Septime, Paris

Septime (95€, 2/13/2020, 7- Course incl. VAT)

Chef Bertrand Grébaut started his culinary career at the three-star L’Arpège and subsequently won his own Michelin star as the opening Chef at L’Agapé. Chef Grébaut has once said “I wanted to liberate good French food from expensive hotel dining rooms”. He had his theme on making creative, plant and vegetable-focused dishes that change every two weeks. Because it is a surprise tasting menu at dinner, it is important to specify any intolerances or food allergy. English menus were not available, descriptions in parenthesis are the Google translation.

Septime is located near the Bastille area. The restaurant was decorated in a relaxed and unpretentious way, no white tablecloth, wooden tables/wooden chairs and the spiral staircase, forcing the diners to direct serious attention to the plate. It offered a tasting menu of 7 courses. I requested for an additional course toward the end of the meal. Therefore, I had an 8-course meal with extra charges.

I.Amuse Bouche

1. Bouillon de Racines (Root Bouillon) – Soup made from root vegetables including celery, parsley, nasturtium, Jerusalem artichoke. It was well-seasoned and tasty.

2. Flat Bread au Blé Ancien, Comté et Truffe (Flat Bread with Old Wheat, Comté and Truffle) – Light and crusty flat bread covered with 18-month aged Comté cheese and topped with Périgord truffles. Cheese was siphoned with air and yielded with smoother texture. It was just delicious and I wished I could have more.

II. Bouillabaisse, Seiche d’Oléron et Noisette (Bouillabaisse, Cuttlefish from Oléron and Hazelnut)

Sliced raw cuttlefish, from the island of Oléron which is the largest island on the French Atlantic coast, and al dente confit potatoes were the main ingredients. Cuttlefish, cut into ½ inch slices, was fresh and succulent and potatoes was cut in #9 spaghetti size and poached in hot water for a few second. The texture of potatoes was amazing, while it still retained its crispiness, it did not have that raw potatoes taste. Soup base was made of bouillabaisse and saffron, it was thick enough to coat the spaghetti-like potatoes. Chef also complemented the overall taste by including hazelnut oil. The superb creativity and perfectness of this dish was under estimated by its appearance.

III. Cerf de la Meuse, Chou Pontoise, Sabayon Miso (Meuse deer, Chou Pontoise, Sabayon Miso)

Venison was prepared in Gravlax style, cured with sugar and pepper then dried for 24-48 hours. Diced venison was served with miso sabayon, venison bone infused oil, and vinegar. At the very top, there was a piece of marinated Pontoise cabbage leaf covering part of venison and sprinkled with togahachi spice. Venison was tender, tasty and flavorful (probably from the extra step of using venison bone infused oil), without gamy taste. The Pontoise cabbage has been on the lands around Paris since the 16 century, and is recognizable by its curly leaves, less compact than the white cabbage and has a purplish tender center. It is particularly tender, sweet and sugary. It can be eaten raw or cooked, sold all winter long. Pontoise cabbage is also known for its therapeutic benefits, it is rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and anti-oxidant.

IV. Potage Cressonnière, Pralin de Graine de Courge (Watercress Soup, Squash Praline)

It was sautéed spinach, sorrel and watercress; their flavor was rather unconventional. Upon inquiry, I found out Chef used infused nuts oil to sautée the vegetable. Nuts infused oil did produce a delicate and pleasant flavor. In addition, Chef also served thickened cream from Normandy, water cress velouté and roasted pumpkin seeds paste to complement the taste and flavor. Velouté is one of the five “mother sauces” of French cuisine. Using velouté to balance the richness of cream and still offer the levelness of fresh vegetables was an excellent practice by the Chef.

