The Four-Hour Lunch...

December 15, 12:30PM-4:30PM (or should I say 12h30-16h30)--the marathon, never-ending, over-the-top, incredible lunch at L'Astrance. L'Astrance is run by Pascal Barbot (chef) and Christophe Rohat (maitre d'), the former sous-chef and maitre d' at Arpege, the Michelin 3-star kitchen of the legendary Alain Passard. Several years ago, Barbot and Rohat parted ways with Passard and opened their culinary laboratory on the edge of the 16th. Over time, Astrance has become both Paris' most difficult reservation (virtually impossible at dinner, extremely difficult at lunch--I made mine two months in advance) and its most daring and inventive kitchen (along with Pierre Gagnaire). After my final day of classes last Thursday, Astrance was a reward and a great way to end an incredible--and at times surreal--semester.

Skipping right over the a la carte and smaller menu offerings, I set my eyes right on the Menu Astrance Surprise with matching wines, the marathon meal comprised of the choices and dishes that Chef Barbot decides to cook on that particular day (often based on products that were especially good at the market that day).

The first amuse came out almost the second after I ordered--a parmesan crisp brioche with black truffles served with an olive oil and parmesan mousse. The punch that the mousse packed was astounding--the parmigiano reggiano was extremely pungent and incredibly delicious, and the olive oil provided the perfect texture and compliment. The brioche was sensational, the truffles nicely accenting the parmesan flavor. I should also mention that Astrance gets their bread delivered by Jean Poujauran, a legendary Paris baker that closed his shop and now delivers bread to several of the city's restaurants daily (delicious).


As this was a surprise menu, I do not know the names of many of the wines (the shitty sommelier who was quite an asshole in the way that only sommeliers can be didn't bother to tell me what they were when he poured and I don't remember half of the names that he told me only after I had asked), but I'll describe them a bit, though just suffice it to say that I will focus on the food. The first two courses were matched with a very nice, cider-like, sweet wine from Alsace (not quite a Gewurtztraminer, but similar). It had a relatively dark golden hue, reminiscent of a dark Sauternes or vin jaune from Jura.

The second course was one of my favorites from the meal--a single shot glass filled with three diverse flavors: a pumpkin puree, a clementine mousse, and a cardamom yogurt. This dish was amazing and Barbot really needs to be credited for such an unusual combination that actually works. It was thick and sorbet like, with no single ingredient overpowering the others. The wine-pairing with this course was especially noteworthy as well.


The third course was a nice yet underwhelming dish of white mushrooms layered with foie gras and a puree of lemon. The lemon gave the dish great flavor and much sweetness, yet without the lemon, the dish was definitely lacking. The wine for this dish was a Sauternes that was very tasty and very sweet (almost like drinking honey without the thickness).


The fourth course was a very tasty dish comprised of mussels and oysters served in a mussel sabayon with curry, curcuma, ginger, leeks and cashews. The first thing I noticed about this dish, outside of the myriad of ingredients and incredible flavors, were the plumpness and softness of the shellfish. These mussels, despite the fact that they looked very ordinary, were far and away the most tender and delicious mussels that I've ever eaten; they literally melted in your mouth, there was no need to chew. A crisp, dry white from Burgundy accompanied this delicious and asian-accented dish.


Outside of the sommelier, the service at Astrance was spectacular. To be entirely honest, as long as I'm not completely turned off (and even sometimes if I am), I don't really care about the service--I'm there for the food. Yet it never hurts to have nice service, and the waiters at Astrance were particularly great. As is the nature of the place, they were a little more relaxed and comical in their delivery (recitation of dish names, etc.), particularly when I asked them questions. It was nice to have such friendly waiters, and by the time the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th dishes came out, every time the waiter came over, we all just began to laugh.

The fifth course (we're 1/3 of the way through) was another of my favorites--pan-seared, rarely cooked scallops served in a curry and curcuma yogurt with lightly cooked spinach and a scallop tartare in a miso-like broth. Comparatively plain, the dish served as a very nice interlude in this meal and the flavors were nevertheless quite delicious. The scallops (it's the beginning of the season) were perfectly cooked and quite flavorful, as were their sauces/broths. The white with this course was lighter than that with the previous course and was far better.


The sixth course was sole served with bok choy, sea urchin tongue (this must be wrong, but i swear that is what they said in French, or at least I think it is--do sea urchins even have tongues?) and a sea urchin puree/sauce. This fish was remarkably fresh and tasty--impeccable quality and perfectly cooked--and the sea urchin (tongue?) gave the often plain sole a tremendous, sweet kick--the wine (i am sick of white wine by now) was nice as well.


The seventh course was red mullet with a sesame mousse, thyme, pumpkin and black radish accompanied by one of the better whites, one with far more body and bite. The wine was actually relatively strong and seemed just a bit short of a digestif. The wine pairing, however, was a bit odd with the fishy and not wonderfully tasty course (despite the vegetables which were cut extremely thin and tasty).


The eighth course was a delicious pasta course (a bit surprising)--a type of thin spaghetti, artichoke, white Alba truffles, mushrooms and a parmesan mousse, accompanied by an even stronger wine than the previous course (I think I caught the name on the bottle: Electrico Fino del Lagar). The course itself was delicious, particularly the combination of the truffles (duh) and the powerful parmesan mousse.


The ninth course was terrific--guinea fowl, chocolate pimente, eggplant miso, auvergne potato fondant. More importantly, I was finally served a red--and I have never tasted a red that was so dull, so body-less, so tasteless. Nevertheless, tossing the wine aside (which was a shame--a good wine with this would have been great), this is one of the best poultry dishes I've ever had. The chocolate, when mixed with the guinea fowl, was fantastic--a wonderful combination. The eggplant and potatoes were very tasty as well.


The tenth course was a rabbit compote served with a hornelle berry puree and a glass of a nice bordeaux (Chateau La Mission Haut Brion, finally something better). I have had rabbit prepared in almost the exact same way (very heavy sauce, far too overpowering) at Flora, and it didn't hold up much better here. However, when combined with the berries, it was a bit better.


The eleventh course was an interesting intermezzo--a lemongrass and chili pepper sorbet. This was actually fabulous and very, very cold--I wished it had been a desert!

The twelfth course was a clementine granite (kind of like frozen ice shavings of clementine), an unusual creation that looked like a sunnyside-up egg composed of white chocolate (the egg white) and passion fruit (yolk), caramel crisps with a green tea filling and tropical fruits (kiwi, mango, pineapple). The red, plum-like wine was a strong wine that I guess went well with this bizarre combination of flavors (how do you pair that with a wine?)--the dish was interesting, but more interesting than it was tasty (although I loved the clementine granite).


The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth courses were a fresh fruit plate of exotic fruits that were very fresh and delicious, chestnut-honey madelines (amazing), and a jasmine-flavored shot of eggnog served in an egg. These were all tasty and a nice way to finish.


And so came the end of my marathon meal, at which point I had had enough to drink for a while. I wasn't so much full as I was satiated--I felt like I had eaten and experienced everything epicurean that I wanted to experience in Paris. L'Astrance is one amazing, incredible, over-the-top place that I'm thrilled I had the chance to experience--indisputably the most memorable dining experience period.