Friday was an unusual evening at The Tower Club in downtown Dallas. The clubby dining room was turned into legendary New York restaurant Le Cirque for one evening. Guests dined on a five-course prix-fixe menu with choices from the original Le Cirque restaurant in New York City. Wines were selected by Marchesi Antinori and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte. Dallas was one of just one of the ten cities ClubCorp chose to stage a pop-up Le Cirque.
Jump for photos, video, and a recap of the night.
In order to ensure the authenticity of the evening, dining room manager Lisa Neel explained that Le Cirque’s executive chef, Olivier Reginensi, had arrived earlier in the week and spent two days preparing the meal. Le Cirque director Marco Maccioni was also in attendance and oversaw the whole production. Le Cirque also shipped their signature plates and vases down from New York City (the orange orchids were locally sourced). I had a chance to speak to Maccioni before service started. We chatted about such things as preparing classic French food in a restaurant with an Italian owner (legendary Sirio Maccioni) and expanding locations of Le Cirque as far afield as New Delhi, India.
Regulars at Le Cirque will recognize many of the dishes below as menu favorites there.