V. St. Jaques en Coquille, Lard Fumé et Burre Laurier (Scallops in Shell, Smoked Bacon and Bay Butter)

I have not had Coquille St. Jacques for a while. Loved to eat it again. Scallop, from St. Malow, was roasted half-raw and served with lardo (smoked bacon from Southern France), red fermented berries and fermented mushroom. Sauce was made of bay leaf butter and wine (Chenin Blanc wine from Anjou Mosse). My server informed that Chef was very particular about the type of wine used in the sauce. Chef was also very keen on using fermented vegetable to render a more sophisticated taste. Scallop was tender, and succulent. Lardo gave scallop more juice in the chewing process. Another dish of perfect taste and flavor.

VI. Poulette du Patis, Noix Pickles et Truffe Noire (Patis Chicken, Pickles Nuts and Black Truffle)

One piece of hen breast meat and one piece of hen thigh meat were broiled to golden brown on skin. Hen was prepared like doing Patis fried chicken. Patis fried chicken is a crispy and tasty recipe that requires chicken marinated in fish sauce and ground black pepper before coated in flour or cornstarch mixture. Chef did his best to minimize the coating while still kept the skin crispy and meat juicy. Hen was served with sauce made of meat juice and black truffle and pickled walnut, and mushroom purée. This was supposed to be the last savory dish. But I felt that I have not had enough yet. I, therefore, requested for one additional course which I would pay extra for the cost. Chef delightfully agreed to prepare for a seafood dish.

VII. Turbot, Sauce Moule Pimenton, Oseille Rouge (Turbot, Chili Mold Sauce, Red Sorrel)

The turbot is a relatively large species of flatfish found on menus in the whitest of the white-tablecloth restaurants. Like halibut, turbot is a highly prized species often regarded as the best of the flatfish with great flavor and firm, white flesh. Chef used wild-caught Atlantic turbot and a rarely used classic sauce made of Vin Jaune, pimento and mussels’ juice. In addition, red sorrel and smoked paprika was sprinkled on top. A few pieces of white flesh placed on the edge of plate were the meat from turbot fin which has different texture from the fish fillet. I also noticed that the fish fillet was only slightly browned, probably it was not boiled under the high heat.

Vin Jaune is French for “yellow wine” whose production is concentrated in the Jura region in eastern France. Even though it is yellow – more like a sweet dessert wine in its look, Vin Jaune is as dry as a wine can get. It has a complex and distinctive flavor marked by notes of pine resin, curry, citrus, nuts, salt and anis. Vin Jaune is made from grapes harvested in late October when the sugars have developed enough to have a potential alcohol level of 13-15% for the finished wine.

Fish was tender and with subtle taste-of-the-sea flavor (less browning made it less fishy), accompanied by the extraordinarily elaborate sauce. It was the perfect way of ending the savory dishes.

Palette Cleanser – Crème à la Feuille de Citronnier, Citron Caviar (Lemon Leaf Cream, Lemon Caviar)

Penna cotta with citrus jam, pepper, and lemon tree leaves infused dill oil. It was a light, delicious and refreshing.

VIII. Glace au Pain et Miel, Avoine et Lait d’Amande (Bread and Honey Ice Cream, Oats and Almond Milk)

The 1st one was Bread and Honey Ice Cream with finely toasted oats crumble on the side and pollen and almond milk on top. It was not overwhelmingly rich in substance, but rich in flavor.

The 2nd one was petit puff. Its outside texture was a bit crunchier than puff. Inside was filled with yummy custard, dough was made of flour and ground nuts.

Chef Grébaut’s cooking style is produce-centric and “naïve, spontaneous, balanced” as described by himself. Tastes and textures are amazingly and intriguingly playing off to a perfect way with genuine creativity. It is notoriously difficult and frustrating to get a reservation at Septime. We had to get up at 4 am Eastern time to make a trans-Atlantic phone call. We were lucky enough to get a reservation to experience such an extraordinary gastronomic satisfaction. Was it worth the hassle? The answer is a definite “yes”. Septime’s current Tasting menu priced at €95 is a true steal for a one Michelin Star restaurant in Paris.

