I only read about Plenitude this year - they just opened this past year and yet got 3 Michelin stars in their first go. It's backed by LVMH and is located in the Cheval Blanc. From the moment you walk in, it's a 3 star experience with hospitality. We were seated at the center table when a beautiful view overlooking the Seine.
WINE -
Their wine book is huge (with a large selection of Cheval Blanc - essentially the library going back to 1945). This wine pairing was above and beyond what we expected - it included a Bonnes Mare and a 2008 Haut Brion. Though €195 is not cheap by any means, the wines they gave us made it worth it.
AMUSES -
"Traveling in time" - they use special 19th century tableware. I like that they start you with this before you're even presented the menu.
- Grilled Oyster with champagne foam, saltwater gelee, fennel.
- Crispy rye bread with bottarga
- Tartlet with shrimp and lemon
MENU -
They have 2 menu options: Symphony (6 course tasting for €395) and Sail away Together (4 course where you pick your dishes at €325 with a cheese supplement option for €20 extra). I went into this meal knowing nothing more than this, and it was great to be surprised!
The focus is sauces, and unlike other places, the chef crafts the sauce first and then chooses ingredients around the sauce. With each dish, they encourage you to try the sauce first.
MORE AMUSES -
- Grilled artichoke heart with espelette jelly (my pescatarian sub); my husband got escargot
- Tomato soup with tomatoes preserved from last summer
BREAD SERVICE -
A loaf fresh out of the oven with butter, Maldon, and pepper.
Then 5 choices of other breads, including a mustard bread (tasted just like mustard!), a rye with nori, and an amazing focaccia that I could not stop eating.
FOOD -
Pre meal: Vinaigrette "Ambroise"
A crustacean based sauce with citruse. Crab topped within a thin seared slice of fish, white asparagus
1. Vinaigrette "Cornaline"
Unique ingredients include citron syrup, yuzu, cucumber water, basil. This dish really highlighted the langoustine, and it came with artichoke and crab.
2a. Eating sauce "Clavelin"
With a base of turbot stock, spring ingredients like morels, peas, pea pod and parsley infusion, vin jeaune. It was perfectly cooked turbot with white asparagus, spring peas
2b. Jus confimenté "Belle île"
A sauce of veal stock, mushroom concentration, shellfish jus. My husband and it was the best veal and sweetbreads he's ever had. The cooking technique was on point with fresh, savory flavor throughout. It came with stuffed morels and white garlic.
Trou normand: they invite you into the kitchen for a tour and a special course at the private table in a room adjacent to the kitchen. We were served a sorbet of aperol with calvados, cider granite. It's such a privilege to watch the staff in action.
3a. Sabayon "Procope"
Fish stock with Pinot noir, cognac, pastis; acid from grapefruit, and fragrance from Thai basil. This accompanied scarlet shrimp, white and green asparagus.
3b. "Ecole buisonniére"
A sauce that's a lamb stew with peas, turnips, citrus zest, savory herbs. This was with lamb leg and a confit lamb shoulder. Vegetables included turnips, carrots, and spring peas, and there was also a good balance with saffron
Cheese course (add on):
Forget the cheese cart - you walk into a cheese ROOM! You pick a beautiful antique plate and pick your cheeses, then you go back to the table for the accompanying salad and a fresh loaf of warm bread.
Before you switch to desserts, they give you a new napkin and setting for dessert and a dessert prelude that matches your dessert:
- Bolivian cocoa bean with cocoa milk
- Strawberry drink
4a. Sweet vinaigrette "amarante tisime":
Ciflorette, strawberry concentrate, green and wild strawberries.
The dish looked like the intricate carved centerpiece of the table and used different types of strawberries, all of which were at peak freshness, and it came with a pure strawberry sorbet
4b. Triple sauce "Arabic coffee":
Raw bean emulsion, roasted bean chocolate, coffee, green cardamom ice cream. This dessert came in 3 parts, and the centerpiece was a cake/tart topped with a chocolate crisp flower - super intricate and delicate
TO FINISH:
"The last walk in Paris" - so appropriate for our final meal.
A cute popup book set up with a backdrop of Paris
- Hazelnut tart, shaved hazelnuts
- Laurel ice cream
- Normandy slow cooked rice pudding
TO GO:
Chocolate eggs
This was certainly one of the most memorable meals we've had in a very long time, and it was one of my top 5 meal experiences that I can recall. Service was impeccable. There are just so many special unique touches, and a menu that focuses on the sauces first before the primary ingredient is really unique. At the same time, they were able to fully highlight the freshest seasonal ingredients. The flavors and textures were all complex and completely beyond my expectations. This was the most ideal end to our brief Parisian getaway! read more