Previous SlideNext Slide

“People like to take photos,” a waiter confides as he points out Franca’s newest menu item, the duck crown a l’orange. “It’s meant for social media.” This whole duck dish is a proper scene stealer, one that’s paraded through the Franca dining room like a piped haggis before being carved tableside – though it’s hardly alone on a menu filled with luxurious items.

If you’re thinking champagne, lobster, caviar and a steak the size of a brontosaurus, Franca has it. The schmick restaurant also does a line in subtlety, such as coral trout with sauce vin jaune, served with a delicate, edible tulip stuffed with spanner crab.

Of the many showstoppers, however, the wine list is the biggest attraction, a hefty tome leaning heavily on top-end French producers, with Franca’s crack sommelier team on call to guide you through. As with the food though, don’t expect it to come cheap.