The French Room

We celebrated a very special occasion recently at the Adolphus Hotel. We checked into a luxury suite early in the afternoon and in the evening were joined by our closest friends in the suite for a bottle of bubbly and much celebratory toasting. Later in the evening, we all dined in the French Room - which, in my opinion, is one of the top dining destinations in Dallas.

You might wonder how well the French Room accomodated a vegetarian chef? The answer is - very well, very well, indeed! When our reservations were made, we notified them that one in our party of four was a lacto-vegetarian (I decided not to go the vegan route on this particular evening), and were told we would be easily accomodated.

Once seated in the opulent dining room, (By the way, do you see the beautiful lady in the picture above? Her hand is on a chair at the exact table we were seated at. It was a wonderful table because it was in the center of the room!) we were presented with menus. I was given a personalized menu outlining a four course dinner selected by the chef. I was told that I could either choose the chef's menu or that I was welcome to create my own menu by picking and choosing items off the "regular" menu.

I decided to place myself in the more than able hands of the French Room's Executive Chef ~ Jason Weaver, by selecting his specially designed vegetarian menu. Note ~ always trust the chef, even if you are one!

This is how my menu was written (it had no descriptive wording, just ingredients, which I thought was interesting):

White Asparagus Soup, Mercona Almonds, Orange

Dandelion Greens, Sherry Vinaigrette, Asparagus, Chives, Tomato

Intermezzo

Root Vegetable and Portabella Mushroom Gratin, Herb Oil

Tropical Fruits and Berries, Coconut Syrup, Tropical Sorbet

When I first examined the menu, one thing jumped out at me - "Why am I being served asparagus in two courses - both the soup and the salad?" Instead of questioning our table captain, I decided to again, trust in Chef Weaver's judgement, sit back and see what happened to my palate.

My, oh my, was I NOT disappointed!

My first course, the white asparagus soup, was deeply rich in both taste and creaminess. It was all I could do to give one tiny spoonful to Robert to taste. I savored every drop - it was unbelievably delicious.

My salad course was comprised of micro dandelion greens. They were teeny tiny and therefore exquisitely tender. The tomato was also micro diced into perfect squares (I was jealous of the sous chef's knife skills and the precise execution of the tiny tomato dice!). The green asparagus in the salad did not, in the least bit, conflict with the white asparagus in the soup. It worked! The Sherry vinaigrette was well executed with a perfect balance of sweet and sour. In all, the entire second course proved a crisp and refreshing follow-up to the heaviness and richness of the first course.

The Intermezzo course for everyone in our party was the same ~a small scoop of sorbet served inside a frozen, crystal orchid. Let me attempt to describe it better - imagine an orchid bloom carved out of crystal, and in the center where the stamen would normally be is a perfectly formed, small ball of sorbet. The crystal bloom was freezer chilled, which helped the sorbet from melting before we could eat it. It was a two or three bite portion, which was sufficiently enough to cleanse our palettes before the main course.

My main course was excellent. It was very "earthy" because of the root vegetables (which included one of my favorites ~ parsnips) as well as "meaty" from the use of portabella mushrooms. The herb oil was not prominent, and was the only item included on my menu that was not identifiable.

While everyone else indulged in heavy desserts which included chocolate cake and bread pudding, my ending was light and refreshing. I am not a big lover of sweets, so for me, it was the perfect ending. The tropical fruit was mango (once again the kitchen's knife skills shone in the perfectly diced mango) and the berries were raspberry. A sweet fresh coconut syrup pulled everything together.

At the end of our leisurely evening, we all agreed that we'd probably be talking about this particular night, and the incredible food we experienced, the rest of the year.