I just thought I'd share this tidbit as I think it's pretty cool.

I sell all my ripe figs to a very high end restaurant here in the Virginia, Maryland, D.C. area. It is unquestionably the best restaurant on this area of the east coast and on Monday they served my figs to the Queen of Spain. She was impressed that they had such a variety of high end figs.

I have sent them just over a hundred varieties to sample and they rate them so I can more easily decide which varieties to increase and which ones to decrease in my orchard. I hope to have a working grove in a few years that produces a respectable harvest and having an elite corp of distinguished chefs rate my varieties is very helpful. The difference between what they value and what I thought they'd value has been interesting.

I can't wait to send them Battaglia Green and Col de Dame Blanc along with the other dozen or so green/deep red, berry flavored figs. Their order included JH Adriatic this AM. I have a lot of varieties yet to supply them and I'm sure Preto, Black Madeira, etc. will impress. I have way too many varieties to give each one a fair shake this year. There are so many that are just incredible it's a very hard job to pin point which ones I should concentrate on.

Anyway. The friggin Queen of Spain! I hope she liked the Col de Dame Noirs.

Michael, would you mind giving the name of the restaurant?  I probably can't afford it anyway but just curious.  I'm also curious about which varieties the chefs prefer to serve.

That is a pretty cool story Michael!

Steve.
Out closer to my way then yours there is an amazing place that was started years ago in a garage and is now absolutely a must do at least once experience if you are a "foodie".
The place = Inn at Little Washington. I have only eaten there once. It is a $200+ meal without wine. So if you take your sig other and another couple; between the meal, the wine and rooms you can run up a very hefty tab. Well hefty to me anyway.
As our experiment with the chefs etc. rating figs is not over there isn't any sense in "publishing" results. I think we'll have finished soon. 
We can chat at that point as they aren't necessarily looking for the same things we are.

Thanks for the info!  Maybe some day on a very special occasion I'll check out this restaurant.  From a  garage to the Queen of Spain - that's pretty cool.

I imagine it's pretty tough to impress the Queen.  I'd be curious to see the chefs ratings as well when they are compiled.

I have often wondered what a restaurant would do with great figs. It seems like cooking or baking them is such a waste-it changes the taste characteristics. I would think a cooked fig would be a waste of a great fig like Col de Dame. As an example, a fig upside down cake or a roasted fig-who cares if it is brown turkey or whatever? What other options are there in a restaurant besides the greatest fruit plate around? Yes, I know, there are figs wrapped in prosciutto or with goat cheese. Again, seems like a waste of a high end fig.

Nice story. I've been eating my figs much faster than they could produce. Are your trees in ground and how many trees do you have?
After going through many varieties this summer, there are very few that will pass when it comes to both presentation at a restaurant and super taste
Just curious as to which varieties were top rated by your restaurant.

Rafael,
As an Inn as well they like to have fancy fruit plates in the rooms for VIP's and occasionally they get a person who requires a specific diet.
Sometimes folks request them and the crowd that frequents the Inn, etc. is used to getting what they ask for.

Big figs with not so impressive flavors like Lemon are good for cooking.

They (chefs) help me understand their needs fig-wise and I label every fig I send them and they actually have fig tastings to educate their staff.

Certainly the majority of the figs are served fresh as they can always order figs to cook with.

I can not get anywhere close to the amount of figs they want from me. Their average dinner service is 500 so they can't even put my figs on the menu.

We are just starting our relationship and I will amend my orchard to include more of the types they like for next year. I have a lot of trees in 3 gallon pots that were not up potted this year due to my injury and illness so I can pretty rapidly increase production if I move now.

I am pretty much the only fig supplier in the area unless Ticondaroga Farms gets their orchard back working, but even then my quality and selection will still outshine theirs.

I imagine up where you are figs would be extremely easy to sell.

Sas,
All my trees are in pots = 250+ (not counting 1 gallon trees).
As we are still in the process of rating and have several more weeks of "fig season" I'm not publishing results until they are complete.
What are the reasons your figs wouldn't be good enough for a high end restaurant? 
I am waiting on a picture of a dish of uncooked figs where the chef took the less then perfect looking figs and mixed up the pulp and then stuffed some of the bigger figs like Lemon and Texas Blue Giant.

Michael,
I have over a 100 varieties myself in pots and still have to find a bad tasting one. Some varieties require much more heat than others in order to become super delicious.
When it comes to picking, sorting, storage and shipping, it's a different game than for home consumption and enjoyment especially if you have a commercial orchard. First of all you want to grow the right variety for your area and the only way to find out which one is right,  is to put that tree in the ground, unless you intend to keep everything in pots. 
As an example, despite the fact that 100's of fig varieties are grown in France, if you go to Paris and walk into an upscale deli that sells fresh figs only certain varieties are usually offered and they usually command high prices. When you look at them, they are picture perfect and each fig is either individually wrapped or placed in a shock absorbent material for protection. The size is usually twice as large as a common fig. They might not be the best tasting figs but they are certainly very appetizing.
I'm sure that a local chef could do a lot more with smaller figs...

I am glad there are commercial grower of figs out there for several reasons. My greatest pleasure is finding a ripe fig on my won tree and savoring right there, but hats off to you, though. That's many a long day of honest work. Good luck.

Someone posted this video recently.

http://video.valleypbs.org/video/2365100910/?start=1200

Interesting thread. Thanks for posting.

Hi guys and gals,

Well if you were a chief, giving a raw fig would make you feel lazy, I guess .
So they cook them normally. Of course, I prefer them raw.
*** Warning, drooling in progress ***
Have a look here after, and drool . The ones cooked in the pan and served with ice cream made me drool :
In the page, look for "Saveurs de saison: la figue" ... Sorry for the 30 sec of ads !
http://www.france3.fr/emissions/meteo-a-la-carte

It is about the "figue de Sollies" aka "Bourjassotte noire", since that strain is supposed to be more adapted to precessing and transportation.

Thanks folks.
Sas,
I'm not sure exactly how you expect me to respond to your post. Is this mini lecture on figs 101 to inform me of something you think I don't know but need to?

Jdsfrance, I think some of the chefs are using the figs as an excuse to break out the alcohol. I know they have been experimenting with certain liquors.

Michael,  definitely not a lecture.  I'm sure that I could use your insight when ready.

Dear Michael

I have heard of this restaurant for some time and must say I am impressed at what you are doing for them. I have often considered this an ideal outlet for any over supply by a small grower cultivating rare, upscale figs. In fact there are allegedly a couple of people doing that here in the NY area, but I have not seen any restaurant offering anything but typical California figs. I am glad to see that the Inn makes more uses fresh than cooked. Of course, many of the ripest figs are not the most attractive, I figure a great tasting fig with brown spots might not be high on their list, but they would be wrong! I would think that great tasting figs that tend to hold their shape and uniform skin color even when ripe would be an ideal fit-something like Adriatic JH or Col de Dames. Anyway thank you for sharing your admirable success with us.

Congrats, Michael. Definitely a satisfying reward for your hard work!