Come blend cuvées and cuisine, and experiment with flavours and colours; call all your senses to action, and express your individuality! This is the enticing proposal Taittinger is making to visitors as it prepares to open its very own restaurant – a concept unlike any other, perched atop the House’s magnificent chalk-walled cellars. Polychrome is the only place in the world where guests can explore the entire Taittinger range while simultaneously indulging in a culinary experience whose entire raison d’être is to showcase the qualities of champagne.
Polychrome…a rather unusual name for a rather exceptional restaurant, which every year will welcome a new chef-in-residence. Vitalie Taittinger has spent the past two years working alongside the teams in order to define the concept, surrounding herself with renowned experts in the craft such as culinary designer Germain Bourré and chef Charles Coulombeau. Winner of the Taittinger International Signature Culinary Prize in 2020, and currently at the helm of La Maison dans le Parc in Nancy (1 star) and Yozora in Metz (1 star), Coulombeau will become the first chef to take part in the Polychrome adventure. “For me, this is a refreshing exercise in humility: for once, the dishes are there to complement the wine, and not the other way around.”
Bathed in natural light, the space can host up to 40 diners and is designed in the new peristyle of the Saint-Nicaise facility in Reims, opening onto a garden shaded by trees. The décor is a celebration of pastel colours, accentuating the contents of both plate and bottle.
The intention is to show that champagne is not just a wine for celebration, but also the perfect companion to fine dining – in the sense that it can be paired with any course, enhancing the flavours and sensory pleasure, and enriching the culinary experience.
The concept: “What really sets us apart,” explains Vitalie Taittinger, “is the palette we use to compose our wines. Every cuvée tells its own story through its blend of vintages, years, grape varieties and colours. Polychrome is a blending workshop, where the guest is at the heart of the creative process and where their partner, champagne, is king.”
The restaurant’s name evokes the world of art, to which the Taittinger House remains deeply attached. “Polychrome is a peculiar word that one doesn’t necessarily associate with intuitive cuisine, but here it takes on a whole new meaning:it is the blend of each single colour that makes up the dish, with each one being monochrome. Over the course of the seasons, the colours will shift and change,” explains Charles Coulombeau.
How it works: at their table, each guest has a colour palette from which they can choose their menu (of three or four courses) and their cuvées (from a selection of around ten wines). The dishes are centred around a clearly identifiable ingredient. On the side, another colour palette of condiments provides the variation of flavours, acting as a bridge between the dishes and the wines.
The goal is for each guest to test different combinations, to play with their food (so to speak!), and to allow their desires and emotions to guide them.
“To invite a person to your house is to take charge of their happiness as long as they be beneath your roof.”* Vitalie Taittinger couldn’t agree more, describing champagne as the “most perfect catalyst for happiness.” Alongside exploring the cellars and their history, wine tasting workshops, the private lounge and the Chromatique concept store, the Polychrome restaurant and bar ensure that the Taittinger House is able to embody this promise in every respect.
*Brillat-Savarin, in The Psychology of Taste (1826)
