Le Louis XV

Le Louis XV Review

Louis Quinze to the initiated, this extravagantly showy restaurant stuns with neo-Baroque details, yet it manages to be upstaged by its product: the superb cuisine of Alain Ducasse, one of Europe's most celebrated chefs. With too many tokens on his Monopoly board, Ducasse jets between his other, ever-growing interests leaving the Louis XV kitchen, for the most part, in the more-than-capable hands of chef Franck Cerutti, who draws much of his inspiration from the Cours Saleya market in Nice. Ducasse's absence is no great loss. Glamorous iced lobster consommé with caviar, and risotto perfumed with Alba white truffles slum happily with stockfish (stewed salt cod) and tripe. There are sole sautéed with tender baby fennel, salt-seared foie gras, milk-fed lamb with hints of cardamom, and dark-chocolate sorbet crunchy with ground coffee beans or hot wild strawberries on an icy mascarpone sorbet—in short, a panoply of delights using the sensual flavors of the Mediterranean. The decor is magnificent—a surfeit of gilt, mirrors, and chandeliers—and the waitstaff seignorial as they proffer a footstool for madame's handbag. In Ducasse fashion, the Baroque clock on the wall is stopped just before 12. Cinderella should have no fears. If your wallet is a chubby one, this is a must (the discovery menu is €280).