Le Meurice/Hotel Bel-Air culinary exchange: Chef Yannick Alléno comes to Los Angeles

Crispy hen egg yolks with "golden osetra" caviar, foie gras poached with Chambertin wine, Bresse chicken with white truffle served four ways (including chicken leg quenelles in consommé).

Is this Paris, or am I just dreaming?

It's better than either. You don't have to go all the way to the City of Lights for a taste of Yannick Alléno's menu at three-star Le Meurice. In a culinary Relais Gourmand exchange program, Alléno will be cooking at the Hotel Bel-Air restaurant next month. Seatings are available Nov. 10 to 12.

Other menu items include jelly of acidulated green apple with vervain; preserved wild salmon from "Adour" served pink with melted cabbage with orange peels and cleared stock flavored with juniper berries; and melted chocolate and lemon cake with gold leaf. Reservations are required. The cost is $150 per person, far less expensive than a trip to Paris.

Hotel Bel-Air, 701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles, (310) 472-5234. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo of Yannick Alléno. Credit: Le Meurice