Two meals in two weeks from Veritas’ new chef, Grégory Pugin, who studied under Joël Robuchon, proved once again that as good as the food has been at this restaurant since it first opened, it is at a new high level of quality under Pugin. As one of the guests said, even though Veritas is likely to only get three stars from the New York Times’ restaurant reviewer, the cuisine is four stars all the way. This meal was even better than my birthday celebration back in July. The extraordinary summer market salad of tuna belly confit was, in essence, Pugin’s innovative take on a Salad Niçoise ... at a four star level. Its presentation was beautiful, with each individual item packed with flavor. The blue fin tuna tartare with quail egg and bell pepper could have come from a top sushi bar in Tokyo. Diners should also check out the sashimi-styled langoustine carpaccio, a mind-boggling dish in aroma and flavor. Also awesome, the bouillabaisse was a gorgeous concoction of shellfish and fish in a wonderfully intense, but light broth. It was delicate, but incredibly flavorful as well as beautiful to look at and taste. The codfish pipérade pays homage to Pugin’s home base in France, Tarbes (where he was born and raised), where the food often exhibits a Basque influence. It was as good as any codfish dish I have ever had, and his hand-stuffed red pimentos with brandade was a dish that resonated the glory days of Daniel Boulud at Daniel. We finished with a tête de veau, but truthfully, I had eaten so much at that point that I couldn’t appreciate more than half of this dish, which was incredibly flavorful. It worked wonders with the Châteauneuf du Papes.

Speaking of the wines, the 1990 Louis Roederer Cristal was again a gorgeous Champagne. Drunk from a regular bottle, it was still quite young at age 18. I could easily have given each of the three Châteauneuf du Papes one-hundred point scores. Trying to put them in a sequence where comparisons are clearly odious at this level of quality, the 2005 Pure deserved its name as it was a gorgeously pristine expression of old vine Grenache. It was singing with licorice and kirsch in a full-bodied, opulent, seamless style. I’m not sure how long this wine will last, but for drinking over the next decade, it is loaded. Two of the great 2003s from Châteauneuf du Pape, an irregular vintage overall, include the finest showing yet of St.-Préfert’s 2003 Châteauneuf du Pape Charles Giraud. Earth, meat juice, roasted herb, blackberry, and cherry characteristics are offered in a full-bodied, opulent, exquisitely rich, complex wine that seemed to eclipse the Pure, as hard as that is to believe. While the two aforementioned Châteauneufs flirted with perfection, that goal was reached by a magnum of the 2003 Clos St.-Jean Châteauneuf du Pape Deux Ex-Machina. One of the most stupendous young Châteauneufs I have ever tasted, it continues to go from strength to strength in the bottle. These 2003s can be drunk young, and while there will be skeptics about their ageability, these two, which drink fabulously well now, will evolve for another 10-15+ years.

In any event, foodies need to check out Veritas, whose wine list may be the finest in the world. Now, they have a 29-year old chef whose skills are already formidable. Moreover, his humility and passion for his craft surpass that of his two brilliant predecessors at Veritas, most notably Scott Bryan.