We were handed a refreshing glass of champagne as soon as we walked into the restaurant. Its crispiness completely washed away the heat and humidity that we came in with.
Picture this: A light lobster bisque with a nice hint of basil but in a consistency of a custard. The tiny spoon scoped out something that looked like a darker color crème brulee; but when it hit your mouth, it’s lobster bisque. Yes, the brain did go into overdrive to interpret this first bit before all the neurons would all scream, “It’s delicious!” The champagne went very well with the dish; unfortunately I never got its name from the sommelier.
Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc, “Clos de la Roquette”, Frédérick & Daniel Brunier, 2005.
Where do I start? The watermelon was refreshing. Razor claim, just poached slightly. Chat masala, nice. Peanut butter, excellent with its light creamy flavor. Each component was very nice on its only. They became more interesting when I started to mix and match them. Peanut butter and watermelon with a touch of the chat, why not? It’s the chef’s intention for us to experiment with his play of four most unlikely paring of food.
I am embarrassed to admit. Although I love the wines from this region, I had only drunk white Châteauneuf wines a handful of times. They are not widely available in stores and only a small number of knowledgeable and a bit daring sommeliers put them in restaurants. This wine was creamy, slightly but not overly sweet with nose of apricot and lemon. Although this small production (7000 bottles) wine had spend some time in oak barrels, there was an obvious absence of “oaky-ness” that usually would turn me off. I liked this wine very much with the watermelon. It’s a nice summer pairing.
Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc, Domaine du Grand Tinel, 2003.
I love softshell crab. I love softshell crab very much when it is in season. For this dish, a nicely crispy, lightly fried piece sat on top an interestingly minty and slightly sour tasting apple kohlrabi puree with a watercress rhubarb salad next to it. A wasabi apple foam with ginger and basil sat on top to one side of the crab to accent the taste while contrasting the texture meat and the well seasoned batter. It was Chef Jason’s intention to make the seasoning and the batter an imitation of the KFC version as this was his homage to the KFC fried chicken. Initially, I thought there was a bit too much salt with the crab. However, it all made sense to me after he explained his purpose to us. The pieces did remind us of the KFC chicken. I very much enjoyed biting through the crispiness of the batter followed by the juice and the softness of the meat releasing into my mouth. The citrus-ness of the foam provided a very nice palette refresher in-between bits.
The wine is from another small producer with only 4.5 acres of vineyard. A nose of white grape was followed by a stronger liquorish and slightly tart taste. It worked very well with the fried food.
Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge, Domaine Lucien Barrot, 2000
Tourist Tree had two consecutively bad duck dishes of late at area restaurants; would this duckling break her bad luck or would the curse continue?
The meat was perfectly prepared. It was tender. It was seasoned right. I like the fact that it was not drowned in a heavy sauce which would otherwise shroud the natural flavor and the quality of the meat. The gooseberry and the duck made an excellent combo with the peppers and mushrooms being a nice companion. I was greeted by the typical sweaty sock in a locker room nose of a traditional old world wine. It had lots of berries. It had a nice spicy after-taste. It was yummy. It was delicious. It was like biting into a very juicy steak.
Red Berry Charlotte, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Vanilla Bean.
Châteauneuf du Pape Rouge, Domaine Le Soustet, 2005.
This charlotte had the dark chocolate mousse filling in the middle. It was topped with toasted meringue, strawberries, cherries, and little pieces of gold foil. The sauce was made with vanilla, crème anglaise with pistachios and cassis.
This dessert was delicious. Not heavy, not too sweet. Spongy followed by smoothness of the mousse. The sauce was wonderful with strong hint of the cassis. The sponginess of the charlotte became very useful in soaking up the sauce.
It was a very daring move for the sommelier to pair a red wine with a dessert. I have found that sometimes when you contrast a pairing instead of complement one; you are rewarded with the most unexpected delight. I found this wine full of strawberry and cherry. It was definitely lighter and fruitier than the previous wine. It happened to go very well with the cassis in the sauce. Alcohol and alcohol; what else could you ask for?
It was a lovely evening with this delightful dinner. We were tucked into a semi-private table at one end of the dining room which allowed us to look out to the tree tops in the park outside through the large windows. Our locale however did not prevent the service from not keeping our water (and wine) glasses filled, bread basket replaced with warm breads from the oven, empty wine promptly glasses removed, and table being kept neat. Our side of the dining room was pretty full with diners for this dinner. The staff did a very good job in serving everybody within a reasonably short time for each course. I had an opportunity to talk with Chef Jason a while back about how he would handle large parties. He told me that his kitchen make everything fresh even for large banquets. No pre-cooking and reheating or sitting in warmers for hours. Timing and team work is everything. The sommelier also did personally pour every single wine at each table just before the course come out. Again, timing is everything.
We enjoyed all of the dishes. The watermelon first course was an interesting experience; although I am not too sure if I would order it again. The softshell crab was one of the best I had this year. It’s too bad the season for the fresh crab is almost over. Tourist Tree truly enjoyed her duck, and so did I. I was happy that we did not have a heavy dessert which would put us over the top. The wines were wonderful. We were happy that this dinner gave us the opportunity to experience a few Châteauneuf whites which we typically do not have the occasion to encounter. Kudos to Sommelier Eric Simonis who runs a very nice wine program at the restaurant.
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