Cuisine type: classic (French) haute cuisine
Atmosphere: elegant high-end restaurant
Meal: dinner
Overall score: 9.4
Nina
As my birthday treat, we went to Etoile, the Domaine Chandon estate restaurant, and my first real Michelin starred experience (one star). Wanting to fully enjoy the experience, I decided ahead of time I would go for a prix-fixe menu with a wine pairing, and I decided on the four course dinner menu. I passed on that evening’s “Chef’s Menu” because some of the course proposed on that menu were not as exciting to me as some of the options among the four course offerings.
Our dinner was preceded by a complimentary rose champagne toast and chef’s amuse bouche as a perk of being wine club members at Chandon. While I already knew that I would enjoy the rose (I’ve had it a couple of times before), the amuse bouche blew me away and was a great way to start a meal. We were presented with a simple but elegant ceramic spoon with a smooth and light vegetable panna cotta on the bottom (I think it was corn, but I don’t recall). On top, there was some smoked salmon tossed with mild spices, a small sphere of what might have been cucumber juice (light, refreshing, and which melted in my mouth), and garnished with a single crunchy sprout. It was one perfect bite, with the flavors melding harmoniously in my mouth, and accomplishing the precise goal of this course - enticing the palate and raising excitement for the meal to come.
As we were waiting for our first course, we were presented with a duo of butters, a cow milk butter with coarse sea salt sprinkled on top, and a goat butter with an herb infused olive oil drizzled on top - needless to say, they were both addictive. A server would pass by every now and then and offer us a fresh portion of bread - I went for the olive loaf every time (imagine a beautiful crusty sourdough, with meaty and tart olives baked right into it), but the other two options were a multigrain and a french baguette style bread.
My first course was the lamb tenderloin carpaccio, served with small mounds of fresh minty tabbouleh, yogurt spheres, a dash of lime, and one thin slice of green tomato to top it off. The meat was more tender than I could have imagined, literally dissolved in my mouth, and the bright notes of the mint and lime countered the richness of the meat to create a perfect balance. The yogurt presentation was my first experience with molecular gastronomy. It was hard to believe that the tart and light yogurt could stay on the plate as the neat little spheres that the chef placed sprinkled across the plate in small clusters, but as soon as I picked them up they would fall apart in my mouth and meld beautifully with all the other flavors on the plate. This appetizer was paired with a light and crisp sancerre wine from the Loire Valley (Thomas & Fils “La Crele” Sancerre, Loire Valley, 2010), and it was quite pleased with how nicely the white wine complemented the lamb, even though it was not along the often used (and abused) white meat/white meat, red wine/red meat paradigm.
The fish dish was much more substantial, but equally beautiful and enticing. Two thick slices of flavorful heirloom tomatoes served as the presentation platform for a beautiful, creamy and perfectly cooked piece of salmon. The fish was pan roasted (though it was so incredibly tender I still have a hard time believing it wasn’t slowly poached), and served alongside a tart and smooth escabeche dressing and a frisee salad with radish and green beans. I can say with certainty that I have never had such a smooth piece of fish, literally melting in my mouth with every bite, and striking a perfect balance with the acidic sauce and bring and rich fresh tomatoes. The pairing was an aged Napa Chardonnay (Newton “Unfiltered” Chardonnay, Napa County, 2009), which had mild citrus notes to serve as counterpoints to the fish, but also enough smooth butteriness to go along with the texture of the meat.
My main entree consisted of medium cooked slices of veal tenderloin, served alongside roasted lobster tail. The meat came on a bed of mild and braised endives, alongside sauteed leeks and chanterelle mushrooms and a sweetbreads roulade. Upon presenting me with the dish, the server poured a rich and thick lobster sauce on my plate, which really brought together the sea and land components of the dish. As garnish, there were thin shavings of pickled ginger and creamy dijon mustard and seeds, all of which provided a bright acidic balance against the richness of the sauce and meat. This course was rounded off by a rich, almost chewy Cote de Rhone aged red wine (La Font du Vent, “Les Promesses” Cote du Rhone, 2009).
