Lured by an interesting menu, many positive reviews, and -- of course -- the Daniel Boulud name, we were excited to dine at Lumiere.
Notwithstanding the dazzling presentation of every single dish, good taste escaped us. Further, we felt uncomfortable in the stodgy dining room. Service was cold and formal.
Even so, I still want to share these pretty dishes with you. The one positive thing I can say about Lumiere is that the kitchen was staffed with true artists. It was so sad that the flavors didn't match the beauty of the plating.
We chose the five-course summer tasting menu (CAN $115).
Amuse bouche.
Dungeness crab with champagne mango, pickled papaya, piquillo pepper coulis, coriander.
Pan-roasted Qualicum Bay scallops, sweet corn succotash, fried okra.
Polderside Farm duck, poached cherry, Hennessy XO glaze, cardamom duck jus.
Duo of AAA Prime Beef -- red-wine-braised short rib with potato fondant and rosemary soubise, seared rib eye with braised romaine and shallot.
Apricot consommé, almond sable, lemon mousse, thyme ice cream.
Madeleines and petit fours.
It doesn't make sense, right? How could food so gorgeous not be totally awesome?
Mr. Monkey just looked over my shoulder and said, "That place sucked." It seems he is a good predictor of a restaurant's success. Au revoir, Lumiere.
What gorgeous pictures! Too bad it didn't live up to the glory.
ReplyDeleteWe actually passed on this place because I guess I read different reviews than you did. Most weren't glowing.
ReplyDeleteIt looks so pretty and sounds amazing - shame it didn't deliver.
ReplyDeleteYou know my feelings on it's sister restaurant. Disappointing. We only went to Jean George's new restaurant in Vancouver for appetizers but it was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteA shame, a true shame. Though, there's a reason I haven't visited any of Daniel Boulud's places in NYC these past 2 years. I heard the word "overrated" quite a bit...
ReplyDeleteugh really too bad. so pretty.
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