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OfflineLiquidSmoke
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Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu
    #7585650 - 11/01/07 09:15 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

So for my birthday, I decided to go all out, eat at the most extravagant restaurant in Philadelphia, and order the most expensive option on the menu.


"Le Bec Fin" is a french restaurant, ran by Chef Pierre




This was the Fall-themed seasonal 10 course tasting dinner, put together by the chef.


Each dish came with a matching wine.

I apologize ahead of time for the blurry pictures, since the place was dimly lit and i didn't feel like pissing people off with multiple flash photography....


Amous Bouche:



a Crepe layered with thinly sliced smoke salmon and aged goat cheese. It was a somewhat gummy texture as expected with smoked salmon. The flavor combination was nice and salty, definitely a rich starting dish.


First Course:



Squash Consomme (poured at the table) with a smoked duck magret ravioli.

-The broth was definitely the most striking aspect of this dish. It was a sweet and suttle flavored broth, definitely tasted like roasted squash and a hint of duck flavor. The ravioli itself was pretty mild in flavor, which is expected of an early course. The texture of the filling was alot more like an asian dumpling than what most people think of when they eat ravioli. Overall, a very mild and warm starting dish.

served with a 2005 Domaine Saint Amant Côtes du Rhône



Second Course:



Squash and goat cheese beignet, arugula salad with raspberry dressing

-I've had several "beignet"s before, but this one was remarkable in texture. Nice crunchy exterior with a soft, fluffy center. It tasted like it had just come out of the fryer. Interior was very rich, but suttle in flavor again. The arugula salad was a good complement, but the rasberry tasted with the beignet was surprisingly good.
The sweet tartness of the rasberry helped cut through the mild richness of the beignet.

Served with a 2005 Château de Chantegrive Graves, Bordeaux



Third Course:



Pan seared Mahi-Mahi filet on a bed of spinach, a fried squash and pumpkin roll, and a beer emulsion

-The fried roll was definitely the most flavorfull item on this plate, incredibly savory and well balanced in texture. The wheetiness and bitterness of the beer emulsion worked well with the mild flavored mahi mahi. Spinach was cooked well, pretty much tasted as expected. Matching the fish with the squash fried roll was also a solid combination.

Served with a 2002 Domaine Armand Gilg Riesling Grand Cru



Fourth Course:



Red Kuri Souffle served with warm lobster meat, spinach, in an herb-butter sauce.

-The souffle was piping hot when it reached my table, shoots of steam coming out from the crust with the first penetration of the spoon. The Red kuri flavor was very evident, as was a markable saltiness, which complemented the mild flavored lobster meat. A very delicate souffle.



Fifth Course:



Sautéed foie gras with squash jelly over a toasted pumpkin bread and a red wine/foie gras jus

-Definitely the best dish of the night. I've had foie gras before, but this one was cooked incredibly well. Biting into a piece of the foie gras resulted in a burst of juicy flesh and duck fat in the mouth. The sauce was incredibly buttery and savory. The sweetness of the squash jelly, along with the buttery bitter sauce, and the fatty foie grase, made a cohesion of texture and flavor of which, i really haven't experienced before. I'm still amazed how the chef managed to place such dark char marks on the foie without even tampering with the soft, juicy texture.

-This was one of those dishes....where you REALLY experience a level of giddyness and sheer nirvana from eating. There's only a few dishes in my memory which has ever given me this same emotion from eating. The entire time i was just saying to myself "wow....wow........wow"

Served with a 2004 Domaine de la Motte Coteaux du Layon



Sixth Course:



Spiced squash cappuccino and squash marshmallow

-Basically a mid-dinner palet cleanser. Savory, warm, and a strong incoporation of herbs.


