craigie street bistrot / 5 craigie circle / cambridge ma / 617-497-5511 / tu-thur 6-10pm, fri-sat 5:30-10:30pm, sun 5:30-10pm / reservations recommended / entrees expensive (dinner will run you $35-70)
goodness! not that i really care, but i can assure you that after having been out in the rain on the way to and from dinner, my hair has lost everything from the post-haircut blowout except for that intoxicating stuff they spray on it at the salon i go to.
today was probably the last stop on jessica's and my restaurant tour (the money has run out, sadly - must pay my rent), and it was craigie street bistrot. craigie street bistrot had been my favorite restaurant in cambridge, and i'm happy to report that it remains my favorite restaurant.
what i had liked the first time i went to craigie street bistrot (it was sometime last fall or the one before that, with a bunch of french house people) was the simplicity of the food and the flawless preparation (a point to which our waitress at no 9 park agreed, having previously worked there). when i was last there, i had the pork rillettes (a kind of pate-confit type thing) and the roast chicken, and then we split a bunch of desserts. i remember the chicken as being the best chicken that i'd ever had; the desserts were also memorable for this reason - good ingredients.
i wasn't disappointed this time, either. jessica was a bit put off by the way our waiter and the menu were in our faces about fresh local produce; i suppose i'm just used to it now. i'm afraid i've been spoiled on good food since i last went to craigie street bistrot, so that i am getting accustomed to really good chicken. i started with the "crispy pork confit," a sort of country pate that's reminiscent of the appetizer i had at aujourd'hui. it was crispy by virtue of being pan-seared, and came with a poached egg on top, and in a shallow pool of french lentil (lentilles de puy) puree. oh, and morels - it came with morels. i love morels to death; they are my favorite mushrooms. i suppose there was a bit more pretention than usual at the restaurant - the girl who brought me my first course told me that i would maximize my utility if i broke the egg over the whole thing. as if i would have done anything else. and seeing as the egg was on top of everything, it wasn't possible to take any other course of action.
as a second course, i had the chicken. it still had fennel with it, but it was much more of a background thing; the previous time i had had it, fennel was the main vegetable with it. this chicken was roasted with tarragon (and it must have been a lot of tarragon! i had roasted chickens with tarragon about a month ago, and it was nowhere as tarragon-y). this chicken came with roasted potatoes and more mushrooms, and had a relish-type thing of golden raisins, capers, and pine nuts. it was quite good, especially the combination of golden raisins and capers - i'll have to remember that one.
and finally, for dessert, jessica had dessert grits (i forget exactly how it went) and i had the chocolate tart with white chocolate ice cream. as i had ascertained from my previous visit, the ice cream at craigie street is the best ice cream i've ever had, if not the most imaginative (the best ice cream flavor i've ever had was blueberry at tosci's when i was in eighth grade). the chocolate tart was fantastic - very, very chocolaty, and no weird floral or fruity notes. the crust was also the most delicate, thinnest crust i've ever seen on a tart - that perfect shade of golden. it was basically crispy butter, with a dab or two of flour. but it was great with the chocolate. and add the white chocolate and you have the butter, the bitter-smoky, and the softly sweet.
i would say that nothing could beat the magical experience that was my first visit to craigie street, as that visit was probably the first time i really spent a lot of money on dinner at a restaurant. but this second time was great (oh, i also had a kir royale, which was pretty good). jessica had this sweet red dessert wine with her dessert, which wasn't as good as the one we had in our wine tasting class, but which was still quite good. looking at craigie street's wine list on their website, i believe it was the 2001 domaine du traginer banyuls "rimage" (roussillon). i think i also just like the three-course dining experience in general; to me it seems to be the right way to have dinner. the american in me takes hold when i am in studio and unable to devote real time to food other than semi-palatable subs and other prepared foods from star market, but the francophile in me always aspires towards three courses.
oh, so the wind, rain, and almost hail...i had been intending to get a new umbrella and after this visit i definitely need one. i set my umbrella down on the floor in the house 5 elevator lounge, and it looks like it's some sort of sculpture - "destroyed umbrella rising out of ground." it was so windy that my umbrella finally kicked the bucket; we got totally soaked on our walk from the kendall T stop, but caught saferide back, luckily. we intended to stop by betsy's room-warming party, but got to the area too late, and it was raining so hard we conceded defeat and went home.
26 mai 2005
previous comment
this is actually a comment to my craigie street bistrot post, from gabriel (fou):
Um, I think you're eating better in Boston than I am in PARIS! Let me tell you about my dining experience Thursday evening (June 2). I was with a friend from the USA on her last of a three-day visit in Paris (followed by a tour of Italy). We met after lunch and went walking and metroing all over the city. Finally, dying of thirst we stopped at a cafe/restaurant in front of the theater "Café de la Gare" (rue du Temple). There was, to our luck, a spare table in the corner of the cobbled courtyard. The neat thing about the courtyard of the "Café de la Gare" is that while sitting and eating you can watch dance students practice through the windows on all four sides of the building that surrounds the courtyard. We simply got a liter of water (Evian of course), plus I got a kir cassis for an apéritif. The time must have passed extremely fast, and as it was still rather bright, I didn't realize how late it was. It was near 10 p.m., but I wanted to go to this place at Montmartre called the Maison Rose. (I should have known better-- I have tremendously bad luck with this restaurant. This incident made the third time that I tried to dine there without success.) I thought we had burned our chance to dine out, because by the time we realized the Maison Rose had finished it was rather late. Luckily, I remembered passing late one night through Les Halles and seeing a block of restaurants that were still open. My memory served me well. We settled down at the restaurant Au Pied du Cochon, one of the few restaurants in Paris open day and night (jour et nuit). As the name suggests, their specialty is pig feet. And yep, I tried their award-winning specialty. We were seated on the terrace, on a fine night with the sky above and a slow street running next to us. Since my friend doesn't drink alcohol, we simply ordered mineral water. We started by studying the menu meticulously. I felt sorry for the anglophones who have to order from the translations-- they have no idea what they are REALLY ordering. Finally, we were ready. I suggested that my friend order mussels, thinking she shouldn't leave Paris without having the ubiquitous "moules, frites" combination. We would split the entrée, escargots de Bourgogne, since she had never had escargots before. On top of this, I told the waiter that I would order the menu for 18 euros. A half-minute later, we have baguette slices and bottle of mineral water brought to us. The baguette, unfortunately, tasted like it had been bought early that morning, but at least it was "baguette tradition" and not the cheaper, normal baguette that restaurants here (even of the same price as Au Pied du Cochon) often try to pass off on you. A few minutes later, a waiter brought of platter of 6 oysters, which really confused me, because I was expecting escargot. I explained to our first waiter that I hadn't ordered oysters. Well, apparently according to his ear, I had: when I asked for menu at "dix-huit euros" (18€), he thought I asked for the menu (at 23€) with an entrée of "six huitres." This is the worst aspect of the French language: so many words and phrases sound the same, you have to be extremely clear and articulate. But oh well, the oysters were making my eyes water with delight, and my friend had never had oysters before, not in France nor elsewhere. When the waiter had brought the oysters to the table he had also brought a red-wine vinegar sauce with shallots--or perhaps onions. I didn't know what it was for, so I finally asked a French-speaking lady at the table next to me. She and the man across from her explained to me that it was for the oysters, to be spooned over them. She was of the opinion that it's