Friday, November 22, 6:30 p.m.*
Members $75, guests $100
*Please note special time. The tasting starts promptly. There is no reception.

When the beloved Brasserie reopened in 2000 after an almost five-year hiatus, all the talk was about the design. It was cool and creative, and it earned the architects Diller+Scofidio a James Beard Foundation Restaurant Design Award, among many others. But now that everyone is used to dining inside a molded-pearwood den outfitted with instantaneous digital photographic equipment and other high-tech touches, people are able to concentrate on Luc Dimnet's modern French menu. In truth, it's not a brasserie at all, but a sophisticated restaurant in an achingly urban setting.

Dimnet came to Brasserie from Les Célébrités, where he was first sous-chef to Christian Delouvrier and later executive chef. A native of Strasbourg, whence the brasserie concept comes, he studied at hotel school and worked at Michelin three-star restaurants Le Crocodile and Buerehiesel in Strasbourg. In New York, he worked at Tropica Bar and Seafood House. The New York Times's William Grimes called his cooking at Brasserie "up-to-date" and "sensible," by which Grimes meant that Dimnet managed to modernize traditional brasserie fare—like the pot-au-feu and cassoulet the restaurant had been serving since it opened in 1959—without making it boring or overwrought.

Traditionally, the bubbles served at brasseries originate in breweries. But for this tasting, we are pairing dégustation portions of Dimnet's food with the versatile Champagnes of Duval-Leroy. Though perhaps not as famous in America as some other houses—the wines were re-launched in the U.S. market in 2001-Duval—Leroy has been making special sparklers since 1859, and it is one of the region's top ten producers. It is also one of the last family-owned, major maisons in the business, under the direction of Carol Duval-Leroy since 1991. More than 50 percent of the wines are sold in France—not a bad recommendation. Now that they are available here, we thought you might want to taste just how delicious they are.