The PERFECT Restaurant Experience - Plénitude (Cheval Blanc, Paris)

I can honestly say my experience at Planitude was perfect. It's a place with many names. The city of lights, of love, of fashion and of course, gastronomy. Welcome to Paris, home of the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower and our restaurant for today, Planitude. It's located just steps away from the Louvre on the first floor of Cheval Blanc, Paris. It's the newest 5-star hotel by luxury powerhouse LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Opened in 2021, it occupies the historic Samaritan building and overlooks the river Seine. The project was 16 years in the making and the result is a new level of luxury. With only 72 rooms and suites, the focus is on the guests. As stated on the website, everything is possible at any time. Whatever the desire, the butler is there to see to it. Every room has a breathtaking view. We stayed in a deluxe room for 2,000 euros. The top of the line is the penthouse. It goes for 55,000 euros per night. Planitude is one of four restaurants in this hotel. It opened in 2021 and was awarded three Michelin stars in its first year. It's the second time in 30 years that a chef has accomplished such a feat. Who is this talented chef? That would be Arnaud Dunker. He grew up in Normandy. At 16, he left for Paris to study culinary arts. His first big break came in 1996. An internship under chef Michel Garard at his three Michelin star restaurant. Two years later, Dunker gets hired at Louis XV in Monte Carlo and works under super chef Alain Ducasse. By 2004, he's ready for a head chef position of his own. He finds it in Saint-Tropez at La Vague d'Or, a hotel restaurant with one Michelin star. In 2011, he makes it two stars. And in 2013, Dunker becomes the youngest chef with three Michelin stars at the age of 36. In 2021, he is asked to take the helm at Planitude. The name translates to the word fullness. I am excited to find out what they mean. We cut through the hotel to get to Planitude. The main lobby feels more like a museum than a hotel. After reaching the table, we were kindly invited to visit the wine cave. Look at all that wine. What a beautiful sight. I'm starting to see how this place went from zero to three Michelin stars. And I haven't even sat down. Our table is in a bright, beautiful dining area. An elastic etched tablecloth gives the tables a clean, streamlined look. The wine list is incredible. They have some of the world's most exclusive wines by the glass. Take the Madeira Sweet Wine from 1850. One glass of that will set you back a whopping 1620 euros. That works out to a little more than 1.85 euro per drop. On the champagne list, there was a mind-blowing option. Dom Pérignon Vintage 2004 Planitude II. Planitude are special releases of the prestige Dom Pérignon Champagne Cuvée. They are released when the wine has reached perfect aging harmony, while maintaining freshness. They are released in three phases. P1 is aged at least 8 years. P2 a minimum of 12 years. And P3 at least a quarter century. The menu design is unique. The front cover is canvas and the back is made of pressed leaves, plus the paper is recycled. Planitude has two menus. The first is called Sail Away Together. You built your own menu. From 14 items, you choose three savory courses and one sweet course for 360 euros. The second is something really special. It's called the Symphony Menu. It's a guided culinary experience. Through six different sauces harmoniously crafted like a symphony. It's 435 euros. The concept is new and exciting to me. I have never seen sauce in the spotlight before today. And the end of the day, sauce is a main part of French cuisine. There are several wine pairings. We choose the champagne pairing for 295 euros. I go for the timeless icons wine pairing for 495 euros. Let the symphony begin. We start with a few bites. We have crab tart, oyster and marinated root vegetable roll. Then our first hummus bush and our first sauce. They suggest several times we try the sauce first. The flavor is savory and zesty. I love it. On the end of the spear is grilled octopus. The detail, so creative. We joke that they should give us the recipe for the sauce. And moments later, they did just that. Incredible. The bread comes out next. Simple and perfect. Next is another hummus bush. The sauce is a coulis made with asparagus and chlorophyll. With it is seabream. The sauce has an intense herbal flavor. It's aromatic like a perfume. The fish is light and tender. Suddenly, we are on the move. The waiter brings us to the kitchen. We are seated at the chef's table and get a visit from the man himself, chef Don Kel. It's time for our first course. The sauce is a bouillon served with ravioli with truffle and artichokes. Again, we are told. I do. It's