Jean Imbert au Plaza Athéneé

Paris, France

Know this about chef Jean Imbert’s restaurant: it is opulent, extravagant and extraverted. Diners only need to look up from their table to recognise that the Hôtel Plaza Athenee’s celestial restaurant is anything but casual. Ceilings are intricately gilded delights hung with majestic chandeliers and embellished by some 20,000 gold leaves; the central dining table is a marble slab decorated with voluminous floral displays and antique, foot-high candelabras; signatures from Yves Saint Laurent and Jackie Kennedy can be found delicately inscribed on walls; the finely decorated Limoges porcelain used wouldn’t look out of place in the Musee d’Orsay.

Overwhelmed? That’s the idea. This is Bourbon-level dining – a re-imagination of France’s regal past in 21st-century terms. The food follows suite: mining the depths of France’s historic cookbook, Imbert creates a playful ode to a rich culinary heritage. Starters might include silky sea urchins in a cauliflower cream, before a traditional hare ‘à la royale’ arrives. Desserts are joyful takes on old favourites: a nostalgic concoction of crêpes Suzette ice cream, or a Fontainebleau “fit for a king”. The dress code? Sophisticated.

Key Information

• Average price per person $294
• Lunch: Sat Dinner: Tues – Sat
• 33153676500
• Visit Jean Imbert au Plaza Athéneé's Website

Location

25 Av. Montaigne, 8th Arrondissement, Paris, 75008