A Burgundy Paulée
with the Albany Chapter of the Chevaliers du Tastevin,
at Le Canard Enchaîné, Kingston, NY, 10/1/2017



This was a Paulée of the Albany-Capital Region chapter of La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. Thus, everyone brought their own wines, nominally one bottle per person. The hosts for this dinner were Larry and Margie Kirsch.

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The dinner was held at Le Canard Enchaîné, 276 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401. The food was authentic and delicious French cuisine. Our group took over the entire restaurant for the evening. The owner and executive chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat is from Chamonix in the French Alps. The food is classic French bistro. There is more about Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat and the restaurant name at the bottom of this page.

The entrance:


Before Dinner

Amy chats with Howie:

Adrian chats with Jared:


Dinner

We sat down to dinner at around 5pm and finished eating at a little after 8pm. The wines came fast and furious during the dinner, with generous fellow Chevaliers coming to our table to share their wines and me roaming about with my bottle. Hence, my notes are often simple and sketchy. Also, my notes are only loosely grouped around the courses.

Amy and I sat with John & Linda Fritze and Larry & Jean Teal. We brought the 2002 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos and the 2004 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes.

At every dinner, we have a cover for the menu with French art work. This one is a bit risqué.

The ladies check the menu:

Course One
Hudson Valley Foie Gras Seared over Brioche. Delicious!

Course Two
Seafood Cassolette in Saffron Sauce with Petit Legumes. This was amazing, ethereal. A real showstopper.

Course Three
Confit of Duck Salad in a Cranberry Dressing. Quite tasty.

Course Four
New Zealand Rack of Lamb in Merlot Balsamic Reduction. So rich and delicious. Superb lamb.

Cheese Course


Jared kindly brought over the 2005 Remoissenet Clos St. Denis:

Paul brought the 2000 Claude Dugat and was rewarded with a flash in the eyes:


Announcements

Grand Sénéchal Joel announces Howie's elevation from Chevalier to Commandeur:

Howie accepts the honor:

Joel announces that Larry will replace him as Grand Sénéchal in 2018 and Larry accepts:

Recognizing the Chef and his Staff

Grand Sénéchal Joel gives Owner & Executive Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat a memento of our visit. Jean-Jacques then introduces his staff:

And now we do the La La song:

Zoltan chats with the chef:


Auction of the Orphans

After dinner, there was an "Auction of the Orphans" at which L’Intendent des Cave George Weissman presided over a silent auction of more than 30 bottles of Burgundy from the cellar of the Sous-Commanderie. These were the leftovers from past dinners at which less than a full case of each of the wines was served. All proceeds from the auction — our first in 3 years — went into the coffers of our chapter for purchasing wine for future dinners. Here are some of the bottles up for auction:


Dessert
Flourless Chocolate Cake:


Conclusion

Another wonderful evening of camaraderie, great food, and terrific wines.

Notes posted from CellarTracker.


More about Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat

Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat has worked at Gaston Lenôtre and Fauchon in Paris, Le Richmond in Geneva, Le Mirabelle in London, and the Ritz Carlton in Portugal. He and his wife Jennifer founded Le Canard Enchaîné in 1996. Additionally, Jean-Jacques operates a wholesale French bakery called French Kiss Bakery.

Here is an article about Jean-Jacques in Hudson Valley Magazine.

Here is a video of Owner & Executive Chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat:


And here he is making a Tarte Tatin:



About the name "Le Canard Enchaîné"

Le Canard Enchaîné is a French satirical weekly newspaper based in Paris. According to Wikipedia, it was "Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons. Le Canard Enchaîné does not accept any advertisements and is privately owned, mostly by its own employees."

Note that "Le Canard Enchaîné" can be translated literally into English as "The Chained Duck" but here it is better translated as "The Chained Paper" since "canard" is French slang for "newspaper".

I include all this in part to explain why I am posting these photos from their men's room.
Note the Le Canard Enchaîné magazine covers on the walls:

 

 


All original content © Ken Vastola