After gutting the walls, booting that terribly Zen and dull decor, and installing a swish new kitchen, bar and chef, the metamorphosis of Saint Pierre is complete. And boy, do we like it.

For starters, the mood at the new Saint Pierre is utterly different. The restaurant is no longer a clinical, monochromatic shrine to Chef Emmanuel Stroobant's indisputably ambrosial cuisine. We miss Chef's deft fusion of Japanese and French cuisines, and his incredibly light touch, but that's where the nostalgia ends.

Done up in lush, warm tones, complete with a shimmering golden-hued wall, Saint Pierre is now all sexed up, amorous almost, where before it was... well... a white room with furniture. And it goes with the food by Chef Paul Froggatt, Chef Emmanuel's protégé, which is full-flavoured, and yes, somewhat bold and saucy in its pairings, though we may not agree with them all. His style's miles away from Chef Emmanuel's precise and pristine cuisine, but the difference is part of the appeal, especially at a stalwart such as Saint Pierre.

For a full initiation to Chef Paul's cuisine, we recommend the eight-course degustation menu (S$118). But should the spectre of indigestion stand in the way of a calorific blow-out, there's always the very good-value five-course prixe fixe menu, which goes for just S$88 and will indulge suitably without tipping the scales. Highlights of our meal included the sweet and tangy tomato royale with frozen buffalo mozzarella (S$38), the latter pure, creamy and refreshingly icy; and poached organic egg served on sweet momotaro tomato relish and topped with a crisp, thin slice of bellota ham (S$38), the classiest ham and eggs we've had in a long while.

This is one of the few places in town where you'd get a good pigeon (S$68), stuffed with sweetbreads, then roasted and served with a delicate veal sweetbread puree. (Another is Nicolas Le Restaurant on Keong Siak Street.) But order it only if you like your meat red and gamey - i.e. only if you like pigeon. Another gorgeous main is the white miso-marinated roasted black cod (S$45), served with fennel salad and a lightly piquant Pinot Noir dressing. Our only grouse was with the superfluous presence of fresh anchovies. Pungent, briny and quite lovely on their own, they completely overpowered the creamy cod here. But ditch the anchovies, as we did, and you will have a most dreamy dish.

Saint Pierre still boasts a substantial foie gras menu, although now downsized to just six items. There is still the signature pan-fried foie gras with caramelised green apples and Port sauce (S$42), for which we harbour recurrent late night cravings. New additions include the foie gras risotto (S$40), a rich enough meal in itself for small appetites; and a most exquisite foie gras mousse paired with equally delicate morsels of poached lobster (S$52).

Desserts are not a must here - well, not after such a spectacular parade, although if you have tummy space for more, the mandarin orange granita with tangy yoghurt cream and Limoncello espuma (S$18) is most delightful, as is the roasted hazelnut parfait with nashi pear compote (S$20). - Joy Tully

#01-01 Central Mall, 3 Magazine Road. Tel: 6438-0887

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