Brasserie Margaux wine dinner

[tighe]

I believe I've talked up Brasserie Margaux here before and when I received the menu for their upcoming wine dinner, I thought it was worth bringing to everyone's attention. Between the wines being served and the really tasty sounding menu, this is one of the most tempting one of these special dinner events I've seen in a long time. The dinner is next Monday, the 20th.

Brasserie Margaux Wine Dinner Menu

[mamster]

That sounds great, especially this course:

Forest Mushroom Sauté with truffle and herb oils, balsamic syrup, Goats

Cheese and crispy potato gaufrettes

Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, Oregon 1999

[MsRamsey]

I really wish I could go.

Monday nights suck.

[thelastsupper]

Where are they getting corn and favas at this time??

[tighe]

Where are they getting corn and favas at this time??

Don't know, but probably not from around here. Of course, this is what I see as the danger of declaring one's commitment to local, seasonal foods, especially in this part of the world....

[mamster]

Must be almost time for the annual Six Courses of Turnip dinner.

[tighe]

Must be almost time for the annual Six Courses of Turnip dinner.

Yes, the turnip roulade with juniper berry coulis filling is one of my all-time winter in Seattle seasonal favorites...

[thelastsupper]

Must be almost time for the annual Six Courses of Turnip dinner.

Sounds beautiful.

[Batgrrrl]

D**n, that sounds lovely! Though in my own experience with wine, I look at that menu and think, great, but by the time dessert gets there I won't be remembering anything! Unlucky me, I inherited a propensity to not remember things after ridiculously little alcohol--particularly wine, which is odd, I think. So I'm always wistfully wary of wine showcase meals. But please report, anybody who goes!!!

B-gal, the wine light-weight

[SeAAttle]

Did anyone else attend this event? We did, our first time at Brasserie Margaux, and were quite impressed. I thought the rock fish was superb, but the lamb was less successful. Also, they did not scrimp on the wines. Leave it to Arnie Millan to pick terrific matches for the food. The 99 Domaine Drouhin was particularly nice, especially with the mushroom saute course.

The restaurant is under new management as of a few months ago and the food and service was terrific. I expect this is now the standard. We will definitely return.

[tighe]

Scrat and I were there and really enjoyed both the food and wine. I plan to post a full-on review in the next couple days (hey, you in the peanut gallery, cut the groaning).

[tighe]

Overall, this was a fantastic dinner that, in my opinion, cements Brasserie Margaux's place as one of the really fine restaurants in town. Although Arnie Millan (former owner of Avenue One, current wine consultant) rubbed me the wrong way in person, he and the chef created some exceptional food/wine pairings; probably the most consistently good matches through a multi-course meal that I've had. The wine tasting part of the evening was definately pitched at a level for wine novices, which I didn't have a lot of patience for, but that's probably more about me than anything else. I wish we'd had a digital camera so that I could have pulled a Schielke and showed off the nice presentations. My only general critique would be that the pacing was too fast, maybe because it was a weeknight.

Spinach Salad with Tiger Prawns, Mango, Snow Peas, Avocado and drizzled with a Champagne vinaigrette.

Willakenzie Pinot Blanc – Oregon 2001

What made this salad was the amazing flavor combination of mango and avocado, not something I'd had before. The peas added a nice texture contrast to the soft mango and avocado. The prawns had nice flavor, but were a little soft.

Russet Potato crusted Black Cod atop roasted Corn and Fava Bean Succotash with roast Pepper Jus

L'Ecole 41 Semillon Barrel Fermented 2001

A tremendous dish. Very thin and crisp potato crust on top of a wonderfully moist and tender piece of fish. Again, an amazing combination of flavors and textures. The sauce was great, with good roast pepper flavor and just a hint of chili pepper spiciness.

