La Belle Vie - October 20, 2015
La Belle Vie is that restaurant that you always tell yourself you’re going to get to. When you have an anniversary, you get promoted, you really want to woo your date, and I’m sure a multitude of other reasons. It’s a place that I didn’t even know where it really was, just that it was some place that was on my “list” since I’ve started liking coursed dining, impeccable service, and delicious constructed dishes.
Then one of my favorite food critics tweeted the previously unthinkable. “I can’t picture Minneapolis restaurants without LBV, but it looks like I’ll have to:…” I didn’t hesitate once I saw what date they were closing, I went to OpenTable and booked a table. The timing was incredible because while one of the best restaurants in town was getting ready to close, one of the greatest chefs in the world, chef of arguably one of the greatest restaurants that ever existed, was in town to celebrate and give a talk on the creativity of food.
I reached out to one of my frequent dining companions and asked if they’d like to go, but they had family in town that day, so we compared schedules and moved it to a date and time that worked for both of us. They’d been to La Belle Vie before, and it was there they’d experienced coursed dining for the first time. While we were out at another dinner with some mutual social media friends, a fellow diner mentioned that they’d not been either, so we invited them along too.
Schedules and stars didn’t align, so frequent dining companion, who I was dining with at Spoon & Stable the week prior to LBV ended up unavailable to dine, so it was just myself and the new fellow diner.
We met at the entrance a good twenty minutes prior to the reservation, but were seated immediately. I’m not a great photographer - I know this, I take pictures to help recall details, some of the pictures end up looking okay - but the space LBV occupies is really pretty, calling back to a type before modern industrial design and retro-Scandinavian. Crown molding and wainscoting everywhere, lamps that remind me of my grandparents’ cabin, beautiful sculptures, paintings, and chandelier.
We were sat on the same side of a four top, facing a central buffet table topped with the various wines and ciders that were offered with the meal. I don’t mind sitting next to my dining companions, sometimes it’s the preferred arrangement, but since it was coursed dining and no kitchen view, I much prefer being seated across from fellow diner to facilitate having a conversation. We were given the option of 5 courses or 8 courses and we both opted for the 8, we figured if we only had one chance to do it, we were going to do it. (Which is why I also opted for the paired wines.)
Normally when I’m doing coursed dining I’m dining alone, I have a standard size moleskine, a bandolier of pens, and my phone on the table being used as a bookmark. Now I’m not “alone” when coursed dining, usually the table or bar top is filled with other diners each with a significant other or good friends, so I’m not too involved in the conversation while dining aspect, the conversation ebbs and flows, I add what I can when I’m engaged, but mostly I end up listening, smelling, tasting, photographing, and writing down the experience. Coursed dining with one other person was different. Not bad or undesirable, just different. The winding conversation is between two people, every word heard is meant for your ears. The attention is focused on not smelling, not tasting, not photographing, and not writing, but on listening and adding to the conversation. Menu dining is a little different, you know what you’re getting since you read about it and asked for it, and multiple dishes come at once, but it still happens if there’s just two of us. Again, not bad, just different, and preferable. Sometimes I forget to take photos when I’m dining with only one other person. It happened at LBV, I’m sure it will happen again.
On a related note, I’m fixing the lighting problem, it may not be done by this weekend for dinner at Strip Club, but it will be done by the Piccolo Wine dinner next week.
First Amuse - Lobster Bisque Shooter: Tasty, subtle.
Second Amuse - Gougères: Perfect little savory choux, fellow diner and myself enjoyed these greatly. It was a great start to the meal
First Course - Halibut Mousse with Kohlrabi, Radish, Curry, and Salmon Roe (Paired with Cremant de Limoux, Antech, “Grand Cuvée” 2012): Light and vegetal.
Second Course - Cod with Lobster, Potato and Pickled Cabbage, and Salsa Verde (Paired with Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, Château Boucassé, “Les Jardins” 2010): Perfectly prepared fish and lobster paired wonderfully with the buttery wine, the salsa verde was a big hit with fellow diner and myself.
