I recently helped out my friend, The Senator, with some estate
moving when we came across his parent's collection of old menus.
Two of them caught my eye: the original menu from Le Francais (1973)
& The V.I.P Room at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Senator's family dined on a regular basis at Le Francais
and were big fans of Jean Banchet. However, I was a bit surprised to
come across Banchet's menu from his collaboration with
Arnie Morton's oh-so-swank operation up at the Playboy Club.
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This cover says it all about Banchet in his golden era: a total traditionalist
in every sense of the word.
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An unbelievably classic selection of items. That makes sense figuring the number
of years spent working with French culinary immortals such as Paul Bocuse and
Jean & Pierre Troisgros before starting up Le Francais.
Even as a youngin', visiting Banchet's Le Francais for me was a treat behind words.
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Got to love the material.
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So classic, it borders on funny!