TAIPEI Taiwan News — To celebrate its third anniversary, the Michelin-starred contemporary European restaurant La Vie by Thomas Buhner has announced the latest chapter of its experimental La Vie Project, featuring a one-day-only Sunday champagne brunch on April 26.
The event departs from the restaurant's signature fine-dining dinner format to offer a menu curated by executive chef Xavier Yeung (楊展浩) and lead sommelier Max Huang (黃嘉偉). The collaboration seeks to redefine classic continental dishes with high-precision technique while maintaining a relaxed, spring-inspired tempo.
The La Vie project serves as a creative platform for the restaurant team to break traditional boundaries.
The brunch marks a second pop-up, following the midnight bistro, which showcased the team’s versatility with elevated street-food-inspired dishes such as "sorrowful soul rice." For this anniversary edition, the team returns to its European roots, applying rigorous French techniques to everyday brunch staples.
At the core of the menu is a structural reimagination of continental comfort food. The croque monsieur, a traditional French cafe staple, is transformed into a pithivier, a classical French puff pastry pie.
Featuring a filling of confit potatoes, Comte cheese and Paris ham, the dish draws inspiration from the restaurant’s signature evening duck pie. The golden, flaky crust highlights Yeung’s stringent standards for pastry layering and temperature control, elevating a familiar national dish into a display of fine craftsmanship.
The eggs Benedict has also been modified to address the common issue of soggy English muffins. Yeung utilizes a specially made deep-fried focaccia base, a high-hydration dough with delicate fermented notes.
Fried at a low temperature, the base provides a stark textural contrast with a crisp exterior and an exceptionally moist interior. Paired with precisely poached eggs and a velvety hollandaise sauce, the dish injects technical surprise into a familiar flavor profile.
The dessert offerings continue the tribute to France’s patisserie tradition. Highlights include a chocolate tart, emphasizing a balance between airy texture and an intense cocoa flavor.
Yeung noted the event will also feature off-menu madeleines served fresh from the oven. These madeleines eschew almond flour to focus on the pure aroma of brown butter, baked at high temperatures to achieve a distinct, crispy edge and a three-dimensional silhouette.
The brunch will be held with two seating periods at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Guests may choose from two beverage packages, with the sparkling wine and non-alcoholic free-flow priced at NT$3,888 (US$120) plus a 10% service fee per person.
The champagne free-flow option is available for NT$5,688 plus a 10% service fee. A curated selection of red and white wines by the glass will also be available for purchase.
Alcohol consumption may be harmful to your health.
