Goût de France 2017- the Cafe Swiss experience

Let’s think you are someone who loves food- basically drools over food. Let’s say you’re someone, who’ve an taste for food, which is subtle and also visually pleasing. And also, let’s assume, you have a knack for fine dining. So, we can somewhat conclude, from the above assumptions, that you’d like french cuisine.

And, this time of the year, hold your breath- Goût de France (the french food festival) is here. Goût de France is an initiative by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development to promote and celebrate the excellence of French gastronomy. This year, Swissotel Kolkata was a part of it. Thankfully, I was invited by the management to have a sneak peek of the same in the coffee shop, The Cafe Swiss. The event will take place on 21st March over dinner and is priced at 1450+Tax per head for the buffet. Pre-reservation is recommended

We were served with bread basket, paired with chicken liver pate and pork rillette and seasoned cheese as condiments. And, being the red meat lover that I am, I gorged on the pork rillette. It basically, set mood for the afternoon.

We were served the pre-plated items for tasting and my experience here will be based on that.

Now, French food, if properly prepared, is damn sexy visually and the first dish that was served to us was no exception. It was smoked salmon and avocado verrine and Nicois Salad. Now, there is no english synonym (or nothing that I know at least) for verrine and it can be best described as an appetizer with different items layered artistically. We were suggested to take a bread and have it with it…. The result was subtle and it was a great start. And, Nicois salad is a typical french salad with hard boiled eggs (quail eggs were used here) , olives and anchovies. It had somewhat of an acquired taste, or maybe I’m not that much of a salad-lover. The taste was okay-ish to me after the fantastic verrine.

smoked salmon and avocado verrine

Nicois Salad

Next course was the potage or the soup. It was a lovely done Seafood Bouillabaise (seafood soup). The presentation stole the show and we were just wondering, how much time and effort had gone to finish it like that. While shooting, it lost its warmth, but what the heck- still the taste was fantastic.

Bouillabaise (seafood soup)

It was time for the main course now and it was a visual treat. We were served Prawn Thermidor (nothing can go wrong with it ) and oven roasted quail with pommes puree (potato base) and wine reduction. The presentation for both of them were such, that I personally felt actually bad to eat them. A prawn thermidor can hardly ever go wrong taste-wise, but what stole the show was the quail. Getting a properly roasted meat is different in the city (where the meat retains its juice) and this was juicy. Definitely recommended.

Oven roastd quail with wine reduction and pommes puree

Prawn thermidor

Next item was a piece of heaven for a beef lover. Now, normally in every property, in every outlet, there is that one item, which is the showstopper and the differentiator. For Swissotel, its their beef. I have no idea, from where they source it, but the quality is such that it can be cut with just a fork and not even a knife is needed. The beef Bourguignon (tenderloin cooked with red wine- typicaly Burgandy) that we were served, was just that. The beef medallions paired with that perfectly crispy strip of bacon, can’t be described- and just be experienced. I’d suggest you to save your appetite and  if you get that in the buffet, attack it with all your might and feel the foodgasm.

Beef Bourguignon

Dessert came next and in the pre-plated platter, were Opera cake, Pistachio financier (I’ve experienced if with the coffee afterwards) and Tartelette Au Citron (lemon meringue). They were good, the taste was great- but I still had that hangover of the beef….. my problem I guess.

opera cake (in the middle), lemon tarte (on left side) and pistachio financier

The meal was satisfying, without being too heavy and visually, pure sexy. So, for those of you, who love this type of cuisine- its a must visit and for the rest, I can gurantee, it’ll be an experience which you’ll cherish for long.

Bon apetit !!!

Comments and critics welcome

I can be reached at 9903528225 / indrajit.lahiri@ymail.com