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.

le doyen

I preface this post and a next one with a minor disclaimer to anyone who may stumble on this - this (like most of my ramblings) is merely a counterweight to premature amnesia and not for any other purpose. It has little to do with the Richmond part of Richmond Gastronomy and I've thrown out many of my rules under the weak excuse of haute cuisine :)!
I recently had the good fortune to experience the cooking of Christian le Squer of Ledoyen. Off the bustle of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, but hardly a hidden gem, Ledoyen has been serving the (not) masses (those of the "eat cake" variety) from ~the storming of the Bastille, 1792 to be precise. Wow !! and it has held its 3 Michelin stars with some force for sometime now. I couldnt wait to see what wonders of French cooking he would conjure up this time !
Bonjours by the staff and I was led to my corner table where I had a nice vantage point of being able to look at the beautiful and intimate dining room as well as glance outside where, beyond the lush greenery, the ever-busy Champs-Élysées was a world far far away.
Kicking things off were what I felt were "pre-amuses" single-bite excitements to get one set for the excellence to follow - The highlight was a gelee ball that burst in my mouth into a flavorful liquid with the slightest taste of ginger. The petit macaron literally melted in my mouth.(I would buy bags of those cheese "crackers" instead of crisps if I only could). I settled for the brioche and the olive bread out of the delectable bread cart. (bad pun alert) For another day, the pain of pain selection at a boulangerie...
Next up an amuse bouche of watermelon jelly with cherry tomatoes and sliced almonds. My palate was primed and amused now...
I peeped at one of the most comprehensive wine books I have ever seen, easily weighing around 20 pounds (with quite a few chateau xx's running for a healthy 4 digits). The sommelier had suggested a few options and I settled on a 2008 Rhone Condrieu (especially since it owed parentage to the viognier grape - VA winery specialty represent !). For my entree, the foie gras with passion fruit gelly and just the hint of espresso. (Passion/Cafe au foie gras des landes).
For the main course, I decided to be a bit adventurous and got the sweetbreads (Noix de ris de veau aux girolles truffees). The fish option was pretty exciting as well (vapeur de merlan, pamplemousse et avocat), but I'd only eaten sweetbreads a couple of times prior to this, with mixed results and Ledoyen was the perfect place for this French specialty. Nicely caramelized, the dish had a firm consistency suitably complemented by mini chanterelles and a truffle sauce. I was literally in gastronomy heaven by now :)
The blanc viognier was just perfect with the foie gras - the creaminess of the dish subtly balanced by the complexity of the wine (complex and complex do mix). And since it also supplemented the sweet breads quite perfectly, I had to have another. Despite the many blah (VA) viogniers I've had, I must take a fresh look at this grape again.
A fully laden cheese cart presented itself next (fromages frais et affinés) - faced with a plethora of choices, I boringly chose a roquefort and a brie with more of the wonderfully flaky brioche, hoping to save room for dessert.
But that wasnt to come. Not just yet. Instead, there was a pre-dessert plate of pretty little melt-in-mouth one-bites including strawberry gelee and an espresso balls, all of which melted in my mouth and set the stage of what was to come.
For dessert (fraises à la créme acidulée, sorbet à la coriandre), I was presented with probably the best strawberry "icecream" I've ever had. The consistency of the icecream was astounding (smooth and aerated to a fantastic, foamy consistency) but a bit of genius was to serve this over a coriander sorbet !! This combination, with strawberry dust, fresh petit strawberries was as close to a 10 as I could possibly imagine in a dish. Fully satisfied, I thought - L'addition s'il vous plaît. just a leetel something more ! more? bien sur !! Capping it all were some petit fours of eclairs and nougats along with some even more spectacular brioche. This caramelized brioche was a bretagne variant of a gateaux beurre and was slightly sweet and a perfect coda. As I greedily stuffed myself beyond capacity with a nutty nougat, I couldnt help but notice that this meal had clocked around 2.5 hrs !! A luxury in every sense of the word.
I could barely haul my decadent rear from the chair. All I really wanted to do was to go and take a nice nap somewhere. While I may not have been moved to tears (my palate was tickled pink on quite a few occasions), this was easily one of the most exciting meals I have ever eaten. Santé !!