Guy Savoy at Le Bec-Fin

Guy Savoy… Head Chef and Owner of the Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris. Recipient of the 3 Michelin Stars in 2002.

George Perrier… Owner and Founder of Le Bec-Fin, once rated America’s finest French restaurant by the Esquire (1993) and ex-holder of 5 stars from the Mobil Travel Guide.

This was Guy Savoy’s first time producing a dinner on the US East Coast.

This was supposed to be one of the best dinners of my life.

This was my girlfriend Sandy’s (early) birthday treat to me.

This was one of the biggest culinary let-downs we’ve ever experienced.

We came to Le Bec-Fin for the first time in May 2005 when I believe Pierre Calmels (Bibou) was Executive Chef. Prix-Fixe menu. Great experience overall. This was only our second time (Sunday September 20th 2009) dining at LBF. Sandy and I really expected a lot from this Guy Savoy as guest chef dinner. On the menu, many decadent items such as Lobster, Truffle, and Foie Gras.

Soon after we were seated, Guy Savoy came down with George Perrier to greet a table of regulars. It seemed very normal, after all Guy Savoy is an internationally renowned chef and people were there to see him that night. GS saw our table and walked over to greet us and wish us a Bon Appetit. Very warm and charming man. However, GP didn’t bother come to greet us as he did with every single other table. I guess we didn’t ooze money enough. No biggie though, since we really don’t care about him. We also noticed that we were the only non-Caucasian people, but that’s more a statistic than anything else.

On to the food:

Champagne+Apple+Cucumber Gelée with Golden Beet

This Amuse-Bouche seemed like the beginning of a good meal. Very refreshing, the gelee was slightly sour enough to stimulate our palate and get it ready for what was to come.

Huître en Nage Glacée

There was no indication as to what type of oyster this was (2 per plate), but you could taste that it was a rather good one even though it was smothered by that gelée. Not my favorite take on oysters but decent enough.

Bar "Breton" en Écailles Grillées aux Épices Douces

“This Barrrr was dirrrectly imporrrted frrrrrom Frrrance Monsieur” is what you could hear GP tell customers as he was presenting the fish to them (me being Belgian gives me the right to make fun of any French person I want. It’s cultural). If it is Breton, it means that it comes from Bretagne, in the Northwest of France. The grilled scales were the interesting part of the dish. They gave the fish a certain crispiness to contrast its flesh’s flakiness. One of the better courses that night, yet still a bit bland.

Homard du Maine Ragoût d'été, pinces de Parure de corail

I was pretty disappointed by this Lobster dish. Sure it was Lobster, but to make a Lobster dish average, you really have to want it to be average. Presented as having Uni (Sea Urchin) in the dish, we could barely discern its flavor in that foam. It wasn’t a complete failure as the Lobster was well seasoned and well cooked but we were still underwhelmed by it overall.

Soupe d'Artichaut a la Truffe Noire

The best dish of the night. Simple. Decadent. The ingredients really shone in this. Generous slices of Black Truffle and slices of strong Parmesan (I think…) in an Artichoke Soup that actually tasted like Artichoke.

But this was the best dish of the night because of this right here:

Brioche Feuilletée aux Champignons et Beurre de Truffe

This beauty was the food highlight of the night. Amazing brioche laced with minced Mushrooms and dripping of Truffle Butter. Truly delicious. Good thing it also complemented that Artichoke Soup incredibly well.

Pintade pochée en Vessie, Riz Basmati, Jus "Truffe-Foie Gras"

Dry Hen, poorly cooked rice, and missing Foie Gras flavor Jus. That about sums it up. Most disappointing dish of the night. Even the huge slice of Black Truffle couldn’t save this poor Hen.

Not even the traditional French theatrics…

Tableside opening of the Vessie ... Imporrrted frrrom Frrrance (really)

At this point we are done with the savory part of the meal. Let’s see if the famous desserts from LBF can salvage this meal:

Gelée au Basilic, Confit de Tomates et a la Mangue, Sorbet au Yaourt

Basil, Tomato, and Mango? Suspicious combo, but surprisingly it worked. Texture, taste and even look. Interesting dessert… in a good way. Oh and yeah, that’s how French-speaking people spell Yogurt: Yaourt.

Terrine de Pamplemousse, Sauce au Thé

Fresh Ruby Grapefruit. Check. Tea Sauce. Check. Moon Crescent Shaped Cookie. Check. Unimpressive dessert. CHECK.

Boule Noire

Or GP’s interpretation of the Death Star. I didn’t get time to take a ‘before’ shot but I was served this black Chocolate ball which is then drowned in hot melted Chocolate by the server. Once again the theatrics are nice and all but they couldn’t save another very unimpressive dessert. Sandy took ONE bite and left it at that. And she loves dessert…

After being served the usual Miniardises and a single Espresso for me, a very nice ginger-haired woman that seemed to be a manager of some sort came to our table to ask us how our dinner went. And so I politely tried to describe her what we felt didn’t go well.

Here’s basically what I told her: “Madame, unfortunately, we were quite disappointed with tonight’s dinner. Although the service was nothing but stellar, and the ingredients used were obviously of the highest quality, we both felt that overall, this meal was a big letdown due to the high expectations that weren’t met.”

She thanked us for the feedback and promised us to try better next time. As far as I’m concerned, there will not be a next time at LBF for us. $200 a pop for a very average dinner? Non merci.

As our server handed us the check, he told us that the last two glasses of wine were on the house. It was a nice touch but too little too late.

If I want to have French Cuisine for dinner, I’ll stick to Bibou, Fond, or drive to West Chester and hit up Gilmore’s.