Plénitude - Cheval Blanc Paris

The revamped Samaritaine department store is home to the luxurious Cheval Blanc Hotel, within whose walls lies this restaurant, the haunt of low-profile chef, Arnaud Donckele, who has three stars to his name at La Vague d'Or in St Tropez. Wholly committed, he pops in and out of the kitchen to share his passion with diners. His new spin on classical cuisine takes you on a voyage between Normandy, his place of birth, and the Mediterranean, his home of adoption and the Paris region… It is impossible not to be bowled over by his work, from its delicacy and generosity to the exceptional quality of the ingredients. This virtuoso sauce maker, who can be compared with a perfume “nose” or an oenologist, lavishes phenomenal care and attention over his jus, dressings and sauces which should be tasted first to better appreciate the complex aromatic universe of each dish. When it comes to the sweet course, he can count on Maxime Frédéric, previously of the George V, to take the desserts to a whole new dimension. The absolute pinnacle of fine dining.

• A three-star restaurant tucked inside the Cheval Blanc hotel in the revived Samaritaine, a discreet room on the Seine.
• Donckele’s signature is the saucier approach, sauces as the structure of each dish rather than a final flourish.
• A rare two-act luxury experience, savoury precision followed by a pastry programme led by Maxime Frédéric.

• Sauces, jus and dressings treated as the centre of the meal, built for aromatic complexity and tasted first at the table.
• Normandy and Mediterranean flavours threaded through the cooking, with very high-end produce driving each course.
• Desserts by Maxime Frédéric, pushing the pastry finish into a second peak.

Three-star creative fine dining inside Cheval Blanc Paris, built around Arnaud Donckele’s sauce work, jus, dressings and aromatics. Dinner service only (generally Tue to Sat). Desserts are overseen by pastry chef Maxime Frédéric.