David Féau, a protégé of French chef Guy Savoy and ex-executive chef of Patina, takes up the Helm at The Royce. Being my first time sampling David Féau's creation, I was excited for this dining experience (On the side note, I did the usual...Rushed to the restaurant last minute by weaving through crazy LA traffic. It's my style).
Amuse Bouche - Calf Liver, Pickled Concord Grapes, Sunchoke Soup, cajun spices, smoked herring "friend"
The Sunchoke soup was creamy and carried a subtle spice flavor to it, hearty but not hearty. The puff pastry was a nice bite: crispy and carried a nice subtle fishiness of herring, making the wet contrast with the crispy. The calf liver is the surprising part, tender, moist, and you can actually chew a bit. Along with the sweetness from the grape plays a nice symphony of liver and grapes.
Lobster Pomegranate - Slow poached lobster, Coleman's Farm butter lettuce, sweet onion, pomegranate hot & snow
A nice play of the nitrogen to make the pomegranate snow to go along with the lobster salad. The crispiness of the fresh lettuce, combines with the tenderness of the lobster, along with the pomegranate sauce, hot and cold (and the sweet seeds) brings a nice interplay of the sweet and simple, tender and crisp.
Cabbage Oyster - Savoy cabbage and oyster velouté, creme fraiche mignonette, domestic caviar
The soup here retains a lot of the freshness and sweetness of the Hama Hamas oyster, with the mildly flavored cabbage wrapping around it. On top of it, the caviar extenuate the loveliness of the dish. This great soup plays a fine line along the fresh sea sweetness and its saltiness.
Chef Feau came out to prep for our next dish....
Porcini Pear - Porcini and chestnut casserole "au four," parsley, kosui pear
This dish reminds me of a nice home cooked dish, sort of a mama's dish. The shaved pear provides a mild sweetness while the nicely cooked Porcini mushroom plays along with the subtly sweet chestnut, creating a nice textural combination/contrast.
Surprised dish
Scallop, Lobster Roe - seared diver scallop, lobster roe sauce, caviar, finger lime, braised endive, fennel
This dish came as a surprise as Chef Féau wants to show us this dish. The perfectly seared scallop plays nicely along with the lobster bisque and the caviar on top brings a nice balance of sweet and mild saltiness to the dish. The braised endive at the end provides a satisfying finish. For being a die-hard scallop fan, this scallop dish definitely rank as one of my top.
Salsifi - Salsifi four ways, puree, braised, ash, fried
This artistic display of the Salsifi is a heart robber. The four way plays of Salsifi is a piece of art, as well as great flavor. The puree version provides a nice "mashed" texture while the crispy fried version provides a nice contrast difference. In addition, the crispy version is a bit salty and it goes well with the puree Salsifi. While the braised version provides a nice natural flavor and texture of the salsifi, the ashed version of the Salsifi provides a nice smoky flavor to the its natural version. All in all, the interplay here is mind blowing.
Berkshire Pork, Date - apple cider braised pork belly, hallway dates chutney, carol potato
I love a nicely cooked pork belly and Chef Féau's version of it is does not disappoint. The pork belly, which usually is really fat, doesn't seem to be the case here, which I like personally. The tender belly, paired with a lot of sweets (the apple cider, dates chutney, and braised apple) combined to be a very nice and successful dish. You would think the dish is a sweet tooth's heaven. However, look can be deceiving, and this dish is surprisingly mild in terms of sugar.
John Dory, Vent Basque - St Pierre fillet, à la plancha, black bread, iberico ham, gundillas bacalao sauce
The fillet of John Dory comes with a great deal of smokiness, while it retains its smoothness and juice. The Garlic and piquillo pepper on top adds even more seasoning to it, making the fish's flavor even more attractive. The potato with the iberico ham was actually a nice mix and provides a nice complementary to the John Dory.
Guinea Hen, Caviar - Skinless roasted guinea hen, chestnut milk, domestic caviar, spinach leaves
This guinea hen is probably one of the best guinea hen dish I've had thus far, and here's why. To start off, I tried the nice crispy hen with caviar on top. The crispy hen is juicy, great in texture and flavorful. The caviar provides a mild subtle saltiness, making the hen even more amazing. The "whiter" side of the hen, although less crispy, also comes with similar flavor, yet brings in more of the meaty texture. The chestnut gelatin provides a nice intermission for the chicken, making it a really good complement for this dish.
Venison, Lychee - Roasted venison loin, red cabbage ginger-lychee compote, sweet potato, snap peas
This perfectly cooked venison provides a great texture and nice meaty flavor to night. The sweet pea puree, combined with the lychee provides an excellent flavoring to this dish. The puree was mildly sweet, which enhances the venison and not overpowering the meat flavor itself. Although I have to say, I can only taste a little bit of the lychee as the meat and sweet pea overpowers it by a slight margin. yet, it's still a very successful dish.
Camembert, Coing - Salted crust Russian banana potato topped with camembert, quince confit
The cheese course is actually quite strong for me in here, as the Camembert cheese brings in a strong flavoring. Yet, with the sweet persimmon, it counteracts with the strong cheese, making it a very comforting dish.
Chocolate, Black Currant - variation of chocolate textures
The soft chocolate Soufflé brings in a nice mildly chocolate and spongy texture, how a perfectly cooked soufflé is supposed to be. Along with the chocolate tuile, gelatin, black currant sorbet and chocolate ice cream. This combo would make any chocolate lover smile.
MIGNARDISES
At the end of the meal, we were presented some small departing bites. A fruit tart, Crème brûlée in a mini chocolate cup and a queso cheese bite. Also, we have 3 different kinds of chocolate presented to us, milk, white and dark chocolate. The dark chocolate is surprising not as bitter as i thought it is. I usually am not a dark chocolate fan but this has rekindle my curiosity to explore that horizon.
After dinner, we were the only one left and we get to explore the entire dining room. The place is exquisite, I have to say.
We were also presented the opportunity to see the kitchen.
The loss of the dining room was indeed a tragic news for foodie, however, the renewed Langham Hotel with Royce is definitely a delightful addition. The food was superb, original, creative and fun. I have to add that Chef Féau has provided us an excellent dinner and I'll be looking forward the next time when I get to sample his great dishes.
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