la colombe: the winter tasting menu

Last Thursday our bookclub gathered at La Colombe for a long planned and much anticipated dinner.

I am always filled with excitement when I go to my favorite restaurant, and once again a truly memorable meal and evening was had.

The American couple celebrating a romantic anniversary may have found the eight quite loud women slightly less than ideal, but what can I say, we are the book club that wants to be a wine club book club (TBCTWTBAWCBC for short).

One of our bookclubbers is the sales representative for Uitisg wines, so the winemaker had very kindly given us a couple of bottles of the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, which is only due for release in January to enjoy.

And enjoy we most certainly did.

We kicked off with a delicious glass of Ross Gower pink bubbly in the bar. Delectable!

And then the meal went something like this…..(each course paired with a different wine)

In addition to the 3 amuse bouche, the most delicious bread basket with parmesan creme catalan with a red onion and cider puree and a sprinkling of burnt parmesan crumbs.

bunny starter — rabbit, chorizo, lardo and date ballotine, rabbit liver royal, cep dust, fig puree, cep and sage brioche

beetroot tart with apple and beet relish, goats cheese fondant, olive & palm sugar tapenade

tataki with goats cheese and courgette cannelloni, black pickled celeriac, pine nut gremolata and basil cream

linefish — pan fried kingklip with , light curry veloute, thai style quinoa salad and an apple and cucumber salsa

steak main — sous vide ribeye, fondant potato and a black pepper bordelaise sauce

my dessert of creme catalan and apple tart tartin with strawberry and sauvignon blanc sorbet

or you can opt for a choice of cheeses instead of one of the 3 desserts

The meal was a culinary adventure and each mouthful a a taste sensation.

Luke Dale-Roberts was not around for us on the night but we hear via the grapevine that he is in the process of developing a few new and exciting dishes for La Colombe before he leaves.