I had a flying visit to Paris several weeks ago. My sister and I always like to celebrate in style, especially when it comes to each others birthdays. There really couldn’t be a more perfect place to do this than in Le Cinq in Paris.

I told her to leave the weekend planning up to me, and promptly started my search for the top michelin-star restaurants in Paris. This was not an easy task! Especially since Paris is one of the most michelin-starred cities in the world.

My final restaurant of choice was Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V Hotel. Not only were all the reviews fantastic, the photos looked gorgeous, and it was rated as #2 on TripAdvisor’s restaurants to go to in Paris. It seemed like the perfect choice.

Even before arriving I was impressed with the fast and professional email correspondence. In my typical last-minute fashion, I emailed one hour before arriving requesting a surprise piece of birthday cake for my sister, with her name written on top in icing. The result was better than what I could have hoped for, it was very touching.

To say I was excited would be an understatement. On arrival we were blown away by the most spectacular flower display in the lobby, which continued throughout the entire hotel. In charge of this work of art is artistic director of the Four Seasons hotel, Jeff Leatham. I later found out he has a budget of 1 million euros per year, to have these stunning flowers air-freighted from Holland every 3 weeks. Parisians sure don’t do things half-heartedly.

Just before reaching Le Cinq, we were greeted like royalty and guided to our seats. The grey and gold themed room was just breathtaking. A magnificently grand space, oozing decadence at every turn. Every piece of furniture – the lighting, the cutlery – had all clearly been thought through with every inch of detail and care.

I most certainly felt like a bull in a china shop even just walking to my seat. Feeling giddy with happiness, it was already perfect and I hadn’t even tried any food yet.

Upon sitting, an ottoman was swiftly placed by my side by a very fine, charming waiter. We had a wonderful courtyard view directly in front of us, surrounded by some of Paris’s most finest dressed residents.

Our minds were spinning with all the exquisite sounding dishes from the menu, so we both decided to order the 8-course Tasting Gourmet Menu (in fact we calculated that it was actually 10 courses, to be exact). We also requested for our sommelier to choose the most appropriate wine of his choice to be paired with each dish.

Yes, that’s a lot of food and wine. It’s no wonder that I pretty much waddled my way out of the restaurant in a state of unashamed, tipsy satisfaction.

To start, we had delicious canapes including black olive tempura, parmesan cracker and salmon sashimi with green apple. An excellent start.

Next, we had a large selection of fresh, warm bread, to be eaten with either a sweet or savoury seaweed butter (served cone-shaped under a Le Cinq-branded glass casing, of course). Now this was no ordinary butter. The fact that I am even writing about butter haven eaten 10 decadent courses has to mean something. It was so freakin’ fantastic.

Our amuse-brouches consisted of pea velouté with sweet onion-mousse and liquorice, radish with radish butter and spinach, Corsican goat’s cheese puff. The pea and sweet onion mousse was one of my favourite dishes of the night. We were already extremely impressed and the dishes from the actual menu hadn’t even arrived yet.

Some of the remaining dishes were:

Duck Foie Gras from Les Landes, Roasted with Sarawak Pepper, Steamed Rhubarb, Strawberries from The Garden With Elderberry Juice.

Poached Line-caught Seabass with Black Lemon from Iran, Artichoke Broth, Sweet Onion Raviolis, Spinach Sprouts and Coriander Leaves.

Farm Rabbit from Poitou Cooked with Oregano and Pine Nuts, Carrots and Artichokes Flavoured with Pomegranate Molasses.

What made the night all the more special was the continuous little surprises we received. Such as the gorgeous photograph they took of my sister and I, and then printed – each in an elegant envelope – placed on our table within minutes. Also our complimentary choice of cheese and dessert wine, a surprise birthday cake, and a box of chocolates, delicately wrapped to take home.

I often feel a strong sense of nostalgia when I think back to this day. It was absolute heaven. A wonderful blur of one exquisite dish after another. Award-winning chef Eric Briffard really is a gastronomic genius.

I encourage everyone to experience Le Cinq for a very special night. Escapism and fine-dining at its best xx