Table is a one star Michelin restaurant that is run by Chef Bruno Verjus who started out as a food writer. It has been in business 4 years and 9 months and is a good sized place that doesn’t seat many people, as seats are nicely spaced. We were fortunate to get some prime seats at the bar counter where we could watch the kitchen action. Other seats are in cozy booths and various sized tables. Service is efficient and super friendly – they really aim to please. The menu is a la carte but they were willing to have the chef design a degustation menu for us and the sommelier helped chose 2 wines that complimented the many dishes. The food here is fairly simply done but it uses only the best of ingredients that are available. It seemed to stress flavor and that’s right up my alley.
Duck foie gras was served cool with sweet and sour apple and cocoa seeds. The seeds were grated and mixed with salt which added an interesting crunch to the smooth, rich foie gras. The texture was of a fine butter and it was just as lovely.
House bread was dense and moist with a good crunch on the crust. It was perfect to use to make sure you didn’t miss a bit of your serving.
A large plump oyster was plated with parsley oil, citrus vinegar, smoky hazelnuts, pickled radish and caviar. The velvety oyster was meaty and delicious and blended perfectly with the caviar. A great course.
Sea urchin was presented in its shell with a sea water dressing, made with the bones of fishes. Lastly is was doused with a leek butter sauce that turned the urchin into magic. It was an absolutely wonderful combination of flavors and you wanted to use a piece of that bread to make sure you didn’t leave any in the shell.
Abalone was cooked then thinly sliced and served with pepper and bits of cocoa bean. It was then served in it’s irredescent shell. It was very nice.
Turbot was cooked in butter and served with watercress and white asparagus, topped with homemade botarga. The buttery sauce made this dish outstanding. The fish had a luscious texture made rich and wonderful by the cooking method and sauce. The white asparagus were cooked perfectly and a great accompaniment. Served on the side was a dish of root vegetables. They were all quite fresh and very lightly cooked. They were a vivid side dish with fun flavors.
Our last savory was their signature pigeon pie – an amazing dish – with a small side salad. The salad was lightly dressed and the greens were mixed with pistachios. The pie was seated on a wonderful sticky, flavorful reduction sauce that also blended well with the salad. It was flavored with the wings of chicken that were roasted 2 hours. The pigeon breast in the pie was topped with foie gras and mushroom and all surrounded by a tasty and beautifully browned buttery crust. It was great.
Chocolate mousse was mixed with cocoa and white pepper. It contained no eggs but did include olive oil and chili with bits of salt on the top. It was a wonderful chocolate fix and perfect sweet ending for a fantastic meal.
We finished the meal with a tasty glass of grappa.
WoW! This looked like a really delicious and fun dinner. The pigeon pie is absolutely beautiful. Is that the real inside of the sea urchin….I always wondered what it looked like…they use it a lot on the Food Network channel. That Frankie sure gets around!
Thanks Sharon! It was a really great meal made even better by such fun people at the restaurant. Pigeon pie was a work of art and I was hoping we’d get one as I sat there watching him read6 them for others guests. That is a sea urchin shell but the orange inside has been cut from the shell and is floating in the yummy sauce. They are totally spine covered on the outside. I’ve photographed them sometimes in market pix that I post on my FB page, but often the shells aren’t open. I’ll look for one that’s intact for you. Thanks for your feedback!