Dessert is, of course, my favorite course of any meal, not only in Michelin praised establishments, which made the decision on this course the hardest of them all. I finally settled on what I considered somewhat of a safe choice - the chocolate option. It was a chocolate marquise (thick mousse), topped with white chocolate ganache and served with house made cocoa rice crispies (yes, you read that right), and topped with a rich vanilla torrone ice cream. The plate was adorned with a reduced cherry compote (and a very artistic brush stroke with the cherry sauce), and garnished with very delicious chocolate covered espresso beans. This dessert was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but it was the first time (that I can remember) that the chocolate dessert was not my favorite. I can’t really put my finger on why that is, but the richness of the chocolate, combined with the amazingly rich and delicious vanilla ice cream and the thick and sweet cherry reduction felt like it was missing something. I actually preferred Ben’s dessert, which was a much more balanced dish, with a light vanilla cream infused with pear notes. The other small glitch on dessert was that the server left me with the impression that my four course dinner would come paired with four wines - as such, I was excited about the port listed as the pairing for my marquise. However, when the dessert came out I still had no wine, and the server I first asked said he would inquire and never returned. Finally, our server stopped by and apologized for the confusion, explained that wine pairing does not continue into the dessert course, but ultimately brought me a complimentary glass of dessert wine to compensate for the misunderstanding.
I finished the meal with a small but fragrant cup of espresso, that I topped with a teaspoon of milk foam. It was a great palate cleanser and a refreshing end to a long and delightful meal. I truly enjoyed every moment of this meal, and appreciated their careful attention to detail as well as the chef’s art of pairing flavors and textures in harmonious and inventive dishes. I would wholeheartedly declare this experience a success and am looking forward to trying out other restaurants of this caliber in the future (as well as returning to this one, of course).
As we were waiting for our first course, we were presented with a duo of butters, a cow milk butter with coarse sea salt sprinkled on top, and a goat butter with an herb infused olive oil drizzled on top - needless to say, they were both addictive. A server would pass by every now and then and offer us a fresh portion of bread - I went for the olive loaf every time (imagine a beautiful crusty sourdough, with meaty and tart olives baked right into it), but the other two options were a multigrain and a french baguette style bread.
My first course was the lamb tenderloin carpaccio, served with small mounds of fresh minty tabbouleh, yogurt spheres, a dash of lime, and one thin slice of green tomato to top it off. The meat was more tender than I could have imagined, literally dissolved in my mouth, and the bright notes of the mint and lime countered the richness of the meat to create a perfect balance. The yogurt presentation was my first experience with molecular gastronomy. It was hard to believe that the tart and light yogurt could stay on the plate as the neat little spheres that the chef placed sprinkled across the plate in small clusters, but as soon as I picked them up they would fall apart in my mouth and meld beautifully with all the other flavors on the plate. This appetizer was paired with a light and crisp sancerre wine from the Loire Valley (Thomas & Fils “La Crele” Sancerre, Loire Valley, 2010), and it was quite pleased with how nicely the white wine complemented the lamb, even though it was not along the often used (and abused) white meat/white meat, red wine/red meat paradigm.
The fish dish was much more substantial, but equally beautiful and enticing. Two thick slices of flavorful heirloom tomatoes served as the presentation platform for a beautiful, creamy and perfectly cooked piece of salmon. The fish was pan roasted (though it was so incredibly tender I still have a hard time believing it wasn’t slowly poached), and served alongside a tart and smooth escabeche dressing and a frisee salad with radish and green beans. I can say with certainty that I have never had such a smooth piece of fish, literally melting in my mouth with every bite, and striking a perfect balance with the acidic sauce and bring and rich fresh tomatoes. The pairing was an aged Napa Chardonnay (Newton “Unfiltered” Chardonnay, Napa County, 2009), which had mild citrus notes to serve as counterpoints to the fish, but also enough smooth butteriness to go along with the texture of the meat.
