Doing Diana

Thanks to my friend Monica, I discovered the gastro of the Hotel Fouquet's Barriere yesterday at their restaurant Le Diane. No surprises in the menu, just really delicious and slightly inventive dishes: arborio risotto with large chunks of artichokes and shaved white Alba truffles, spider crab with carpaccio of scallops and melon, a perfectly subtle, sweet and savory dish that kept me wanting more. The daily special was lievre a la royal with Alsatian pasta on the side and a gibier sauce, and dessert was an excellent chocolate/ginger  soufflé with a ginger ice cream to knock your socks off. The circular dining room was interesting, giving all diners a view of the action, and rumor has it Michelin has been checking the place out a bit more frequently than usual. Well worth checking out if you have money in your pocket and you're around the Champs.

Le Diane 

Hotel Fouquets Barriere 

Oth Sombath nouvelle cuisine Thai

Steam cooked langoustines

Filet of sea bass and lime cooked in a banana leaf

Filet of beef with orange curry sauce

Sweet water chestnut with coconut cream


Here are a few photos from my recent meal at Oth Sombath, a nouvelle Thai

The space age, Patrick Jouin designed dining room is a pretty impressive three room duplex space, like something out of the Jetsons (upstairs feels a little claustrophobic). The chef has a pretty good pedigree (Blue Elephant, Banyan, his own place in Saint Trop), and , to tell the truth, I really didn't know what to expect. But the meal was pretty excellent. They're not afraid of spicing up dishes right from the start, but things seemed to be less exciting towards the end. Highlights included the Tom Kha Kai, a free range chicken, coconut and galanga soup (superb, light), the Keang Massaman Neua, beef fillet with orange curry (curry a little watery and not as potent as the spices for the opening dishes), and Ta Ko, a superb dessert, coconut cream with water chestnuts.