Refined Elegance from Anne-Sophie Pic During Lunch at La Dame de Pic in Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square

Refined Elegance from Anne-Sophie Pic During Lunch at La Dame de Pic in Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square - March 2017

7/3/2017

My delicate Monkfish with pumpkin ravioli, that was heaven, being drizzled with a light saffron & lovage sauce.

I admire Antoine Corneille, the F&B Director at Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square, who was formerly at Four Seasons George V in Paris. I have also heard so much about third generation French Michelin star chef Anne-Sophie Pic. In 2011 Anne-Sophie Pic was named World's Best Female Chef by the World's 50 Best Restaurants and her family were first awarded three Michelin stars in 1934. La Dame de Pic London, at Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square, was, therefore, the obvious choice of venue for lunch with my BBC friend.

I was so glad I made this choice with all the impressive cooking, exquisite flavours, excellent staff & a Four Seasons Board meeting taking place in London.

The Welcome

I always get such an incredible welcome at Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square, with the doormen knowing my name and warm smiles from all the staff. It really does feel like my new alternative London home.

La Dame de Pic

The elegant 78 cover restaurant is furnished with Hermes leather seating. There are no white linen tablecloths but still a feeling of understated uber luxury with Baccarat crystal, bevelled mirrors and a chandelier with a intricate playing card design, a nod to La Dame de Pique, the French card game that inspired the restaurant's name.

Pre-Lunch Snacks

The first snack looked like a bowl of leaves. That is what it was but there were two 'leaves' made from Jerusalem artichoke using a thickening agent, a dehydrator & a leaf-shaped stamp on top. We were told these 'leaves' were flavoured with liquorish and we both adored this moreish snack & agreed we could eat more of them. Along with this came pumpkin consomme with a good, very delicate, flavour.

Champagne & Coffee Infused Butter

Charlie Parker (the hotel General Manager) came to welcome us and the three of us reminisced about our time living in Qatar and Four Seasons Doha. After this I relented and agreed to the champagne the hotel had offered.

We then tried the bread with coffee infused butter. Anne-Sophie Pic is known for using coffee in her dishes. As you would expect in a French restaurant, the bread was sublime but I doubt I will try coffee infused butter again.

Amuse Bouche

The amuse bouche was a foamy puree of cauliflower cheese, which had a pungent smell of Mimolette cheese (aka French Edam). There was spicy voatsiperifery (pepper from Madagascar) sprinkled on top. This dish was rich & delicious but almost too filling for an amuse bouche.

Starters

I picked the 1970s era mosaic of Red Mullet with foie gras to start. The Red Mullet was cooked perfectly and the foie gras pieces decadently rich but I was not so keen on the texture of the bouillabaisse jelly. My friend had not picked a starter but was brought the Cornish Mackerel and said it was far better than he expected.

Only at Four Seasons

Earlier in the meal we had been confused by a description in the wine list. Our waitress had given an impressive explanation but at this stage of the meal the Sommelier brought a bottle of this interesting Georgian wine for us to try. This sort of attention to detail helps to explain why I love Four Seasons so much.

Main Courses

My friend was thrilled to be able to eat Herefordshire beef as a main course, he is from that county.

I picked Monkfish with pumpkin ravioli. The Monkfish was perfectly cooked, firm & meaty. The ravioli were from heaven and technical cooking at its best. They were drizzled with a light saffron & lovage sauce that did not kill the pumpkin flavour. A sublime 'clean' dish that I adored.

Dessert

For dessert I got the roast hazelnut ice cream with matcha (the cult green tea) opera (sponge layer cake). It even came with some gold leaf and was a perfect end to a sensational meal.

Petits Fours

We could not really eat any more but I did try the pear jelly petit four. A ball of incredible flavour.

The Lobby Bar

My friend used to work for Al Jazeera in Qatar and we have so many happy memories of Doha Four Seasons Friday brunches and so we had to end the afternoon at the lobby bar.

I was so glad we did this as Simon Casson (see my posting about meeting him at the Dubai Four Seasons) came to chat with us and I was presented with a new London teddy bear. Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square are presently working on a London outfit for Issy.

🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻(6 out of 5 ‘teddies’) - the knowledgeable & friendly staff; sublime food; free champagne; bringing the Georgian wine for us to try; the elegant surroundings; & meeting Simon Casson again broke the 'teddy score'. My tip:- do not be shy about asking the Four Seasons staff questions, you will be impressed by their knowledge.

The imposing frontage of the hotel with the Four Seasons Canadian flag proudly flying.

'Leaves' made from Jerusalem artichoke using a thickening agent, a dehydrator & a leaf-shaped stamp. I was glad were we told the bed of leaves they were on were real and should not be eaten.

The delicate pumpkin consomme being served.

Reminiscing about Qatar & Four Seasons Doha had me agreeing to the champagne the hotel had offered.

Anne-Sophie Pic is known for using coffee & geranium in her dishes & this was the coffee infused butter we tried. It was good to try it once!

Our rich foamy puree of cauliflower cheese amuse bouche, which had a pungent smell of Mimolette cheese (aka French Edam). There was spicy voatsiperifery (pepper from Madagascar) sprinkled on top.

My 1970s era mosaic of Red Mullet with foie gras. The Red Mullet was cooked perfect and the foie gras pieces decadently rich but I was not so keen on the texture of the bouillabaisse jelly.