The real story here isn't who's cooking—it's how the drinks list is structured. At Les Tables par Réel in Taipei on September 12, the six-course tasting menu doesn't save Tesseron Cognac for the after-dinner slot. It runs through the entire meal, starting with a foie gras custard paired with Composition Cognac, and closing out with a Cognac baba cake. The centerpiece main course, Angus filet, comes served alongside both the Château Pontet-Canet 2002 and 2017 vintages, giving diners a rare chance to compare the same classified Bordeaux estate across a fifteen-year gap in one sitting.
Helming the kitchen are Chef Louis from Singapore's Les Ducs and Chef Raven from Taipei's Les Tables par Réel, marking their first-ever four-hands collaboration. The menu's pacing is deliberate: a chickpea crisp with Sturia caviar opens things up, followed by seared prawns, a 24-month aged Comté cheese soufflé, and a chicken and wild mushroom vol-au-vent building layer by layer. The main course is where the vertical tasting takes center stage, and dessert brings things full circle by closing with Cognac once again.