Third Course - Cauliflower Agnolotti with Goat Milk and Maitake Mushrooms (Paired with Cour-Cheverny, Francois Cazin, 2011): The first course that was different from the five course menu. Difficult to tell from the picture, but my second favorite mushroom was well represented in this dish.
Fourth Course - Duck Breast with Turnips, Watercress and Apple Butter (Paired with Anjou, Château D’Epiré, “Clos de la Cerisaie” 2012): The first red wine paired dish, the duck was prepared with great technique, moist and flavorful. We couldn’t narrow down what the pepper was, but I think we both enjoyed and were intrigued by it.
Fifth Course - Grilled Dry Aged Beef with Salsify, Charred Eggplant and Apple (Paired with Valpolicella, Roccolo Grassi, 2009): Last of the savory dishes and my favorite red wine of the pairings, fellow diner preferred the prior one, this one had a bit of an astringency that I found enjoyable, they did not, that being said, the house red was they ordered was great and a heck of a good value. As for the dish, tasty, and a continuation on the apple theme that seemed to punctuate the meal. Charred eggplant is something I’ve only had twice, and only in the past couple of months, but I need to figure out how to make it myself, because I’ve loved it both times I’ve had it.
Sixth Course - Zingerman’s Bucheron Goat Cheese with Asian Pear and Caraway Cracker (Paired with Cidre, Le Brun, France, No Vintage): This is the dish I didn’t get a picture of, fellow diner and I both enjoyed the cider, it had a little bit of funk that reminded me of a spontaneous ferment. The goat cheese was good, the cracker had a great texture. This was the second course that differed from the five course menu.
Seventh Course - Celery Granita with Green Apple and Crisp Milk: A good palate cleanser after the savory courses, I think this is the first time I’ve had a celery granita, it reminded me of a two month period where I was drinking juice for a couple months and I became quite fond of the slight pepperiness inherent to celery. The texture on the crisp milk was great, crunchy, but almost instantly dissolving on the tongue, from reality to memory.
Eighth Course - Quince Tart with Cinnamon Oat Streusel, Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet and Honeycomb Candy (Paired with a Harvest Moon, Dessert Cocktail by Adam Gorski): Last listed course, very flavorful and the texture of the Honeycomb Candy is something else, crunchy yet slowly yielding like a taffy. I sometimes have a slightly negative reaction to bee based products, excluding honey, but this was definitely worth the risk. Everybody deserves to be breathless once in a while. The cocktail was also a great way to cap the meal, sweet like a sauternes without the viscosity of some of the sweeter dessert wines.
To finish things up, we were presented with some Petit Fours. Shortbread Cookie, Coconut Macaroon, Fruit Gelee, White Chocolate with Dried Fruit and Nuts, & a Chocolate Truffle. My favorites were the Macaroon and the Shortbread Cookie.
During a work conference trip to New York I was able to secure reservations to Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50, it was another high profile restaurant that had announced its impending closure, but it announced months before closing. That was a great dining experience too, but that was a restaurant far away, its DNA wasn’t coursing through a lot of the bites I have every week. I didn’t feel a connection to a place that far away, I enjoyed the food, but it wasn’t a place that I’ll be able to share memories with many friends about. La Belle Vie is different in that regard.
La Belle Vie has been the crucible for some of my favorite chefs in town including Pastry Chef Diane Yang at Spoon & Stable and Head Chef Mike DeCamp at Monello. Dining there once, I can see why it garnered the praise it did. I hope everyone that has great memories continues to remember it fondly and makes an effort to dine at Tim’s other restaurants or those of his proteges to celebrate the important things. Mostly I hope people recognize what Chef Tim McKee accomplished, he helped birth the dining scene we now enjoy in the Twin Cities, he helped put us on the map.
That, as they say, is that. The only time I’ll get to eat at the local institution known as La Belle Vie.