Luce Iron Chef Yogurt-Themed Dinner w/Wine Pairings
Luce Wine Restaurant
Tasted Wednesday, August 18, 2010 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 608 views
Introduction
Chef Dominique Crenn beat Michael Symon on Iron Chef America in a contest aired August 12, 2010, in which yogurt was the secret ingredient. Her five-course tasting menu inspired by the show is featured at her restaurant, Luce, this month, and we did the wine pairings. My buddy, Luce's wine steward John Wight, did our pairings, with some consultation from us on the red wine with the squab course (we were concerned that his original pick, a young Barolo, would overpower the squab, but we needn't have been so concerned, as it was a very flavorful squab that stood up well to the Lagrein we picked, and would probably have handled the Barolo as well).
One of John's most interesting picks was the '08 Field Recordings Chenin Blanc from their Jurassic Vineyard. I hadn't tried any of this producer's wines before, but was quite struck by this high acid, food friendly wine, and made a point to check out the producer at Family Winemakers in San Francisco this past weekend. I'll have more to say about them in my upcoming post on the big event. John's other picks were all good too, and all had the additional virtue of not being very expensive either. Bravo!
Chef Dominique Crenn and Christianne
arctic char with char mousse amuse
Flight 1 - yogurt verjus sorbet with cucumber consomme and shaved honey (1 Note)
Our first wine, with the amuse and consomme was a very aromatic and minerally Vermentino di Sardegna, which had terrific acidity and enough interest to carry me through the consomme dish, which was the least successful and complex of the dishes in this tasting menu.
Flight 2 - yogurt in a summer vegetable garden (1 Note)
This was a very well composed dish with a variety of interesting textures, owing in part to the dehydrated vegetable flakes at the base do the dish, and to the yogurt croquette. The minerally Australian Riesling, with its camphor nose and good acidity, brought further interest and green notes to the dish.
Flight 3 - divers scallops with quinoa, yogurt cubes, melon and micro greens (1 Note)
This was another dish with good textures, although the scallops were not as flavorful as I would have hoped. The Chenin Blanc definitely added another level of interest to the dish, and its high acidity cut through the creaminess of the yogurt cubes.
Flight 4 - yogurt crepe, squab and eggplant caponata (1 Note)
This was a very flavorful squab, probably the best dish of an interesting menu. The Lagrein went fine with it, but some of the flavorful southern Italians John was suggesting would probably have been very nice pairings as well.
Flight 5 - cumin peach yogurt mousse with rose hibiscus broth (2 Notes)
Now we get to the second Brachetto d'Acqui in less than a week. This one didn't have quite the same level of fizz as our BdA at Quince, but it was equally flavorful and a refreshing pairing with our yogurt crisp, peach yogurt and rose hibiscus foam.
After the meal, John brought us a couple of glasses of grappa from the grappa-themed 888 Bar next door to Luce (both are housed in the InterContinetal Hotel on Howard Street). This was one of the more complex and interesting grappas I've tried.
Closing
Richard, Tom, Christianne and Paul
2007 Feudi della Medusa Vermentino di Sardegna Albithia Bianco 91 Points
Italy, Sardinia, Vermentino di Sardegna
Bright light yellow color; tart peach, apple nose; good, balanced, tart white fruit, lime, mineral palate with poise; medium finish
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No