From January 2006 100 Very Best Restaurants

THE SCENE. The dining room, done up in shades of aqua and burnt orange and strewn with netting, is smart and intimate, a welcome departure from French restaurants that cop the clichés but miss the sensuality and intimacy. Bistro touches abound--a weathered cupboard is given pride of place in the dining room--but the clientele (in-the-know bureaucrats and technocrats, affluent tourists) lends an air of hushed formality.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE. The eye-popping prices might scream haute cuisine, but the best of former two-star Michelin chef Gerard Pangaud's dishes shimmer with an honesty born of the bistro, the gorgeous simplicity of fully developed flavors. In his hands, glazed baby root vegetables become more than grace notes--they startle you into wondering if you've ever really tasted a turnip before. The staff is knowledgeable and gracious without getting in the way.

WHAT YOU WON'T. Meals can be frustratingly uneven: One dish is apt to induce sighs of pleasure, another to leave you shaking your head in wonder that such ordinariness could have come from the same kitchen. And given the prices--expect to pay $300 for dinner for two--some might find the simplicity of the cooking a bit too simple.

BEST DISHES. The duck confit, crispy as a leg of KFC on the outside, meltingly tender within; crispy veal sweetbreads with a rich, earthy stew of wild mushrooms; an egg-white soufflé so gossamer it disappears on contact, like some kind of exquisite cotton-candy.