Blown Away by French Mastery

Le-Bec-Fin

1523 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

www.lebecfin.com/

This may get a little long, but I will try to keep it concise. I had heard a few months ago that Le-Bec-Fin was up for sale and it would be closing its doors in the very near future. I decided that I wanted to try it before they closed, so I made a reservation for my girlfriend and I to go. We were by far the youngest people at that restaurant on our own, but I was very excited to be there, so I did not really care.

The entire experience from start to finish was mind-blowing. From the minute we stepped in the door to the minute we got our coats from coat check and left was a truly wonderful evening. The servers are incredibly well versed on the menu and the restaurant, so any questions were quickly answered. We decided on getting the four course menu where you get an appetizer, a fish course, and a meat course and a dessert. The six savory courses we got were the foie gras and huckleberry pudding, the escargot, the barrumundi, the diver scallop, the lamb loin and the prime strip loin. Our two dessert courses were the caramelized apple beignets and the toasted meringue.

While you are waiting for your courses to come out, a woman walks around with a tray of breads to choose from, and each time that you need a new roll, she will come to your table and let you choose another. I tried two different breads; one was just a plain mini baguette, and other was a French onion style roll. Both were very good. The French onion roll was much softer and texturally different than the baguette, but both were very delicious.

Our appetizers came out first, and I was very interested to try them. It was my first French dining experience, so the escargot and foie gras were completely new ideas to me. The duo of Hudson valley foie gras, huckleberry pudding, roasted beets, and maple Feuille de Brique was certainly the most interesting thing I have ever eaten. The duck liver was seared nicely on the outside yet still tender and fatty on the inside. Each bite melted in my mouth in a haze of saltiness and gaminess. It paired very well with the beets and the maple flavorings. The escargot was incredible! The snails were chewy in a good way, a lot like calamari, and they were served in a garlicky butter broth that simply enhanced the flavor of the snails that much more.

The courses were spread out far enough that I had time to digest, so by the time our fish course came out I was quite hungry again. The slow baked barramundi with lobster crust, savoy cabbage, saffron tapioca, and a lobster emulsion was quite amazing just to look at, so I was extremely excited to eat it. The lobster crust was delectable. It added a great crunch element to the moist, perfectly cooked fish. The saffron tapioca and savoy cabbage were perfectly complimentary to the crispy yet delicate fish. The tapioca was salty and looked very reminiscent of fish row The cabbage was crunchy and delicious. My girlfriend’s scallop was very good as well, but I am not a huge fan of scallops to begin with, so I only tried a very small bite. Unless the scallop is very, very crisp on the outside, chances are I most likely will not like it.

Our entrees came out a bit later, and I was very much looking forward to eating them. I have quickly made lamb one of my favorite dishes since trying it for the first time two years ago. This lamb was absolute perfection. It was seared amazingly on each side, and it was still perfectly cooked to medium temperature in the middle. It was served with a parsnip puree that was also extremely flavorful. The baby turnips served on the plate were kind of citrusy but at the same time it had the sweetness that comes from similar root vegetables. Drizzled all around the plate was also a maple reduction that was 1000 times better than any maple syrup that I have ever had. The thing that made the whole dish simply blow me away was the lamb jus that was served with it. It accentuated each and every aspect of the dish with its depth of flavor. All of the flavors melded perfectly together, but they all stood out well enough to be by themselves as well. My girlfriend’s strip loin was fantastic as well. I would never have thought to pair steak with vanilla bean puree or a pomegranate gelée, but both worked well in contrast to the saltiness of the meat since they were both quite sweet.

My girlfriend and I had heard incredible stories about the dessert cart at Le-Bec-Fin and were disappointed that we were not rich enough to order from it. However we still had great desserts; mine being a toasted meringue with a chocolate wafer, and hers being cinnamon apple beignets. My meringue was fluffy and smooth, and the chocolate wafer on top was the perfect textural compliment to the soft composition of the meringue. My girlfriend’s beignets were pretty good as well. I have had better beignets in my lifetime, but they were very well done. They had good apple flavor, the hot apple cider it came with was great, making the dessert course a success just like all the others.

I would not even have to think twice about going back to Le-Bec-Fin. It was one of the best overall dining experiences I have ever had in my life. They offer so many things that many good restaurants may offer in bits and pieces; great service, fantastic food, and an overall incredible experience. Most good restaurants can say they have one of the three, but Le-Bec-Fin nails them all. I hope it remains open long enough for many more years so I can return one day, but if I cant make it back, you better get out and try it before it closes! Cheers!