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Poulet en Vessie at Epicure

Posted Thu Dec 01 2016

For years we had been hearing about the chicken at Epicure at the Bristol Hotel in Paris. Chicken is truly the test of a restaurant. Chicken is ubiquitous, including among home cooks, so everyone has references to compare with. When chicken is cooked well it is wonderful and dreadful when cooked poorly.

We chose to have lunch at Epicure and had a great time. Everything was perfect. In addition to the chicken, a few other dishes really stood out.

Starters

One amuse was red onion jelly with a little dollop of smoked foam. It had the flavor of a bagel with lox and cream cheese but it melted in your mouth.

Red onion jelly with smoked foam

Red onion jelly with smoked foam

The web site for Epicure brags about the macaroni so I had to try it. Rich and earthy, it was a real Yankee Doodle dandy.

Macaroni stuffed with black truffle, artichoke, and duck foie gras

Macaroni stuffed with black truffle, artichoke, and duck foie gras

The Chicken

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for. Out of the kitchen comes the cooked Bress farm hen on a silver platform standing on chicken legs. All eyes in the dining room were on our main course. You could feel the jealousy as we were the only table to order it. I think people shy away from dishes for two people but in The Free Dinner Whore's experience those are the ones where the kitchen pulls out all of the stops.

The poulet en vessie

The poulet en vessie

After presenting the hen inside the pigs bladder, it is popped and carved up table-side. The perfectly cooked breast meat is plated and served while the hind quarters are returned to the kitchen to finish cooking.

The breast course.  The green spinach packets are stuffed with giblets and will make your eyes roll back into your head.

The breast course. The green spinach packets are stuffed with giblets and will make your eyes roll back into your head.

The dark meat is served as the next course after being finished up in the kitchen.

Leg and thigh meat with mushrooms

Leg and thigh meat with mushrooms

On this particular trip we had this same dish at another well known and top rated restaurant. I can say with confidence that Epicure's interpretation definitely wins in presentation, flavor, and texture.

Dessert

The Free Dinner Whore loves strawberries and one thing there never seems to be enough of are those little alpine strawberries. Epicure gives you more than most.

Alpine strawberries with cotton candy and creamy stuff

Alpine strawberries with cotton candy and creamy stuff

Conclusion

Get Daddy's credit card and go.