RIYADH, 29 January — The opening of Al Faisaliah’s Hotel’s “The Globe” and “The Experience” has given me opportunities to visit restaurants I had heard about. The Globe is in the globe atop the Al Faisaliah Tower — hence its name — and The Experience is a 240 meter-high observation gallery, open to the public. It is beneath the Globe and is accessible by elevator.

The Globe menu is the creation of Gerald Reichstein whose culinary talents are noted in the famous Michelin Guide. He has worked in Russia, Switzerland and his native Germany and considers his job in Riyadh the “biggest and most exciting venture to date, leading a team to create a world-class restaurant in what has already been recognized as a world-class building.

The very nature and location of the restaurant have inspired us all to create a world-class menu that will make a visit to The Globe unforgettable.”

The items on this menu have been kept to a minimum. The director of marketing explains, “We have a selective menu and we change it every 10 days to make sure that our regular guests can order new and innovative dishes. We offer our guests more than food. We give them an occasion, an experience and that is without a price.”

The setting, the interior design, the table decoration, from the glass fish bowl to the cutlery, is superb. The names of the dishes, however, don’t give you a clue about their content! I still don’t get the connection between the breeze and the pan-fried goose liver and quail breast with caramelized apples and grapes but the presence of foie gras put me in the best of moods! At one time, foie gras was served at the end of meals but nowadays, it has become a choice starter. Moreover, nouvelle cuisine as well as the recent ‘fusion cuisine’ trends give it exciting accompaniments. Andre Daguin serves his foie gras in a pumpkin, Jean Laustriat serves it with a banana puree and Gerard Vie with oysters and crayfish.

If you are in need of something more ‘piquant’, you might try the green heat, a spicy lemon grass soup with shrimp and coriander aioli.

Other appetizers are the triple decker, a terrine of Mediterranean vegetables with old balsamico and goat’s cheese, which has proved to be the most popular starter. Balsamico refers to balsamic vinegar, which has a rich sweet and sour flavor and a seductive perfume. The last hors d’oeuvre on the list is the gift and I gather you are not supposed to know what it is until you open it. At The Globe, all you have to do is to go on reading to discover what it is: A combination of celeriac and caviar!

I find this smoked mousseline of celery root with Beluga caviar and kaffir lime vinaigrette quite exciting. As with foie gras, caviar is now being eaten differently and its high price, especially Beluga, which is the most expensive, explains why young, creative chefs use it in small portions.

I can vividly recall some warm oysters served with a beurre blanc sauce sprinkled with caviar at a restaurant in Paris. Celeriac, incidentally, or celery root as it is also known, is not a popular vegetable except in Germany which probably explains why Reichstein has included it.

As soon as you have ordered, you will be given the ‘chef’s delight’, the French call it ‘mise en bouche’, a well presented tidbit. In this case, it was a chicken and prawn ravioli.

The selection of fish includes one of my favorites: Turbot, considered one of the best sea fish. Some of the best French sauces have been created for fish and great chefs have given turbot a special place in their creations. Some contemporary chefs have come up with interesting combinations such as turbot with grapes and tea.

Gerald Reichstein gives us potato-crusted fillet of turbot in caramel ginger butter and creamy spinach.

Ginger is used in the money bag which holds a poached maine lobster flavored with curry and ginger on a bed of garden fresh vegetables. Then there is the dhow, a peppered Atlantic salmon fillet infused with basil oil. Saddle up is probably the only dish whose content I guessed immediately. Yes, it is a meat dish, the only one on the menu. This beef tenderloin encrusted with freshly grated parmesan cheese is served with braised shallots and exotic mushroom polenta.

A choice of three desserts round up The Globe’s menu: Vitamin C, chess and the nest. Choosing the chess will certainly not give you a headache; all you will need to do is savor a pineapple carpaccio with caramelized cream and chocolate sorbet. Vitamin C is The Globe’s classic lemon tart served with an exquisite raspberry sorbet.

If you ask for the nest, you will be served the Tower of Al Faisaliah in the form of a nougat parfait surrounded with marinated seasonal berries.

There is a minimum charge of SR100 per person plus a 15 percent service charge. Bookings should be made in advance at 273 2000.