The whole reason for my Paris trip was tonight, my brother Sam would be cooking at the premier evening of ‘Les Lundis de Fulgurances’ a restaurant concept night run by Hugo Hivernat and Sophie Cornibert which is showcasing up and coming chef’s from around the world. My brother is currently working as sous chef in the fantastic Noma restaurant in Copenhagen with head chef Rene Redzepi which only this week beat El Bulli and became the number one restaurant in the world which is just totally amazing to think about, biggest possible congratulations to all the Noma guys and I can't wait to eat there for my birthday in a couple of weeks! It's through this that Sam's been gaining great exposure in places like Paris and also London where at the beginning of this month he’ll be guesting for three nights at Nuno Mendes’ Loft Project which will be a different experience having only 16 guests compared to the 60 he was doing today. We went for the €75 menu option which meant we got matching wines with the courses and this seemed like good value compared to what I’d expect to pay for same thing in London.
Bol de radis
Radish Bowl
First up were two snacks with the radish bowl being one of the most strikingly presented dishes I’ve ever seen, the terracotta pots were filled with edible soil and mud which seemed to be made from combination of rye bread, hazlenuts and possible olives – buried just under the soil were the peppery radishes, combined with the soil the radishes tasted nothing like I’d expected and looking at other peoples faces they too were nearly dumb founded with the whole experience.
Salt & Vinegar Crisp
Salt & Vinegar Crisps
The salt of vinegar flavour came at you from all angles here, the sauce had a superb acidic bite to its creaminess and when scouped up with the super crisp crisps it all made perfect sense. The salted flour on the crisps didn’t have any robustness like you’d expect with heavily salted crisps from a packet and I suppose this is a throwback from the light seasoning they use at Noma. To go with the snacks we were given a glass of a unusual sparkling wine, 'Opera des vins, Nuit de Tokyo' appeared to have the flavour depth of a medium to high quality champagne but I’m sure the price was a lot more favorable – I’d buy instantly if I ever come across in a shop in the UK.
Carotte en croute de sel, crème, thym, lingonberry
Carrot in salt crust, cream, thyme, lingonberry
Again the salt wasn’t the driving force in this immaculately presented dish. The texture of the components was contrasting but the ingredients blended together effortlessly to create a rich but delicate flavour. I think the vibrance of a dish such as this is a real eye opener for what raw food can actually taste and look like.
Maquereau cru, lait de noisette, pain de seigle, moutarde
Raw Mackerel, hazelnut milk, rye bread, mustard
I was really excited to see this on the menu because surprisingly I’ve never tried raw mackerel and was intrigued by the combination of this and the hazelnut milk. The milk provided a different than normal type of sweetness with all the heat the dish needed was provided by the mustard coating the mackerel. The mackerel itself just melted in the mouth and tasted like I’d always hoped raw mackerel would. I must mention the tiny balls of cucumber that seemed to freshen your palate with cool liquid as soon as you bite into them and the tiny tapioca balls would brilliantly both for the appearance and added feeling in your mouth. The wine match for this course was a very oaky white ‘Hauts de Madou 2007, Blanc Cheverny, Christian VENIER’, defying what I know about wines this 3 year old white seemed much older due to its colour as well as its strong aroma, a good wine but I doubt I’d buy and I didn’t really feel it was complimenting the food as something simpler and more refreshing would have been better for the raw fish – I would have gone for a Sancerre but then again I’ll always go for a Sancerre with fish or salad, think I’m bit stuck in my ways with that one.
Huitre, algue verte, sabayon de pomme de terre
Oyster, green alga, sabayon potato
Again fantastic presentation like every other dish, it was served just warm and I felt a touch more heat would have benefited it but this didn’t detract from the sublime feeling when popping one of the different textures into your mouth.
Pied de cochon, biere, poireau brule
Pigs Trotters, beer, burnt leek
You knew as soon as you saw this dish that it was something special and it was a total triumph, the intense reduced beer gentle disguised the tender morsels of pig trotter with the burnt leek providing yet another cunning addition to the plate. Now was time for the red wines to come out and the first one was a nice robust one Morgan 2008 Vieilles Vignes, Jean-Paul Thevenet with deep fruitiness but wasn’t anything special. I think it’s interesting you consider what you should drink when the dish contains something like beer – I honestly believe that a well matched beer can match and sometimes beat a wine pairing, I think because you drink beer differently than wines (larger mouthfuls) you can get a more complete taste. I would have loved to have tested a few different beers with the dish especially some slightly darker ales and possibly a mild type bitter, something not over-hopped.
Joue de boeuf, oignon, rose
Beef with Rose Onion
Just wow, really wow – the beef which had been cooked for 24 hours in hay was unlike anything I’ve ever really eaten before, the intensity of deep rich flavour of the meat was unbelievable. Served with three different types of onion every mouthful was slightly different, it needed these contrasting flavours because with just the rose flavoured onions it would have become overpowering before you’d finished the dish, the way it was just did it right. Thinking about this it was very simple dishes compared to some of the others but for me it was the stand out dish due the sheer depth of flavour – the type of food you put in your mouth and instantly want to tell everybody how good it is even before you finished chewing the first morsel, queue lots of people with full desperately trying to swallow to explain what they’ve just tasted.
This wine was perfect match for the rich beef, it was intense with a taste of real quality aged wine and that was the stand out taste, quality. Very ruby in colour I could have drank two bottles of this with the meal instead of any other wine – gorgeous.
Parfait de malt, neige de panais, fraise sechee
Malt Parfait, snow parsnips, dried strawberries
The presentation for this was just awe-inspiring as you can see in the pictures, the malt parfait had such a deep rich malt flavour and with the hint of parsnip and the textural delight that was the dried strawberries this was a totally complete desert and didn’t take long to accept the second one I was offered. The dessert wine Gewurstraminer 2006, Schueller was revelation to me, sweet but not too sweet I really liked it, in fact I can’t think of a dessert wine I’ve ever enjoyed more than this.
I'm very conscious this is quite a long entry and I'm sure you can understand why - thanks for getting this far, most posts will be much shorter I promise!
Big thanks to all other chefs who helped especially Sam & Oliver.
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