Inside the beautiful Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania, there’s a 5 star dining experience called Lautrec. Despite the price tag, getting a reservation in Lautrec isn’t easy – we barely managed to get a reservation last minute thanks to the Maître D. (We had been trying to get a reservation from the day the reservation window was open, to no avail.) So how was our most expensive dining experience to date? Let’s see.
What is Lautrec like?
Lautrec is a French inspired restaurant that changes its menu quite frequently. It has won many awards and even though it’s not on the Michelin starred restaurants list, it certainly feels like a Michelin starred restaurant. Inside Lautrec, the décor is very elegant and luxe. It’s romantic and exudes the feel of upscale. During our visit of Lautrec, there is not a set menu. Instead, we were given a card (and an instruction letter) with some pictures of items on it. We were told to choose 10 items that fancied us, and the chef (Chef Butterworth) would create our menu based on 7 of the 10 selections. We were told we can “X” out any ingredient we really didn’t want, which is good since I can’t have cheese. We shared one card, which meant one set of selections, and were given the same dishes throughout the night. I’m not sure if they do the same thing with bigger parties. Since we weren’t given a traditional menu, this meal was called a “Leap of Faith” dinner.
Our Meal
We were given a 6 course meal plus amuse bouche, intermezzo, and mignardise at the end. Every course was innovative and tasty.
Amuse Bouche: Homemade Kombucha with Mixed Berries
Course 1: Beets with Kale Chips
Course 2: cigar made with rice paper and venison tartare. Walnut ash.
This dish was simply amazing. I love any kind of tartare and the walnut ash was so delicious too.
Course 3: Mushroom risotto with truffles
Course 4: half soft shell crab fried in garlic roasted tempura on kimchi sauce
Course 5: local duck breast with sunchoke butter, black cherries and pistachios
Intermezzo: homemade blueberry lemonade soda
Course 6: lemon meringue with blueberries and some other stuff I forget
When I first saw the dessert, I was a little worried because it didn’t look that appetizing to me. But it turned out to be delicious!
Mignardise
Some people may think there wasn’t much food. Where, they round it out with an unlimited candy cart selection. Personally we were fairly satiated but we still chose some candy and cookies to enjoy.
Conclusion:
Coming in to this dinner, I truly thought this was going to be one of those “one and done” experiences. I had high expectations, and I honestly didn’t think those expectations could be met, but they were. This was not a dinner, this was an experience that included dinner. I would absolutely come and dine again if given the opportunity. (And I was! See my next experience at Lautrec in our blog here!)