Le Cinq, Paris

Le Cinq, Paris (150 €, 9/7/2019, 4-Course incl. VAT & Gratuity)

After the financial crisis of 2008, lots of restaurant have been tinkering with a new-style   fine dining concept – casual concept. However, for the ultimate in opulence and “bells and whistles”, you have to head to Paris. In Paris La Grande Cuisine usually goes along with a grand and opulent dining room, and the dining room of Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V Hotel is a prime example. We arrived a bit earlier than our appointment time at 12pm. While we were waiting to be seated, one guest was politely asked to put on the jacket provided by the restaurant. This is elegant casual, not just ordinary casual.

Geroge V’s setting was absolutely gorgeous. The whole 1^st floor housed a few restaurants, all filled with artistically arranged white flowers varieties. The prettiest white floral arrangement that I have never seen.

Executive chef at Le Cinq is Christian Le Squer, who joined Le Cinq in October 2014, having previous been executive chef at another Michelin 3-starred restaurant Pavillon Ledoyen. In 2002, Chef Le Squer, at Ledoyen, was awarded with the 3^rd star which he held until his departure in 2014. After Chef Le Squer moved to Le Cinq, he was awarded the 3^rd star in 2016.

Le Cinq is open daily for lunch and dinner. You can choose an a la carte menu or the “The Gourmet Stroll” menu or a “The Gourmet Lunch” at lunch time (4 courses €150 or 6 courses €220). I ordered the 4-course lunch. It started with Amuse Bouche.

Amuse Bouche

1-1.Parmigiana Waffle – made of Parmigiana cheese, butter, egg and flour. It was made in a waffle machine and served a portion of the round-shaped waffle disc. It was tasty and pleasant.

1-2.White Cacao Boubon – with pear juice and fennel. Quite refreshing.

1-3.Artichoke Tart – filled with artichoke cream and adorned with a black olive and a cute peddle of Fleur de Souci (Marigold).

1-4.Biscuit with Tuna Tartare, Tomato, Cep Mushroom – September is the season for Cep mushroom mainly from the Loire Valley. Cep mushroom has slightly meaty flavor, whiter color and firmer texture. This dish has an overall pleasant Italian flavor.

2.Eggplant Caviar

It was not real caviar, it was parfait of puréed roasted peeled eggplant, lime, basil, thyme and mozzarella cheese. Parfait was surrounded by Cipollini jelly and juice, and covered by a lot of shaved Cep mushroom and adorned by a peddle of Marigold and micro herbs. It is always a pleasure to have Cep.

Bread and Butter

There were 3 types of bread – original baguettes, whole wheat brioche and multi-grain.

I noticed the yellow luster right away and found out it is Bordier butter from Brittany. Jean-Yves Bordier's team of artisans tailor-make these butters for some of the most demanding chefs in the world. Its silky texture is the result Bordier's signature maturation, kneading and pounding processes.

Appetizers

1.Tomato Tartare/Sorrel Sorbet, Traditional Condiments

It was almost like tomato tartare, except it was slightly roasted (dehydrated) to get a more intense flavor. It was roasted at 80 degree for 10 hours, then flavored with Worcester sauce, olive oil, pepper and onion. It was accompanied by spinach soufflée and adorned with nasturtium, squid ink flavored thin bread crisp and sliced thin crisp made from buckwheat flour. Tomato tartar was surprisingly flavorful and tasty, probably accentuated from the slow cook process.

2.Artichoke and Parmesan Milk, Spaghetti Gratin

This was a variation of Chef Le Squer’s famous signature dish “Spaghetti en timbale truffle”. Spaghetti were aligned along the tart shell. I was informed that the outside wrapping part of spaghetti must use the ordinary dry spaghetti which can hold the shape better. All cooked spaghetti was flavored with black truffle cream, olive oil. In the center of the tart, there were roasted artichoke hearts and 24-month aged Parmigiana cheese sauce. Cheese sauce with capers was also served on the side. On top, the tart was adorned with roasted artichoke heart, micro green and a slice of aged Parmigiana cheese. The aroma of truffle made the taste and flavor even more delightful. 

