JY'S

Jean-Yves Schillinger is the grandson of restaurateurs and the son of the two-Michelin-starred chef behind Restaurant Jean Schillinger, the fine-dining institution that set Colmar's culinary standard for forty years. After a decade running his own restaurants in New York, Schillinger returned to Alsace in 2004, opened JY'S on the banks of the Lauch, and took it through one Michelin star into its current form.

The dining room is in the ground floor of the new MGallery L'Esquisse hotel, facing the Champ de Mars park. Olivier Gagnère's contemporary interior — oversized Chesterfield sofas, large glass windows onto the park, warm lighting, and a jazz playlist that never rises above a murmur — could have transplanted from SoHo. The room holds perhaps 24 covers across a dozen tables spaced wide enough for private conversation.

Schillinger's cooking is consciously cosmopolitan — what he calls 'cuisine fusion à sa façon'. French fundamentals are everywhere (a fresh duck foie gras served with cocoa and fir bud gel, a Breton lobster cooked in a cona pot with tail poached in butter at 48°C) but with distinct Asian touches: kaffir-lime-scented bouillabaisse, Japanese vinaigrette on foie gras, Hida sirloin à la plancha. The six-course tasting menu at €198 (€302 with pairings) is the full expression of the kitchen.

The wine programme is deep in Alsace — Trimbach, Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach, Boxler — with comprehensive coverage of Burgundy and the Rhône. Sommelier service is precise without being showy; the pairings pace the meal rather than perform across it. Tuesday dinner is the quietest service; Friday and Saturday need to be booked three weeks out.

For a client dinner where the message is 'we understand value', JY'S is the correct address in Alsace. The room is architectural, the cooking is serious enough to warrant a deal, and the Asian accents suggest a chef with range — a useful signal when your counterparty has already eaten across three continents this quarter. Request a window table facing the park.