Now Closed

L’Aube was the creation of Chef Thibault Nizard who trained as a saucier and in October 2023 won the sixth edition of the World Championship of Hare á la Royale competition.  We got to sit right next to his large trophy and one regular guest had called ahead to get that dish prepared for him that night, even though it is not in season.  Opening in early April of 2023 Chef’s wife and restaurant partner Elinor runs the front of the house as well as doing floor cooking.  The medium-sized place was set with large white cloth-covered well-spaced round tables.  There were windows to the street in addition to lowered lighting and an open kitchen.  Faint music was in the background of this modern and stylish place, that was equipped with purse stools..  Chef was either in or in front of the kitchen unless he broke to speak with guests.  They offered a small menu of a la carte in addition to 3 or 7-course tasting menus.  We chose the 7-course tasting and that evening they were substituting crepes for the listed dessert.  They also offered to substitute beef for the lamb which we declined.  Wine pairings were available, but we chose our own bottle to follow a glass of champagne. L’aube is a term in French for the beginning, a dawn or birth and this is a new beginning for traditional cooking at its best now done in a modern fashion.  This is one to add to your list.

Set-Up

 

Food

The Appetizer was a salad designed to awaken the palate.  It contained a mix of greens including lovage, ponce flower and artichoke with a vinaigrette dressing.  It was crisp and some fried bits of artichoke lent even more texture to the fun flavors. An excellent start.

 

Marbled foie gras was with iced cider.  The foie gras was topped with an iced jelly of apple.  Next to it was a baked apple and mashed apples and pears were in a round separate plate.  The liver had been soaked in cider before cooking and was perfect mixed with the various fruit options.  The small red decoration was an edible apple blossom.

 

Some bread came with the foie gras course and stayed throughout the savory selections.  It was a dense bread with a good crust but not made in-house.  A close bakery made a wonderful small round loaf, which had a dedicated circle in the center to place it on.

 

Artichokes were presented in several forms.  The fried one was a heart stuffed with onions in a panko crust.  It tasted of onions and was totally delicious.  The other plate had hearts stuffed with mushrooms on an onion sauce and decorated with fried onions. Its stuffing was also well flavored and the overall plate very tasty.  I think I preferred the fried one stuffed with onions but it was close.

 

Lobster quenelle came on a plate surrounded by lobster bisque as a sauce and mushrooms.  In a side bowl were fennel and mushroom pieces topped with foam cloud.  This was old school cooking at its best with deep rich flavors.  Note the ‘turned mushrooms’ (where they are cut artfully on top).    It was delicious and beautiful.

 

Suckling lamb was barbecued in butter and then topped with leek jus combined with mustard and white garlic.  It was plated with asparagus topped with white garlic.  A tart of the stewed leg meat was topped with asparagus slices and came under a smoke-filled cover before being placed on the plate.   The tart had an ultra-thin crust to hold the delicious filling before being topped with raw asparagus.  On the plate, the tender lamb was cooked perfectly and soared with the deeply flavored sauce.  The fat asparagus was filled with flavor too.  A fantastic meat course and one worth eating every bit of.

 

Pre dessert was a spongecake with Japanese yuzu and meringue cream which was browned.  A light combination that was very good.

 

Crepes were finished tableside with orange blossom, orange pieces and nasturtium.  Elinor Nizard removed the sections of the orange and then added the juice to the sauce for the tender crepes.  If they weren’t rich enough there was a bowl of ice cream on crumbles to go with them.  It was sweet perfection and a lovely end to a fine meal.

 

Last treats were truffles and Madeleines which I chose to accompany with a glass of Pere Williams.  All three were divine.