Lamb Chops en croute with Onion thyme confit and black diamond truffle sauce

De Lille Cellars D2 Cabernet Blend 2000

Although this was the course I was most looking forward to going into the meal, it turned out to be the least of the five. A double-cut lamb chop was posed vertically on the plate and wrapped in phyllo. For starters it wasn't a great piece of meat and mine was undercooked. My other dissapointment was that the truffle sauce neither smelled nor tasted much of truffles despite having good sized chunks in it. Why is it that dishes containing truffles so often fail to deliver the pungency of truffles? Truffle oil seems to go a whole lot further than the actual fungus. I will say that the onion/thyme confit was superb, sauteed in foie gras apparently. I think the confit wrapped in phyllo by itself would be excellent. The D2 was surprisingly smooth for being so young.

Forest Mushroom Sauté with truffle and herb oils, balsamic syrup, Goats Cheese and crispy potato gaufrettes

Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, Oregon 1999

As mamster, prescient food critic that he is, predicted, this was the best course of the meal. Imagine the very best execution you can based on the description, and that was it! Truffle and basil oil, sweet balsamic, a generous amount of goat cheese, perfectly cooked mushrooms over a bed of fresh mixed greens with a terrific wine that drew out the earthiness of the ingredients. I could eat this for weeks.... The Drouhin was my favorite wine of the night.

Warm Pomegranate Gingerbread with Meyer Lemon Sauce and Candied Walnuts

Yalumba Museum Release Antique Tawny – Barossa Dessert Wine

A very nice desert, but I think I was too much in shock from the mushroom course to fully appreciate it. Didn't care too much for the Australian tawny, very syrupy without any of the edge or complexity that real tawny ports have.

Edited January 23, 2003 by tighe (log)

[SeAAttle]

Great review, tighe. I agree completely with your assessment, although I would probably rate the rock fish as my favorite dish. The lamb was definitely a disappointment. Mine was also undercooked and had little taste.

And I agree that Arnie did pitch his comments to the novices. We have been to 5-6 of his tastings but this was the first with a full meal. In the tastings that feature wines only (with appropriate snacks), he has more time to elaborate, gives a history of the featured wines and describes their preparation. Also involves the participants, asks their opinions, etc. More in his element when wines are the (only) topic.

[MsRamsey]

Take a look at Brasserie Margaux's website. I laughed at the word "raving." Are they calling the reviewer an incoherent madwoman?

http://www.margauxseattle.com/

[tighe]

Take a look at Brasserie Margaux's website.  I laughed at the word "raving."  Are they calling the reviewer an incoherent madwoman?

http://www.margauxseattle.com/

The subtleties of the English language can be elusive......

I did however also see the menu for their next wine dinner featuring Rhone wines (a favorite of mine). This menu looks even better than the last one!

Rhone Valley Wine Dinner Menu

Edited February 11, 2003 by tighe (log)

[MsRamsey]

If you guys plan to go, I'd be able to go too. I think last time it was on a Monday, which is always bad for me. Anyone interested?

[SeAAttle]

I must be missing something. The site says "rave review", not raving. Perhaps they edited after seeing your post.

The menu for the Rhone wine dinner does look very good.

[MsRamsey]

They edited it after I sent them a nice email. They are that responsive.

[tighe]

MsRamsey, scrat and I went to Brasserie Margaux’s Rhone Valley wine dinner last week and I was awed by the meal. For a second time in a row, the food-wine pairings were flawless. Just so I don’t get too redundant, the following adjectives apply to every course: fantastic, tremendous, sublime, etc., etc.

Warm Salad of Artichokes and Roasted Peppers with Roquefort, Walnuts and Chive Oil.

Cotes du Rhone Blanc - E. Guigal 2000

What the description doesn’t capture is that the salad was served in a ring formed by a long strip of grilled zucchini, which stood out, along with the peppers, more than the artichoke. For once, a salad that advertised cheese as a main ingredient had an ample amount of cheese on the plate damn it! This was the first time I had tried a white wine from the Rhone, and I’m completely sold.

Housemade Country Chicken Liver Pate with Frisée, Cornichons, Whole-grain Mustard and Baquette

Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Andre Brunel Les Cailloux 2001

I made a country pate at home a couple weeks ago and thought that it came out quite well, this dish demonstrated that I still have a ways to go. Everything that is good about pate and another superb wine match.

