Lobsters 4 Ways with Viré-Clessé.

Dinner this past Saturday, the 5th June 2010, was with Catha and the kids at Ciçou to try out Cyrille's Boston lobsters. It's not often one gets these live in Manila, so I decided (well, ok, my kids wanted some since they hadn't had any since we were last in the US) to try out Cyrille's hand at them.



We got there at around 7ish and I bumped into fellow WSCP member Nelson Uy there with his family - apparently he had the same idea as I did that night as Cyrille mentioned the former also had some lobster. The lobsters range from 1 kilo each more-or-less and one has a choice of 4 preparations: Thermidor, Armoricaine, à la Nage with Cheese Raviolis and Parsley Sauce or with French Beans and Avocado Salad with Raspberry Dressing.



Cyrille serves then good for 2 ways each for 2 persons. I ordered 2 lobsters for all 4 ways so we get to try everything. We also had several other dishes as well.

Cyrille brought this rather large fellow out so we could see him and say "goodbye" before he was "blessed" for our dinner. In the meantime, we enjoyed some of the fresh, home-made bread.



Cyrille serves the best bread in any restaurant I have ever eaten in in Manila. Enough said. We all had an extremely difficult time restraining ourselves from having too much before dinner proper began.



The amuse bouche involved some lightly vinegar-sauced pigs ears or face - I'm not so sure. Reminded me a bit of our own sisig but softer and with a slightly thicker sauce. Then came the appetizers.


Cyrille's current take on Oeuf Cocotte


Our youngest simply had to have his usual Escargots à la Bourguignonne.


Pork Rillettes, a hit with everyone (also great with the Viré-Clessé).


Marinated Filet of Fresh Sardines, Goat Cheese on Warm Farmer’s Bread, which also went fast.

Thereafter, the lobster dishes started hitting the table. Of the preparations depicted below, there were 2 platters each.


Lobster Thermidor


Lobster with French Beans and Avocado Salad with Raspberry Dressing


Lobster Armoricaine


Lobster à la Nage with Cheese Raviolis and Parsley Sauce

They were all delicious, but my 2 favorites were the à la Nage and the salad with raspberry dressing, while Catha favored the Thermidor. The boys killed all the dishes quickly but professed their favorite to be the à la Nage as well. With these delights, we had some...



2003 Domaine Emilian Gillet Viré-Clessé Quintaine - I had texted Cyrille about this wine earlier that day as Catha liked it so much the week before at Jerome Philippon's event at Ciçou. Apparently, Cyrille was out of stock of this but went out of his way to get me a bottle right before Sommelier Selection closed. That was far beyond the call of duty and I really did not expect him to go so much out of his way - but the thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated in any event.

I've written about Viré-Clessé before: a couple of times before:

Viré Clessé is an appellation in the Mâconnais area of Burgundy (south of the Côte de Beaune) which has, lately, been garnering a lot of attention and praise for its reasonably-priced, terroir-driven, mostly organically-made wines. At the forefront of this terroir-ist movement is a group of sixteen winegrowers who call themselves "les Artisans Vignerons de Bourgogne du Sud".

The subject bottle was showing very well, the mildly mineral-laced, buttery, rounded fruit (apple and pear mainly), though showing its vintage ripe-roundness and heft managed to maintain vibrancy and freshness; the oak, though readily apparent, was finely integrated. It's subtle creaminess and balancing acidity made for an especially fine match with the thermidor and à la Nage preparations.

We had under-estimated the size of the lobster dishes and were already pretty full by the time our meat courses arrived, but we somehow muddled through.



This is the Ox-Tongue dish Catha ordered and shared with our youngest, Joaquin. She loved it - so tender and full of delicate, refined flavor she said.



This is the Pork Jowl and Belly dish that Lorenzo got the weekend before, which he unhesitatingly ordered again. So confident did he do so that Mauro and I followed suit and ordered our own dishes of this. The boudin noir atop the potato siding was a nice touch, the pumpkin purée with the pork belly simply divine. I quickly understood why Lorenzo had a repeat performance so soon after the first.



Macarons and Cannelés; always a special treat for me. We also had a dish of Poached Pear with Sorbet again, but forgot to take a photo of it this time, so below is a file photo from last week.





With a cup of espresso, and, later a bit of complimentary Calvados, my weekend was made.



Thanks a lot, Cyrille. Great dinner.

Lovely post, great lobster dishes all round and seems beautifully prepared!
With no real experience of sardines, I have to wonder about a possible wine/food match?
(Noel, as an aside, smoked mackerel could be a real challenge too. Do the restaurants you frequent smoke many dishes en-site?).

With no real experience of sardines, I have to wonder about a possible wine/food match?

For starters, Vinho Verde, Albariño or a Fino or Manzanilla Sherry. But depending on the dish/sauce etc you can tie them into a lot of other wines.

