Journal

Notes from the Kitchen

Seasons, ingredients, and the thinking behind the food

Fresh spring herbs and seasonal produce arriving at Maison Dorval — the beginning of the spring menu
Seasonal Menu

The Language of Spring: Writing the March Menu

The first asparagus of the year arrive at Rungis from the Vendée on the twenty-first of March with a reliability that rivals the equinox itself. This is how Chef Dorval approaches the transition from winter into spring — and why the menu is never written until the boxes have been opened.

The first asparagus of the year arrive at Rungis from the Vendée on the twenty-first of March with a reliability that rivals the equinox itself.

Chef Dorval has been opening those boxes for fifteen years. He does not premeditate what he will find inside; he responds to it. A particularly thick stalk requires a different treatment than a slender one. An unusual earliness in the season suggests the cooking will be lighter, shorter, more raw-edged than winter.

"I could write the spring menu in February," he says, not unpleasantly. "I choose not to. The whole point is that the menu is a document of this week, not a projection of what spring is supposed to look like."

6 min read

More from the Journal

Crystal wine glasses at Maison Dorval — Head Sommelier Isabelle Moreau curates each pour
Team

A Conversation with Isabelle Moreau: On Wine and Instinct

Isabelle Moreau joined Maison Dorval in 2012 as Head Sommelier. In this conversation, she talks about the principle of restraint in wine pairing, why she distrusts pairings she finds "too clever," and how she thinks about a table's pace from first glass to last.

Isabelle Moreau joined Maison Dorval in 2012, drawn — she says — by the rare quality of a kitchen that genuinely wanted the wines to be as interesting as the food.

"A lot of kitchens tolerate their wine list," she says. "Étienne wanted to build something where the cave was as seriously considered as the menu. That was unusual."

8 min read

A winter dish at Maison Dorval featuring Périgord black truffle — the peak of the season
Ingredients

Truffle Season: A Chef's Notes on Winter Luxury

Every January, Chef Dorval travels to the Périgord Noir to spend a week with Jean-Pierre Lafon, whose truffle oak groves were planted by his father in 1958. This is what he found this year — and what that means for the winter menu.

Truffe noire du Périgord. Tuber melanosporum. The black diamond of the French kitchen.

Every January, Étienne Dorval makes the same journey south. He leaves Paris on a Monday morning, arrives at Jean-Pierre Lafon's farm outside Sarlat by lunchtime, and spends the rest of the week walking the oak groves, attending the Sorges truffle market at dawn, and eating simply — eggs, cheese, bread — in the evenings.

5 min read

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