better without the sauce, but he, of the opposite opinion, said I must try it like that once. So I did, and agreed with the lady. Finally came the escargots. My friend liked them much better than the oysters. Next, "les plats." I was disappointed because the mussels my friend received were not what I had envisioned. They were already shelled and didn't come in a pot. In fact I should have paid more attention to the menu: "poêlon de moules" does not mean "casserole de moules." Bah, oh well. My plate--while not disappointing--was very unsettling. French fries and big barbecued pig foot--skin, bones, fat, meat, and all. I was puzzled as to where to begin and what parts to eat. Finally, I explained to our waiter I had never had pig feet before, and he explained that all of it is edible--except the bones, of course. Evidemment. It also came with a mustardy sauce, which I discovered alas rather late in the meal went very well with the foot, better with the foot than the fries. And as the restaurant was French, no ketchup for the fries (I didn't actually ask for any though). Through my months in France, I began to get the impression that only Americans know how to do French fries, but the ones from Au Pied du Cochon were on the American par. I had severe problems eating the pig foot. It was simply to resemblant of an animal body part. And the way in which the skin slid and stuck to the meat and bones discouraged me from the beginning from going further. But I bolstered my intrepidation and forked and knived through nearly all of it, down to the three little piggy-toes. The worst thing about pig feet is that there is so much fat. In the end, I left the fattiest portions of my pig foot uneaten. Nonetheless, when he came to clear the plates from the table, my waiter exclaimed--with a real or imagined sense of congratulation--that I had eaten all of it. In humble-driven honesty, I replied, "Nearly all of it." My friend and I decided to split a crème brulée, since she had never had one before. It was the best crème brulée I have ever had since I was first introduced to crème brulée in coming to France. The secret, I think, was declared on the menu: "à la vanille." The touch of real vanilla (you could even see the tiny black seeds) elegantly and deliciously enhanced the sweet flavor of the crème. Finally, the bill: 56 euros, comprising15 escargots, a 1-L bottle of Badoit mineral water, 6 oysters accompanied by four slices of brown bread, a pan of mussels, a plate of fries and a pig foot, a .33 L bottle of Perrier mineral water, and one crème brulée (and French bread, which goes without saying)--between midnight and two in the morning.
Um, I think you're eating better in Boston than I am in PARIS! Let me tell you about my dining experience Thursday evening (June 2). I was with a friend from the USA on her last of a three-day visit in Paris (followed by a tour of Italy). We met after lunch and went walking and metroing all over the city. Finally, dying of thirst we stopped at a cafe/restaurant in front of the theater "Café de la Gare" (rue du Temple). There was, to our luck, a spare table in the corner of the cobbled courtyard. The neat thing about the courtyard of the "Café de la Gare" is that while sitting and eating you can watch dance students practice through the windows on all four sides of the building that surrounds the courtyard. We simply got a liter of water (Evian of course), plus I got a kir cassis for an apéritif. The time must have passed extremely fast, and as it was still rather bright, I didn't realize how late it was. It was near 10 p.m., but I wanted to go to this place at Montmartre called the Maison Rose. (I should have known better-- I have tremendously bad luck with this restaurant. This incident made the third time that I tried to dine there without success.) I thought we had burned our chance to dine out, because by the time we realized the Maison Rose had finished it was rather late. Luckily, I remembered passing late one night through Les Halles and seeing a block of restaurants that were still open. My memory served me well. We settled down at the restaurant Au Pied du Cochon, one of the few restaurants in Paris open day and night (jour et nuit). As the name suggests, their specialty is pig feet. And yep, I tried their award-winning specialty. We were seated on the terrace, on a fine night with the sky above and a slow street running next to us. Since my friend doesn't drink alcohol, we simply ordered mineral water. We started by studying the menu meticulously. I felt sorry for the anglophones who have to order from the translations-- they have no idea what they are REALLY ordering. Finally, we were ready. I suggested that my friend order mussels, thinking she shouldn't leave Paris without having the ubiquitous "moules, frites" combination. We would split the entrée, escargots de Bourgogne, since she had never had escargots before. On top of this, I told the waiter that I would order the menu for 18 euros. A half-minute later, we have baguette slices and bottle of mineral water brought to us. The baguette, unfortunately, tasted like it had been bought early that morning, but at least it was "baguette tradition" and not the cheaper, normal baguette that restaurants here (even of the same price as Au Pied du Cochon) often try to pass off on you. A few minutes later, a waiter brought of platter of 6 oysters, which really confused me, because I was expecting escargot. I explained to our first waiter that I hadn't ordered oysters. Well, apparently according to his ear, I had: when I asked for menu at "dix-huit euros" (18€), he thought I asked for the menu (at 23€) with an entrée of "six huitres." This is the worst aspect of the French language: so many words and phrases sound the same, you have to be extremely clear and articulate. But oh well, the oysters were making my eyes water with delight, and my friend had never had oysters before, not in France nor elsewhere. When the waiter had brought the oysters to the table he had also brought a red-wine vinegar sauce with shallots--or perhaps onions. I didn't know what it was for, so I finally asked a French-speaking lady at the table next to me. She and the man across from her explained to me that it was for the oysters, to be spooned over them. She was of the opinion that it's better without the sauce, but he, of the opposite opinion, said I must try it like that once. So I did, and agreed with the lady. Finally came the escargots. My friend liked them much better than the oysters. Next, "les plats." I was disappointed because the mussels my friend received were not what I had envisioned. They were already shelled and didn't come in a pot. In fact I should have paid more attention to the menu: "poêlon de moules" does not mean "casserole de moules." Bah, oh well. My plate--while not disappointing--was very unsettling. French fries and big barbecued pig foot--skin, bones, fat, meat, and all. I was puzzled as to where to begin and what parts to eat. Finally, I explained to our waiter I had never had pig feet before, and he explained that all of it is edible--except the bones, of course. Evidemment. It also came with a mustardy sauce, which I discovered alas rather late in the meal went very well with the foot, better with the foot than the fries. And as the restaurant was French, no ketchup for the fries (I didn't actually ask for any though). Through my months in France, I began to get the impression that only Americans know how to do French fries, but the ones from Au Pied du Cochon were on the American par. I had severe problems eating the pig foot. It was simply to resemblant of an animal body part. And the way in which the skin slid and stuck to the meat and bones discouraged me from the beginning from going further. But I bolstered my intrepidation and forked and knived through nearly all of it, down to the three little piggy-toes. The worst thing about pig feet is that there is so much fat. In the end, I left the fattiest portions of my pig foot uneaten. Nonetheless, when he came to clear the plates from the table, my waiter exclaimed--with a real or imagined sense of congratulation--that I had eaten all of it. In humble-driven honesty, I replied, "Nearly all of it." My friend and I decided to split a crème brulée, since she had never had one before. It was the best crème brulée I have ever had since I was first introduced to crème brulée in coming to France. The secret, I think, was declared on the menu: "à la vanille." The touch of real vanilla (you could even see the tiny black seeds) elegantly and deliciously enhanced the sweet flavor of the crème. Finally, the bill: 56 euros, comprising15 escargots, a 1-L bottle of Badoit mineral water, 6 oysters accompanied by four slices of brown bread, a pan of mussels, a plate of fries and a pig foot, a .33 L bottle of Perrier mineral water, and one crème brulée (and French bread, which goes without saying)--between midnight and two in the morning.
