06 Aug Maude Journeys to Champagne As They Celebrate 5 Years

As Maude continues to celebrate its fifth anniversary this year, what screams celebration more than Champagne?!?!  The Maude team snuck off to Champagne, the region that shares its name with the sparkling wine it produces, for an intense three-day trip to explore the food and wine. Located in the northeastern part of France, approximately 100 miles outside of Paris, Champagne is one of the great wine regions of the world. After visiting Champagne houses, local pastry shops, boulangeries and butchers, the team returned to Los Angeles to translate their experience into a ten-course menu. My friends and I booked our table for dinner and per usual, we brought the wines with us. As comprehensive and high quality as the wine list is at Maude, the regional dinners at Maude allow my friends, and sometimes me, to bring older vintages from our cellars. We started with Vouette & Sorbee Saignee de Sorbee, a rosé Champagne and then proceeded to open a series of delicious bottles included the Lanson Noble Cuvee 1989, Andre Beaufort 1990 Brut, Philipponat Clos des Goisses 1999 and Moet & Chandon White Star (circa 1970s) The Champagne-themed menu was another Maude menu that did not disappoint. What caught my attention in this menu was the plating of each dish. The utter eye for detail was apparent in each dish. Each dish was delicate and elegant yet flavorful and layered. It was just lovely to sit back and enjoy a beautiful meal and multiple glasses of Champagne with good conversation. Melon with White Soy, Cucumber Kombucha and Champagne Granita was delicate and fresh with sweet melon but there was a lovely savory note. Oyster & Tomato with Lemon Verbena and Champagne Gelee Caviar with Corn and Cured Egg Yolk – This dish was a work of art. Each kernel of corn was perfectly placed so that it looked like a flower on the dish. Inside the corn was a sort of cream of corn and caviar. This was a definite highlight of the night. The communal Epicery was inspired by a three-hour lunch the Maude team enjoyed at Au Bon Manger in Champagne. Our Epicery included carrot terrine, beet tartare with fresh horseradish shaved on top, fresh mustard and pickled vegetables. The Rye bread rolls were served with an exquisite yeast butter. The Striped Bass was perfectly seasoned and served with summer squash, clams and shellfish nage Broccoli with pork and mustard seed Lamb with eggplant, langres and borage After the meat course, we moved to the wine room where we enjoyed a Cheese course which included an aged gouda with the right amount of crunch and a triple cream that was creamy heaven. Dessert was Raspberry, Peach, Biscuit Rose with Champagne foam. It was a perfectly light, sweet bite to end the meal. But no meal at Maude is complete without the minardes. Our minardes were passion fruit patterns, cassis meringue with white chocolate, a mini apple tart, a blueberry macaron and a praline puff.   Our meal ended with a copy of the menu and a small jar of jam to take home for breakfast the next day. Maude has taken us around the world to Rioja, Burgundy, Central Coast, Piemonte, Western Australia, Sonoma and now Champagne. And the next wine region…..Tuscany (October – December 2019).