I heard the waiter suggest that Daniel prepare a special tasting menu with small portions for her. We've always experienced extremely professional and graceful service as well as exceptional food, starting from our first visit as strangers to both the chef and the restaurant at lunch not too long after the restaurant opened. This night the staff was on their toes as usual, but seemed exceptionally relaxed. The waiters are always prepared to answer questions and discuss the food, or unobtrusively serve the meal making sure your wine glass is never empty and everything is in order, as you prefer. The tiniest of baby greens, little more than sprouts with the taste of beets, garnished the salad of raw tuna and the foie gras was not just a fine terrine, but was embellished with sliced toasted almonds and a dollop of intense puree of fruit or exceptionally sweet roasted tomato.
Nothing is simple here.
The ears, eyes and taste buds are messengers to the soul and intellect. The choice of wine is always a bit more difficult when the menu is a surprise. We asked Jean Luc, Daniel's sommelier, if perhaps he had a better idea of what we would be eating. He advised that most of Daniel's fish and first courses go well with dry crisp Alsatian, Loire and the less oaked California sauvignon blancs. Vouvray is not unknown to us, but too much trouble guessing whether a Vouvray was going to be sweet or dry had long ago stifled my interest in further exploration.