When you think of the word ‘epic’ what comes to mind? Lord of the Rings, perhaps, or the Iliad of Homer. Gladiator, the Grand Canyon, Star Wars, battling gods, goddess and heroes, the Great Barrier Reef? All complete with a heady Hans Zimmer soundtrack…dum dummm duh duh dummmm (click below and skip to 3.40 to translate that to sound – should you need to…I think my literary skills encapsulated it perfectly there).
Am I right? This used to be the case for me too. Then something happened, something which changed everything. What, you ask? I visited Lacroix, in the Rittenhouse Hotel, for Brunch one Sunday. Following this visit, the word epic was irreversibly redefined. For nothing could have been more so than the offering set out by Lacroix’s talented team of chefs and waiters. Epic to its very core.
I was first greeted with a vast raw bar boasting sushi, shrimp, various smoked fishes, house smoked salmon, oysters both from the West and East Coasts and a large caviar assortment.
The oysters were delicious, utterly fresh and tasting beautifully of the sea. The West Coast oysters, plumper and creamier, were my favourite – tears almost came to my eyes on popping the first one into my mouth; on chewing it was almost like salted butter, so rich and creamier than anything coming from the Ocean has any right to be.
The caviar selection was excellent too – boasting salmon roe, paddlefish and white fish roe it offered the taster an interesting comparison. My favourite was definitely the paddlefish roe – small little bursts of salt, tangibly popping on the tongue releasing fishy goodness to blend in with sour cream, savoury red onion and perfectly fried blinis.
Then the Hors D’ Oeuvres – a greater selection I have never seen in one place! Literally there were tens and tens and more tens of them, all laid out on long tables, frequently refreshed and fragrant. If you had left me in the room, locked in overnight, there would have been a blood bath. The morning doors would have opened to reveal me, spread eagled on the tables surrounded by empty platters and dishes, bloated and obscene. On this table I ate a subtle and delicious Foie Gras and blueberry milkshake, lighter than expected, tasting of malt. A monkfish brochette (skewer) with kalamata olive and avocado came to me too – delicate and fresh. An ingenious chicken liver ‘truffle’ with white asparagus, cunningly disguised as an actual wild truffle – rich and intense. A highlight was their pork belly slider with apple and horseradish – the pork belly was cooked perfectly so that it was gelatinous, juicy and tender, without being sickly. Another item of excellence was an exquisite curry macaroon with a carrot paste. It was crazily tasty, dexterously blending sweet carrot and sugar with complex, moreish spicing.
From left middle clockwise: chicken liver truffle, pork terrine, curry and carrot macaroon, tomato and peach gazpacho, foie gras and blueberry shake, pork belly slider, white fish roll, monkfish skewer
truffle close up
lime and tarragon shot, escargot and tomato foccacia and octopus ceviche
The climax of the Brunch was their hot buffet served from the chef’s table in the actual kitchen of the fully functioning restaurant. Timidly you stepped beyond the ‘staff only’ signs, through the swinging doors and into the kitchen, a hungry diner in a sea of chefs whites.
There you found hand carved wagyu beef brisket, tender and melting, rooibos glazed Scottish Salmon, sweet, rich and glistening, or sesame crusted rack of lamb – cooked to your preference and perhaps the definition of wonderful.
Here I ate my favourite thing from this whole epic selection: sautéed wild mushrooms in a herb nage. Simplicity itself, the kitchen’s chefs managed to harness the essence of mushrooms themselves and serve it up, a plate of woody, intensely mushroom’y’ excellence. What else? Vietnamese beef broth with a perfectly cooked, molten quail’s egg, a crispy confit of duck with saffron cous cous and spring garlic, braised pork cheeks with citrus faro and peaches. Everything prepared flawlessly, fabulous to taste. My only quibble was a francaise sweetbread with egg yolk and parsley gremolata – the sweetbread was not unctuous, melting and tender, but had the texture more of a chicken nugget. I don’t think sweetbreads are built to be buffet items – they don’t hold up well and need to be eaten pretty much straight from the pan. This was certainly the case here.
The kitchen also offered a wonderful charcuterie station of house cured meats – wafer thing, delicate, almost too pretty to eat.
The desserts presented themselves to us in true epic fashion, rows and rows of chocolate, caramel, vanilla creations lined up in rank like soldiers as far back as the eye could see….well, almost. Perhaps ‘as far as the eye could see’ after a few of Lacroix’s ‘Build your own Bloody Marys’. A cherry shooter with white chocolate, tempered in house and swirled artistically with a red print – sharp and delicious, dismissing the satiety arisen throughout the mains and ushering in the other desserts. A lychee and coconut mousse with a ginger, sesame snap brought delicacy and creaminess, a candied orange zest, caramel and chocolate pain de gene brought power and luxury.
The desserts presented themselves to us in true epic fashion, rows and rows of chocolate, caramel, vanilla creations lined up in rank like soldiers as far back as the eye could see….well, almost. Perhaps ‘as far as the eye could see’ after a few of Lacroix’s ‘Build your own Bloody Marys’. A cherry shooter with white chocolate, tempered in house and swirled artistically with a red print – sharp and delicious, dismissing the satiety arisen throughout the mains and ushering in the other desserts. A lychee and coconut mousse with a ginger, sesame snap brought delicacy and creaminess, a candied orange zest, caramel and chocolate pain de gene brought power and luxury.
left clockwise: flourless chocolate cake, orange, caramel and milk chocolate ganache, cherry shooter with tempered chocolate, white chocolate cake
Lacroix’s brunch even offered its own nitrogen bar where before your eyes the chefs freeze your icecream! By freezing it with liquid nitrogen, rather than in a freezer, ice crystals are not permitted to form, producing an ice cream that is smoother and more indulgent. In this station I tried a pistachio foam with a centre of lemon curd. I won’t bother wasting more adjectives – it was epic in the truest sense of the word. Sharp, sweet, creamy, bring me some more please?
At only 65 dollars a head, Lacroix makes epic accessible. You can sit in their elegant dining room enjoying this brunch for as long as you want, with no pressure to leave and making the very most of the selection. We ended up staying for about 4 hours and I had thoroughly weirded out all of the chefs by the time we finally left, asking them penetrating questions about the ingredients and preparations of all of the dishes.
Anyway, to conclude – forget Lord of the Rings, sorry Frodo, there’s a new kid in town. Next time you want your epic fix, think more food, less film and either get to or replicate Lacroix’s offerings. For the full experience go dressed as Gandalf. Their waiting staff are so impeccably trained, they probably wouldn’t even blink an eye.
210 West Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA 19103, United States
(215) 790-2533
www.lacroixrestaurant.com/
Anyway, to conclude – forget Lord of the Rings, sorry Frodo, there’s a new kid in town. Next time you want your epic fix, think more food, less film and either get to or replicate Lacroix’s offerings. For the full experience go dressed as Gandalf. Their waiting staff are so impeccably trained, they probably wouldn’t even blink an eye.
210 West Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia, PA 19103, United States
(215) 790-2533
www.lacroixrestaurant.com/
