The First Veuve Clicquot Pairing

Veuve Clicquot came to my table in late May 2015, at Brasserie Enfin. Two evenings, the Brut and the Vintage 2008, paired course by course against the bistro work I was already cooking. No press release, no formal launch. A quiet pairing — the Maison's preference, and mine.

Two evenings at Brasserie Enfin, late May 2015. The Brut at the start of the table, the Vintage 2008 through the main and the close. I cooked the bistro work I was already cooking; the Maison’s expressions sat at the centre of each course, never at the side.

The room was a year into the Krug Ambassade work by then, and would carry the Hennessy 250 launch through the early summer that followed. Veuve Clicquot was its own evening, held at its own pace.

The pour

The Brut sat with the entrées — the lighter end of the table, where the cuisine asks for a pour that lifts rather than weighs. The Vintage 2008 carried the main and the closing course, where age and depth had a plate to meet. Two pours, four moments, one continuous evening. That was the architecture the Maison and I agreed on.

The table

Four courses across the two pours. The plates below carry the record.

What it left

The Veuve Clicquot evenings did not announce themselves. They did the work, and the photographs in the Brasserie Enfin archive carry the record.

I was glad they came.