I’m no stranger to Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square. The hotel oozes a sense of luxurious presence that only other hotels dream of having, especially being housed in one of Britain’s finest landmarks, Ten Trinity Square. The location of the hotel is just perfect, as it resides just steps away from the river Thames and just a few minutes walk away from the historic fortress, Tower of London. Its presence has grown a vast following, not only for the Four Seasons brand but for the property itself. Especially, with two exemplary restaurants, the last of which I was due to try – La Dame De Pic by Anne-Sophie Pic.
For those that don’t know much about Anne-Sophie Pic’s history, her father, Jacques Pic was a fantastic chef who was Head Chef at three Michelin starred restaurant, Maison Pic in Valence, Rhône, France. Sadly, Jacques passed away in 1992, only a matter of months after Sophie joined the restaurant for her training and was naturally thrown in the deep end as Head Chef. Anne-Sophie worked hard to keep her fathers legacy of three Michelin stars before starting her own ventures in Lausanne with Anne-Sophie Pic which had gained two Michelin stars in 2009. It wasn’t long before she decided to hop over the pond and open La Dame De Pic in Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square which gained one Michelin star in the first year of being open. Bravo Anne-Sophie Pic, what a chef!
When I was invited in to try La Dame De Pic, I honestly couldn’t contain my excitement. I was so thrilled to be able to try such a honourable and fantastic chef’s culinary creations for myself. For those that haven’t ever dined at Anne-Sophie’s restaurants, you must!
We started off with a delicious ‘welcome’ mushroom soup to our cleanse palettes and get us ready for an amazing meal to come.
Shortly after we were served an array of canapés, the first being a courgette tartlet with foam infused with tomato water, verbena and passion berry.
Along with our tartlet, we were served cocoa butter bonbons with strawberry, yuzu, gin and sake inside. You have to put the whole bonbon in your mouth, because the minute it enters your mouth it just explodes! Such a fantastic, creative concept.
Our final canapé was waffles infused with dill, served with sobacha chantilly and umeboshi sour plum sauce. I loved the unique flavours, especially serving a waffle in a unique, savoury style.
The cocktail I had to accompany my main canapés and amuse bouche was a champagne cocktail with sloe gin and a raspberry pureé. If you love sweet cocktails, this is one for you!
If our meal hadn’t already commenced, it did now with another amuse bouche of heirloom carrots served a fresh, jasmine yoghurt. The jasmine gave the dish a lovely floral flavour that really brought together the flavours of spring.
To accompany our starter, we were served a glass of Les Vignes De Paradis, De Marrin. A lovely French white wine with a honey colouration that boasted floral notes, keeping in line with the rest of the menu.
For starters, we ordered the Berlingots to start with, which is pasta parcels with slightly smoked Brillat-Savarin cheese with green asparagus, bergamot and mint. The parcels were cooked al dente and the smoked Brillat inside was just delectable. I could have eaten the dish all over again!
For our main course, the wine that was paired was a smooth red wine by Stephane Montez. The Domaine du Monteillet from Saint-Joseph, in Rhône where Maison Pic is situated. It was a delicious Shiraz wine with smoky and peppery notes but complimented the main course so well.
The roasted Hereford beef was just divine. It just melted in your mouth, even though I opted for it to be cooked medium-well. Each cut of beef was high quality, moist and succulent. The outer coating was my favourite, created with Monts Amarao coffee granules, sobacha and pepper, which gave the meat a crunchy outer. It was served with cinnamon leaf, celeriac in brown butter and gin. Finished off with a lovely gravy that just sealed the deal for this dish.
Our evening finished up on a rather sweet note with the white millefeuille with Tahitian vanilla cream on the outside, jasmine jelly and Voatsiperifery pepper foam. I’ve had a few millefeuille before, but this had to the tastiest and best presented take on it yet. I expect nothing from a well renowned French chef’s take on a classic French dessert!
Leaving us with a little extra sweetness to savour on our way home, we were served up a selection of petit fours. It was the perfect end to an absolutely fantastic meal!
I have no hesitation in recommending Anne-Sophie Pic’s, La Dame De Pic. Not only has Anne-Sophie brought her excellency to British soil, she has done it with a bang. A well deserved Michelin star for her new culinary venture because quite frankly I don’t think the French cuisine is going to get any better than this in London. I think it’s time to visit Rhône, stat!
Until next time…