25 mai 2005
vegetating...
i'd almost forgotten what it's like to sit around with your friends, cook, eat, and vegetate. i suppose i'm really referring to that thing we call "relaxing." fortunately i cut my thumb in studio much less seriously than tim cut his hand, and it's almost all better (translation: i can almost chop things normally). i am currently sitting in the kitchen with allie, alice, luis, jessica, carrie, austin, and v. luis is making a replica of his coatrack in miniature, using popsicle sticks. we're in the middle of cleaning up from dinner - luis' carnitas and salsa, alice's strawberry salad, some corn with shallots, and some of the zucchini bread that alice made for her grandmother. we had tiny grape juice juiceboxes with dinner, as well as water that had frozen on top despite being on the bottom shelf of the drinks fridge; and before the zucchini bread we had a round of popsicles. now we are planning to make cookies and/or bread pudding (with nai's stale bread that has been on the back table for two or three days), then watch a movie. this is the sort of thing we always tried to do on saturdays during term, but never really managed to do more than once or twice because people inevitably got busy - it really makes you miss freshman year and all the free time we used to have.
review: so maybe it wasn't that hard at all... (no 9 park)
i spent the majority of yesterday running errands and having fun. suffice it to say that i have finally settled into the "vacation" part of this whole graduation shebang, although this summer is really a vacation since it won't be work-24-hours-a-day. we'll see how this studio+4 classes+teaching a class works out in the fall - so if i don't update that frequently, forgive me. theoretically i'll be forced to, since i'm out of the wonderful world of communal living (and cooking). and factor in the fact that star market is about 3 minutes away...
anyway, last night jessica, vicky, peter and i hit up no 9 park. i attempted to give the experience a little distance by writing about it today, so i won't be too overly gushy. the gist of this whole thing, though, is that there's definitely a reason for why this is one of the restaurants that always comes up on "top [fill in the blank]" lists.
our reservation was for 8pm, though we left rather early in order to avoid being late. i am unsure of the etiquette regarding punctuality and dinner reservations - in the US they won't hold your reservation forever, but when we were in Lyon several years ago, they held a table for us for almost two hours (we got lost...). anyway, the issue here is more should you be fashionably late, on time, or slightly early? in this case it was fine to be early, because we just sat at the bar until our table was ready (about a half hour). no 9 park is probably the first restaurant i've been to where there's a dedicated bar area (well, ok, there was one at aujourd'hui, too, but the restaurant wasn't busy so it was deserted), as a kind of anteroom to the dining room. usually it's just (literally) a bar. possibly more surprising than anything else, this place was really busy, which is remarkable considering that it was monday night. it was definitely the business crowd, though - more suits than i'd seen in a restaurant in a long time.
the restaurant itself has a very business-appropriate decor - lighting that's both flattering enough for a romantic tryst, but bright enough for business dinners, gray-green walls with dark wood accents everywhere, beautiful flower arrangements. the attention to detail here is great - the kitchen has a wooden sliding door that keeps the back hallway dim, adding to that staid, respectable-establishment, discreet type atmosphere. anyway, kudos to the restaurant for managing a businessy-yet-hip atmosphere - not an easy balance.
while seated at the bar, we indulged in a few cocktails (except for vicky, who is apparently violently allergic to alcohol) - peter had the no 10 (a grapefruit cocktail), i had the pear martini, and jessica had pastis (la muse verte...absinthe anyone?). i don't usually go for fake martinis - which to me is anything besides a classic martini - because, well, they're fake, but this one was far and above the best fake martini i've ever had. it was very much about the pear, with a good balance with the alcohol (grey goose vodka). since i'm slightly allergic to fresh pears, this was also a nice way to still have them, in a very roundabout, tangential way. i have to say that i'm not a huge fan of pastis, or licorice/aniseed in general, though, after having tasted jessica's pastis.
i had assumed that we'd be taking our cocktails ourselves to our tables, but actually, they take them to your table for you, which is quite nice. we were seated near the kitchen (a reflection on our college-ness? but no problem - i love being near the kitchen because you can watch what's going on). jessica later told me she thought the place was cramped, but i thought it was great. then again, i also think the idea of communal tables a la durgin park is fantastic. i see communal tables as being like communal tables at chinese restaurants, when they cram you together to use up empty space and make more money, but without the hostile glares from your tablemates.
we spent a while dithering over what to order. the menu was basically a tasting menu and a regular menu, which was a bit unclear for the caliber of restaurant that we were at - it seemed to emphasize the tasting menu over anything else you might want to order. however, like a fantastic restaurant, the kitchen was willing to (a) make something else from scratch for jessica, since she is vegetarian at school, and (b) serve me an appetizer off the tasting menu. jessica and i had first courses - she had the prune-stuffed gnocchi and i had the frogs legs (cuisses de grenouilles, which is not really "frogs' legs" but translates directly to "frogs' thighs"). i'd had frogs' legs once before, in a soup at pho pasteur, where they were chicken-y and slightly fishy, and rather tough. here, they were great - they came with fava beans, some ultracrispy bacon, a fantastic truffle foam (what is up with foam??? foam, fava beans, and rhubarb are everywhere), and this green, thickish sauce, which i'm not sure what it was and have forgotten since reading the menu. the prune gnocchi were alright, but not really as fantastic as i was hoping for. i think i also had memories of those rice flour balls filled with peanuts or red bean paste that i always had as a kid, so to me they were prune-filled dumplings more than anything else. i like prunes, but not really as an appetizer. quite possibly the foie gras that they left out to make the whole thing vegetarian would have offered that savory counterpoint that they needed.
and finally, main courses! i tried to be adventurous and really, i was partly forced to be, as there was the familiar - chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit - and the less familiar (essentially seafood, which i generally am not a huge fan of). as i kept looking at the menu, i found that i couldn't resist the bass (specifically, "seared black bass"). it came with a bunch of vegetables - mushrooms, fava beans, peas, and baby asparagus. i don't know about you, but i love mushrooms, and morels are my favorite kind of mushrooms. so you see, the bass was calling out to me. peter had the cod, jessica had an assiette of vegetable dishes they prepared for her, and vicky had the squab brochette.