Petit Cassoulet with Smoked Sausage, Lamb and Duck Confit

Gigondas Chateau du Trignon, 2000

On another thread we discussed the relative merits of different cassoulet preparations in town. I would offer this one up as a contender for the best. Meaty, but not fatty or heavy, with more veggies than I’ve seen in other renditions. It will be on their dinner menu for the next few months and the entrée portion is only $16.95! I think Gigondas is one of the most distinctive wines around. I understand it’s not everyone’s taste, but I love the pronounced earthy/musty character and this one was a beauty.

Pan Roasted Venison Loin with Forest Mushroom Strudel, Green Peppercorn Sauce and Herb Tomatoes

Saint-Joseph Offerus J. L. Chave 2000

If there was any stumble in the meal, it was that my venison was a little over-done, although MsRamsey’s was perfectly medium-rare, not sure what happened. Despite being cooked through, the meat was extremely tender and flavorful, but the sauce was just over the top. The peppercorns must have been fresh because they were soft and mild enough to eat. The Chave was wonderful, but I’m sure would be even better in a few years.

Double Chocolate Bavarian Cream with Champagne Strawberry Coulis and Seasonal Berry Compote

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise – Domaine de Beaumalric

I simply can’t do justice to this desert without a picture. The Bavarian Cream was a layer of dark chocolate under a layer of white chocolate, laid out in a teardrop shape, garnished with the coulis and a couple pieces of chocolate art. The texture was like eating a chocolate cloud, airy, but powerfully flavorful. Superb desert wine that strikes that rare balance of sweetness and complexity of flavor without any syrupy texture.

Among the post-meal discussions that scrat and I have had are what the best course was and why the food-wine pairing are so much more effective than at most of these kinds of dinners. To the first, I really can’t meaningfully rank the courses. We’re talking degrees of excellence that I really have trouble distinguishing between. Maybe I could just resort to rating them based on the complexity of technique required, but I don’t have energy to go down that path. On the second issue, the main conclusion we reached is that the pairings are so good because Chef Zarkades has the humility to create dishes that really have a synergy with the wines as opposed to many chefs who’s egos demand that their dishes be the star and step to the fore on their own. Interestingly, the former approach yields a superior ultimate outcome.

If you haven’t been to Brasserie Margaux before, please go, I can almost guarantee you’ll love it. And if at the end of March you are having 25 for $25 withdrawal, they offer a 3-course $25 prix fixe menu every night.

Edit: No one needs to use 'ultimate' twice in a single sentence.....

Edit #2: Just in case anyone was wondering, the fact that I enjoyed such a sumptuous dinner of French food and wine does, in fact, mean that I hate America and if anyone tries to rename cassoulet 'Freedom Bean Stew' I'm chaning countries!

Edited March 14, 2003 by tighe (log)

[nightscotsman]

Thanks for the report, tighe. I really need to make it to Brasserie Margaux soon. I notice they also have a new $12.50 prix fixe lunch as well. You can see the menu (which apparently rotates daily) here.

[col klink]

Damn, thanks tighe. Now I need to hit the Georgian Room AND here. I thought I could get away with just the former. Cotes du Rhone is my favorite style of wine like EVER.

[tighe]

I left out a notable detail of the pate. Instead of being wrapped in caul fat, as most country pates are, it was wrapped in bacon! (could have been pancetta) It added an interesting dimension to the dish in any case.

[SeAAttle]

Excellent description, tighe. Ms SeAAttle and I attended the event also and I would agree with you on every point. The cassoulet was excellent but the venison was the weakest of the courses - not bad but just not up to the standards of the other items.

We hope to return while cassoulet is still on the menu.

[scrat68]

SeAAttle -

Now that we have been to two dinners "together", we will have to make a point to introduce ourselves at the next one!!!

Edited March 17, 2003 by scrat68 (log)

[tighe]

BM is having another wine dinner this month featuring Australian wines and I went to their site to look for the menu. Not posted yet, but I noticed they're offering the menus and pairings from their first two wine dinners if you have a group of 8 or more. Price is only $65 per.