Bon sang!
Is that blood on the wine list?!
My photos of the food didn't turn out that great, so I am not posting them. It was my first time at Le Chateaubriand (though I have been to Le Dauphin enough times to be thoroughly enamored with it), and I was fairly certain I knew what to expect. I would be challenged, confronted, made to question. Yeah, I am still talking about food. People either love Le Chateaubriand and hail Inaki Aizpitarte as a crazy genius, or they think it's all just silly and cold. I also know people who have left hungry. After a tasting menu. Shame!
So what did I think? I guess I'm one of the weirdos who was sort of "meh" about it. The whole thing didn't elicit any extreme emotional response. The ingredients were fresh and at their peak and perfectly prepared. And there was some "wit" that I appreciated, like a watermelon salad with watermelon jellies in the same size/shape as the real bits of watermelon. But overall, I didn't find the menu inspired enough to have me either raving or hating. It was all just... alright.
Again, I clarify that the ingredients were perfect and delicious, but I expected more from the 9th best restaurant in the world. More molecular gastronomy and science, more odd flavor combinations that connected just right, more inspiration.
But that's the beauty of the 55 euro tasting. There's really no harm done to my pocketbook. I'm madder about the dimes I dropped on those sadistic OC shoes.
My further contributions to Aizpitarte's bank account will likely be from Le Dauphin side.