that bass is the best bass i've ever had in my life. i'm not quite sure what was in the sauce, but it was probably just pan juices - fantastic, flavorful ones. the bass was perfectly cooked, with this wonderfully crispy skin, and vegetables underneath. have i mentioned that i love mushrooms? i was so pleasantly surprised, and actually didn't manage to finish the entire thing - it seemed that there was just slightly more than the usual portion of fish that they serve at these expensive restaurants, which is just a reflection of the type (multiple-course) of dining they're expecting you to do.
and finally, dessert. no meal is complete without dessert (ok, no dinner is complete without dessert). period. as we've gone to more restaurants, jessica and i have come to agree that it's always the most imaginative part of the menu, and the part of the menu that can be the most imaginative, just based on the way that people eat, and their comfort levels. no 9 park did not disappoint. we had seen the beautiful wooden cheese cart go to the table in front of ours, and it was tempting, but we felt we couldn't do both cheese and dessert - both stomachs and wallets said no. peter had the bananas foster (banana pop, peanut nougatine, rum sorbet, beignet); i had the black pepper cheesecake (pineapple, lime sorbet); jessica had the rhubarb rose vacherin (with "consomme"); and vicky had the tarte au chocolat (kumquats and persimmons, i think).
desserts are a hit here - i would come here just for dessert. the chocolate tart (not really a tart - more of a mousse on top of a cake) is one of the few chocolate desserts i've ever liked at a restaurant, the only other one i can remember right now being the milk chocolate panna cotta i had at pigalle. chocolate desserts, in general, never have the intensity that i want them to have - they're always a bit too weak, fruity, flowery, or something that is just not chocolate. this is the criticism i have for scharffenberger chocolate, which i've tried several times and dislike every time. i favor callebaut in cooking, and would try valrhona if it weren't so darned expensive! i do use valrhona cocoa though - it's far and away better than everything else. i asked the waiter what kind of chocolate it was, and it was a complete surprise - el rey. i had tasted el rey a while back when i did that chocolate tasting for the tech, and it didn't rate high. in fact, it may have been the most maligned chocolate i tasted. i'll have to go back to whole foods and get some to taste again.
i didn't taste peter's dessert, but rhubarb-rose is one of those flavor combinations that should be natural, but that you don't realize is so good until you try it. wow. and as for mine, it was really quite good. none of these were perfect 10s, but they were definitely 8s and 9s. the cheesecake was absolutely fantastic - creamy, dense but not too dense...i did want the crust to be a little less soggy, so maybe less sauce on the bottom of the plate would have been good. the black pepper flavor was great, but overpowering after a while - and i have no idea what kind of black peppercorns they use at no 9 park, but they're better than any other peppercorns i've ever had before. the combination of room-temperature cheesecake and cool lime sorbet was absolutely out-of-this-world, though. and the whole thing had tiny chunks of pineapple on the bottom and paper-thin slices of pineapple covering the plate. i don't know about the presentation, really, but that's also the best pineapple i've ever had in my life. we wondered all the while how they got the pineapple so thin - if it was cut by hand, or with a mandoline, or maybe frozen and cut...we have no idea. in general, the cheesecake was good, but that perfect balance wasn't quite there.
no 9 park is definitely not quite the place where one wants to linger. i don't mean this in a bad way; it's simply the clientele (businessmen) that makes it so. as it happened, we spent about 3 1/2 hours there, and it's the sort of place where i think i could linger for a while talking, but not in the same way that one can linger in a french bistro all night. all in all, though, it's fantastic and does everything right. the service is impeccable - friendly, but blending into the background, like the decor of the restaurant itself - you could ask them anything and they'd do it for you.
would i come back? yes, definitely. but i would come back only in certain contexts - because i have to say, maybe i'm spoiled but i love the three-tiered tray they bring you at aujourd'hui and l'espalier full of tiny sweet tidbits, as a way to finish off your meal - and that's part of what encourages you to linger for a long while after you actually finish eating. i think the high ceilings of aujourd'hui make it a bit too formal for linger-style eating, but that's just a personal preference. the lighting there is perfect, as it is at no 9 park, whose decor i like slightly more, probably because it's more minimalist. i think i achieved better balance at no 9 park than at aujourd'hui, but that was probably my choice of courses rather than the restaurants themselves. i still think craigie street bistrot is better than both aujourd'hui and no 9 park, just because of that purity of ingredients and preparation, but no 9 park is pretty damn good. no 9 park is a funny contrast with upstairs on the square - one is this staid, subtly exciting cuisine for the suits and the sophisticated hip, while the other is this wildly eclectic, eccentric place. it's like the new yorker and her boho-chic sister. both are great, but in very different ways.
anyway, last night jessica, vicky, peter and i hit up no 9 park. i attempted to give the experience a little distance by writing about it today, so i won't be too overly gushy. the gist of this whole thing, though, is that there's definitely a reason for why this is one of the restaurants that always comes up on "top [fill in the blank]" lists.
our reservation was for 8pm, though we left rather early in order to avoid being late. i am unsure of the etiquette regarding punctuality and dinner reservations - in the US they won't hold your reservation forever, but when we were in Lyon several years ago, they held a table for us for almost two hours (we got lost...). anyway, the issue here is more should you be fashionably late, on time, or slightly early? in this case it was fine to be early, because we just sat at the bar until our table was ready (about a half hour). no 9 park is probably the first restaurant i've been to where there's a dedicated bar area (well, ok, there was one at aujourd'hui, too, but the restaurant wasn't busy so it was deserted), as a kind of anteroom to the dining room. usually it's just (literally) a bar. possibly more surprising than anything else, this place was really busy, which is remarkable considering that it was monday night. it was definitely the business crowd, though - more suits than i'd seen in a restaurant in a long time.
the restaurant itself has a very business-appropriate decor - lighting that's both flattering enough for a romantic tryst, but bright enough for business dinners, gray-green walls with dark wood accents everywhere, beautiful flower arrangements. the attention to detail here is great - the kitchen has a wooden sliding door that keeps the back hallway dim, adding to that staid, respectable-establishment, discreet type atmosphere. anyway, kudos to the restaurant for managing a businessy-yet-hip atmosphere - not an easy balance.
while seated at the bar, we indulged in a few cocktails (except for vicky, who is apparently violently allergic to alcohol) - peter had the no 10 (a grapefruit cocktail), i had the pear martini, and jessica had pastis (la muse verte...absinthe anyone?). i don't usually go for fake martinis - which to me is anything besides a classic martini - because, well, they're fake, but this one was far and above the best fake martini i've ever had. it was very much about the pear, with a good balance with the alcohol (grey goose vodka). since i'm slightly allergic to fresh pears, this was also a nice way to still have them, in a very roundabout, tangential way. i have to say that i'm not a huge fan of pastis, or licorice/aniseed in general, though, after having tasted jessica's pastis.
i had assumed that we'd be taking our cocktails ourselves to our tables, but actually, they take them to your table for you, which is quite nice. we were seated near the kitchen (a reflection on our college-ness? but no problem - i love being near the kitchen because you can watch what's going on). jessica later told me she thought the place was cramped, but i thought it was great. then again, i also think the idea of communal tables a la durgin park is fantastic. i see communal tables as being like communal tables at chinese restaurants, when they cram you together to use up empty space and make more money, but without the hostile glares from your tablemates.
