So here we decided to push the boat out a bit.
After following my wife around the foie gras shops and watching her buy numerous tins that I have to schlepp back on the plane (we have seperate flights)....
...it was definitely time for a Ricard in the town square. We were heading off to a restaurant highly recommended to us by a chef friend, and needed fortification.
Now this chef had studied under Ferran Adria at EBulli (sp?) which may mean something to some of you culinary types, and worked a lot with so-called molecular cuisine (where tastes are chemically deconstructed and the reconstituted in novel forms.
This first rather simple looking dish is grapefruit and lobster bisque...
...followed by some seared foie gras, roasted duck, done ina light bitter chocolate sauce...(this was sensational-much better than it sounds...
...then this large tiger prawn baked in a parmesan coat....
...then a seabass wrapped in pancetta and served on a balsamic/lentil puree....
veal sweetbreads on toast, with a brandy reduction and and foam....
...champagne and cheese fondue etc...
...and finally this very complex dessert, the ingredients of which I forget. We enjoyed the dinner immensely—but it wasn't really us. I have always thought that culinary art involves (or should involve) coaxing the maximum amount of flavour out of the freshest possible ingredients with a minimum of fuss...and this was just way over the top. And while the tastes were great– the meal couldn't IMO hold a candle to some of the simpler meals we had. (see below)
