Michelin Star Madame: Le Dame de Pic

Hard at work in the kitchen

For some reason when you put someone up in your apartment, even if they are a dear friend, they insist on taking you out to dinner. If its someone I really like, I consider it a complete pleasure to host them, but fighting about the dinner gets tiresome so sometimes I just give up and taking the beating/gift in style. This night we headed to Anne Sophie Pic’s Le Dame de Pic, she is one of the few Michelin starred female chefs in France although sadly she wasn’t there when we dined.

the wine list at Le Dame de Pic

I assume she was tending to one of her other spots in Valence, Switzerland or working on the two she is opening in NYC this year but she did leave some talented chefs in her kitchen. The dining room is modern and all white with leather chairs and feels warm and cozy as well as sleek at the same time. Service is very professional but not overbearing and its nice to see some female servers.

The amuse bouche soup made with Jerusalem artichoke was creamy goodness.

On offer were thre different themed menus, so we tried the spicy and the aromatic and shared bites. I ordered a Cote du Rhone which I find is hard to go wrong with and even though this was one of the cheapest wines on the menu, it was absolutely superb.

My liver pot pie appetizer was delicious.

I believe in supporting the women, we have to if we want to see more Michelin starred chefs of the lady variety. I would say that Ms. Pic is more modern than Helen Darroze, the other Michelin starred lady chef in Paris. Darroze’s place has a slightly more classic Michelin star feel to it. Ms. Darroze draws upon her connection to the Basque region of France, a type of food I absolutely adore and my meal back now a few years ago at her place was incredible.

My dining companion had the carrot salad which was fresh and crisp.

Chef Anne-Sophie is a new wonder woman on the scene and while she isn’t nearly as cerebral in her cooking as someone like David Toutain, every dish I had of hers worked completely. It was balanced and beautiful and focused with great sympathy and talent on well sourced ingredients.

The chicken main was ridiculously tender and juicy.

My friend and I enjoyed our amuse bouche immensely, a Jerusalem artichoke creamy wonder that left us a little breathless. We then moved on to our first courses, a carrot salad and a liver pot pie. The pot pie was incredible and the carrot salad fresh but lacking a little bit of spice in our opinion.

My red snapper snapper with beets was perfection

The mains came which were a simply done succulent piece of poulet de Bresse and a seriously perfect red snapper with beets and other veg, our taste buds were in heaven.

dining room is white on white

Desserts were next even though of course we didn’t have room for them. The gold flecks on my friend’s ice cream based dessert made us both feel a bit regal.

a golden dessert

I know that Noma and the like are all the rage, and I have no right to comment as I haven’t been there but at the end of the day I don’t really care if my meal has been turned into a fairly land of edible items. I’m not impressed unless the taste rocks by world. Using molecular gastronomy to take one product and turn it into something entirely different, doesn’t entice me – what thrills me the most is fresh local products done in an interesting way, something that I can’t do at home. You don’t need to wow me – just feed me well with passion for what you are doing and serve it from the heart not the head. Anne Sophie Pic does this in spades.