Saturday, November 14, 2009

back to BAR BOULUD (NYC-Lincoln Center)

Last night on our way to the opera (Esther at NYC Opera) I decided to
take my mother and ex-brother-in-lax (a great client and still dear
friend) to BAR BOULUD located directly across from Lincoln Center as I
thought it was convenient (my Mom can't walk much), varied, tasty,
innovative and just plain good.
On a cold and rainy night it's always nice to sit down to this large
peppery warm and soft GOUGERES that come to every table. Add a bottle
of MONTIRIUS 2004 "Les Clos" VACQUEYRAS, which is drinking so smoothly
now after 5 years with soft tannins and a bit of spice, and the meals
starts off with a big hit.

TARTARE de BOEUF PARISIEN here is a beautiful disc of Black Angus Top
Sirloin with a dribble of light cream and small egg yolk (Quail) with
waffled Gaufrettes and several pieces of baby Romaine with a drizzle
of dressing and capers. The preparation here is a milder one and I had
to ask for pepper, which was just the right touch. The PATE GRANDE
MERE is a beautiful piece (as are all the homemade pates here) made
from Liver, Pork & Cognac.

Main courses were all a success from the NANTUCKET BAY SCALLOPS with
Celery Root Puree, Celery, Orange and a Basil-Lemon Sauce with Black
Truffles. These were the small sweetish bay scallops and the dish won
high marks. COQ AU VIN is as traditional as it gets, but here with a
tasty and at times crunchy chicken skin for flavor and texture. My
BOUDIN BLANC was a superb large Truffles White Sausage with Mashed
Potato and Cooked Apple Slices that satisfied me just to a tee.

For dessert the BERMUDE was a light choice of CRANBERRY& SECKEL Pear
(Poached) on a Frangipane Tart with Pear Yogurt Sorbet. The cheeses
here are stars and we tried a number of them:
A simple firm yet tasty MOSES SLEEPER from Wisconsin
what was termed on the menu as "stinky" was the GRES DES VOSGES which
was not all that stinky but a soft delight with great flavor.
SAINT NECTAIRE was earthy and mild and the stars of the evening on the
plates were:
a superb sheep BREBIS ROUSSE d'ARGENTAL softened to perfection
a salty blue PERSILLE de MALZIEU
and a divine oozing all over goat PICO-PICADINE

Kudos to our charming server Tomas, who insisted we try to speak
French with him and the entire staff for just being so nice with our
awful traffic delay on arrival!