I think his philosophy is that one dish should inspire another. Next we had a demonstration of the main starter. What impressed the keen amateur cooks among us was the detailed mis en place - every ingredient immaculately prepared and set out in suitable sized containers. The result was an ultra fresh salad of Scottish lobster with a lime and mango fondue. Canard a la presse , using a huge silver duck press similar to the one used by Escoffier which reposes in John Williams' office.
Most people have the idea that a duck press creates a sort of pressed terrine of duck.
The carcasses are roughly chopped and put into the press and the screw handle is turned crushing the remains and producing the clearest essence of duck with a quack factor of 10 out of 10. The sauce is made from a reduction of a couple of bottles of red wine, almost down to a syrup, the quack quack juice, a dash of port, some green peppercorns and, wait for it, a plentiful amount of finely sliced fresh black truffles which were first subjected to a quality control test tasting by the assembled company. Then, after this remarkable demonstration, and with equally remarkable alacrity, the plates of duck breast reappeared to be drenched with this amazing sauce, garnished with very pretty vegetable creations, too detailed and intricate to begin to describe. The legs come out later, all crispy of skin, as a second helping - deuxieme service it's called in such elevated establishments. We ended with a refreshing assemblage of melon and wild strawberries decorating a vanilla bavarois dressed with cinnamon spiced wine sauce.