we spent a while dithering over what to order. the menu was basically a tasting menu and a regular menu, which was a bit unclear for the caliber of restaurant that we were at - it seemed to emphasize the tasting menu over anything else you might want to order. however, like a fantastic restaurant, the kitchen was willing to (a) make something else from scratch for jessica, since she is vegetarian at school, and (b) serve me an appetizer off the tasting menu. jessica and i had first courses - she had the prune-stuffed gnocchi and i had the frogs legs (cuisses de grenouilles, which is not really "frogs' legs" but translates directly to "frogs' thighs"). i'd had frogs' legs once before, in a soup at pho pasteur, where they were chicken-y and slightly fishy, and rather tough. here, they were great - they came with fava beans, some ultracrispy bacon, a fantastic truffle foam (what is up with foam??? foam, fava beans, and rhubarb are everywhere), and this green, thickish sauce, which i'm not sure what it was and have forgotten since reading the menu. the prune gnocchi were alright, but not really as fantastic as i was hoping for. i think i also had memories of those rice flour balls filled with peanuts or red bean paste that i always had as a kid, so to me they were prune-filled dumplings more than anything else. i like prunes, but not really as an appetizer. quite possibly the foie gras that they left out to make the whole thing vegetarian would have offered that savory counterpoint that they needed.
and finally, main courses! i tried to be adventurous and really, i was partly forced to be, as there was the familiar - chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit - and the less familiar (essentially seafood, which i generally am not a huge fan of). as i kept looking at the menu, i found that i couldn't resist the bass (specifically, "seared black bass"). it came with a bunch of vegetables - mushrooms, fava beans, peas, and baby asparagus. i don't know about you, but i love mushrooms, and morels are my favorite kind of mushrooms. so you see, the bass was calling out to me. peter had the cod, jessica had an assiette of vegetable dishes they prepared for her, and vicky had the squab brochette.
that bass is the best bass i've ever had in my life. i'm not quite sure what was in the sauce, but it was probably just pan juices - fantastic, flavorful ones. the bass was perfectly cooked, with this wonderfully crispy skin, and vegetables underneath. have i mentioned that i love mushrooms? i was so pleasantly surprised, and actually didn't manage to finish the entire thing - it seemed that there was just slightly more than the usual portion of fish that they serve at these expensive restaurants, which is just a reflection of the type (multiple-course) of dining they're expecting you to do.
and finally, dessert. no meal is complete without dessert (ok, no dinner is complete without dessert). period. as we've gone to more restaurants, jessica and i have come to agree that it's always the most imaginative part of the menu, and the part of the menu that can be the most imaginative, just based on the way that people eat, and their comfort levels. no 9 park did not disappoint. we had seen the beautiful wooden cheese cart go to the table in front of ours, and it was tempting, but we felt we couldn't do both cheese and dessert - both stomachs and wallets said no. peter had the bananas foster (banana pop, peanut nougatine, rum sorbet, beignet); i had the black pepper cheesecake (pineapple, lime sorbet); jessica had the rhubarb rose vacherin (with "consomme"); and vicky had the tarte au chocolat (kumquats and persimmons, i think).
desserts are a hit here - i would come here just for dessert. the chocolate tart (not really a tart - more of a mousse on top of a cake) is one of the few chocolate desserts i've ever liked at a restaurant, the only other one i can remember right now being the milk chocolate panna cotta i had at pigalle. chocolate desserts, in general, never have the intensity that i want them to have - they're always a bit too weak, fruity, flowery, or something that is just not chocolate. this is the criticism i have for scharffenberger chocolate, which i've tried several times and dislike every time. i favor callebaut in cooking, and would try valrhona if it weren't so darned expensive! i do use valrhona cocoa though - it's far and away better than everything else. i asked the waiter what kind of chocolate it was, and it was a complete surprise - el rey. i had tasted el rey a while back when i did that chocolate tasting for the tech, and it didn't rate high. in fact, it may have been the most maligned chocolate i tasted. i'll have to go back to whole foods and get some to taste again.
i didn't taste peter's dessert, but rhubarb-rose is one of those flavor combinations that should be natural, but that you don't realize is so good until you try it. wow. and as for mine, it was really quite good. none of these were perfect 10s, but they were definitely 8s and 9s. the cheesecake was absolutely fantastic - creamy, dense but not too dense...i did want the crust to be a little less soggy, so maybe less sauce on the bottom of the plate would have been good. the black pepper flavor was great, but overpowering after a while - and i have no idea what kind of black peppercorns they use at no 9 park, but they're better than any other peppercorns i've ever had before. the combination of room-temperature cheesecake and cool lime sorbet was absolutely out-of-this-world, though. and the whole thing had tiny chunks of pineapple on the bottom and paper-thin slices of pineapple covering the plate. i don't know about the presentation, really, but that's also the best pineapple i've ever had in my life. we wondered all the while how they got the pineapple so thin - if it was cut by hand, or with a mandoline, or maybe frozen and cut...we have no idea. in general, the cheesecake was good, but that perfect balance wasn't quite there.
no 9 park is definitely not quite the place where one wants to linger. i don't mean this in a bad way; it's simply the clientele (businessmen) that makes it so. as it happened, we spent about 3 1/2 hours there, and it's the sort of place where i think i could linger for a while talking, but not in the same way that one can linger in a french bistro all night. all in all, though, it's fantastic and does everything right. the service is impeccable - friendly, but blending into the background, like the decor of the restaurant itself - you could ask them anything and they'd do it for you.
would i come back? yes, definitely. but i would come back only in certain contexts - because i have to say, maybe i'm spoiled but i love the three-tiered tray they bring you at aujourd'hui and l'espalier full of tiny sweet tidbits, as a way to finish off your meal - and that's part of what encourages you to linger for a long while after you actually finish eating. i think the high ceilings of aujourd'hui make it a bit too formal for linger-style eating, but that's just a personal preference. the lighting there is perfect, as it is at no 9 park, whose decor i like slightly more, probably because it's more minimalist. i think i achieved better balance at no 9 park than at aujourd'hui, but that was probably my choice of courses rather than the restaurants themselves. i still think craigie street bistrot is better than both aujourd'hui and no 9 park, just because of that purity of ingredients and preparation, but no 9 park is pretty damn good. no 9 park is a funny contrast with upstairs on the square - one is this staid, subtly exciting cuisine for the suits and the sophisticated hip, while the other is this wildly eclectic, eccentric place. it's like the new yorker and her boho-chic sister. both are great, but in very different ways.
