Truffles, Truffles, Truffles

Tuesday November 3rd ,2020, through Saturday, December 12th, 2020
Our Truffle Season has started. White Truffles from Alba, Italy and Black Truffles from Burgundy. Featuring two truffle tasting menus in addition to a la carte truffle selections.
Truffle Wine Dinner with Rosenthal Wine Merchants featuring wines of the Burgundy, The Loire Valley & The Rhône Valley, France as well as wines from Northern Italy Thursday November 5, 2020.
For details go to www.chezfrancois.com • For Reservations call 440-967-0630
First Course
Duo of Eggs & Truffles, Truffle Cappuccino
Ohio Proud Scrambled eggs cooked with truffle butter, garnished with black truffles and truffle oil, and a Cappuccino of purée of fall wild mushrooms and black “Burgundy” truffles, truffle foam.
Cremant de Bourgogne Rose “N˚ 69”, JCB, Burgundy, France, NV
Second Course
Maine Diver Sea Scallop En Croûte, Black Truffle Butter
A Maine diver sea scallop served in its natural shell, filled with sliced truffles and truffle butter, wrapped in puff pastry.
Chablis 1er “Les Sechets”, Jean & Sebastian Dauvissat, Burgundy, France, 2015
Third Course
Soufflé au Fromage, Black Truffle and Quail Egg
A blend of Ubriaco and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, oven baked in a ramekin and topped with a poached quail egg and freshly shaved black truffles.
Condrieu “La Côte Chatillon”, Xavier Gerard, Northern Rhône Valley, France 2015
Fourth Course
Puglia Tagliatelle, “Alba” White Truffles
Freshly shaved White Truffles served over Puglia tagliatelle with truffle butter and fine herbs.
Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er “Cru Les Peuillets”, Lucien Jacob, Burgundy, France, 2013
Fifth Course
Char-Grilled Farmed Raised Coturnix Quail, Black “Burgundy” Truffle Butter Sauce
Char-grilled quail filled with a quail and truffle forcemeat, serve with a chestnut mousseline, finished with Black “Burgundy” truffle butter sauce.
Or
Seasonal Wild Mushroom, Truffles & Foie Gras, en Croûte
Wild mushroom and truffle consommé, with Foie Gras, duck confit and Black “Burgundy” Truffles topped with puff pastry.
St Joseph “Cavanos” Vielles Vignes, Cuilleron, Northern Rhône Valley, France, 2016
Sixth Course
Roast Tenderloin of Veal, Sauce Périgueux
Tenderloin of Wisconsin Veal, served over a delicata squash filled with white and black truffle risotto finished with wild mushrooms and a truffle reduction sauce.
Or
Grilled Ora King Salmon Filet, Wild Mushroom, Truffle Butter Sauce
Char-grilled New Zealand King Salmon served over baby bok choy, seasonal wild mushrooms, finished with truffle butter sauce.
Barbaresco “Riserva Cichin”, Ada Nada , Piedmont, Italy, 2013
Seventh Course
White Truffle Ice Cream, Truffle Honey & Seasonal Berries
French vanilla bean ice cream with Alba White Truffles, Truffle honey, almond tuile and seasonal berries.
Coteaux du Layon 1er “Cru Chaume”, Château Soucherie, Loire Valley, France, 2014
$200 per guest
Tax & Gratuity not included
*$75.00 per person supplemental charge for a 2.5oz. pour of the above dinner wines and 2oz. pour of the dessert wine.
Truffles 101
For the past nineteen years we have featured truffles on our menu, culminating in our annual Truffle Dinner in late November. This year is no exception as we look forward to the fall truffle season.
Truffles have fascinated people for thousands of years. Their attraction is a tantalizing taste and aroma which, once experienced, is never forgotten. The taste and aroma of commercially-collected truffles is so intense that they are used as a flavoring instead of a separate dish.
The “White Truffle” grows spontaneously in the rich clay soil of the hilly region of the Monferrato in northern Italy. The “Tartufo Bianco” (white truffle) is the most coveted of the underground mushrooms and is often referred to as “The White Diamonds of Piedmont.” It is the crème de la crème of the underground tubers, more delicate and prized than the “Black Truffle.” Currently, a pound of “Black Truffles” fetches $500 to $850 and “White Truffles” between $2,000 to $2,800 per pound, making truffles one the most expensive food items in the world. The name “truffle” has been borrowed to describe small, fancy chocolate candies, another expensive and delicious food. Real “Black Truffles” are roundish, brown, and dirty when they come out of the ground. They are the fruit of the truffle organism, like apples are the fruit of an apple tree.
Truffles, which vary from the size of a nut to an egg, are finicky mushrooms that grow only in loose, humid, sun-soaked soil, particularly beneath elm and oak trees. The harvest season for “Black Truffles” runs from November to the beginning of March, and the season for “White Truffles” from October to the end of December.
So, what exactly does one do with truffles? They are meant to be served uncooked, because as their scent is powerful, their flavor is delicate. They mostly wind up shaved as ambrosial toppings for salad, pasta or risotto. They are also used to infuse oils and butter to compliment the shaved truffle toppings.