Next: French Classique - Good Taste is the Worst Vice

This latest Next iteration gives the original, Paris 1906, a run for its money as D’s favorite. French cuisine at its most elegant, luxe, refined… that’s cuisine classique.

Sitting down, the first thing we see is a pair of ice sculptures and a cantaloupe sporting a cork. Curious! Inside there’s an ingeniously creative (and delicious) aperitif of vin jaune and cantaloupe juice to pair with the first tiny dish of caviar, cream, and cantaloupe.

Crème de Caviar Moulées

Next comes a creamy chestnut soup served from an ornate tureen into a bowl covered with a thin, crisp trellis. Then a platter of lighter bites: lobster coins, gougères, artichoke hearts, asparagus spears. The wine pairings with both were quite interesting – for the soup, there was Extra Brut Champagne served with a saucer of frozen sherry spheres, which could be added to transform the Champagne into something closer to an old vintage offering. I also enjoyed the white Cos d’Estournel wine served with the lobster – it’s always interesting to try whites from famous Bordeaux chateaux.

Purée de Marron à la Briarde

Homard Bellevue à la Parisienne

Now we move into the main courses: turbot beneath a tile of brioche, chicken studded with truffle, squab en croute (a supplemental course), and finally roast venison. I particularly liked the turbot and chicken, both elegantly flavored and presented.

The squab, meanwhile, arrives encased in a crust that looked to me like a cartoon chicken, to be released and then carved tableside.

Turbot Normandy

Suprême de Poussin Albufera

Pigeonneau en Croûte à la Perigourdine

Rôti de Chevreuil au Foie Gras

The main dessert, an île flottant, is one of the more beautiful dishes of the evening with white rose petals and spun sugar hoops, though I found it a bit disappointing in terms of flavor. The chocolate ice cream had no such problem – so dark and intense! And of course, D was happy to have his favorite, a lovely little canelé.