Seventh Course (Main Protein):



½ Roasted Scottish partridge, pumpkin pie, pomegranate and asparagus fricassee

-The bird was cooked pretty much perfectly, and definitely served as the bulk of the meal. Something is awfully pleasant about having an indiviual, miniature pumpkin pie on the plate to complement the flavors of the poultry and fricassee. I was a little put-off by the seeds of the pomegranate, although the flavor worked well, i would rather not have had to dealt with spending time picking seeds out of my teeth. But the dish as a whole was wonderful, unremarkable. Something I would eat, but not really order twice. Although the combination of pumpkin pie and roasted poultry on a buttery red wine reduction was pretty creative.

Served with a 2001 Domaine André Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet


Eighth Course:



Basically an asortment of cheeses served with grapes, wheet and sesame crustinees.

-When the cheese cart came around to my table, I had about 30 different cheeses to choose from. Since I had no idea what to order, I told the french "cheese guy" to basically give me a variety that he would recomend. So what he did was put a spectrum of cheeses, going from the lightest in flavor, to the most pungent.

I forgot the name of the cheeses, since at this point I was pretty anebriated from all the buttery sauces, fatty food, and uncountable wine tastings. All I remember, was the first cheese(furthest to the left) was a "tripple creme". I was told to eat in a specific order, going from the mildest to the most pungent cheese. It was a nice little journey of cheesy flavor, with the grape occasionally rescuing me from lingering pungency.



Ninth Course:



Cantalope Sourbet

-Pretty self-explanatory in flavor. Nice fruitiness without an overpowering sweetness.


Tenth Course:



(Starting clockwise from the right) White Chocolate and Gremanier Souffle with rasberry sauce, Coconut-cream and pineapple pie, Apple Walnut and Caramel tart, Dark Chocolate and Rum cake.

-All Delicious, by this time in the meal, i'm pretty damn stuffed. But not too full to clean up this plate of yummy deserts. The White Chocolate souffle and the dark chocolate rum cake were probably my favorites.



Complements of the pastry chef:



Assorted desert pastries...these i took home and put in the fridge. No point in eating more sweets when you can't really appreciate them at this point in time.



Ahhhh yes, the birthday cake. Dark chocolate layered into caramel and peanuts, passion fruit jam, and more rum cake! Served with a strawberry sauce.






Conclusion:

Definitely one of the most memorable meals i've had. The food, matching wines, and tax/tip came out to about $300. But i'll say, for this kind of experience, it was pretty much worth it. Although next time, i would be a bit more particular in ordering specific dishes.

That Foie Gras dish alone was easily one of the top 10 dishes i've ever eaten, and something i would DEFINITELY go back for.

The restaurant as a whole was incredibly elegant in decor, although it was a small main dining room, the chandeliers were huge, there was gold imprints, large crystal mirrors, and flowers/candles lit. I was definitely the only person eating in the restaurant under the age of 40. But the service was very top notch, with people walking in and out of the kitchen, tending to the customer's needs, and hovering around tables, refilling wines, replacing silverware, etc.

The tasting menu definitely had a nice cohesiveness to it, a solid progressiong from dish to dish, and a pleasant recurring theme of seasonal vegetables and flavors.


--------------------
"Shmokin' weed, Shmokin' wizz, doin' coke, drinkin' beers.  Drinkin' beers beers beers, rollin' fatties, smokin' blunts.  Who smokes tha blunts?  We smoke the blunts" - Jay and Silent Bob strike Back


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OfflineboO
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7586189 - 11/02/07 12:02 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

wow great write up and nice photos!

i think it's good to spend quite a bit of money towards a good meal - it's memorable and you fill your belly up with damn good food you don't normally eat everyday.

300 USD not a bad price for 10 courses (of course i'm converting to €)!

happy belated birthday :smile:


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Invisibletiny_rabid_birds
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7586296 - 11/02/07 12:40 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

goddamn, that sounds like an experience, for sure. i'm way jealous. at this point in my life, there's no way i could justify a $300 meal, but damn i want to experience one some day.

very nice, detailed descriptions of each course btw.


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Offlinedeformedreality
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: tiny_rabid_birds]
    #7586896 - 11/02/07 08:40 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

The only problem with those types of food is they are so rich that it can actually make you sick.. or give you the shits if you are not used to eating food that good. Ive went a week eating dinner ever night in a fancy restaurant eating 4-5 course meals each night.. jesus christ i got sick.