Thanks Rahsaan on the east coast, you up pretty late!!

[David M. Bueker]

Another extremely interesting and mouthwatering post Noel. Thanks.

As a native New Englander I do struggle a bit with some of hthe more elaborate lobster preparations. Personally either a little lemon or some clarified butter is all I need. Ok, perhaps a glass (or bottle) of Champagne as well. I sadly have no photos, but my best ever lobster experience was eating them outside, on the lawn of a bed and breakfast in coastal New Hampshire. We cracked the claws with rocks and washed down the lobster meat (drizzled with lemon) with '83 Salon.

Another extremely interesting and mouthwatering post Noel. Thanks.

As a native New Englander I do struggle a bit with some of hthe more elaborate lobster preparations. Personally either a little lemon or some clarified butter is all I need. Ok, perhaps a glass (or bottle) of Champagne as well. I sadly have no photos, but my best ever lobster experience was eating them outside, on the lawn of a bed and breakfast in coastal New Hampshire. We cracked the claws with rocks and washed down the lobster meat (drizzled with lemon) with '83 Salon.

Here I find myself agreeing with you once again. I like to leave lobster alone as much as possible when I prepare it. Simple is best. Butter and lemon. I have prepared two of the above dishes in restaurants as well as another half-dozen lobster "preparations". None of them improve the lobster. (I don't completely agree with you - I don't like bed & breakfasts).

[David M. Bueker]

I prefer a backcountry lodge (hike-in preferred) myself, but when in Rome...

Nice notes and pictures (good looking family AND food!)

I like Thevenet's Macon-Vire, Vire-Clesse, etc but the wines tend to be so ripe/tropical (and sometimes botrytised!) that I have trouble matching, sounds like the rich lobster preps went well.

I'm also in the camp of simple lobster preps, but last couple years there's been such a glut we've eaten enough to want to change it up sometimes. In summer we like to do the Boyce lobster/tomato salad at bottom of this page
(http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniont ... ttman.html)

and in winter butter poached lobster a la T. Keller. I just try to convince Betsy not to do the whole Keller bit (pommes maxin, beet sauce, etc). I'll never forget the first time she did - I think we finally ate at 10 PM, and I spend 2 hours cleaning up from dinner for 2.

Lovely post, great lobster dishes all round and seems beautifully prepared!
With no real experience of sardines, I have to wonder about a possible wine/food match?
(Noel, as an aside, smoked mackerel could be a real challenge too. Do the restaurants you frequent smoke many dishes en-site?).

Rahsaan already gave excellent pairing suggestions, and I echo them. As regards restaurants I go to here smoking en-situ, I really wouldn't know, Bob. I never thought to ask.

Another extremely interesting and mouthwatering post Noel. Thanks.

Most welcome, David.

As a native New Englander I do struggle a bit with some of hthe more elaborate lobster preparations. Personally either a little lemon or some clarified butter is all I need. Ok, perhaps a glass (or bottle) of Champagne as well. I sadly have no photos, but my best ever lobster experience was eating them outside, on the lawn of a bed and breakfast in coastal New Hampshire. We cracked the claws with rocks and washed down the lobster meat (drizzled with lemon) with '83 Salon.

Here I find myself agreeing with you once again. I like to leave lobster alone as much as possible when I prepare it. Simple is best. Butter and lemon. I have prepared two of the above dishes in restaurants as well as another half-dozen lobster "preparations". None of them improve the lobster.

When we are in the US and live lobsters are available to buy and bring home, we just boil them or steam them and have them with simple lemon and butter. This simple way is, of course, great, plus they come out quite cheap so we buy and go through a lot of them. That said, it is also nice to have them in different ways. No need to choose simple vs other preparations when one can have both.

Nice notes and pictures (good looking family AND food!)

I like Thevenet's Macon-Vire, Vire-Clesse, etc but the wines tend to be so ripe/tropical (and sometimes botrytised!) that I have trouble matching, sounds like the rich lobster preps went well.

I'm also in the camp of simple lobster preps, but last couple years there's been such a glut we've eaten enough to want to change it up sometimes. In summer we like to do the Boyce lobster/tomato salad at bottom of this page
(http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniont ... ttman.html)

and in winter butter poached lobster a la T. Keller. I just try to convince Betsy not to do the whole Keller bit (pommes maxin, beet sauce, etc). I'll never forget the first time she did - I think we finally ate at 10 PM, and I spend 2 hours cleaning up from dinner for 2.

Thanks, Dale. Fully agree with you that it is nice to "change it up" once in a while.

As I mentioned, when we are in the US and there are live lobsters available to buy and cook at home, we prepare them simply. If I do it too often in one trip, though, I see the "enthusiasm" steadily wane - even that of the children - in that there tend to be more leftovers each time the dish is served.

Best to all,

N