So today is daughter Julie's annual birthday lunch at Le Bec Fin, Philadelphia's only five star French restaurant. We started this tradition seven years ago when she was twelve and even through it means re-mortgaging our house every year ha ha, it's not one the two of us are willing to break. For all you food freaks out there, here's their luncheon menu.
LES ENTRÉES
Mille-feuille de saumon fumé, courgettes roties en salad
Layered terrine of house smoked salmon served with roasted zucchini salad
Cassolette d’escargots aux noisettes en hommage a Monsieur Cleuvenot
Cassolette of Snails in a Champagne and Hazelnut Garlic Butter Sauce
Ravioli de homard, sauce ivoire
Lobster ravioli with mushroom, ivory sauce
Ceviche de coquille Saint-Jacques, huitres, composte d'aubergines, mouse de safran
Scallop ceviche, oysters, eggplant compote, saffron foam
Soupe du jour
Terrine de chevreuil et legumes vinaigres
Venison terrine with pickled vegetables
LES POISSONS
Galette de crabe aux haricots verts
Chef Perrier’s own crab cake, a “signature dish”
Filet de rascasse roti, compote de rhubarbe, feuilles de moutarde, sauce a la citronnelle et wasabi
Roasted filet of red snapper, rhubarb compote, mustard greens, lemongrass and wasabi sauce
Saumon rôti, fenouil et tomates cerise confits, puree de navets parfumee al a moutarde d'estragon, emulsion de romarin
Roasted salmon, fennel and cherry tomato confit, parsnip puree, tarragon-mustard, rosemary emulsion
Filet de loup grille, racine de lotus au vinaigre, fricassee de celeri et kholrabi, suace "Huitlacoche"
Grilled stripped bass, pickled lotus root, celriac and kholrabi fricassee, "Huitlacoche" sauce
Mahi-Mahi roti, purée de pommes douces, epinards nouveaux, jus de betterave parfume a la gousse de vanille et au vinaigre de Xeres
Roasted Mahi-Mahi, sweet potato puree, baby spinach, beet reduction perfumed with vanilla bean and sherry vinegar
LES VIANDES
Filet de boeuf poele, gratin de legumes oublies "pommes de terre, topinembours, celeris", sauce Bordelaise
Seared beef tenderloin, gratin of potato, sun choke and celeriac, Bordelaise sauce
Carre d'agneau roti avec sa pomponette farcie aux fruits secs et noix, jus d'agneau a la lavande
Rack of lamb, collard greens stuffed with dried fruits and nuts, lavender lamb jus
Duo de veau et de ris-de-veau, fricassee de marrons, puree de prunes, jus de veau epice
filet of veal and sweetbreads, chestnut fricasse, plum puree, spiced veal jus
Supreme de poulet roti, fricasse de choux au lard, salsifis et airelles auctes, jus de poulet parfume au vinaigre de framboise
Roasted chicken breast, napa cabbage fricassee with bacon, sauteed salsify and cranberry, raspberry vinegar emulsion
LES DESSERTS DU BEC-FIN
La charette de desserts
Our world renowned dessert cart
I'm positively drooling.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Julie!
Hahaha - today's her actual real birthday and she's busy planning what we're cooking her for dinner now. She's really into being a gourmet chef these days so we're doing a boneless chicken in a fresh tomato sauce with homemade tiny mozzarella balls and an assortment of mushrooms and other baby exotic vegetables in the sauce.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, lunch was an out of body experience. We were boring, though, we both chose exactly the same thing. For an appetizer, we had the lobster ravioli in ivory sauce which was absolutely to die for.
"I taste truffles," said Julie.
Me: "When the hell did you ever have truffles?"
For our main course, we both could not resist the
roasted Mahi-Mahi, sweet potato puree, baby spinach, beet reduction perfumed with vanilla bean and sherry vinegar.
You would have thought we were having a sexual experience by the way we were moaning and groaning with every bite.
But the absolute best is the dessert cart. They wheel over this magnificent silver cart, loaded with French pastries and cakes...you can choose as many as you want. To say we went a little overboard is putting it mildly. There was crunchy chocolate hazlenut tort, flourless chocolate creme brulee cake, lemon white chocolate mousse, a mocha layer cake that had me swooning, a lemon meringue tart which was like no lemon meringue anything I'd ever tasted....mmmm...Julie and I ended up with like eight samples of each on our plates. I don't want to wait another year to go back; I think maybe when the movie premiers in April we'll have to have another celebratory meal there...maybe wait a few weeks until she's a star and lunch will be on the house. Hahahaha - right. As I've repeatedly said here, I do live in fantasy world.
One time, a friend of mine was taken to supper at LBF.
ReplyDeleteHe did ok, until the cheese tray came out. The cheese waiter handed him a taste of some kind, and apparently he made the best face in the world and stated, loudly, "that tastes just like a cow's ass".
Apparently, the waiter said something to the effect of "just so, sir" and handed him a more mild choice.
Have you ever been to the Blue Angel, which has people who used to cook at LBF?
(*)>
Hi there:
ReplyDeleteBlue Angel is no more - it's Angelina's now.
To be honest, I'm no fan of Stephen Starr restaurants, other than Buddakan. I think his places are overpriced and the food and staff try so hard to be NYC hip it's pathetic. C'mon, I went to El Vez, his Mexican place, and got charged $12 for guacamole. That's robbery. And I feel like an idiot for paying it. Worse, my daughter and I ate sushi for lunch at Pod and our tab? $80.00 for mediocre food including a California roll made with fake crab.
But hey, nice to meet you, fellow Philly blogger*