THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED CEPAGE Awards

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED CEPAGE Restaurant Review:

The name, borrowed from French wine terminology, is an apt choice given the 2,400-label collection housed in a state-of-the-art display cellar. Lack of import taxes makes Hong Kong an excellent value drinking city and this spot offers fine wines at competitive prices, including five toast-worthy Champagnes, and six white and six red wines by the glass. The lobby bar boasts provocative contemporary Chinese art that pops out against eighteenth-century French-inspired interiors with plum velvet armchairs and antique European chandeliers. Even the menu itself deserved mention, covered in polished timber that reflects the elegance of the main dining room and three private rooms. Executive chef Sebastien Lepinoy, a protégé of Joël Robuchon, has made his name here. His evening menu kicks off with a delicate shiitake mushroom flan served in a cup topped with parsley coulis, followed by the equally inventive foie gras mille-feuille accompanied by radish and apple matchstick salad. No one complains about the $140 U.S. price tag for the seven-course epicurean menu, thanks to dishes like the starter of salmon tartare and white asparagus cream with osetra caviar, Hokkaido sea urchin and sakura ebi chirashi sushi, and the main course kinmedai fillet in a traditional Chinese bamboo steamer lightly drizzled with ahi jus and olive oil. Thoughtful consideration is paid to the restaurant's high-pressured clientele, with items on the à la carte menu listed alongside approximate waiting times. Those who can spare an extra quarter hour will be richly rewarded with La Cerise Griotte, a bittersweet chocolate soufflé enhanced by melting cherry sorbet.