Fresh Hop 2020

[QUOTE="DefenCorps, post: 7007384, member: 117609" But then again, I don't think they do "all-out" the way we do this side of the 49th parallel on this side of the pond.[/QUOTE]

You might be surprised.

There are plenty of places where the amount of food you get with a prix fixe order is fairly reasonable. Quality is typically very high (food is a serious business in France), but portion size isn't always over the top (at some places, you can also control how much you want to eat by cutting back on the number of courses).

But then there's Michelin 3 star dining. The wife and I went to the Paul Bocuse restaurant in Lyon during our last visit to France. I won't describe everything we ate, but suffice it to say the amount of food you get is incredible. I will describe the dessert course however.

We were sitting by ourselves at a large, expansive table (comfort is perceived as very important at 3 star restaurants, and so the tables for two are sizeable). For dessert, the restaurant literally builds a dessert bar at the end of your table. The bar includes all kinds of tarts, pies and cakes, various pastries, 3 or 4 different types of ice cream and sorbet, 5 or 6 different types of fresh fruit, and so on. There are also all manner of syrups, creams, nougat, custards, whipcreams, etc. Obviously, there is no way you can consume even a fraction of what's on offer, though the staff are more than happy to accommodate you if you want to give it a try. Keep in mind that the cheese course is it's own separate course, with typically 40 or 50 different cheeses to choose from (as with the dessert course, you can have as many different cheese portions as you want, with any sort of accompaniment that might interest you).

It's really more of a show as opposed to just a dining experience. Service is impeccable, acoustics are outstanding, atmosphere is lovely, furniture and cutlery are first class (there's a special hassock for mademoiselle to place her purse or handbag), and of course the wine selection is superb (some places will have a good beer selection as well, but it's typically an afterthought with Haute Cuisine).

It's not the sort of thing you want to do very often (it usually takes a day or two to recover - Cynthia always complains that she feels like she has a cannonball in her stomach after a meal like this), but we try to include one such meal during our trips to France.

And oh by the way... Foie Gras really is a "thing" over there. You can get it pretty much everywhere and prices are fairly reasonable (at least in comparison to what I'm accustomed to paying over here).

You and Elizabeth should go check it out sometime!

 

I got a sample pour of it at the brewery as well, along with my glasses of FH Elliott. Unfortunately, my reaction was similar to yours. The aroma was attractive (lots of green, earthy tobacco), but I didn't get any FH character on the palate and it did seem a bit flat. Could have been that it just didn't show well next to the Elliott, but I wasn't tempted to get a glass.

 

Have no idea, but your post just reminded me...

I called over to Laurelwood on Sunday, and the manager I spoke to said she was "pretty sure" the brewer was going to make a FH Work horse IPA this year. However, it's not out yet and she wasn't sure when it would be released (she guestimated that it would probably be sometime in September).