Le Cinq

Since arriving last spring, Eric Briffard has quietly charted a new course for Le Cinq, the elegant restaurant of Paris's Hôtel Four Seasons George V, respectfully and very subtly reinterpreting the grand classics of French cooking. A sublime example is his game season take on the almond-paste-filled pastry called pithiviers: a golden pastry case filled with gray pheasant, wild duck and grouse cooked in chestnut honey with autumn fruits. Served with a jus pressé à l'Armagnac, it's one of the most exquisite dishes I've ever eaten.

31 ave George V, 8th, 01.49.52.70.00. €230 for two people without wine

Originally published in the January 2009 issue of France Today.

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