My main entree consisted of medium cooked slices of veal tenderloin, served alongside roasted lobster tail. The meat came on a bed of mild and braised endives, alongside sauteed leeks and chanterelle mushrooms and a sweetbreads roulade. Upon presenting me with the dish, the server poured a rich and thick lobster sauce on my plate, which really brought together the sea and land components of the dish. As garnish, there were thin shavings of pickled ginger and creamy dijon mustard and seeds, all of which provided a bright acidic balance against the richness of the sauce and meat. This course was rounded off by a rich, almost chewy Cote de Rhone aged red wine (La Font du Vent, “Les Promesses” Cote du Rhone, 2009).
Dessert is, of course, my favorite course of any meal, not only in Michelin praised establishments, which made the decision on this course the hardest of them all. I finally settled on what I considered somewhat of a safe choice - the chocolate option. It was a chocolate marquise (thick mousse), topped with white chocolate ganache and served with house made cocoa rice crispies (yes, you read that right), and topped with a rich vanilla torrone ice cream. The plate was adorned with a reduced cherry compote (and a very artistic brush stroke with the cherry sauce), and garnished with very delicious chocolate covered espresso beans. This dessert was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but it was the first time (that I can remember) that the chocolate dessert was not my favorite. I can’t really put my finger on why that is, but the richness of the chocolate, combined with the amazingly rich and delicious vanilla ice cream and the thick and sweet cherry reduction felt like it was missing something. I actually preferred Ben’s dessert, which was a much more balanced dish, with a light vanilla cream infused with pear notes. The other small glitch on dessert was that the server left me with the impression that my four course dinner would come paired with four wines - as such, I was excited about the port listed as the pairing for my marquise. However, when the dessert came out I still had no wine, and the server I first asked said he would inquire and never returned. Finally, our server stopped by and apologized for the confusion, explained that wine pairing does not continue into the dessert course, but ultimately brought me a complimentary glass of dessert wine to compensate for the misunderstanding.
I finished the meal with a small but fragrant cup of espresso, that I topped with a teaspoon of milk foam. It was a great palate cleanser and a refreshing end to a long and delightful meal. I truly enjoyed every moment of this meal, and appreciated their careful attention to detail as well as the chef’s art of pairing flavors and textures in harmonious and inventive dishes. I would wholeheartedly declare this experience a success and am looking forward to trying out other restaurants of this caliber in the future (as well as returning to this one, of course).
| Food | 10 |
| Drinks | 10 |
| Atmosphere | 10 |
| Service | 9 |
| Value | 9 |
Ben
For Nina’s birthday, we had our first real meal at Michelin star rated restaurant (though we had previously stopped in for hors d'oeuvres at Bouchon), Etoile restaurant located in the Domaine Chandon winery in Napa Valley. We went with the prix fixe menu and ordered different dishes for each of the four courses to try a larger variety. We were started out with a toast - a bubbly sweet aperitif - and an “amuze bouche,” a delightful single bite spoon with smoked salmon as the star. Three types of fresh-baked breads were passed around, for tasting with three types of butter (including an incredible goat milk butter).
While we each tried all 8 dishes, I will focus on the four that I ordered. For the first course I had an oxtail aspic. This was the 3rd time in my life I’ve had oxtail, and definitely sets a new bar. The oxtail was blended into an almost molasses/bbq tasting jello, with bits of oxtail embedded. The dish itself was probably the prettiest dish I have ever been served at a restaurant. Along with the hemisphere of oxtail aspic, there was a diced stack of wild mushrooms, neatly halved snap peas in the pod, with a delicious sweet white corn sauce poured at the table, baby white corns and slices of white truffle. This was definitely a fantastic first dish, and our first courses set the stage - and standard - for the rest of the dishes.
