For this year’s single ingredient campaign, the French luxury champagne house Krug has chosen something as tart as it is versatile: the lemon.
Since 2015, the house of Krug Champagne has showcased its individuality and craftsmanship with its single ingredient campaign. Each year, it selects one item – often a common household staple, a nod to ingredients with humble origins (previous contenders have included the rice and onion) – as a centerpiece that is then featured in recipes by Krug Ambassade Chefs. To celebrate this year’s ingredient, Krug hosted five-course rooftop dinners under the creative direction of Chef Brian VanderGast at The Ned NoMad, a 5-star hotel (and exclusive private members’ club) throughout the month of June for $500 per person.
Menu for the five-course dinner fare
Guests settling in before the start of dinner service
Upon entering the beaux-arts hotel foyer, personnel escorted guests up to a private, secluded area past the Ned-members-only rooftop seating area. The display was almost reminiscent of Italy, as if a slice of the Amalfi Coast had been imported into New York. To the left, guests could find a neon golden yellow sign with “Krug x Lemon” written in cursive. Below the sign were wooden crates stacked on top of each other, overflowing with lemons and other members of the citrus family to give the illusion of a plentiful farmer’s fall harvest. Bottles of Krug Grande Cruvée and Krug Rosé also rested leisurely on top of the fruits — and behind this, guests could take in sweeping views of the Empire State Building. In the center, guests settled into an elaborately decorated, intimate 14-person table, resplendent with plates of citruses and menus tucked away in square, lemon-themed holders. As they arrived, wait staff greeted them with flutes of Grande Cuvée 171ème alongside a caviar, lemon crème fraiche, and potato mille-feuille amuse-bouche.
The fresh aroma of lemons permeated the air, leaving little to the imagination for what ingredients would be included in the five-course meal to come (featuring a rotating selection of three lemons: Sorrento, Meyer, and Lisbon). As each type of champagne has a distinct personality, The Ned NoMad’s chef Brian VanderGast carefully curated each dish to complement its pairing.
For the first course, guests entertained the latest edition of Krug’s Grande Cuvée (171ème, a blend of 131 wines dating from 2000-2015) with a Long Island fluke crudo. Tender and opaque slices of fluke, skillfully dressed up with finely chopped Lisbon lemon, golden beet, and cucumber, rested under a garnish of fragrant basil.
Transitioning to the second course, guests indulged in a fried squash blossom stuffed with ricotta. For the squash blossom, with its perfectly crunchy exterior and rich and fluffy mousse-like interior, only a toastier version of the Grande Cuvée seemed appropriate. This was manifested in an older version, the 169ème edition (a comparable flavor palette nonetheless, with nutty notes of almond and light caresses of gingerbread).
Finally, to conclude the savory portion of the dinner service, the Krug Rosé 27ème edition came into the spotlight, married to a succulent, medium-rare, pan-roasted lamb saddle bathing in a pool of its own juices and a green sauce derived from Sorrento lemon, fava bean and topped with fresh mint leaves and market peas.
The cherry (or lemon) on top was a creation from pastry chef Sharon Vanegas: a lemon-shaped dessert, which even came with the dotted texture of a lemon rind (the attention to detail did not go unnoticed), enrobed in a white chocolate shell that revealed a gush of crimson upon being cracked into. Designed to be savored without its bubbly companion, guests delighted in a whirlwind of textures (creaminess from the cheesecake and the crunch from the biscuit) centered around the union of a Sorrento lemon zest and decadent raspberry rosé filling.
Neon display of “Krug x Lemon” at night
As guests sipped their champagne and conversations became livelier, the neon display glowed brighter and the reflection of the Empire State Building twinkled in the mirror. The evening descended into night, inviting guests to bid farewell to their newly formed connections and to depart with their +1 on one arm and a goody bag in the other. As was only fitting, the goody bag contained a lemon juicer, a copy of Krug’s lemon-centric cookbook, and a watercolor postcard allowing guests to fondly remember this one-of-a-kind summer night, an occasion as unique as Krug itself.
To learn more about Krug x Lemon, please visit https://www.krug.com/krug-x-lemon. Its cookbook featuring 100+ lemon-inspired recipes, titled “The Zest is Yet to Come”, is also available in Krug Ambassades and selected e-retailers.
