A Tale of Two Chefs Gastronomic Picnic at The Invisible Dog, Brooklyn

My friend Tricia read about a "gastronomic picnic" at an art space in Brooklyn called The Invisible Dog.  My cousins (who are always up for good food) lived in the neighborhood, so I invited them along.  No one was quite sure what to expect, but costing only $20, it seemed worth checking it.

The event was part of an art exhibit and day of events celebrating French-American collaboration, so we were served a 5-course box lunch created by two chefs - French Chef Mathieu Rostaing Tayard from Le 126 in Lyon, France; and American Chef Brian Leth from Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn.  The Invisible Dog had a garden in back, and it was a great fall day, so we were able to eat in an urban picnic setting.

First course: Fennel Salad with saved fennel, currants, corignola olive oil, sherry, green peppercorns, dill and parmesan.

Second course: Braised squid with walnuts, cauliflower, Munamarra (red pepper) sauce, and peanuts.

Third course: Bacon and sea urchin with sauerkraut and hedgehog mushrooms.

Fourth course: Snail tempura with herb jus, green apple, daikon, ricotta salata

Dessert: Butternut squash and quince puree with vanilla meringue, roasted chestnut powder and lemon zest.

The general consensus was that everyone's favorite dish was the bacon and sea urchin.  The sauerkraut was delicious, and the "hedgehog mushrooms" were intriguing - no one had had mushrooms like that before (they almost seemed like tiny tomatoes).

Redneckhunter was probably the smart one eating his hot dishes first.  The rest of us tried to follow the courses as listed, so by the time we got to Snail Tempura the fried snails were no longer hot.  I like the dish anyway - that was my second favorite.  My only complaint was that if I was a judge on Top Chef, I would have said something about how it was difficult to eat the large pieces of apple radish in a picnic setting - needing to cut it while balancing a little cup on my lap.  Once I did cut everything up, I really liked how all the flavors worked together.  Perhaps my cousins didn't do the same as they didn't like the dish as much as I did.

After lunch, the chefs had a Q&A session, in which we found out that they didn't come up with the menu until Chef Tayard arrived in New York on Thursday (3 days prior).  They had no preconceived ideas, other than Chef Tayard wanted to try to use snails (or maybe it was the urchin, I can't quite remember).  The two shopped together for ingredients at the Union Square Greenmarket.  Chef Leth made the fennel salad and squid.  Chef Tayard made the snails and dessert, and they collaborated together to come up with the bacon sea urchin dish.

Parc, Philadelphia

For brunch after our girls night, me and the last 2 ladies standing went to Parc, Stephen Starr's new French bistro in the old Bleu location on Rittenhouse Square. It's a great replica - right down to the woven chairs on the sidewalk and the Edith Piaf on the sound system.

We got Eggs en Cocotte to share - crisp buttery toast fingers to dip into a runny egg. The toast was super buttery - reminded me of "dong dong dan" that my dad used to make (translated from Chinese "hole hole egg") - egg fried with the hole cut in the toast for the sunnyside yolk - so yummy...

Then still in my soft egg and polenta mode from dinner the night before, I ordered it again for breakfast -- 2 poached eggs, with rapini and red peppers on top of creamy polenta.

My friend got steak and eggs -- a petite filet with 2 sunny side up eggs, mornay sauce, and a side salad. My other friend got pancakes with blueberry compote and maple syrup.

Parc
227 South 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 545-2262

Le Grainne Cafe, NYC

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late... but we'll try to make up for the spring. On our last girls shopping day, petiteseour and I ate at Le Grainne Cafe in Chelsea. She's a big fan of the Oeuf Mason, a poached egg on a goat cheese potato cake with ratatouille. It's the perfect comfort food -- all the rich flavors melding together. I had a savory crepe with merguez sausage and red peppers. The coffee is also excellent, and that day we had not one, but two, celeb sightings...

Le Grainne Cafe
183 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(646) 486-3000

Lemeac, Montreal

I looked on Chowhound to find a place for dinner on Friday after New Year's.  We had wanted to go back to Le P'tit Plateau, but it was closed for a long holiday.   So we settled on Lemeac in the Outremont neighborhood.  It was described as a French bistro, but less trendy than Montreal's famous L'Express.  

Indeed, we were probably among the youngest people eating at the place that night.  We started out with bloc de foie gras as our appetizer.  It was accompanied by a pineapple compote which went really well and cut the fattiness of the foie.

I got their housemade blood pudding as my entree.  It was delicious - the texture of the blood pudding was soft and exquisite, and it was accompanied by a celery root puree that complemented the flavor of the blood really well.  The acidity of the sauce helped as well.

Redneckhunter was a little underwhelmed by his dish, which was confit of duck leg, accompanied by fingerling potatoes and wild greens.  I guess it was just not that exciting.  

We were too stuffed to order dessert.  One other thing to note about this restaurant, and about Montreal culture, is that instead of the early bird special that you'd expect to find in a restaurant whose clientele's average age is 50, Lemeac had a late night special.  After 10 pm (22:00), they had a 2 course $22 Canadian prix fixe menu.  

