ONLY uses 100% French produce; no imported ingredients. Restaurant of chef Victor Mercier.
They have their normal dining room too, but I went for the “Grand Discovery Menu” with wine pairings at their Guest Counter. It’s a bar / counter around the kitchen area and only one seating of 9 guests each evening; you get many small courses, you don’t know the menu in advance, and you take your time and leave it to them to show you what they do.
Photos:
1/2/3/ Guest counter around the kitchen
4/ Amuse-bouche welcome: Caramelised onion cylinder, herb and citrus tart, and “oreo” of black sesame and cream cheese.
5/ Bread with lemon salted butter.
6/ “Raw peas”; peas in a creamy white wine soup with spices and a herb oil.
7/ Raw tuna with cucumber, horseradish, and caviar, in a herb vinaigrette.
8/ “Bouillabaisse”; raw sea bass covered in spices with two sauces, a fish sauce and a crab sauce. When the spiced raw fish was dipped in the combined sauces, it tasted like an amazing bouillabaisse.
9/ Langoustine and beetroot with two sauces made from their shells.
10/ Brill and pickled grapes in a cream sauce.
11/ Black squid ink raviolo filled with squid and crab in tomato water.
12/ Beef with a cream sauce and a beef and red wine reduction, served with freshly made brioche.
13/ Dome of peanut ice cream on a biscuit base, covered in a dome of nut cream.
14/ Boozy green tea granita. I can’t remember what the alcohol was.
15/ Strawberry various different ways with a basil sorbet and herbed strawberry water.
16/ Caramelised artichoke dessert with French vanilla ice cream and a caramel sauce.
17/ Final “Goodbye Snacks”; Citrus jelly, spicy watermelon, and fennel meringue.
18/ List of wine pairings; a champagne to start, then four different wines, then a final pink champagne with dessert to finish.
I’d very much recommend FIEF for an upscale, creative, modern experience, but make sure to book the guest counter. I can’t overstate how enjoyable it was. It’s definitely one of the best fine dining experiences I’ve had. I’d say it’s in my top 3 and I don’t know what order I’d put them in. The food and the whole experience were great.
by pan666