Le Versance
16 rue Feydeau, 75002, ParisMetro: Bourse
Cuisine: Français
Unlike many young French chefs who trained in Michelin-starred restaurants and then opened casual bistros, Georges Blanc-mentored Samuel Cavagnis chose to open an elegant place with fine china and a salon for drinking Champagne before dinner. The well-traveled Cavagnis likes to use spices and herbs (there are potted herbs on every table); for instance, he uses dill and pink peppercorns to flavor his salmon rillettes spooned into large pasta shells. Even dessert has a nice bite: Cavagnis adds pink almond praline, the French equivalent of Cracker Jacks, to his île flottante, a meringue in licorice-spiked custard sauce.As good for a business meal as it is for a tête-à-tête, Le Versance will also make cigar smokers happy with its well-stocked fumoir; coffee, a selection of rare teas and digestifs are served here after dinner