One day, Dom Pérignon sent an invitation to a Plénitudes food experience that was “Not a dinner”. Hum… intriguing!
When I get an invitation to an exclusive culinary adventure like that, I am always super excited. It’s what I prefer I think. It has to do with a lifelong passion for food, of which I made, for nearly fifteen years, a parallel career in the hotel and restaurant business.
I cherish the ingenuity, the passion and the hard work that goes into the creation of outstanding food. There is no stronger impact than that created by truly flavourful dishes enchanting your palate, no more profound, long-lasting memory than that created by taste and smell.
These are the senses that transport us in time, let us recall family meals, a first dinner date… every celebration in life is somehow linked to a gustative or olfactory memory. Which is why it is so important to give food and the enjoyment of it the importance it merits, to savour the moment!
I am all for living in the here and now and savouring every moment I walk the Earth and so I was enthralled by the prospect of participating in this private dinner revealing Dom Pérignon Plénitudes and P2, the special Vintage 1998.
The invitation was intriguing as not much was revealed. It however promised an “Uplifting” experience that was “not a dinner”.
Cocoon event venue transformed in the House of Plénitudes
The invitation further promised a journey through time. And what a journey it turned out to be indeed!
First of all, I found the event venue the perfect choice and I congratulate the organizers for their selection: the Cocoon Pop-up restaurant with its spiral structure prepared for the perfect setting.
Like a snail shell, it literally transformed into the House of Plénitudes, a witness in time of the delightful proceedings involving Dom Pérignon champagne and the metamorphosis of its universe.
Uplifting: the amazing food creations by Ferran Adrià
As a guest, so it said on the “Save the Date”, one can expect an interesting food pairing.
Interesting? I am inclined to say that this is a downright understatement, very much to the image of Dom Pérignon: excellence does not auto proclaim all horns and trumpets! Discrete and subtle, it captures and enthrals all your senses, leaving you uplifted and amazed. And that is true for the champagne.
Now, paired with the creations by Ferran Adrià, former head chef of the elBulli restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava and one of the best chefs in the world, I must say the taste sensation, as far as I am concerned, was mind-blowing. A forever memory was created that night.
My taste buds singled out two favorites from Ferran Adrià’s SNAACK menu: “Oyster with walnuts and crispy seaweed” paired with Dom Pérignon Vintage 2006 Blanc and “Parmesan Ice Cream sandwiches” paired with Dom Pérignon Vintage 2004 Blanc.
A third creation that stunned me was the “Chilean Seabass with shellfish juice” paired with Dom Pérignon P2 Vintage 1998.
Beyond the food: what a pairing!
Turns out that “NOT a dinner” was in fact true. Anything but the standard opulent table where you are formally seated and then guided through the menu, this experience was dynamic. Guests were quasi perpetually in motion, spiraling up the building, one important milestone of human history, one level at the time.
And so, the actual food and champagne pairing experience was deployed on several levels: the first was the selection of dishes from the SNAACK menu. With no seating, guests were “obliged” to mingle standing or walking around, and with no cutlery, at the same time “forced” to focus entirly on the food.
Champagne glass in one hand, and in the other our snack, from a spoon or directly taken from the presentation plate with the fingers, we eagerly scooped the small, surprising bites in our mouths. Every one of them, so complex in its simplicity, so elaborate, so divine.
From the next level (P1), where we were seated and enjoyed a first round of pairings, among which a most remarkable Pigeon Breast with Roasted Brioche and Rhubarb accompanied by Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2004, to the last (P2), the evening was Interesting indeed and the discussions animated.
If elevating the experience is what culinary power pair Ferran Adrià and Richard Geoffroy, Chef de Cave at Dom Pérignon, were aiming for, I can only say: mission accomplished!
elBulli & Dom Pérignon: decoding the science of food
After closing his restaurant elBulli, Ferran Adrià continued his “quest for creativity” with the aim to reawaken the experience of dining, to decompose it in its mental and emotional layers, truly seeing in the heart of each ingredient, stripping it to its raw nature.
In the process, elBullifoundation partnered with Dom Pérignon for an exciting new venture called “Decoding, a project of transmission”, the heart piece of which is a six-course menu of luxury bite-sized snacks and Dom Pérignon pairings that are served, in a pop-up manner, at some of the world’s most renowned restaurants over the course of three years.
How is that for a bit of good news, food lovers? (Photos: Christian Dancker)