Flo's Foie Gras and More Indulgences Headline Beijing's Newest Dining Week

Gather six top-notch creative restaurants at the top of their game – Niajo, Opera Bombana, Da Dong, The Zen, The Georg, and Maison Flo (formerly Brasserie Flo) – and ask them to create six to eight courses at a reasonable price. What you'll get is Beijing's newest restaurant week: Fresherstyle's Tasteweek, which runs April 25-30.

We were lucky enough to preview Maison Flo's offering for the fest: their six-course foie gras meal, which will be refined by a visit from Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Chambon prior to Tasteweek.

First up, scallops and duck appetizers, an offering from Flo's menu that rotates weekly.

And then on to the main courses: foie gras au torchon, plum and yuzu jelly, served with crispy and sweet brioche and cranberries. “Torchon foie gras is soaked in sake, and after low temperature treatment, it melts in your mouth,” says Assistant Marketing Director Frankie Foo. We found the sour plum quickly opened our tastebuds.

The second course, seared Pacific Ocean scallops, foie gras, smoked duck breast, white asparagus, truffle Hollandaise, was again talked up by Foo, who said “The scallops bring the sweetness, the foie gras brings the texture, and truffle Hollandaise brings the balance.”

Pot au feu of foie gras, turnips, ceps and morel-infused consommé with black truffle flour oil came next. The ingredients were served in a bowl before Executive Sous Chef Andy Choy poured the consommé, bringing the dish together. While doing so, Foo was quick to point out that “Consommé is not a soup – it took hours to make the liquid clear, and six hours to purify.”

The first main course: poached Boston lobster medallion, confit foie gras, sea urchin, mango, and crustacean foam, was delicious and easily my favorite. The umami from the soft Boston lobster mingled with the salty foie gras, and balanced perfectly with the sweet sea urchin from Hokkaido, Japan. Surprisingly the mango was very sour: "We imported them from India, to clean the palate," explained Choy.

Then they served the a tangy Granny Smith apple sherbet with Calvados to clean the palate, again.

The second main course – Australian sirloin, foie gras cromesquis, potato espuma, cep terrine, and Pinot noir sauce, proved that foie gras was certainly the highlight of many of these dishes. Even though Pinot noir sauce and potato espuma went well with the sirloin, the foie gras cromesquis added crispness to the combination, and with a number of complicated layers of flavors, it was quite delicious. Maison FLO was so generous with their portions that, with regret, there was no way that I could finish this course.

It’s hard to picture a dessert that could also include foie gras, but surprisingly, the chopped foie gras matched perfectly with praline in Paris brest, as well as freshness from salted caramel ice cream.

Maison Flo's six-course foie gras meal is RMB 588 (plus 10 percent service charge) during the Tasteweek, which you can book via Fresherstyle's Public WeChat: xinxianjupin, or simply click here. The first 250 customers to book will also receive a box of luxury Cova chocolate for free. Unfortunately, no wine is included in the set menu, so as to make it more affordable.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of Tracy Wang, Fresherstyle