I’m going to skip ahead and post about today ahead of Friday because I’m SO excited about my experience tonight. There are no photos – just my thoughts.
I can’t remember exactly where I read about Hidden Kitchen, but it is essentially a private dinner club held in a private apartment home of two Americans living in Paris. The meal consists of ten courses, each paired with wine as well as a drink upon arrival. Laura & Braden host about 15 individuals in their home (which is an amazing apartment near the Louvre) and the crowd is mixed with both locals and visitors so the guests come from varied walks of life and this makes for a mixed bag.
I’ll sum up the experience in a few short words: this was an extremely memorable meal and an entirely unique experience, which I doubt, will be replicated again during my trip.
Braden is the chef du cuisine and Laura acts as both host & as pastry chef. Nikki helps as server and friendly face throughout the evening. The kitchen this all comes out of is fairly standard. Nothing sprawling or professional grade, however, since both consult for William-Sonoma the kitchen is certainly well-stocked. Both of the chefs are completely self-trained. No Le Courdon Bleu training here. As one guest put it, the meal beat out (by far) a 10 course tasting menu she enjoyed recently at a Michelin one star restaurant in France.
Upon arrival, Laura poured glasses of champagne with pomegranate seeds (in this case a light pink color as is often the case here).
The rest of the menu is as follows:
- amuse: green anise flavored doughnut with an apple cider granita
- roasted chicken broth with chicken liver ravioli
- fig and anchovy (deconstructed) tart with mixed herb salad
- mascarpone polenta with mushrooms, candied turnips and braised radicchio
- sautéed see bass with house-made Mexican chorizo stuffed mussels, garlic and lime
- cleanser: HK version of a mint julep – base of bourbon jello, frozen concoction & fresh mint
- pork belly with walnut-celery root puree with spinach and pickled red chilies
- shaved Brussels sprouts salad
- upside-down plum cake with chai ice cream and gruyere crumble
- petites fours: including rice crispy treat, soft peanut brittle, chocolate truffle & other brittle type treat
Laura also posed as sommelier pairing each course with a wine of its own which means a significant amount of wine! Lots of French whites early in the meal and moving into richer reds later in the meal. We finished our petites fours with fresh drawn espresso.
Clearly it would be great to dine here about ten more times before I depart but it isn’t likely. Regardless, if you come to Paris and for certain when I come back, I’ll get on the list again!
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