The Perfume Dinner

What do you mean, a degustation meal matched to perfume? Sure wine, yes, that's what I would expect, but perfume?

I was intrigued, naturellement, so decided to take the plunge and book in. How could I not, when I started my university career all those years ago as a student of chemistry and French with the ultimate aim of making perfume in Paris!?! Here was the perfect combination - Paris, perfume, and dinner ... and at Laperouse, a fabulous art nouveau restaurant almost at the foot of the Pont Neuf.


The venue

And what does one wear to such a fine establishment and such an interesting sounding event?


The outfit

The designer outfit you bought the week before in Italy of course! (The disadvantage of travelling alone, mind, is that you don't always find the perfect stranger to help you take the glamour shot - the ensemble was marvellous, I felt like a princess!)


The table

I was all dressed up with some place to go - how exciting! And what a great experience it was. I met Chandler Burr, the New York Times perfume critic, on arrival, and within half-a-minute I knew I'd been in for a greatly entertaining evening. And as the other guests started to filter in, it just got better and better ... a beautiful room filled with interesting, articulate people with fascinating stories-careers-lives - how refreshing.

To be honest, and as Chandler reminded us all, it's really not such an odd idea to match food and fragrance ... it is very well known that the majority of our sense of taste relies on our sense of smell, something that wine fanciers know all too well. And a quiet nod to you Blakey, I never saw you start any meal without having a lingering sniff to begin proceedings!

We began the evening with some introductions to base ingredients of perfumes and learnt how the master parfumiers build layers of these ingredients to create their signature scents. It was at this point that I discovered that I'm not a 'nose' at all, the elegant man I was sitting beside, and partnered with, in the table-wide competition to 'guess-the-scent' had it all over me I'm afraid - luckily I had managed to find the correct buddy for the evening!

And the food you ask? Surprisingly enough, there were three fish/seafood courses on the menu - which is not something I would have thought would match well to perfume, but then Bertrand reminded me about ambergris, which has been used for a longtime in perfume manufacture.


Asparagus course - just for me!

However, as I don't eat fish or seafood I got a special menu all to myself, and imagine my delight to see this artistic asparagus arrangement ... just look at that poached egg - don't think the Syama kitchen could manage that! Here's my tip after dining on that dish, asparagus chips work! That fried sliver of my favourite green vegetable added all the texture and the taste you could ask for ...

About halfway through the evening, and after one too many 'olfactory holograms' (Chandler's excellent term) we stepped out in to the Paris night to clear our noses and heads. It was at this point that I told Bertrand that I'd at one time had a dream to come to Paris to make perfume, to which he replied 'well, you have been very lazee...' (god I love a French accent!). It was at this point also that he revealed to me that he was, in fact, a master parfumier (!!! although it was to be kept strictly secret for the 'big reveal' at the end of the evening), and ... not only that - yes, in another startling coincidence - his father had a distinguished career in earth science (the first French pedologist)!

By the end of the night I had a new appreciation for perfume, was highly satisified with myself that I'd picked one of Bertrand's own creations as my favourite (matched to the duckling - sorry Andrew), had eaten very well and had laughed my way through the evening with some lovely people.

The next morning I got up and regaled poor, tired Karin and Ned - who'd been there for the shoe-shopping (last minute lucky find in a recycled boutique tucked away in the Marais) and accessory crises - for far too long with anecdotes from the night before over a breakfast coffee and tartine at their local ...


Les Folies

And believe it or not it was then time to leave my beloved Paris again, but not without a last look at the ...


View from Belleville Hill