Our 10-course Spring Tasting Menu at Pierre Gagnaire was a magical experience.
Pierre Gagnaire’s complex and artistic dishes are well known. Our amuse-bouche was a perfect example. It contains various ingredients like olive, goat cheese, walnut, caramel, and a bacon wrapped asparagus. As you can see from the picture, the stimulating colours and the complex combination of textures foreshadowed an imaginative journey! What a total satisfaction of both eyes and palate!
Our first course was spider crab ravioli sat on top of green and white asparagus, smeared by a thin layer of truffle jelly. The asparagus was very fresh, nourishing the palate with gift from the nature. It was a pity to see the meticulous preparation of truffle jelly on top of the green asparagus to lose the natural extraordinary taste and texture of the truffle itself. The sommelier suggested us a bottle of Saint-Péray, Les Figueirs, Domaine Bernard Gripa 2004. This white wine had a strong floral aroma, nice honey across the palate with mild acidity.
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Spider crab ravioli with truffle jelly |
Spring cabbage soup with cuttlefish |
Our second course was frog leg in chantilly ink of cuttlefish, with cabbage soup poured on top in front of us. Chantilly ink is an example of the chef’s expertise in the area of molecular gastronomy. It is based on same idea as making Chantilly cream but using cuttlefish ink instead so that the ink is transformed into a foamy texture. I liked each component of this dish, except the rather big pieces of cabbage contained in the soup, whose presence was vulgar and inelegant.
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Lobster stewed in coriander sauce |
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