Main Course

Caramelized Pork Belly, Cabbage and Avocado

Pork belly skin was fried first before roasting in the oven. It was roasted at 64-degree low temperature for 36 hours. Before the roasting process, pork belly was marinated with dry miso, char wood flavor and soy sauce. After roasting, it was glazed with the condensed marinade sauce. The glazed pork was adorned with dry grilled leek, chopped chives and sesame seeds. In addition, there were sheep milk cheese and roasted avocado wrapped by crunchy cabbage leaf wrap around. The veggie wrap was adorned by dry grilled leek, micro green and marigold. It was a true fusion dish with every bite full of satisfaction.

   

Pre-Dessert

There were three parts in the palette cleanser. 1). Pecan caramel, ginger crunch; 2). White chocolate and lime parfait with basil; 3). Peach and pink peach (from France)/ lavender sorbet. Pink peach is called white peach in some countries. It has a pale pink skin and has got more fragrance and flavor than yellow peach. It was refreshing and delicious. Sorbet was extremely delightful.

Dessert

1.Natural Strawberries/Chantilly Cream, Sparkling Granita//White Chocolate Ganache

Strawberry compote was accompanied by white chocolate ganache and Chantilly cream, adorned by crunchy strawberry sheet and crunchy sugar granita/poprock candy. The rather usual ingredient was the 10-year old Balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness.

2. Trilogy Treat

We had a complementary dessert with 3 items in the plate, chocolate ball filled with dark chocolate ganache, nuts covered caramelized ball with gold leaf and lime mousse. It was always enjoyable to have chocolate dessert at the end of meal.

Petit Fours

We were offered some petit fours from the trolley. There were varieties of caramel – original flavor, passion fruit, raspberry. There were also varieties of chocolate – chocolate truffles, chocolate with nuts and marshmallow.

The ambiance and environment in George V were without doubt opulent, classy, magnificent. Cuisine at Le Cinq was outstanding. Chef Le Squer has different style from Chef Gagnaire. Chef Le Squer is more conservative while Chef Gagnaire is more focused on developing complex, innovative and enjoyable dishes. As for the value of what each dollar can buy, it seemed to be a better deal at restaurant Pierre Gagnaire.

Pierre Gagnaire, Paris

Pierre Gagnaire, Paris (115 €, 9/6/2019, 4-Course, incl. VAT, Gratuity & 1 drink)

Pierre Gagnaire, father of the modern French cuisine, has many restaurants in Paris, London, Dubai, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Moscow, Hong Kong and Seoul. But Pierre Gagnaire restaurant is the flagship. He started in Saint Étienne and was awarded three Michelin stars in 1993. He later had to move to Paris and opened Pierre Gagnaire restaurant in Hotel Balzac just off Champs Élysées near Arc de Triumph. Chef Gagnaire is also well-known for his close association with Hervé This, one of the founding fathers of molecular gastronomy.

Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire is open for lunch and dinner Monday thru Friday, and you can choose between the a la carte and a 9-Course Tasting menu. Lunch has a special 115 € 4-Course Tasting menu, the price was definitely not exorbitant by Paris fine dining standard. This is my 2nd visit of restaurant Pierre Gagnaire. In between 2 visits, I have had dinner at Sketch, his magnificently decorated two Michelin stars restaurant in London. As is the Gagnaire style, each course arrived in an array of little dishes with several variations on the main ingredient element. I chose the 4-Course Tasting menu started with Amuse Bouche.

Varieties of bread and butter were offered throughout the meal.

Butter

Froment du Léon, Butter from Brittany

The Froment du Léon is an endangered French breed of dairy cattle (nicknamed golden cattle) from the coastal region of Brittany, in the northwest of France. It is considered high-quality dairy product, with a very special yellowish luster.

Butter with Caramelized Butter Milk & Black Salt, Butter with Citrus & Espelette Pepper

Making caramelized butter milk is a long tedious process, the caramelized particles give a roasted sweetness balanced by black salt. I have recently had similar caramelized butter at Geranium.

