Our party of five enjoyed La Societe this past Friday and had a wonderful, sumptuous experience at…read morethis smaller, intimate restaurant. This was my second vist, the first nearly two years ago. From our greeting at the door to the handshakes goodbye, everyone made us feel welcome and very much at home. But, from the first bite of the chef's amuse to the last bit of dessert carefully scraped from the bottom of the plate, you knew you were not at home but in a culinary heaven!
We all had the tasting menu, with one of our party having a vegetarian version. Each of our dishes were gorgeously prepared and presented, even the veg dishes looked the same. Every one of the courses was perfect but there were three that were even more perfect. The 'meat' dish was an Iberico fillet (never had a I. fillet before, only sliced) but this was so wonderfully smokey and meaty that I had to cut the two small pieces into even more tiny bites to make the pleasure linger. And the rustic Cote du Rhône that was recommended paired perfectly too! The pigeon was such a surprise to all: very tender, very "smooth", nicely chewy and delicious. And, at the end the 7 or 8 or 9 courses (five plus amuses) was dessert, a light, but not too light, sweet but not too sweet, mousse that was a milk chocolate colored but not so chocolatey tasting (nutella?) with a soft foam on top and sitting on a bed of passion fruit and 'clear' coffee flavored sauce - a marvelous finish!
And I guess I should mention the 'fish' dish of small prawns that had been marinated, not cooked, with a soft sea foam and some fine, crisp fried shrimp pieces on top. A magical preparation.
You will have guessed that I, and all five of us, loved this dinner. It was as fine of a dinner as I can remember (and I had been at Steirereck last May) at a small, intimate space without any hoopla. I cannot wait to go again.
