Paris

Concierge.com's insider take:

By many a twist, this restaurant, opened in 1760 has survived the French Revolution, industrialization, and passing culinary fashions. And despite his self-taught eclecticism, chef Guy Martin has won the Michelin three-star game. The setting is ravishing: chandeliers, plush carpets, and 18th-century mirrored and painted panels. At least one menu item nearly as old as the restaurant: the sublime mashed potatoes with oxtails and black truffles. Not so the rest of Guy Martin's cooking, which borrows inspiration from Japan, North Africa, and Italy more so than from his French Alpine homeland. Witness the sautéed John Dory perfumed with parsley and ginger juices or the tandoori-spiced frog's legs with parsley root jus. The desserts are surprising, too: roast mango and a ravioli stuffed with passion fruit cream and accompanied by coconut sorbet. Local businessmen and the art arbiters of the Ministry of Culture (also housed in the Palais Royal) fill the Grand Véfour by day, in part because it offers an excellent prix-fixe lunch menu. At dinner, expect to see a global mix of romantic couples and theatergoers with platinum cards. Book far ahead.

Closed Friday nights, Saturdays, Sundays, the month of August, Christmas week, and Easter week.