While Champagne is firmly rooted in France and French traditions, its influence has spread across the globe, making it the drink for celebrations across the world. It’s no surprise that most regional cuisines have their own ideal pairings for Champagne, but we’ve never experienced anything quite like Dom Pérignon’s latest collaboration: ice cream and omakase. For a limited time, Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream in New York City is serving an ice-cream-infused omakase tasting menu with Dom Pérignon pairings.
It’s not just a dinner, it’s an experience, says gourmand and architect Stephanie Goto, who crafted the Second Life menu in collaboration with Nicholas Morgenstern. She looked at two quintessentially French and American delicacies — Champagne and ice cream — through a Japanese lens in order to bring the US and France closer together. The resulting seven-course dinner is nuanced, complex, and unlike anything out there. Each course is inspired by an aspect of Dom Pérignon’s flavors or craftsmanship and is sure to delight and surprise.
The evening begins with a solo tasting of Dom Pérignon’s latest release, the Vintage 2003 Plénitude 2, or P2. While most people are familiar with Dom Pérignon’s vintage Champagnes, which are the first plénitude, the second and third are more rare. The first plénitude usually ages for 7 years, the second for 15 years, and the third for 25 years. Vincent Chaperon, the chef de cave at Dom Pérignon, says the wine receives a second life after aging for so many years, which inspired the name of the menu. The 2003 P2 has notes of citrus and red fruit, alongside minerality, baking spices, and brioche. It’s opulent and perfect for this unique menu.
Following this solo tasting, you are presented with three gelée pyramids inspired by the citrus and salinity of the P2. Each pyramid has an extra flavor inspired by the three countries on the menu, including vanilla, Bergamot, and Japanese tea. Next comes the most Instagrammable course of the night, a caviar-coated ice cream cone. The Dark Harmony course turns traditional dining on its head: It’s dessert as an appetizer and sushi as a dessert. It’s comprised of a Nori ice-cream cone, sushi-rice ice cream, and Ossetra caviar. This trompe l’oeil dish is absolutely incredible, especially when paired with Dom Pérignon Vintage 2010. Another caviar course follows, with kombu-cured fluke topped with Osetra caviar served atop a hand-carved block of ice.
The fourth course speaks to the verticality of Dom Perignon — how its flavor and intensity rise through the years — in an ice-cream riff on the Japanese omelette. Dashi, yuzu gelée and uni are layered with tamago ice cream, a squid ink and black rice tuille, and Ikura salmon roe. By cracking the tuille with your spoon and getting a bit of each layer in every bite, there’s an incredible combination of sweetness and saltiness. Another showstopping course is the sushi take on the all-American burger. Instead of a beef patty, the chefs lightly sear slices of sushi-grade fatty toro. They are placed on a sesame milk bun with kewpie wasabi mayo and served with soy sauce ice cream for dipping. A glass of Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2006 and a side of shoestring ginger “fries” top it off.
A palate-cleansing course of dashi broth over a sphere of ice with herbs and plum precedes an incredible dessert course inspired by Goto’s favorite childhood dessert. A rectangle of Agar gelée encases matcha ice cream with a red-bean ice-cream center. This course reminds Goto and Morgenstern of the concept of something being greater than the sum of its parts. Here, the unique combination of flavors makes a transcendent dish, just like Dom Pérignon creates magic in its Champagne. The omakase menu is available on Tuesday nights at Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream Sundae Bar on Houston Street in New York beginning on July 20th. The Caviar Cone, Toro Burger, and P2 Prism Sundae are available à la carte with pairings and will be available every Tuesday from noon to 10 PM. Both require reservations, which can be made through Resy.
words by Kristen Shirley
