Le Cinq restaurant, unrivalled French cuisine at the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris
A Paris destination in its own right, Le Cinq by Christian Le Squer is synonymous with the apex of French cuisine and the combination of classic ingredients with ambitious, new techniques. Share
Le Cinq is spacious and bright, decorated in shades of gold and grey, and it rightfully gives its guests the sentiment of dining in a private chateau. Boasting traditional French and English furniture, guests can admire two beautiful Louis XIVth wardrobes as well as two Louis XVIth gold gilt chairs. Large Regency Style wood-scuplted mirrors with gold leafing give a depth to this space by reflecting the view of the Marble Courtyard on the opposite side.
Two very large Regency Style pier tables separate the main room from the guest table that seats between eight to ten. From this room, bathed in sunlight as well as rich but soft tones emerges a warm and intimate atmosphere. Christian Squer defines his cuisine as being “flavors, concentrated and moving.” Among the signature dishes of the chef that may be mentioned: the turbot with truffled fingerling potato emulsion, large crispy prawns from Bretagne and citrus emulsion or whipped oysters.
The Four Seasons Hotel George V wine cellar is one of the hotel’s greatest treasures. Its history bears witness to years gone by and even takes us back to World War II. It was designed in 1928 at the same time as the Hotel was being built, in a former quarry 14 metres below ground in rocks that had formerly been used to build the Arc de Triomphe.
During the Second World War, it was walled up to prevent enemies from accessing it. When the hotel closed its doors for two years of renovation work in 1997, there was almost nothing left of its vintage wines.
The Hotel called in a famous sommelier, Eric Beaumard, who was the 1998 Vice-President of the World in Wine Stewardship. Passionate about his job, Eric made several trips to different vineyards in order to meet local wine producers. His vast knowledge of this job, as well as the friendships that he developed with the grape growers over the years while preparing for the Wine Stewardship contest in 1998, helped him discover the bests wines.
Some of the grape growers actually choose to bring their personal bottles from their wine cellars so that their old friend can present them in this mythical hotel. For nearly a year, going from wine cellar to wine cellar, Eric progressively replenishes the hotel’s wine cellar so that he can continue to offer many different and rare vintages to his clients.