The espelette pepper is cultivated in the French commune of Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, traditionally the northern territory of the Basque people. Espelette pepper is not hot, but has a very pretty orange color luster. It tastes sweet and less peppery than ordinary peppers.

Bread

Walnut & Raisin Bread and Spanish Brioche

Crispy Pistachio Bread

Crispy Breadstick with Pure Sea Salt, Souffleed Bread with Cuttlefish Ink, Grissini, Olive Cream Venere, Hazelnut with Salt and Soubressade

Grissini are crunchy pencil-sized breadstick with a rustic appearance coming from the hand-stretched process of pizza-crust like dough. Each of the four different flavors offered dissimilar delightful taste.

           

Soubressade is a charcuterie of the Balearic Islands of Spain. The most popular soubressade is made with black pork. It can be used as a stuffing, ingredient or condiment of a large number of recipes. In addition to the artsy lookng breadsticks, there was olive purée accompanied as dip, it was almost like tapenade but less rich. It balanced well because the breadsticks were already rich in flavor and taste.

Crumbly Shortbread and Sacristains

Sacristains is the puff pastry made of ground almonds, cinnamon, egg and all-purpose flour. Shortbread was made of almond powder, butter, parmagiano cheese and flour. It carried more characteristics of puff pastry than bread. But it was delicious.

The varieties of bread were all tasty. However, I had to restrain myself from eating too much bread so to leave rooms for other treats.

Appetizers 

Red Bell Pepper and Mint Bavaroise/Paris Mushrooms, Onions and Vuletta

It was Corsican smoked black pork cheek ham, mainly the cheek part. Meat around check has a different type of muscle, it is more elastic and flavorful. The black pork’s lean meat has a slightly darker tone then lean meat from other ordinary pork. Sliced daikon mildly marinated complemented the meat well.

Fresh Anchovy, Eggplant Stiletto

With slightly sautéed diced celery, green onion and onion, and accompanied by eggplant purée. I am not a great fan of anchovy, but this fresh and sweet anchovy was enjoyable.

Sardine Yosuke – Shiso Leaf (Oyster Leaf), Sardine Rillettes, Berce Salad Leaf

Shiso is in the mint family, taste a bit herbaceous, citrusy, basil and a hint of mint. It has been used as an herb because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Shiso leaves contain large amount of calcium and iron, making them a great addition to salad and soup. The preparation for rillettes involved meat/fish being chopped, cooked, flavored and pâtéd. Fresh sardine rillettes with the right texture was smooth, fatty and sumptuous. It covered cream of onion and chive at bottom and was glazed with intensely flavored condensed fish stock. Sardine glaze was made of vinegar, wine and bitter orange juice.

I have tasted lamb prepared with similar process at Geranium on August 9. It was amazing, meat tasted and flavored even better with the process. In addition, each type of meat tasted like the original texture and appeared like what it originally should be. 

Marinière of Cockles and Squid, Sea Fennel

À la marinière is a French phrase meaning "mariner's style." It refers to the preparation of shellfish with white wine and herbs. Cockles are bivalve mollusks which are only found in saltwater. It was important to clean cockles before cooking. Both cockles and squids were tender and scrumptious. The sea fennel is a wild plant from the same family of the parsley and celery, that is used as a fresh ingredient for many food preparations. Sea fennel is a hardy plant that grows on rocky beaches and between pebbles; it has fleshy green leaves and yellow/green flowers. It looked simple, but it was sophisticated in taste and flavor.

End of Summer Fruits Soup Spiced with Espelette Pepper, Smoked Salmon

Coca beans, seaweeds and white seaweeds soup accompanied by house smoked Scottish salmon bits (in orange color). Mildly-flavored soup and smoked salmon complemented each other.

Smoked Haddock Bouchée

House smoked haddock was made into haddock rolls and wrapped in nori. It was milder than smoked salmon, a better pairing with cherry ball.

Cherry Ball

Made by spherification process, filled with Compari, a bitter-sweet red liqueur, from Italy. Compari is an alcoholic liqueur obtained from the infusion of herbs and fruits in water and alcohol. The bitter-sweet taste complemented and well-balanced the saltiness of the smoked fish.

