Pierre Sang achieved superstar status on the French dining scene since his 2011 Top Chef participation, but, I’m sorry to admit, I didn’t have the chance to sample his cuisine until very recently, when I had the pleasure of enjoying his six-course tasting menu at his eponymous restaurant on rue Gambay.
Served at the bar overlooking the deft cooks, this menu was full of surprises – quite literally! Each dish was served with no context whatsoever; only once the diner had finished did a member of staff ask for his or her impressions before listing the dish’s components. It was like a game for the palate, a game I thoroughly enjoyed.
On the night I visited, the adventure began with a mushroom “mise en bouche” topped with Parmesan crumble and a slightly spiced mayonnaise – just one of the Korean touches Sang adds to his approach to contemporary French cuisine.
Next up: a delicious smoked salmon dish finished with a kitchen blowtorch.
The salmon was served on top of pickled turnips with a soy and Korean red pepper sauce.
Our next dish may well have been my favorite of the night: battered and fried octopus with an ultra-smooth potato purée, kimchi-spiced lentils, and vitelotte chips. The texture of the octopus was on-point, and the flavors here afforded the perfect combination of the richness of traditional French cuisine with the funky, fermented spice I so love in Korean recipes.
Next came the plat de résistance: a duck breast served with beetroot purée, pickled yellow beets, caramelized grapes, and a Korean pepper sauce infused with sesame. Rich and unctuous, this dish was a superstar.
Next came the cheese course: peppered Comté served with a quenelle of Nepalese Timut pepper sorbet. (For other diners, this also came with a buckwheat crumble. They were nice enough to leave this off mine and spare me the anaphylaxis.)
And last but not least, a mint-chocolate dessert that was just the (refreshing) ticket following the substantial meal.
Pierre Sang on Gambey – 8 rue Gambey, Paris 75011