Walking through the majestic door of 5-star hotel La Réserve Hôtel & Spa set across the Jardins des Champs-Elysées is already an experience in itself. To the luxurious golden halls follow more intimate lounges with fluffy sofas and decoration made of old wood panels and moldings, rediscovered during the hotel’s renovations, a genuine invitation to travel.

The perfect place to start the gourmet expedition within Le Gabriel restaurant – one of the two restaurants of La Réserve, alongside La Pagode de Cos – rewarded by two Michelin stars when it opened in 2016.

Traveling is the theme chosen by chef Jérôme Banctel since the Le Gabriel reopened past the dark health period to take gourmets along to his native Breton lands, all the way to the borders of Asia, and specifically Japan, the Michelin-starred chef’s country of heart and inspiration.

Gathered within a travel diary given to the guests ahead of the tasting, the different steps of this long gustatory journey filled with many sudden developments allude to a thousand places and just as many flavors skillfully picked by the chef beyond the continents all around an imaginary and very personal map of the world.

Blissfully let the chef take you by your hand guiding you through dishes you uncover, and once the glass bell is removed, enjoy the enchanting flavors and thorough plating. From this bluefin tuna sushi marinated in sate sauce and caught in one bite as a starter, all the way to the cart magically opening to a bunch of flavorful petits fours, the excursion along Captain Banctel has delighted our gourmet taste buds and traveler’s hearts.

An unforgettable travel for the senses paced with discoveries and thrilling halts.

• To be read
• Trois Saveurs Chinese Fondue restaurant in Châtelet
• Pavyllon, Yannick Alléno’s Michelin-starred restaurant at Pavillon Ledoyen
• L'Oiseau Blanc: The Peninsula's high quality restaurant

* * * 

Buckwheat cracker and smoked sardine / Potatoes, nori seaweed and Kaviari Kristal caviar
Lentil chips, candied egg yolk and vinegar shallots / Beetroot tartlet and flamed smoked salmon

Steamed blini filled with capers, pickles, onions, quail egg
Kristal caviar quenelle and smoked haddock blancmange

Miso-candied salmon, sweet potato cooked in sweet potato juice, grapefruit juice reduction
Millet seeds and red chili pepper from Mexico 

Chef Jérôme Banctel’s signature dish
Roasted artichokes, Sakura vinegar, barigoule emulsion

Blue lobster from Brittany poached in sea water and ended with Binchotan
Squash seed praline, butternut beads flavored with rayu Japanese spices

Scallops, black truffle, kale, Brussels sprouts
Scallop roe juice and verjuice

Pork terrine, potato, nori seaweed
Isigny cream and seashell quenelle – oysters, cockles, whelks and periwinkle –

Eel and lardo di Colonnata, crispy leek and horseradish
Beef and red wine consommé

Challans duck, Apicius spices, apple jelly
Duck gravy, fermented Medjool date condiment

Revisited calisson
Lime, caramelized almonds, miso-vanilla ice cream, bergamot meringue

Grapefruit dessert
Grapefruit meringue, pickleweed and oyster leaf

Chocolate dessert
Flesh worked with white wine, bean worked with red balsamic vinegar, chocolate sauce profiteroles
Red balsamic vinegar chocolate sauce

* * * 

At Le Gabriel, culinary emotions are to be enjoyed in three menus: the “Escales” menu (lunch in 3 courses, €75), the “Virée” menu (lunch and dinner menu in 5 courses, €145) and the “Périples” menu (lunch and dinner menu in 8 courses, €195). And because it is the season, a “Game” menu (€280) has the most beautiful games and is also currently available.