prestige ingredients – Paris by Mouth

Claude Colliot

This self-taught modernist chef's signature dishes include an oyster sorbet, chicken cooked with licorice root, and a "larme" (tear) of chocolate.

With beef sourced from renowned butcher Yves-Marie le Bourdonnec, Blend should be better than it is.

Chef Christophe Pélé sold and left Bigarrade in early 2012. Chef Yasuhiro Kanayama is running things now, to much acclaim.

Les Bis du Severo was sold in 2011, there is still a restaurant here (Le Bis), but it is no longer affiliated with nearby Le Severo.

Pretend the financial crisis never happened, and book Les Ambassadeurs, where the very young chef Christophe Hache is making a name for himself.