22 mai 2005
review: that difficult work-to-no-work transition (upstairs on the square)
i'm somewhat at a loss because i've gone from such a high level of production (final review) to nothing. well, if "nothing" means "eventual packing." i feel as though i should be relaxing, but am finding it difficult to do because i'm still coming off the mad dash that is my mental state during finals. it's like trying to brake when driving a freight train full of lead weights.
well, at any rate, jessica and i are determined to hit up some restaurants before she leaves for california and then oxford, so we began our culinary trek today with brunch at upstairs on the square.
first of all, the entrance is on the side, not at the top of the stairs like one would surmise upon glancing at the front of the restaurant. the inside of the restaurant strikes a balance between being designed by women, and being feminine - and luckily, it's the right balance. the room is green with gold accents, with every trendy lighting fixture you can think of, and random details everywhere, like a tiny balcony to the left of the bar, an alice-in-wonderland type of mantel and mirror on the south wall, and "go red sox" painted onto the mirrors above the bar (plus a huge wide-screen TV perched on top of the back of a banquette, ostensibly for red sox games). as i look around, i spot what is the best table i've ever seen in a restaurant, ever - a tiny table tucked into an oddly-shaped nook under a window, big enough for two people. so, if you go there on a date, that is where you should sit. it's on the side of the room opposite from the mantel, closer to the kitchen side.
and of course, there's the food. we went there for brunch, so i think the food was a little less imaginative overal than dinner tends to be - it had the typical french toast, salmon, bagels, omelettes, etc. the attention to detail was probably what made the food so good. i would say that i wasn't totally knocked out, but i was more than pleased and would go back. dinner is probably even better. what also made the food good was flawless preparation - which is also what makes craigie street bistrot (my favorite restaurant in boston and cambridge) so good. while jessica and i waited for shaunna, we were brought a basket with little breakfast-y tidbits - the breakfast version of the breadbasket. everything was, of course, in miniature, and was quite good. there was a tiny chive-cheese scone, banana-chocolate chip muffins (but the banana was very subtle...it took me a few minutes to realize that it was banana. or, rather, jessica said "banana!" and i suddenly realized that that was the flavor i couldn't place), a couple slices of pound cake, and a couple slices of spice cake (very molasses-y). as for first courses, i started with the muesli, which was bits of granola (house-made, of course), assorted nuts (cashews and..macadamias?), and some raspberries. wow, those raspberries were good. the yogurt was also fabulous. anyway, i don't usually like muesli but i did like this one. i have rarely had fried potatoes that good - and you would think that they're a very simple thing to do, but i've had the whole range of fried potatoes, from grim to transcendent. i would say that these were fairly close to transcendent - crispy on the outside, and somehow perfectly balanced, herbs-wise. maybe my palate is too undiscerning, but the steak (oh, so i had the steak and eggs) was good but not particularly spectacular. it was cooked perfectly, though (rare, as all red meat should be), and had some sort of relish/mayonnaise-consistency type thing on it which was spicy and a nice counterpoint to the steak. the eggs? eh. i don't think i'm such a fan of steak and eggs together. in general, though, i don't really go for typical breakfast foods at breakfast. i would much rather have cold pizza than cereal, for example.
the high point, as it always seems to be for me, was dessert. we were all full, but couldn't resist the dessert menu. i do believe the dessert menu was the most creative part of the menu, with things like a coocnut panna cotta (ok, not so exciting), lemon custard cake with rhubarb (rhubarb! i love rhubarb!), cornmeal upside down plum cake (oh, plum cake...), and a couple other things. but shaunna and i eyed the butterscotch pudding and went with it. jessica got the panna cotta despite the gelatin. let me just say that that pudding is the best pudding i have ever had in my life. or, at least, the best butterscotch pudding i have ever had in my life. my other pudding high points: the best recipe's double chocolate pudding recipe is the best pudding recipe in the world; and the joy of cooking milk-and-cornstarch vanilla pudding is just fantastic. but this butterscotch pudding was pretty out-of-this-world - silky, creamy, dense but not too desne...oh, i want more just thinking about it. i think the one thing it may have been lacking (and this is a very contentious "may") was some salty counterpoint - in the same way that caramel is a thousand times better if it's slightly salty, a burst of salty something in the pudding would have been fabulous.
all in all, though, upstairs on the square is a fabulous place, and definitely belongs on your to-do-list. i would like to go there for dinner sometime, to see if there's a big difference in the experience. don't forget the dessert!
well, at any rate, jessica and i are determined to hit up some restaurants before she leaves for california and then oxford, so we began our culinary trek today with brunch at upstairs on the square.
first of all, the entrance is on the side, not at the top of the stairs like one would surmise upon glancing at the front of the restaurant. the inside of the restaurant strikes a balance between being designed by women, and being feminine - and luckily, it's the right balance. the room is green with gold accents, with every trendy lighting fixture you can think of, and random details everywhere, like a tiny balcony to the left of the bar, an alice-in-wonderland type of mantel and mirror on the south wall, and "go red sox" painted onto the mirrors above the bar (plus a huge wide-screen TV perched on top of the back of a banquette, ostensibly for red sox games). as i look around, i spot what is the best table i've ever seen in a restaurant, ever - a tiny table tucked into an oddly-shaped nook under a window, big enough for two people. so, if you go there on a date, that is where you should sit. it's on the side of the room opposite from the mantel, closer to the kitchen side.
and of course, there's the food. we went there for brunch, so i think the food was a little less imaginative overal than dinner tends to be - it had the typical french toast, salmon, bagels, omelettes, etc. the attention to detail was probably what made the food so good. i would say that i wasn't totally knocked out, but i was more than pleased and would go back. dinner is probably even better. what also made the food good was flawless preparation - which is also what makes craigie street bistrot (my favorite restaurant in boston and cambridge) so good. while jessica and i waited for shaunna, we were brought a basket with little breakfast-y tidbits - the breakfast version of the breadbasket. everything was, of course, in miniature, and was quite good. there was a tiny chive-cheese scone, banana-chocolate chip muffins (but the banana was very subtle...it took me a few minutes to realize that it was banana. or, rather, jessica said "banana!" and i suddenly realized that that was the flavor i couldn't place), a couple slices of pound cake, and a couple slices of spice cake (very molasses-y). as for first courses, i started with the muesli, which was bits of granola (house-made, of course), assorted nuts (cashews and..macadamias?), and some raspberries. wow, those raspberries were good. the yogurt was also fabulous. anyway, i don't usually like muesli but i did like this one. i have rarely had fried potatoes that good - and you would think that they're a very simple thing to do, but i've had the whole range of fried potatoes, from grim to transcendent. i would say that these were fairly close to transcendent - crispy on the outside, and somehow perfectly balanced, herbs-wise. maybe my palate is too undiscerning, but the steak (oh, so i had the steak and eggs) was good but not particularly spectacular. it was cooked perfectly, though (rare, as all red meat should be), and had some sort of relish/mayonnaise-consistency type thing on it which was spicy and a nice counterpoint to the steak. the eggs? eh. i don't think i'm such a fan of steak and eggs together. in general, though, i don't really go for typical breakfast foods at breakfast. i would much rather have cold pizza than cereal, for example.
the high point, as it always seems to be for me, was dessert. we were all full, but couldn't resist the dessert menu. i do believe the dessert menu was the most creative part of the menu, with things like a coocnut panna cotta (ok, not so exciting), lemon custard cake with rhubarb (rhubarb! i love rhubarb!), cornmeal upside down plum cake (oh, plum cake...), and a couple other things. but shaunna and i eyed the butterscotch pudding and went with it. jessica got the panna cotta despite the gelatin. let me just say that that pudding is the best pudding i have ever had in my life. or, at least, the best butterscotch pudding i have ever had in my life. my other pudding high points: the best recipe's double chocolate pudding recipe is the best pudding recipe in the world; and the joy of cooking milk-and-cornstarch vanilla pudding is just fantastic. but this butterscotch pudding was pretty out-of-this-world - silky, creamy, dense but not too desne...oh, i want more just thinking about it. i think the one thing it may have been lacking (and this is a very contentious "may") was some salty counterpoint - in the same way that caramel is a thousand times better if it's slightly salty, a burst of salty something in the pudding would have been fabulous.
all in all, though, upstairs on the square is a fabulous place, and definitely belongs on your to-do-list. i would like to go there for dinner sometime, to see if there's a big difference in the experience. don't forget the dessert!