The next dish I chose was similar in appearance to the first: 2 large scallops with a ring of mussels with a compressed squash topping, and a watercress sauce poured at the table. The mussels were a perfectly seared, buttery texture that went very well with the rich, herby sauce. The mussels and squash were a great pair as well, and the dish again demonstrated a great attention to detail and aesthetic.
The next dish was my favorite of the night: rabbit leg and tenderloin, each topped with a cherry sauce, a pistachio sauce, fennel and lavender flowers, and topped with bing cherries. The whole mixture was creative and simply fantastic. I finished off the night with a fantastic pear “mille-feuille” (“thousand sheets”), alternating puff-pastry and cream layers with caramelized pears. Like the others, this dish was clearly very carefully prepared and presented.
My overall impression was that there is a high effort and attention to detail, which was likely a large factor in Etoile earning their first Michelin star, and they appear determined to maintain or progress to another star. As expected, the price can get pretty high ($90 for the menu, $65 for wine pairing). For the attention to detail and the restaurant renown, the menu price is not bad at all. However, I might recommend against the wine pairings as they only provide them for the first three courses, so you come out around $22 per 4-5 oz glass. Optimally, a table of 6-8 could split the three bottles of the paired wines likely pay much less even with markup. Aside from that, the wine selection is top-notch and naturally features many of the award winning champagne-style wines of Domaine Chandon. The service was very friendly and patient, and the setting in the beautiful gardens of the winery is very pleasant. Overall, Etoile was quite an enjoyable and memorable experience.
While we each tried all 8 dishes, I will focus on the four that I ordered. For the first course I had an oxtail aspic. This was the 3rd time in my life I’ve had oxtail, and definitely sets a new bar. The oxtail was blended into an almost molasses/bbq tasting jello, with bits of oxtail embedded. The dish itself was probably the prettiest dish I have ever been served at a restaurant. Along with the hemisphere of oxtail aspic, there was a diced stack of wild mushrooms, neatly halved snap peas in the pod, with a delicious sweet white corn sauce poured at the table, baby white corns and slices of white truffle. This was definitely a fantastic first dish, and our first courses set the stage - and standard - for the rest of the dishes.
The next dish I chose was similar in appearance to the first: 2 large scallops with a ring of mussels with a compressed squash topping, and a watercress sauce poured at the table. The mussels were a perfectly seared, buttery texture that went very well with the rich, herby sauce. The mussels and squash were a great pair as well, and the dish again demonstrated a great attention to detail and aesthetic.
The next dish was my favorite of the night: rabbit leg and tenderloin, each topped with a cherry sauce, a pistachio sauce, fennel and lavender flowers, and topped with bing cherries. The whole mixture was creative and simply fantastic. I finished off the night with a fantastic pear “mille-feuille” (“thousand sheets”), alternating puff-pastry and cream layers with caramelized pears. Like the others, this dish was clearly very carefully prepared and presented.
My overall impression was that there is a high effort and attention to detail, which was likely a large factor in Etoile earning their first Michelin star, and they appear determined to maintain or progress to another star. As expected, the price can get pretty high ($90 for the menu, $65 for wine pairing). For the attention to detail and the restaurant renown, the menu price is not bad at all. However, I might recommend against the wine pairings as they only provide them for the first three courses, so you come out around $22 per 4-5 oz glass. Optimally, a table of 6-8 could split the three bottles of the paired wines likely pay much less even with markup. Aside from that, the wine selection is top-notch and naturally features many of the award winning champagne-style wines of Domaine Chandon. The service was very friendly and patient, and the setting in the beautiful gardens of the winery is very pleasant. Overall, Etoile was quite an enjoyable and memorable experience.
| Food | 10 |
| Drinks | 9 |
| Atmosphere | 9 |
| Service | 9 |
| Value | 8 |
