It is a little before 8pm in the evening and we are already running a good thirty five minutes late, by the time Benjamin (our editorial liaison) and I arrive, the consulate’s premier maitre d’hotel- Xavier Thibaud is anxiously waiting for us by coat check.
Xavier: Come, we must hurry, Chef Tony is about to serve the first course…
SCV: But you don’t suppose we can have a few glasses of champagne first?
Xavier: Of course, a few bottles, but first we must go upstairs.
We rush past this evenings extremely well appointed patrons and guests savoring Chef Tony’s Foie Gras with onion chutney on toasted brioche, the beef sirloin crostini (why has our lord forsaken us?) and past my very favorite – the marinated salmon with lime on potato chip (although I did steal one later…) in the courtyard adjoining the plush dining room and up to the fifth floor where at this point Chef Tony is standing in front of a whole section of halibut the way a celebrated sea captain stands in front of a sojourn to the Mediterranean ocean.