04 mai 2005
review: please turn off the bad french pop! (petit robert bistro)
restaurant review : petit robert bistro, 468 comm ave
visited : 30 april (6pm), 1 may (6:30pm)
saturday.
the buzz on the restaurant was good. i had really just sent the review from the globe to french house because the restaurant's manager is loic le garrec - the name of the doctor in "a la folie...pas du tout" (he loves me, he loves me not) if you remember it. if you don't, or if you have no idea what i'm talking about, you should go rent this movie from the video store.
walking into the restaurant requires you to walk down a narrow set of concrete steps, which lead into a charming little restaurant that really seems to take you into a different world (in contrast to the collegiate/brownstone atmosphere of kenmore square). wait at the threshold, where oddly enough, the main coatrack is in the anteroom, offering free access to anyone, and you will theoretically be greeted by the hostess. we were greeted by the hostess, but apparently our coats were not deemed to be special enough to be hung on the coatrack indoors. oh well.
we were seated on the lower level, near the pastry bar. the restaurant was barely half full, but we settled into our table quite nicely. first things first : to the manager of the restaurant, please do not cycle the same short playlist of bad french pop four times in three hours. the first song sounded like elevator music, and i'm sorry, but i am not a fan of hearing zazie's "j'envoie valser" four times in one evening.
the next thing i noticed : our water glasses were refilled constantly. and by constantly, i mean every two or three minutes. i am all for full water glasses, but they were a little bit overattentive in this respect. on the other hand, when bread arrived, it was wonderful and so hot as to be steaming when we cracked it open. luckily, the bread was replenished as nicely as the water, so we were never in want of it. this is one of the few restaurants that actually serves bread correctly, and in fact, it might take first place honors in this respect. i can't remember the last time i've had such good bread at a restaurant, come to think of it. its rival is, of course, sel de la terre, but the warmth of the bread, and the way that the butter (which is very, very yellow, almost disconcertingly so) melts on it is quite winning.
our waiter was french, and we (by which i mean keith) asked if he was willing to speak to us in french, which he was. i can only hope that one day i will have a real french accent when i speak french. anyway, we ordered our appetizers, which included the soup of the day (vichysoisse), a vegan pate, the housemade pate "with condiments," the lobster bisque, escargots, the "pasta ribbon with goat cheese crumbs and walnuts," and a salad. kudos to the restaurant for excellent and unpretentious salad greens - i have really come to hate weird salad mixes, especially "field greens." "field greens" is really a euphemism for "weird and incongruous mix of tough, bitter salad greens that are shaped like coral." i also hate it when restaurants are too trendy.
the menu at petit robert bistro is pretty good - it has the standard, plus some more interesting and adventurous things - for example, the tripe as a plat principal. serious points off, though, for the menu in franglais - choose one or the other, or at least have the french and english translations side by side. "spinach au beurre" and "soupe a l'onion ..." ok, i forget the last word. but it was in french, and only the word "onion" was in english. the word in french for onion, by the way, is "oignon." also, hors d'oeuvres are ok, but seriously, this restaurant is owned by french people. they KNOW that "entree" means first course, not main course (which would be plat principal). one cannot claim to be a real french restaurant and then ignore the way the french eat, even if it is just a bistro.
back to the food, which, after all, is the important part. the appetizers, i hear, were all great. i unfortunately couldn't do much tasting, as i was/am sick. i had the housemade pate, which was really three different pates, plus a tiny salad and a smattering of cornichons. the pates were pretty good, especially the one that i'm pretty sure was really just livers of some kind and butter, but overall, this pate had nothing on the pork rillettes that i had at craigie street bistrot. on the other hand, considering that this pate was half the price, it was pretty darn good. i'm afraid i've been spoiled by good food. and the cornichons! i love cornichons. there is no better way to eat pickle-like substances. unless it's on a hot sub or a fast food, that is.
onto the main course. i had the rabbit - roasted, with mustard, plus julienned leeks. i'm not sure if there were actually any leeks on my plate, but the baby green beans and julienned carrots were nice, anyway. i thought the mustard was fabulous, but the rabbit was a little salty - it was one of those things where you really had to eat a bit of everything in each bite to balance the flavors. i don't know if it was supposed to be like that; something tells me no. it was, however, huge, or at least seemed so after the appetizer. in fact, there was so much leftover that i asked the waitress to pack it up for me; i usually wouldn't, but it seemed like it would be a real waste of food. as a testament to how busy the restaurant was, and thus how stretched the service was, she totally forgot about it. i decided not to say anything, though.
dessert was a fun affair - we all got different ones. i had the gateau petit robert, which was essentially a chocolate cake with a little chocolate tour eiffel as a decoration. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good, either - the marjolaine that jessica made me for my birthday far surpassed it. on the other hand, nina's tarte tatin was absolutely the best tarte tatin i've ever had in my life - it could have been a perfect 10. jessica's boston cream pie was a bit of a letdown - just not as soft as it was supposed to be, and not as cold, either. the vanilla cream part seemed to be a bit off - the flavor wasn't as clean and vanilla-y as it should have been.
despite the flaws in the food, it was still pretty darn good, and we had a really good time, spending 3 hours there from start to finish. the atmosphere of the restaurant is great, with a funny mix of people, from french people, to old couples, to the young hip. if you want to go out somewhere, go here. but i would rather cook, because it would be just as good, and cheaper.
sunday.
we arrived to an empty foyer. we didn't have to wait long for the host to appear, but we did have to wait. odd, since it was sunday and the restaurant wasn't very full at all. the music was better, but i have to say that the service really suffered. when the waitress came back to take our orders, she paused while heading around our table to ask another table how they were doing. ask, yes. but after tending to the party you just flagged down... one of the waiters was looking for something in the silverware bureau, couldn't find it, slammed the drawer shut and stomped into the kitchen. on the bright side, tonight i had the duck confit with some sort of sausage and the same green beans and carrots, plus braised savoy cabbage. i'm a big fan of braised or sauteed cabbage, which my mother likes to cook at home. the duck was also fantastic, if a bit salty, but the saltiness didn't seem out of place here. it was also fantastically better with a glass of red wine. nora had the beef bourguignon, which was pretty good. mom had the bouillabaisse and dad had the steak. i'm always surprised by the speed with which mom and dad eat, since my friends and i will spend three hours sitting around the dinner table.
