We sat down in the almost empty DINING ROOM at the intimate MIRBEAU
INN
(www.mirbeau.com) and it was a slow start, but Nasya (a Hebrew
name for
"miracle of G-d") said she would help us with our server
Ben. The team
worked well and we challenged Ben to find Samuel a new
drink and he came up
with Passion fruit Lemonade Soda; who wouldn't
love that? Nasya offered us
cucumber water (Sam wanted plain) and
brought us some decent parker house
style round rolls.
Samuel decided immediately on the Cotelette de PORC au
Lait which was
an 8 ounce boneless pork ribeye in a whole milk reduction
with
shallots, carrots, guanciale and a NY apple brunoise with leeks.
On
the side he insisted for Bistro FRIES with Herbs & Garlic.
We
ordered a bottle of RAVINES 2009 Pinot Noir of course from the
FINGER LAKES
as this was the reason for our trip. It was a gem and
knew the wines to come
would be special, as was our second red, a
STANDING STONE "Pinnacle" 2007
Meritage of Cabernet, Merlot and
Cabernet Franc.
We loved the elegant
DINING ROOM with crisp linens and good crystal;
sheer drapes separated the
seating areas and painted walls of trees
gave a classic feel. It was a bit
cold and with the doors shut, I kept
saying "cut the air,open the doors and
save the money and ecology."
I started with what was called CHOUCROUTE
which was not quite that
Alsatian dish. It was a COFFEE JERKY and a TERIYAKI
JERKY (too much
jerky on one plate) along with superb SMOKED DUCK BREAST.
Three
dipping sauces were Teriyaki Glaze, Paprika Oil and Bordelaise
Sauce
that were fun and varied. Pickled Radish & Aspargus were a
brilliant
finish.
Will chose the DUCK CONFIT SPRING ROLLS with Hudson
Valley Duck, Napa
Cabbage, Housemade Duck Sauce and Hot Mustard with a bit of
Fried Duck
Cracklings.
He continued with the FILET de BOEUF from Birdsall
Farm that is
marinated in cold pressed EVOO with herbs, telicherry
peppercorns and
truffle oil and sea salt. He chose two sauces and use the
POIVRE for
the most part as opposed to the BORDELAISE.
I had the 10 ounce
BLACK & BLUE Kansas City VEAL STRIP with cracked
pepper & se salt and
crumbled blue cheese.On top were crispy yummy
buttermilk onion "frittes"
(they don't spell well)..
Dessert was a 3-way split of LE CARNIVAL: Frozen
Raspberry Yoghurt
"balloons" which came in a cup as opposed to the menu's
tuile cookie
(they ran out), with divine lemon stuffed macaroons, raspberry
Coulis,
and spun sugar "cotton candy" which was a glop that was not
needed.
We loved 95% of the meal and only the dessert had some dud
points, so
we would love to return here to eat again for sure......but we are
now
moving deeper into the FINGER LAKES Region and its wine and
foods!
