Why These Award-Winning Chefs Are Pairing Champagne with Carrots

The Maison draws a parallel to this founding philosophy with its modern single ingredient program, which began in 2015 with the potato—and in 2025, the carrot. Over the past decade, Krug’s program has inadvertently come to underscore the culinary minimalist movement, in which chefs elevate humble ingredients in pursuit of a flavorful-over-fluff approach to fine dining.

“A humble carrot should be treated with the same respect and care as any other ingredient—the price point is irrelevant,” says Freddy Money, chef of Atlas in Atlanta, who adds: “Someone planted the carrots, grew the carrot, picked the carrot, delivered it to us.” This year, Money created a starter course that showcases how the humble carrot can stand up to the “almighty lobster,” pairing butter-poached lobster with a rich carrot sauce and carrot confit. Though he notes that carrots are frequently used as the foundation of stocks or soups, “it can hold its own as the star of a dish.”

Beyond culinary creativity, the single ingredient program offers chefs a cultural opportunity to showcase how the featured component—like the carrot—is used in cuisines around the globe. Juan Manuel Barrientos, chef of Elcielo, a modern Colombian restaurant with locations in Medellín, Bogotá, Miami, and Washington, D.C., was inspired by the flavors of Colombia’s countryside, where local farmers pick their carrots young and tender for use in stews. “We used garlic and chamomile, a staple in their recipes filled with fresh organic produce,” explains Barrientos of his smoked quail and carrot entrée, which he pairs with Krug Rosé for “its light touch of rose and cherry with the sweetness of the carrot.” He’s also used carrots to make ice cream, dehydrated powders, and carrot-nori crisps served with lobster.

Relying on simpler ingredients doesn’t mean the work is any easier, as many of these chefs will attest. Technique and execution play a key role in transforming something basic into something elegant—but before chefs can even begin to conceptualize the dish, they need to source the freshest ingredients possible.

The most challenging part of working with this ingredient, says Barrientos, is accessing fresh, organic produce in major cities. “In Colombia, we have organic produce from the farm to the table—[it’s] very easy to find and extremely fresh,” he shares.

Another aspect of culinary minimalism is learning to see familiar ingredients in a new light. Justin Cogley, chef at L’Auberge Carmel, says the single ingredient program “always” makes him reconsider how he uses an ingredient. “It has really opened my eyes to explore the uses of a simple ingredient more,” says Cogley, who combined tapioca cooked in carrot juice, roasted carrots, and scallop for his recipe.

“It’s a great way to highlight this ingredient that can sometimes be overlooked,” emphasizes Julien Asseo, chef of Les Petites Canailles in Paso Robles. More importantly, he says, it also highlights the talent of the chef.

This comes through clearly in some of the recipes created for the single ingredient program, from carrot hot dogs to carrot curry sorbet to BBQ carrot with fermented carrot greens and harissa. The latter recipe is from Lee at Saison, who tested about five different variations before landing on this version. “We wanted to explore how far we could take cooking a carrot over the fire—we didn't want to simply grill it,” he says, noting that carrots, when cooked, often become too sweet for a dish. Lee solved this by dehydrating the carrot slowly over the hearth, rehydrating it in its own juices, and roasting it again over the fire to create not just a sweet carrot, but one with smoky, savory layers. “This, along with the acid from the fermented carrot and the spice from harissa, helps round out the natural sweetness of carrots,” he says. “The acidity from the Krug Rosé also helps bring out a lot in the dish.”