So, the morning didn’t start well. I got a text from Amex asking about a suspicious charge on my account and whether I wanted to authorize it. I didn’t recognize it, so after a conversation with their agent, I agreed to let it stand for a couple of hours to see if I received an email from the vendor detailing the charge; if none came, I authorized them to freeze my account for web purchases but keep it active for in-person charges for another week+ until I got home, after which they’d send me a new card. Annoying, but good service on their part and the only thing I could do.
Then, when I went to order a G7 taxi to take me to lunch, my request was denied because the bank rejected the charge. Duh. Of course. My Amex card is on file with G7 so that I don’t have to pay the driver in cash or with a credit card every time. It took a bit of fussing around to switch my account to another credit card, and by the time I did it was getting late to order a cab and wait for it, but luckily one happened to be right at my corner at that moment so I jumped in.
It was barely drizzling when I left the apartment but pouring when I arrived at La Dame de Pic, and the driver had to drop me off about 1/4 block away to get out of traffic. So I looked like a drowned rat when I entered. The gracious staff managed to stifle their horrified reaction to my appearance!
Anne-Sophie Pic, the owner of La Dame de Pic, is one of only four female chefs in the world to have obtained three Michelin stars (for her resto Maison Pic in Valence in southeast France) and she was named the "World's Best Female Chef" in 2011. She has other restos and cafés and take-out shops in Valence and in Paris, including La Dame de Pic at 20, rue du Louvre, just steps from the Louvre, which has one Michelin star. She also has establishments in Lausanne, London and Singapore. Her cuisine is so clearly French, yet playful and embracing some non-French ingredients and preparations when they can enhance a dish - not crazy for the sake of being different, but ingenious. My new heroine!
After I settled into the comfortable banquette at the lovely corner table, I ordered a glass of Champagne for my apéritif while I surveyed the three menu options (four, five or seven courses, with optional beverage pairings). Aahhhh…feeling better already. The Champagne (Pierre Peters Cuvée de Réserve Blanc de Blancs Brut) was nice and dry and minerally, savory with some vanilla on the nose and hints of green pear, apricot and chalk, a medium viscosity.
I ordered the five course lunch.
My server brought four amuse-bouche - two each of little Feuille de Brick “saucers” (brick pastry, similar to filo but much easier to work with since it doesn’t dry out while you’re trying to make something with it) - two filled with a mushroom mousse and two with a celeriac puree with little bubbles of what tasted like a thickened mild veal stock. Both very gentle and lovely, but not all that palate-awakening!
The individual loaf of sweet whole wheat bread was partially cut into wedges, making it easy to tear apart. The butter is infused with pepper from Madagascar, which was beautifully floral as well as just a bit “hot” - the bread was a terrific companion for it.
My next amuse-bouche really woke up my palate - some whipped goat cheese with cucumber two ways (cured slices and a purée) and blackberries. My server recommended eating spoonfuls of all three together - yup, she was right - an amusing combo of soft, crunchy, sweet, acidic, and fruity. Just the thing!
The wine they paired with the first course was Tabali 'Talinay', a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. It was intense yet refreshing, citrusy, grassy, with hints of tarragon, almost salty. It really woke me up and hoo boy did it every go nicely with the huge lightly poached & chilled oyster in a kaffir lime gelatin “shell” (wow - fascinating idea!) with pistachio purée, sorrel, and micro flowers & herbs.
Up next, a spectacular, complex and intense Domaine Valette 2008 Pouilly Fuissé Clos Reyssie that knocked me over! It was an intense gold color, tasted of apricot pits, yellow plums, honey, lemon zest, flint, savory (the herb), toast. Absolute perfection - heavenly - what a treat - golden in every sense of the word - I drank every last drop and would have eaten the glass if I could.
It was paired with the chef’s signature dish, Camembert and ricotta in a brick pastry pyramidal shape shell served with a velvety corn stock, smoked corn puree and corn kernels. A-a-a-mazing. I can see why it’s the chef’s signature!
The beverage pairing for the next course was a slightly warm green tea. It was beautifully clarifying and cut through the richness of the sweet steaky monkfish (roasted in brown butter), and it somehow mitigated the slight pungent “three cabbages” (including some Romanesco and beautifully seared tiny Brussels sprouts), and balanced with the deliciously salty creamy herby (cilantro and nasturtium) fish stock.
With the pigeon course, a classic 2016 Côte Rôtie "Blonde du Seigneur" from Domaine Georges Vernay - very dry with flavors of plum, raspberry, violet, nutmeg, pepper, and slate.
The pigeon had been roasted with coriander and pink peppercorns. The slices of breast meat were pink, gloriously tender and pure tasting. The nuggets of liver were grainy, dark, earthy. The one little confit leg was rich and intense. A slice of young turnip had been roasted with honey and then caramelized - brilliant - not at all acrid like turnips can sometimes be. A couple slices of fermented yellow plum and some plum purée brought brightness and acidity to the plate, and the poultry stock sauce was enhanced with rosebuds. Such imagination! Such technique! Such products (it wasn’t a pigeon they captured in the park!).
Saint-Marcellin is a soft creamy cow’s milk cheese. Here they whipped it, formed it into a ball and chilled it, poured a bit of the mysterious yellow Chartreuse liqueur (more about that in a minute) into a bowl, placed the Saint-Marcellin on top, sprinkled it with some dried and pulverized fir (as in the tree) needles, and then added some finely grated frozen Parmesan on top. Holy buckets! Absolutely delightful! Who says you need to have at least five cheeses in a cheese course? (Well, I do, most of the time, but ….)
For my pre-dessert: mint sorbet, a mousse-textured gelato made with ginger ale, tiny mint leaves, and a sweet mint meringue feather on top. Ya, that cleared the palate and found a place in my now almost-full tummy!
And for dessert, chocolate mousse with tarragon ice cream (who wouldda thunk to combine chocolate and tarragon?!?), chocolate & green tea cookies, thin leaves of dark chocolate on top, and a dusting of matcha powder.
Served with it: iced green Chartreuse, the glorious and mysterious liqueur made by Carthusian Monks since 1737. It is said to include 130 different herbs, plants, flowers, spices and other secret ingredients in a wine-based alcohol, and its recipe is a tightly guarded secret - apparently only two monks have it and although the production has been industrialized, only those two monks blend the magic ingredients! It’s a smooth, unctuous elixir (certain to be good for you!), and oh my goodness does it ever go beautifully with chocolate! It’s now my secret chocolate accompaniment, and now the secret is yours as well. You’re welcome.
Then coffee and some little walnut sablé cookies.
All in all, about a three-hour lunch. Can't think of many better ways to spend an early afternoon!
https://anne-sophie-pic.com/restaurant-dame-de-pic-paris/
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The view from my table.... |