Late last year, we took our friend An for dinner at Jacques Reymond to celebrate his birthday. Jacques Reymond had been on our little group's "must-visit" list for years, but it was news of its imminent closure that spurred us into action. Chef Jacques Reymond left at the end of last year, and the restaurant has since re-opened as Woodland House, with Jacques' chefs Thomas Woods and Hayden McFarland in charge - another new restaurant to add to the list! I feel a bit naughty writing up a restaurant that has already closed (i.e. one that you guys can't visit anymore), but the meal was too good not to tell you about!
Two of us had the regular menu degustation ($185 without wine, $280 with matching wines), and one of us did the vegetarian menu ($140).
I'd actually visited Jacques Reymond once before this occasion - back in 1999, when I was a (very lucky) high school student, and a family friend took us. The menu had changed quite a lot since then (no more à la carte options, and the dishes were much more experimental and eclectic than fifteen years ago), but I certainly remembered these fabulous cheese gougères from my first visit!
Cheese gougères |
The bread was amazing. Throughout the evening, waiters kept coming around with baskets of house-baked bread - white, wholemeal, baby epi...
Bread and butter |
Bacon and cheese bread |
Cafe Latte, Espresso |
Churros |
Have you visited Jacques Reymond or Woodland House? What were your thoughts? Do you like degustations or fancy restaurants for celebrations, or do you prefer simpler meals?
8 comments
Lovely meal! So nice to hear you've had such fond memories at Jacques. Very kind generous of your family friend to take you there and love that you can still remember it now even after all these years =). I've only had 2 degustation dinners (one was at Marque in Sydney and the other at PM24). It's still a little bit out of my comfort zone for me but maybe I should venture out to try more as I'm sure I would really appreciate the hardwork and creativity that they put in each dish
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you had a lovely time. My first visit was a few years ago, and very memorable (I had never had pine mushrooms before!).
ReplyDeleteI went again late last year, on the understanding that vegan and gluten free requirements could be more than accommodated. Unfortunately, this time my experience was less than outstanding. The gluten free bread was extremely ordinary, cold sliced toast - I know from my own baking that it is possible to do much better than this, and I would have expected as much. I ended up feeling very deprived, in many ways, compared with my omnivore dining companion. Such a pity.
Awww, even though we can't visit anymore, it's always good to read up on your thoughts of the place!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have expected any less on Jacques Reymond and glad to see you had a great time there! Love the vegetarian option dish - looks so pretty!
Also the desert looks amazing!
Such an exquisite meal. Was to sad to read Jacques will be moving on but looking forward to seeing what lays ahead in the future!
ReplyDeleteSad that it has closed. I never made it there! Here's hoping that another one isn't too far away though :)
ReplyDeleteSo sad I never got to go. Looks like it was worth a visit for the cheese gougères alone!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sad! I never got to the chance to go to Jacques Reymond and he's already moved on :( everything looks superb and I'd definitely like to try Woodland House and love degustations too!
ReplyDeleteYou're so right - those photos really speak for themselves!
ReplyDeleteI like fancy degustations for super special occasions, but otherwise I'm a big fan of the <$30 per head cheap local!