The food and service in Pichet jump out at you like the Kapow!!! in a graphic novel.
The atmosphere in the room, even on a Monday evening, is explosive. By the time we get to Saturday, Pichet must be getting close to riotous.
Everyone plays their part in this graphic world. The Dietrich-smart French server with her impeccable politesse, the loveable young manager with the big hair and savvy style. The raucous cast of diners who clearly adore the place, returning often to eat the signature crispy hen's egg. And, of course, the super hero management line-up – Nick Munier even has the Clark Kent glasses. This is a restaurant as Marvel might have drawn it. The restaurant from the planet Krypton.
As well as all this, Stephen Gibson’s cooking jumps outatcha: this is extra-dimension food. The Monday night I was there we both had the sauté rabbit shoulder with mushroom tortellini, sprouts, bacon and baby onions, and it was as memorable a dish as I will eat all year. The tortellini was surprisingly soft, the sprout leaves crunchy, the rabbit meaty. Great bistro food, and then some. Food that is as much about texture as it is about looks and about taste.
Having the rabbit on my first dinner at Pichet was almost a neglect of my food writing responsibilities. Most people have to start with the crispy hen’s egg, Serrano ham, baby leeks and caper vinaigrette. But the trouble starts then, because they can’t, then, have anything BUT the crispy hen’s egg. So perhaps it was good that I start with another dish.
How does a restaurant like Pichet arrive fully formed in a city like Dublin? It has such style, such form - such confidence. They are so brand aware they even stamp their bourbon biscuits with little sans serif capitals marking out their name. They have a “merchandising cabinet”, as well as great food and service.
The truth is that this sagacious assembling of a food offer comes with experience and then more experience. Talk to Denise Munier for a few minutes and you see a world of knowledge learned at the kitchens of the greats, like Chapter One and, of course, L’Ecrivain.
So, long live the graphic narrative that powers this place, and its Kryptonite power. Next time I’ll have the hen’s egg.
Sally McKenna blogs at www.lifeskills.ie @BridgestoneEd
