Paris Dining: Cristal Room Sparkles With Starck, Food Fizzles

Philippe Starck must have licked his chops when he was asked by Baccarat, the French crystal maker, to deck out its Le Cristal Room restaurant in Paris.

What decorator wouldn't drool over a treasure-trove of the world's finest cut glass and a 3,000-square-meter (32,000-square-foot) Louis XV-style mansion? Alas, while Starck succeeds in creating a dazzling setting, the food isn't so spectacular.