comparison, I felt that Ledoyen was a bit stiff. The other thing which really stood out was how knowledgeable the staff was and the joy with which they explained and presented the food. Voilà! was really a voilà moment with considerable pride in the art of food. I am not deluded to believe that this can be a regular thing, but sadly, for all my “support local” rants, saving up by avoiding the pretentious places around with mediocre and worse food around to spring for an über-pretentious place 4000 miles away with sublime food was well worth it.