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OfflineRoosterCogburn
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: deformedreality]
    #7586909 - 11/02/07 08:48 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Too Frenchy for me, but it does look very elegant!

It's always good to treat oneself every once in awhile!

:birthday:


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Offlinesnoot
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: RoosterCogburn]
    #7587751 - 11/02/07 12:58 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

was the tip 300? or the total bill? a 300$ total doesn't sound bad at all for what you got. Everything looked mighty delicious, just curious, did they think it was odd you taking pictures of everything?


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I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity.
- Simone de Beauvoir -


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OfflineLiquidSmoke
My title's cooler than yours DBK


Registered: 09/04/01
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: snoot]
    #7587787 - 11/02/07 01:06 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

The total bill came out to 300

170 for the food, 80 for the matching wines, plus tax and tip.


The people in the restaurant, i think they thought it was kind of funny that i was taking pictures of every dish. But they didn't seem to mind it.

I think they understand that i was pretty much a food enthusiast getting a kick out of ordering something as gastronomically adventurous as this.

The concierge (sp) came by and even offered to take a picture of me sitting at the table.


--------------------
"Shmokin' weed, Shmokin' wizz, doin' coke, drinkin' beers.  Drinkin' beers beers beers, rollin' fatties, smokin' blunts.  Who smokes tha blunts?  We smoke the blunts" - Jay and Silent Bob strike Back


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OfflineSampaJasli
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7588467 - 11/02/07 04:13 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

man, this made my day
way to treat yourself man
if i could only choose one luxury in life, it would be to eat good food


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OfflineNibin
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: SampaJasli]
    #7588530 - 11/02/07 04:26 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

The secret of getting foie like that is:

A good quality copper saucepan, a strong gas flame, a bit of well clarified butter and lots of heat.

You dust the slices of foie in flour (mebbe a bit of pepper) and cook at very high heat (just as butter starts to golden)

My dad owned a french restaurant for 45 years and he cooked the stuff in front of you on a flambée trolley. My favourite was the sautéed foie with fresh figs (also sautéed) and a sweet white wine reduction. Yummy.


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Newcomers guide-----> For all things shroomy


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Invisiblesoochi
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7588646 - 11/02/07 05:05 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

way to go smoke!

guys, paying $300 bucks for a meal like that is totally within the realm of that type of cuisine, I mean look how much and varied food you're getting? The service? the ambiance? plus understand that it's not a bunch of doo-rag wearing hacks making this stuff. Odds are they're professionals who have invested much in their careers to be working at a place like Le bec fin (The fine palate) why can we justify paying some Ivy league moron $200 bucks an hour to sit around and be a lawyer, but gawk at the fact that this type of food costs so much? while it's being made in such a stressful and demanding work environment. Sorry for the rant, but that sort of thinking is exactly why line cooks in this country get paid so little and are overworked and why the overall quality of food in this country sucks.

Anyway...

As for foie gras; the best method I've found to cook foie other than sous-vide then sear (remember sous vide was originally used to find a better way to cook foie without too much product loss), is to actually deep fry it (the slice must be at least a half inch) to get a nice color, then finish it in the microwave to get the center warm. At my old job we deep fried it to order in clarified butter in a fryer designated just for that task. I find pan searing to melt too much of the foie and when it is seared at such a high heat leaves a burnt taste that completely ruins the flavor of the liver. Truth be told, I rarely order foie gras in restaurants because of a) it's cooked improperly or b) you get such a small flabby piece.


btw Georges Perrier is the chef


--------------------
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!


Edited by soochi (11/02/07 07:00 PM)


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Offlinem.v2
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: soochi]
    #7588655 - 11/02/07 05:09 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Wow, that all looks so good.
Although I'm surprised you didn't take a bottle of ranch along with you.