exciting. It's light with a deep citrus flavor. The vegetables are in their best form and served with a gorgeous focaccia. The course is paired with the Ruinat Champagne and Le Petit Chabat Bordeaux Blanc from 2019. Before we know it, the chef is back for the second course. In the spotlight is a boiled sauce for the dish of sardine, fennel and tarragon. The flavor is nothing short of phenomenal. The chef tells us that this sauce is his favorite. And inventing a new sauce is a lot like creating perfume. It takes passion and patience. The pairing is a Trimbach Riesling from 1997. The Riesling has changed a lot in the last decade because of the climate change. This wine is from the pre-climate change era. This old-fashioned Riesling is dry and slightly acidic, which goes well with the fish. We head back to our original table for the third course. We continue with the shellfish in marinara style and the turbot cooked in ammonia style. The sauce is a broth with oyster and brown butter for turbot and caviar. Let me say the sauce was damn good. We are going to probably one of the greatest white wine produced in Burgundy, the Montrachet Grand Cru. This bottle retails for around 1000 euros. I can't believe you put the Montrachet Grand Cru in the wine pairing. Because our goal is not to keep the bottle here in between. But what we want to do, we want to share. We want to put the bottle on the table just like that. And we want to share with people because wine is meant to be shared. He's a young guy, but he just might be my hero. Next is a palate cleanser. It's called True Normone. It's an apple sorbet with Cavadas, an apple brandy from Normandy. This is a traditional dish that pays tribute to Chef's hometown. For the main course, pigeon au jus. The sauce uses meat broth and is intense with flavours of truffle, black olive and rosemary. We have grilled pigeon breast, leg wrapped in potato and a liver canapé. The meat is super tender and flavourful. The whole course is to die for. The champagne pairing is a Bermouillard Droset 2009. The wine pairing on this course is something brand new for me. And then for you I've got a little surprise. Wine that is a half century old. It's a 1973 Chateau Lafleur. It's mostly Merlot from the Pomerol region, across the road from Petrus. Widely regarded as the best in the region. But you see there is no label on this bottle. Why? Because we think that what's inside the bottle is the most important thing and it's more important than what's outside. True on so many levels. The wine felt surprisingly young. I would never guess it was 50 years old. It had a lively acidity, notes of fruit, tobacco and mushroom. And they had it by the glass. This was a first for me and the pinnacle of the evening. Then it was time for the cheese. But there is no cheese trolley here. They move a piece of the wall and there we have a hidden cheese closet. So this is where we kept all the cheesy secrets but also all this tableware dated from the beginning of the 20th century. That's why we welcomed you with. They have been picked by our two head chefs. We are invited to pick a vintage plate and choose our cheeses. The plates have a lot of history. I love them. If something was to happen to those plates, we can fix it with the Japanese philosophy, kitsune. We're very happy to give a second life to those plates. The cheeses are all arranged by milk type and have favorites from the chef and his friends. Nice personal touch. Next is dessert. At Plenitude, they are lucky to have not one but two super talented chefs. I'm happy to learn that Maxim Frederic is a young pastry genius internationally known for his light desserts. The final sauce on our menu was an infusion made with the rose water. It was served with strawberries and pollen. Very delicate and not too sweet. What a finale. But we weren't done. There was an encore, a chocolate pod flower and a crisp with coffee bean ice cream. It's paired with a vintage Madeira from 1994. It has sweetness balanced by vibrant acidity. And then the Periforce. Brilliant. Lemon ice cream tart, kiwi and ginger ice cloud, Normandy rice pudding. And a vintage digestive to go with it. What a meal. I love this idea of a pop-up book. It's a great keepsake not only of the restaurant but also of the city. They packed the pastry to go as well. For the two of us, lunch came to a little over 2000 euros. And now my final thoughts on Plenitude. Does the perfect restaurant exist? I don't know. But the perfect experience? Absolutely. Plenitude is the type of place that should come with a warming. Prepare to be amazed by an experience that will activate your senses to the fullest. And leave you wanting to come back. And that does it for this episode. Thank you for joining me. If you like this video, hit subscribe. See you next time.