09/12/2026
From my trip last week, dinner at Gauthier Soho was the most interesting meal I had — the vegan Grand Dîner with the non-alcoholic pairing, which honestly may have been the most fun part. There was no way I could get through that much wine, so non-alcoholic it was.
This started with canapés and a feuilletée de brioche, then kohlrabi with cucumber ajo blanco, broad beans and curry leaf, paired with a house chamomile kombucha: still, fermented for five days, and very clearly chamomile.
Next was the Golden Crêpe Vonassienne with beurre blanc and vegan “caviar,” paired with sparkling hojicha and a touch of maple. Woody, nutty, earthy, roasted — really unusual and really good.
The lacto tomato tortellini came with clear tomato brodo and lemon verbena, paired with cherry granita, cucumber, fennel and tarragon water. It started very cucumber-forward, then got sweeter and more cherry-forward as the ice melted.
The courgette flower tempura was stuffed with house ricotta and paired with their non-alcoholic vermouth — mostly cherry and citrus to me, with vanilla and a lot of clove on the nose, plus a pleasant bitter finish from the wormwood.
Then Scottish girolles with crispy polenta and Roscoff onion, paired with the one I was slightly afraid of: lapsang souchong smoked with mushroom, verjus and juniper. It smelled weirdly like Thanksgiving gravy 😂 but mostly tasted like tea, and I have to applaud the person who came up with it. Also: mushrooms I did not hate, which is saying something. Didn’t finish, but didn’t hate.
Dessert included peach & hibiscus, then the squash tart with vanilla gelato, paired with a carrot drink made from clarified carrot juice, roasted carrot-peel syrup and carrot-top oil. Mildly sweet, vegetal, and much more elegant than “carrot drink” has any right to be.
And finally, little sweets: a fruit gel and macaron.
This was such a creative dinner — not just “good vegan food,” but thoughtful, playful food where the pairings genuinely changed how I tasted the dishes.