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OfflinegeokillsA
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7589777 - 11/02/07 10:57 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Daaaaaaamn!  I remember hearin' about that place, I'm jealous.  But for cryin' out loud, bust out the flash! :biggrin:

PS.  Happy belated birfday!


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OfflineLiquidSmoke
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: soochi]
    #7589950 - 11/03/07 12:30 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

I just want to thank you for recommending this place to me.


Like many people in this thread, I initially had a skeptical impression of fine dining, especially french cuisine of this caliber.


But after actually taking the time and effort to explore this style of food, I've gained a newfound respect for the creatvity and artistic brilliance that goes into alot of fine dining cuisine.


I can easily say, in almost every dish, I experienced a flavor combination that I had never tasted before in any recent memory. Matching rasberry with egg beignet, sweet squash with duck fat, spiced pumpkin with roasted poultry, beer emulsion with seared fish...all combinations that you really wouldn't think would marriage as well as they did unless you spent alot of time and energy mixing and matching combinations untill a REAL spark lit on your palate.

Even in retrospect, looking back on the entire experience, I can't say at all that I regret spending that kind of money on the meal. It's definitely a rarity in most people's lives, my own including, that someone gets to experience a meal like this.


--------------------
"Shmokin' weed, Shmokin' wizz, doin' coke, drinkin' beers.  Drinkin' beers beers beers, rollin' fatties, smokin' blunts.  Who smokes tha blunts?  We smoke the blunts" - Jay and Silent Bob strike Back


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OfflinegeokillsA
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7590698 - 11/03/07 11:11 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

> I experienced a flavor combination that I had never tasted before ... spiced pumpkin with roasted poultry

Thanksgiving, anyone? :tongue2:
Sorry, I had to! :wink:


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InvisibleSenor_Doobie
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7590916 - 11/03/07 12:31 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

That's awesome man. Happy birthday


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"America: Fuck yeah!" -- Alexthegreat

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”  -- Thomas Jefferson

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The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally. --Salena Zeto (9/23/16)


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OfflineLiquidSmoke
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: geokills]
    #7591411 - 11/03/07 03:02 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

yeah, but i highly doubt you actually put turkey meat on your pumpkin pie.


or maybye you do :p


--------------------
"Shmokin' weed, Shmokin' wizz, doin' coke, drinkin' beers.  Drinkin' beers beers beers, rollin' fatties, smokin' blunts.  Who smokes tha blunts?  We smoke the blunts" - Jay and Silent Bob strike Back


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OfflineMadtowntripper
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: LiquidSmoke]
    #7591451 - 11/03/07 03:12 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Nothing to add, but I liked this post very much.

Thanks for having the courage to take pictures, I know I wouldn't be able to, but it adds to the thread greatly.


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After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action.  If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it.  - Ernest Hemingway

If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it.  In the law courts, in business, in government.  There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent.    -Cormac MacCarthy

He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.  - Aeschylus


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Invisiblesoochi
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: Madtowntripper]
    #7592250 - 11/03/07 07:40 PM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Don't ever feel embarassed to take pictures of food you're paying some serious coin for. I've taken pictures at numerous michelin starred restaurants in Paris with absolutely no regard for what other people thought, in fact when I dined at Les Ambassadeurs in the Hotel Crillon there was an entire table of older gentlemen taking pictures of their food and of the dining room. Unless the restaurant has some kind of ridiculous PR policy it's completely within your right and privelage as a diner. In most cases I'm sure the staff would take it as a nice compliment. Who would be that jaded to think dining at a very esteemed place is a normal day to day thing?

The british royal family perhaps?


--------------------
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!


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OfflineNibin
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Re: Le Bec Fin: 10 Course Fall Tasting Menu [Re: soochi]
    #7593281 - 11/04/07 01:08 AM (16 years, 2 months ago)

Next time, apart from the photos, take a notebook and take notes while your eating. They don't need to be about the actual food.

Hopefully they'll think you are a restaurant critic and give you a free meal, lol


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Newcomers guide-----> For all things shroomy


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