Excellence comes in many shapes and forms, but one thing is constant: the quest to achieve the best possible result – whatever the discipline and regardless of the starting point. Many connoisseurs rate the Hôtel de Ville as one of the best restaurants in the world, it has top ratings of 19 points and 3 stars respectively from the two most influential food guides, and the quality expectations of the products delivered to its kitchen, where they are turned into the finest creations, are of legendary proportions. Yet when you ask the chef Franck Giovannini what he thinks is the final touch needed to achieve excellence, the overriding, decisive factor, his answer is a bit of a surprise: “I want my guests to have an emotional reaction to my food. And that matters the same to me whether they’ve been served a luxury product like langoustine, or a simple tomato-based dish.”