February 14th-
We wanted to go out for Valentine's Day, but wanted to spend the majority of our cash on the actual meal and not on taxis, so that meant going out in our neighborhood, which is not known as being a foodie's wonderland. On top of that, we wanted to try something new, and of course, something good. Amazingly enough, there was such a place- Bar Boulud. We tried Chef Daniel Boulud's restaurant, Daniel, on the upper east side, but we had never been the the one closest to where we live, and since they had one reservation left, we took it!
The inside of the restaurant is shaped like a wine cellar. It's peaceful and surprisingly roomy. The bar is so long, when we saw it, we immediately began planning future outings for drinks here. Almost as soon as we sat down, they brought us some cheese rolls- yum. We weren't ravenously hungry, but wanted to try a lot of things, so we ordered several appetizers. First, we had the pate grand-mere. It was tasty. However, I had better pate at Citron, and it was free. (They bring it to your table with the bread and butter.) Next, much to my surprise and utter delight, we had the oysters. They were one of the special dishes of the evening, hence the surprise. We didn't get a run down of the daily specials and when we spotted them being escorted to another table, we immediately demanded to have them as well. They smelled and tasted just like the sea! They were so clean, and came with a nice very light vinegar, with went well with the oysters without overpowering them. I hate when oysters aren't properly prepared, and as you slurp them down, you end up with a piece of rock hard shell in your mouth. It just ruins the whole decadent experience entirely. Also, why do we serve them so often with nasty red sauce when it overpowers their delicate, amazing taste? Thank you Chef Boulud for knowing how to serve oysters! After the oysters came the escargot persillade. I loved them so much two days before at Le Gigot that I had to have them again. Once again, they were very good.....swimming in warm garlic butter and parsley......mmmmm......but the ones at Le Gigot were meatier. Finally, we ended our meal with the quail which came with pickled beets and arugula. I know, I know, I don't usually eat things that fly, but I figured if I was ever going to like any form of bird, it would be in a wonderful french restaurant. I was right. I really loved it! It was tender and moist and full of flavor and the pickled beets and arugula went so well with it. Delicious! We were both very happy with our experience and felt we made a great choice!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Le Gigot
February 12th-
I was in the mood for steak, a French bistro, and leaving the boring upper west side, so I made resies at a recommended restaurant in the village. I can't for the life of me remember who gave me the recommendation though. Did I read it in NY Mag? Was it on Gwenyth Paltrow's blog? Did someone I know go there? I decided I didn't care where the recommendation came from, because I was curious, so off to Le Gigot we did go.
It's a small restaurant with a very homey, warm feeling to it, and our server was very friendly. After we sat down, we were served warm bread and butter, which seemed like no big deal to me until I tasted the bread. I didn't know if this was magical bread, or if I was just really, really hungry, but it was definitely out of the ordinary, good bread......and I am not one of those bread fans. To me, bread is just something that holds a sauce of some sort, which is completely unnecessary to me at home, where I don't have to be polite, so I just eat the sauce with a spoon, passing up the bread entirely. So, if I say bread is good, you should believe me.
For our first course, we ordered the escargot.....beautiful, delicious, great texture and flavor......could have eaten twelve more. Then we split the duck confit with scalloped potatoes and the steak au poivres with frites. I never know if I am going to like duck or not when I order it. It is always a risk, but when I do like it, I love it. This time my risk paid off. It was my favorite of the two entrees. I'm not saying the steak wasn't good. It was awesome, in fact. Cooked perfectly, it had that slight char taste from the grill, and the sauce was quite delicious and complementary. I also preferred the scalloped potatoes to the frites, but that just goes without saying for me, since I look at the frites the same way I typically look at bread. It is only there as a vessel to carry the Bearnaise sauce to my mouth. I didn't eat many of the frites, because we had mustard instead of Bearnaise, and mustard, as you know, just cannot replace Bearnaise sauce.....ever.
All in all, it was a great meal in a pleasant setting with good service. I would definitely go back to Gigot again.
I was in the mood for steak, a French bistro, and leaving the boring upper west side, so I made resies at a recommended restaurant in the village. I can't for the life of me remember who gave me the recommendation though. Did I read it in NY Mag? Was it on Gwenyth Paltrow's blog? Did someone I know go there? I decided I didn't care where the recommendation came from, because I was curious, so off to Le Gigot we did go.
