Match of the week

Crab with kombucha

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on October 3 2022 at 09:02

It’s hard to pick out just one pairing from the alcohol-free menu I had at La Dame de Pic in London the other night - the 2 Michelin starred restaurant run by Anne-Sophie Pic. I can honestly say I didn’t miss alcohol during the meal. The pairings, which were devised by head sommelier Elise Merigaud, were perfectly suited to Pic’s light, supremely elegant food.

I’m going for the crab with kombucha because it’s a combination you could replicate if not to her standard. The crab dish was a couple of incredibly fine discs of pastry sandwiching a creamy slightly spicy filling with Vietnamese coriandere and a touch of burnt lemon which was echoed by the refreshingly tart LA Citrus Hop Kombucha.

The great thing is that it’s a product you can easily buy (online from the Suffolk-based producer) for £30 for a case of 12 bottles) I reckon it would go well with other seafood too.

The other combination that stood out was Pic's signature dish of wild seabass and caviar with the Eins Zwei Zero riesling an alcohol-free wine that’s never really appealed to me until now but which worked really well.

Again the dish, which involves a light-as-air blanket of foam, would be way beyond most of us but you could try the drink with other fish dishes (I reckon it would work with smoked salmon). You can buy it in Waitrose for £6.99.

Obviously the meal was not a cheap experience - the menu we were offered was £140 with pairings on top of that but if you didn’t drink and wanted to splash out for a special occasion it would be perfect. (Note that some of the dishes are made with alcohol though you might be able to get the kitchen to tweak them.

I ate at the restaurant as a guest of La Dame de Pic

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