It’s often said that once you know how to cook French food, you can pretty much cook everything else. It’s a bold statement, which holds much truth. It is arguably the backbone to cooking. Master the art and technique of French cooking and you have the foundation to transfer the skills to other cuisines. Globally it is one of the most celebrated cuisines, but in Vancouver it’s under-celebrated.
The tastes of the city tend to gravitate towards Italian, Asian (particularly Japanese), and local cuisine. And as much as I love all of the above, I wish there was more appreciation for French food.
Sure, many cuisines are based on French techniques, since this is what the majority of professional cooking schools teach, but in terms of traditional French restaurants which are French through and through, the city has limited choices.
There are maybe a handful of decent-to-good bistros, and less than that when it comes to French fine dining. Vancouver is not much of a white tablecloth city, but it is still unfortunate that we lack options for it, considering France created “haute cuisine”. That being said, there is one white tablecloth fine dining French restaurant that has withstood the test of time – the one and only Le Crocodile.
For this reason and many more, is why it has been selected as one of two restaurants in Western Canada to celebrate the first-ever Goût de France on Thursday, March 19.
Organized by world-renowned culinary godfather, Alain Ducasse, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Goût de France is a global event celebrating and honouring French gastronomy. Over 1,000 chefs have been selected around the world to host and simultaneously serve French dinners unique to their restaurant on this day.
On this special one-night-only event, chef Michel Jacob of Le Crocodile will prepare a seven-course dinner featuring foie gras crème brûlée, bisque de homard parfumé au Cognac, choucroute au poisson velouté au Noilly Prat, canard confit et filet de veau aux truffes, fromages de France, sorbet poire, and crêpes Suzette.
And to sweeten up the deal (as if it even needs it), the Consulate General of France in Vancouver, Jean-Christophe Fleury, will generously offer exclusive champagne and wines from his personal cellar. He and other official representatives will be in attendance to indulge and toast to Goût de France.
Find out more about Mijune at FollowMeFoodie.com or follow her on Twitter and Instagram @followmefoodie.
Goût de France
When: 7pm, March 19
Where: Restaurant Le Crocodile, 100-909 Burrard (on Smithe)
Cost: $120 per person, set menu all included
Call: To reserve, call 604-669-4298