the verdict : so really i'm tired of doing work, and tired of writing, which made this review a bit problematic. it was a good restaurant and it's a fun place to eat at, but it's just not really worth the money. you can do better on your own time, in your own kitchen. or rather, come over to my house and i'll cook for you.
visited : 30 april (6pm), 1 may (6:30pm)
saturday.
the buzz on the restaurant was good. i had really just sent the review from the globe to french house because the restaurant's manager is loic le garrec - the name of the doctor in "a la folie...pas du tout" (he loves me, he loves me not) if you remember it. if you don't, or if you have no idea what i'm talking about, you should go rent this movie from the video store.
walking into the restaurant requires you to walk down a narrow set of concrete steps, which lead into a charming little restaurant that really seems to take you into a different world (in contrast to the collegiate/brownstone atmosphere of kenmore square). wait at the threshold, where oddly enough, the main coatrack is in the anteroom, offering free access to anyone, and you will theoretically be greeted by the hostess. we were greeted by the hostess, but apparently our coats were not deemed to be special enough to be hung on the coatrack indoors. oh well.
we were seated on the lower level, near the pastry bar. the restaurant was barely half full, but we settled into our table quite nicely. first things first : to the manager of the restaurant, please do not cycle the same short playlist of bad french pop four times in three hours. the first song sounded like elevator music, and i'm sorry, but i am not a fan of hearing zazie's "j'envoie valser" four times in one evening.
the next thing i noticed : our water glasses were refilled constantly. and by constantly, i mean every two or three minutes. i am all for full water glasses, but they were a little bit overattentive in this respect. on the other hand, when bread arrived, it was wonderful and so hot as to be steaming when we cracked it open. luckily, the bread was replenished as nicely as the water, so we were never in want of it. this is one of the few restaurants that actually serves bread correctly, and in fact, it might take first place honors in this respect. i can't remember the last time i've had such good bread at a restaurant, come to think of it. its rival is, of course, sel de la terre, but the warmth of the bread, and the way that the butter (which is very, very yellow, almost disconcertingly so) melts on it is quite winning.
our waiter was french, and we (by which i mean keith) asked if he was willing to speak to us in french, which he was. i can only hope that one day i will have a real french accent when i speak french. anyway, we ordered our appetizers, which included the soup of the day (vichysoisse), a vegan pate, the housemade pate "with condiments," the lobster bisque, escargots, the "pasta ribbon with goat cheese crumbs and walnuts," and a salad. kudos to the restaurant for excellent and unpretentious salad greens - i have really come to hate weird salad mixes, especially "field greens." "field greens" is really a euphemism for "weird and incongruous mix of tough, bitter salad greens that are shaped like coral." i also hate it when restaurants are too trendy.
the menu at petit robert bistro is pretty good - it has the standard, plus some more interesting and adventurous things - for example, the tripe as a plat principal. serious points off, though, for the menu in franglais - choose one or the other, or at least have the french and english translations side by side. "spinach au beurre" and "soupe a l'onion ..." ok, i forget the last word. but it was in french, and only the word "onion" was in english. the word in french for onion, by the way, is "oignon." also, hors d'oeuvres are ok, but seriously, this restaurant is owned by french people. they KNOW that "entree" means first course, not main course (which would be plat principal). one cannot claim to be a real french restaurant and then ignore the way the french eat, even if it is just a bistro.
back to the food, which, after all, is the important part. the appetizers, i hear, were all great. i unfortunately couldn't do much tasting, as i was/am sick. i had the housemade pate, which was really three different pates, plus a tiny salad and a smattering of cornichons. the pates were pretty good, especially the one that i'm pretty sure was really just livers of some kind and butter, but overall, this pate had nothing on the pork rillettes that i had at craigie street bistrot. on the other hand, considering that this pate was half the price, it was pretty darn good. i'm afraid i've been spoiled by good food. and the cornichons! i love cornichons. there is no better way to eat pickle-like substances. unless it's on a hot sub or a fast food, that is.
onto the main course. i had the rabbit - roasted, with mustard, plus julienned leeks. i'm not sure if there were actually any leeks on my plate, but the baby green beans and julienned carrots were nice, anyway. i thought the mustard was fabulous, but the rabbit was a little salty - it was one of those things where you really had to eat a bit of everything in each bite to balance the flavors. i don't know if it was supposed to be like that; something tells me no. it was, however, huge, or at least seemed so after the appetizer. in fact, there was so much leftover that i asked the waitress to pack it up for me; i usually wouldn't, but it seemed like it would be a real waste of food. as a testament to how busy the restaurant was, and thus how stretched the service was, she totally forgot about it. i decided not to say anything, though.
dessert was a fun affair - we all got different ones. i had the gateau petit robert, which was essentially a chocolate cake with a little chocolate tour eiffel as a decoration. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good, either - the marjolaine that jessica made me for my birthday far surpassed it. on the other hand, nina's tarte tatin was absolutely the best tarte tatin i've ever had in my life - it could have been a perfect 10. jessica's boston cream pie was a bit of a letdown - just not as soft as it was supposed to be, and not as cold, either. the vanilla cream part seemed to be a bit off - the flavor wasn't as clean and vanilla-y as it should have been.
despite the flaws in the food, it was still pretty darn good, and we had a really good time, spending 3 hours there from start to finish. the atmosphere of the restaurant is great, with a funny mix of people, from french people, to old couples, to the young hip. if you want to go out somewhere, go here. but i would rather cook, because it would be just as good, and cheaper.
sunday.
we arrived to an empty foyer. we didn't have to wait long for the host to appear, but we did have to wait. odd, since it was sunday and the restaurant wasn't very full at all. the music was better, but i have to say that the service really suffered. when the waitress came back to take our orders, she paused while heading around our table to ask another table how they were doing. ask, yes. but after tending to the party you just flagged down... one of the waiters was looking for something in the silverware bureau, couldn't find it, slammed the drawer shut and stomped into the kitchen. on the bright side, tonight i had the duck confit with some sort of sausage and the same green beans and carrots, plus braised savoy cabbage. i'm a big fan of braised or sauteed cabbage, which my mother likes to cook at home. the duck was also fantastic, if a bit salty, but the saltiness didn't seem out of place here. it was also fantastically better with a glass of red wine. nora had the beef bourguignon, which was pretty good. mom had the bouillabaisse and dad had the steak. i'm always surprised by the speed with which mom and dad eat, since my friends and i will spend three hours sitting around the dinner table.
the verdict : so really i'm tired of doing work, and tired of writing, which made this review a bit problematic. it was a good restaurant and it's a fun place to eat at, but it's just not really worth the money. you can do better on your own time, in your own kitchen. or rather, come over to my house and i'll cook for you.
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