In the high-rent area near the Inter-Continental (though on a section of rue de Rivoli that's getting scuzzy), this salon de thé (tearoom) combines fashion-industry glitter and bourgeois respectability. The carpets are plush, the ceilings are high, and the gilded accessories have the right amount of patina. This place has no equal when it comes to viewing the lionesses of haute couture over tea and delicate sandwiches. The overwrought and slightly snooty waitresses bear silver trays with light platters, pastries, drinks, and tea or coffee to tiny marble-topped tables. Lunch usually offers a salad and a plat du jour (special of the day) like chicken salad, steak tartare, sole meunière (filet of sole, sautéed in butter with lemon, parsley, and other seasonings), or poached salmon. The house specialty, designed to go well with tea, is a Mont Blanc, a combination of chestnut cream and meringue.