Main Courses

1.Crunchy Pollack, Shrimps with Salty Butter

Tiny Brittany shrimp were slightly browned by butter and served with shrimp bouillon, sliced cucumber. Sautéed and broiled Pollack was scrumptious and juicy.

This course consisted of 4 dishes intended to be enjoyed together:

2-1.Ratte Potatoes from Le Touquet, Pointy Cabbage, Farm Mussels

The Ratte potato is a small potato, highly sought after, with a unique nutty flavor (with hint of hazelnut and chestnut) and smooth. Its buttery flavor resulted from the type of soil the variety is grown in by French farmers. Mussels soup made of tomato, tomato and espelette pepper sauce, enoki mushroom, fennel and dill, with a consistency of half-bisque was rich in flavor and taste.

2-2.Nolpi

It was a miniature pizza with toppings of cuttlefish, tomato and onion. It was flavorful and tasty. The petite size kept your palette from being overwhelmed.

2-3.Green Olives La Vernede, Pistachio from Sicily/Gin Tonic

Tomato based soup and jelly covered by gin tonic jelly and garnished by green olive. Oddly enough, they actually cleaned your palette probably because of the gin tonic jelly.

2-4.Damier of Redcurrant and Horseradish, Dentelle Noire

At the bottom, there was a layer of mousse made of passion fruit, lemon and olive oil. The mousse was covered by Dentelle Noire, the black-laced thin crispy bread flavored and colored by squid ink and appeared like elegant black lace. At the very top, there was an elegantly red (redcurrant flavored) and white (horseradish flavored) checkerboard (panna cotta). I could imagine the amount of time, skill and technique required for the preparation. It was well-balanced in taste and flavor, with striking appearance.

3-1.Fennel Salad, Capers La Nicchia and Parmaesan Cheese

3-2.Stichelton Cheese

Stichelton is an English blue cheese, similar to blue cheese, except Stichelton uses only organic and unpasteurized raw cow milk. It is toasty, nutty and sweet with a gentle blue note. It is like raw-milk Stiltons. Stichelton cheese mousse had a very smooth and refreshing taste on the palette, an ideal plate for the transition.

 

Desserts

As the usual Gagnaire style of a vast array of miniature delights, desserts are always a galore even though the menu only printed out “desserts”. We had more than half-a-dozen courses of desserts.

White Chocolate Cup Filled with Cucumber and Olive Oil Cream Garnished with Dill; Bread Soufflé; Dark Chocolate Cup Filled with Diced Dark Cherries; Apple Tart; Pomegranate Crisp

Fig Crumb Cake

Liquorice and Apricot Biscuit

Saffron Rice Mousse with Candied Green Pepper and Apricot Sauce

White Chocolate Mousse with Grapes and Berries

Dark Chocolate Ganache with Liqueur, Milk Chocolate Cream and Toasted Hazelnuts

Lemon Citrus Waffle Filled with Lemon Custard, Mousse and Lemon Jelly. This is a true Gagnaire style of making variation of one primary element and create a complex and sophisticated plate. It was delightfully refreshing, tasty and flavorful.

Nougatine Filled with Caramel Liqueur and Lemon Custard. The sweetness of caramel in contrast with the citric, a pleasant combination.

Italian Chocolate with Liqueur from Basque

House Made Chocolate with Caramel Crunches on a White Chocolate Cookie, Dark Chocolate Truffle and Milk Chocolate Truffle. A house-made and pleasing chocolate dessert.

Dining at restaurant Pierre Gagnaire is a treasured experience. Service was flawless. Ingredients were top quality, impeccable, and technical side of the cooking was sophisticated, creative and innovative. Chef Gagnaire also has an incredible sense of flavor and flavor amalgamation that enable him to maximize flavors while still being creative, unlike some other restaurant lost its focus on flavors in the course of pursuing creativity. Chef Gagnaire is unquestionably at the forefront of gastronomic progress delivering world class cooking.