Member’s Champagne Evening

The last night of the year, and every bottle in the room is Champagne.

On the Table

Trout roe, kettle chips, crème fraîche.

Traditional French Gougères

Mushroom duxelles on toast

Chicken liver mousse with cornichons.

A  selection of Jamon, olives, and marcona almonds

Radishes, butter, coarse salt

Cheese Plate featuring aged Comté

Sweets, for the back half of the night.

What to Bring

Champagne, and there’s no wrong answer, but a few of these are pointed at specific bottles.

Blanc de blancs and young non-vintage go straight at the roe and the chips. Salt, cream, chalk:  this is the pairing people write about, and it earns it.

Blanc de noirs wants the ham. Cured pork fat and Pinot-driven Champagne is one of those matches that stops the conversation for a second.

Rosé belongs with the liver mousse, the cornichons doing the cutting.

And if you’ve been holding something with age on it (a vintage bottle, something oxidative, anything gone golden)  the duxelles and the Comté are there for exactly that. Bring it. This is the room for it.

Seats

Two per member.  Bring a partner, a friend, or somebody you’ve been meaning to feed. There aren’t many seats, and this is the one night everybody wants them. This is the sort of thing the membership is for!