Wednesday, May 29, 2013.
Dinner With My Favorite Belgian At Chateau Du Lac.
A number of local charities have been able to make fundraising hay by selling my presence at dinner in their auctions. Yes, that doesn't sound like much value for the donors to me, either. But they sometimes bring in thousands of dollars from this offering, which is more than I could afford to give on my own. All I have to do is show up for dinner and be myself.
A successful bidder collected on such a purchase tonight at Chateau Du Lac. Patrick Von Hoorebeck is one of the most colorful figures in the New Orleans restaurant business. Most of us got to know him during his two decades at the Bistro at the Maison De Ville Hotel, where he managed the front of the house and the wine cellar. More recently, he has served as King For Life of the Krewe Of Cork, a Mardi Gras-style marching club that appears every year during the Wine and Food Experience's Royal Street Stroll. He's also the owner of the perfectly-named Bar Vin in the Hotel Mazarin on Bienville Street. He is a native of Brussels. Mary Ann and I went there on our honeymoon. Patrick and I often talk about the wonderful food of Belgium.
We picked the right night. A blind French accordionist--who for many years was the accompanist to French chanteuse Edith Piaf--plays every Wednesday night. For hours, never taking a break or missing a note, and making the restaurant seem like it's in the Rue Rivoli, not Metairie Road.
Patrick brought five friends. I forgot to ask whether I could write about them here, so I will just say (truthfully) that we had a marvelous evening of Chef Jacques Seleun's Brittany-inflected food (as occurs here every night), scintillating company, and unexpectedly superb wine.
Let's get to that last item first. One of the guests had a bottle he bought at another charity auction. He couldn't exactly remember how much he paid for it, because wine is not one of his main pursuits. He thought it had been around $150.
He handed the bottle in a bag to Patrick for his expert ministrations. When Patrick removed the bag, he and I let loose an audible gasp. In harmony. Our guest had brought a 1975 Chateau Haut Brion. In a restaurant, this might be in four figures. It was in perfect condition. Its cork broke only because Patrick couldn't talk the waiter into letting his deft hands take care of that job. The wine was a little past peak, but that peak is so high that one takes deep breaths.
We began with a basket of the buttery, hollow, cloud-light choux bread that Chef Jacques brings out at the beginnings of meals. That was followed by a thick asparagus soup. I noted that I'd had nearly the same thing yesterday, but cold. Everyone said, "Huh."
Then a savory pastry surmounted by a generous slab of foie gras, with which we had the first tastes of the Haut-Brion. The wine kept our attention through a pair of nice, thick lamb chops sharpened with a mustard crust. The accordionist kept playing. The evening couldn't have been better without our being in Paris. Patrick and I kept the jokes going, and our friends discovered the usual assortment of connections they didn't know they had.
Dessert was an outrageously wonderful strawberry tart, much to big for anyone in his right mind to finish, but one so good it drove you crazy and made you finish it.
This restaurant is much too good not to be packed every night, with a bunch of people waiting at the bar.
Chateau Du Lac. Old Metairie: 2037 Metairie Rd. 504-831-3773.
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