le doyen

I preface this post and a next one with a minor disclaimer to anyone who may stumble on this - this (like most of my ramblings) is merely a counterweight to premature amnesia and not for any other purpose. It has little to do with the Richmond part of Richmond Gastronomy and I've thrown out many of my rules under the weak excuse of haute cuisine :)!
I recently had the good fortune to experience the cooking of Christian le Squer of Ledoyen. Off the bustle of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, but hardly a hidden gem, Ledoyen has been serving the (not) masses (those of the "eat cake" variety) from ~the storming of the Bastille, 1792 to be precise. Wow !! and it has held its 3 Michelin stars with some force for sometime now. I couldnt wait to see what wonders of French cooking he would conjure up this time !
Bonjours by the staff and I was led to my corner table where I had a nice vantage point of being able to look at the beautiful and intimate dining room as well as glance outside where, beyond the lush greenery, the ever-busy Champs-Élysées was a world far far away.
Kicking things off were what I felt were "pre-amuses" single-bite excitements to get one set for the excellence to follow - The highlight was a gelee ball that burst in my mouth into a flavorful liquid with the slightest taste of ginger. The petit macaron literally melted in my mouth.(I would buy bags of those cheese "crackers" instead of crisps if I only could). I settled for the brioche and the olive bread out of the delectable bread cart. (bad pun alert) For another day, the pain of pain selection at a boulangerie...
Next up an amuse bouche of watermelon jelly with cherry tomatoes and sliced almonds. My palate was primed and amused now...
I peeped at one of the most comprehensive wine books I have ever seen, easily weighing around 20 pounds (with quite a few chateau xx's running for a healthy 4 digits). The sommelier had suggested a few options and I settled on a 2008 Rhone Condrieu (especially since it owed parentage to the viognier grape - VA winery specialty represent !). For my entree, the foie gras with passion fruit gelly and just the hint of espresso. (Passion/Cafe au foie gras des landes).
For the main course, I decided to be a bit adventurous and got the sweetbreads (Noix de ris de veau aux girolles truffees). The fish option was pretty exciting as well (vapeur de merlan, pamplemousse et avocat), but I'd only eaten sweetbreads a couple of times prior to this, with mixed results and Ledoyen was the perfect place for this French specialty. Nicely caramelized, the dish had a firm consistency suitably complemented by mini chanterelles and a truffle sauce. I was literally in gastronomy heaven by now :)
The blanc viognier was just perfect with the foie gras - the creaminess of the dish subtly balanced by the complexity of the wine (complex and complex do mix). And since it also supplemented the sweet breads quite perfectly, I had to have another. Despite the many blah (VA) viogniers I've had, I must take a fresh look at this grape again.
A fully laden cheese cart presented itself next (fromages frais et affinés) - faced with a plethora of choices, I boringly chose a roquefort and a brie with more of the wonderfully flaky brioche, hoping to save room for dessert.
But that wasnt to come. Not just yet. Instead, there was a pre-dessert plate of pretty little melt-in-mouth one-bites including strawberry gelee and an espresso balls, all of which melted in my mouth and set the stage of what was to come.
For dessert (fraises à la créme acidulée, sorbet à la coriandre), I was presented with probably the best strawberry "icecream" I've ever had. The consistency of the icecream was astounding (smooth and aerated to a fantastic, foamy consistency) but a bit of genius was to serve this over a coriander sorbet !! This combination, with strawberry dust, fresh petit strawberries was as close to a 10 as I could possibly imagine in a dish. Fully satisfied, I thought - L'addition s'il vous plaît. just a leetel something more ! more? bien sur !! Capping it all were some petit fours of eclairs and nougats along with some even more spectacular brioche. This caramelized brioche was a bretagne variant of a gateaux beurre and was slightly sweet and a perfect coda. As I greedily stuffed myself beyond capacity with a nutty nougat, I couldnt help but notice that this meal had clocked around 2.5 hrs !! A luxury in every sense of the word.
I could barely haul my decadent rear from the chair. All I really wanted to do was to go and take a nice nap somewhere. While I may not have been moved to tears (my palate was tickled pink on quite a few occasions), this was easily one of the most exciting meals I have ever eaten. Santé !!