Martin loves to combine unusual flavors in interesting, harmoniously balanced ways. The menu during my visit included a pyramid of fromage blanc with eel and coriander seeds, and a roast breast of quail surrounded by chopped escargots. Cheese and desserts stand out. The former focused on Martin's home area of Savoie. One has the flavor of beer, the second of green tea, the third, and strongest, of Ethiopian coffee.
Cigars get special attention here.
Maitre d' Christian David, his face reflecting delight at the opportunity to demonstrate his specialty, will arrive with the restaurant's humidor, open it gracefully and present for your choosing a selection of the best Havanas, among them assorted sizes and shapes of Cohibas and Montecristos. A Cohiba Robusto was impeccably humidified, gently soft to the touch. The maitre d' will ask if you wish him to prepare it, and if you say yes he will make a precise cut and slowly light it with a long wooden match. Once finished with the lighting, he will either hand it to you or place it ceremoniously in Le Grand V'efour's signature ashtray, cupped hands of pristine white porcelain, designed for the restaurant several decades ago by none other than Cocteau. As you leave through the Palais Royal, you will most certainly not be in the mood to imitate Camille Desmoulins, who in 1789 in that very square was reputed to have urged the citizens of Paris to attack the Bastille.