It's a small restaurant with a very homey, warm feeling to it, and our server was very friendly. After we sat down, we were served warm bread and butter, which seemed like no big deal to me until I tasted the bread. I didn't know if this was magical bread, or if I was just really, really hungry, but it was definitely out of the ordinary, good bread......and I am not one of those bread fans. To me, bread is just something that holds a sauce of some sort, which is completely unnecessary to me at home, where I don't have to be polite, so I just eat the sauce with a spoon, passing up the bread entirely. So, if I say bread is good, you should believe me.
For our first course, we ordered the escargot.....beautiful, delicious, great texture and flavor......could have eaten twelve more. Then we split the duck confit with scalloped potatoes and the steak au poivres with frites. I never know if I am going to like duck or not when I order it. It is always a risk, but when I do like it, I love it. This time my risk paid off. It was my favorite of the two entrees. I'm not saying the steak wasn't good. It was awesome, in fact. Cooked perfectly, it had that slight char taste from the grill, and the sauce was quite delicious and complementary. I also preferred the scalloped potatoes to the frites, but that just goes without saying for me, since I look at the frites the same way I typically look at bread. It is only there as a vessel to carry the Bearnaise sauce to my mouth. I didn't eat many of the frites, because we had mustard instead of Bearnaise, and mustard, as you know, just cannot replace Bearnaise sauce.....ever.
All in all, it was a great meal in a pleasant setting with good service. I would definitely go back to Gigot again.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
La Distileria
February 1st-
I did subtitle this blog "Mostly Manhattan Restaurant Reviews". I say this because my next very brief review is from a place that is so not Manhattan in the loveliest of ways. La Distileria is in Cancun, Mexico. Yes, it sounds touristy. Yes, it is touristy, complete with Mariachi, but then again, I was a tourist. They were right down the street from our hotel, Me by Melia, and were heralded as having an enormous selection of tequila, of which we had not indulged in thus far. It somehow seemed wrong not to partake in any tequila the entire time we were there. So, why not go right to the source? I have to say, I did have the best margarita......it was a Tamarind flavored. You didn't think I was going to have anything resembling the status quo, did you? It was like no drink I have ever tasted before, and now, I am afraid, I will be in search of ways to bring this drink to my apartment in Manhattan even in freezing cold February. Anyway......we didn't just drink. We ordered a few things.....some cheese dip, which came out like an unappetizing glob of stringy, not so melty goo, and steak, which was perfectly cooked, and had a wonderful just off the grill flavor. The steak was drenched in a guacamole and black bean sauce, which was tasty, and served with a side of boring white rice and really good re-fried black beans. We did get to eat this while sitting outside overlooking the boats bobbing on the dock of the bay, on a warm Cancun evening, and I can't tell how much my euphoric state of relaxation has affected this review, but an awesome time was definitely had.
I did subtitle this blog "Mostly Manhattan Restaurant Reviews". I say this because my next very brief review is from a place that is so not Manhattan in the loveliest of ways. La Distileria is in Cancun, Mexico. Yes, it sounds touristy. Yes, it is touristy, complete with Mariachi, but then again, I was a tourist. They were right down the street from our hotel, Me by Melia, and were heralded as having an enormous selection of tequila, of which we had not indulged in thus far. It somehow seemed wrong not to partake in any tequila the entire time we were there. So, why not go right to the source? I have to say, I did have the best margarita......it was a Tamarind flavored. You didn't think I was going to have anything resembling the status quo, did you? It was like no drink I have ever tasted before, and now, I am afraid, I will be in search of ways to bring this drink to my apartment in Manhattan even in freezing cold February. Anyway......we didn't just drink. We ordered a few things.....some cheese dip, which came out like an unappetizing glob of stringy, not so melty goo, and steak, which was perfectly cooked, and had a wonderful just off the grill flavor. The steak was drenched in a guacamole and black bean sauce, which was tasty, and served with a side of boring white rice and really good re-fried black beans. We did get to eat this while sitting outside overlooking the boats bobbing on the dock of the bay, on a warm Cancun evening, and I can't tell how much my euphoric state of relaxation has affected this review, but an awesome time was definitely had.
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