Lemeac

1045 Ave. Laurier Ouest

Outremont, Quebec

(514) 270-0999

Cochon, Philadelphia

This weekend, we were all in Philly to check out the Popped! festival, so we decided to try out Cochon, a French bistro on the south side of town. First off the place was BYOB, so Redneckhunter picked up a 6 pack of Yuengling from a place called The Dive a few blocks south.
We split a pair of appetizers. Of course, we had to get the sweetbreads served with haricot verts and red peppers. They were delicious. The sweetbread was delicately prepared and the veggies were really fresh.
Alas, they were out of the fried chicken livers, so we opted instead the seared scallops with a frisée, lardons, asparagus and fingerlings salad, which was good, but not as good as our other appetizer.
For entrees, we all tried different items and shared the wealth. Mine was deemed the best of the three. I got the pork shoulder over lentils duPuy, roasted Brussels sprouts, and topped with a poached egg. Omigosh, the pork was so tender and delicious, and with the egg yolk spilling over it, it was heavenly. The sprouts were good and I particularly liked the flavor and firmness of the lentils.
Fougoo ordered the duck breast with white bean ragoût, baby carrots, and pomegranate gastrique. The duck had a nice crisp skin on it. Fougoo particularly liked her white beans.

Redneckhunter got the stuffed pork loin with mushroom duxelle, potato gratin, and roquefort sauce. The shoulder was clearly the superior dish, but the gratin was very good.

For dessert, we got both the molten chocolate cake with ice cream and the creme brulee. Both were pretty great- we finished them completely.
All in all, Cochon was not expensive and the food was fantastic.


801 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 923-7675

Mother's Day Brunch at Petit Louis

For Mother's day, I took my mom to eat at Baltimore's Petit Louis restaurant in Roland Park, a French bistro that is part of Baltimore's Charleston group.

We started with the foie gras a la mode Landaise served with toast. It was nice, not heavy.
We also got escargots in garlic butter. They were delicious.

For our entrees, my mom ordered the pan seared sea scallops in a beurre blanc sauce served with asparagus and an asparagus flan. The scallops were prepared very well, and the flan was very unique, reminding you of tofu.

I opted for the classic steak frites- the meat was great, and the fries had a lot of flavor.

We finished the meal off with a sweet crepe filled with creme, topped with fresh raspberries.
This was actually my first time at Petit Louis, but definitely not my last.




4800 Roland Ave # 100
Baltimore, MD 21210
(410) 366-9393

Guy Savoy, Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas

Last month, Fougoo, Redneckhunter, and I were lucky enough to have dinner with our family in Las Vegas at Michelin two-star restaurant Guy Savoy inside of Caesar's Palace.
When we arrived at the restaurant, the esteemed chef himself, Guy Savoy greeted us at the entrance.
In the dining room we ate in, they offered the ladies each a small stool they could place their purses on. The wine list came with it's own podium. We had a bottle of 1985 Chateau Lafite Rothschild with dinner- probably the best wine I've ever had.

We knew it was going to be good from the start when we got the bread. Despite it's odd shape, it was amazing- a perfect crust, and delicious.

They started us off with several amuse bouches. The first was like a slider in a stick- a mini grilled beef inside a small toasted bread.

They also gave us a small container with vegetables like parsnips, poured some soup in it and then you pushed some cayenne into the mix for a "shot" of soup.

Afterwards, you could lift up the "cup" and underneath was another small bite on a taro chip.







For our starters, we were able to try a good variety of items, however the main ingredient prominent in all of them were black truffles- wow- so extravagant. I got the black truffle risotto.

We also got to try the black truffle soup- definitely a more stronger flavor of the truffle in this presentation. This came out with a cinnamon brioche.

The scallops were really fresh and sizeable in this other appetizer.

Redneckhunter and I, for our second courses, got the special, and big surprise, more black truffles. The dish was a turbot layered with truffles. It came with some little veggies and foam.

We also split an order of the foie gras which came with chestnuts. Delicious.

For an entree, I got the venison special.

My dad got the beef rib dish which was topped a piece of marrow.

Fougoo got the sweetbreads with guess what, black truffles.

For dessert, I wanted to have something light, so I got the citrus plate, with tea used to steam the items on the plate.

This was the very unique grapefruit terrine.
All in all, this was a pretty unique meal experience for us. Chef Savoy allowed us to even stop into the kitchen to see the staff at work.

Payard, Las Vegas

While staying at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, we made it a habit to go to Payard every morning for a delicious breakfast.
A couple mornings, we even say chef Guy Savoy there getting breakfast.

First off, the croissants were good, simple, and delicious. Always good with a cup of joe.
In their sit down breakfast area, they made an eggs Benedict using the croissants that was incredible.

We also tried two kinds of waffles: the vanilla waffle with whipped cream and berries, and the chocolate waffles with bananas and Nutella. Both were great.

Payard also had a nice breakfast buffet including breads and pastries as well as smoked salmon and fresh fruit. Fougoo loved the granola & yogurt parfait.
I picked up a ham & brie sandwich and a chocolate croissant for my plane trip home- so much better than airport food.

Le P'tit Plateau, Montreal

While researching for our Montreal trip, I came across a recommendation for an interesting sounding locals restaurant on the Don Rockwell board. It was for Le P'tit Plateau, a bring your own wine restaurant serving southern French style cuisine. Needless to say, it was an incredible meal.
We started with appetizers that were house specialties. First, we had the foie gras maison cuit au torchon- poached foie gras served chilled with toast, raisins, and onion. The taste was decadent.
We also had a small plate of their smoked salmon smoked on the premises.
It was great having a party of four adventurous eaters because we got to try several main courses. Gallup got got the medallion of red deer venison with red wine sauce. The texture of the venison was a so tender, and the sauce was rich in flavor.

Fougoo got the Alberta lamb confit- cooked slowly for 15 hours. The meat just fell off the bone- amazing.

Redneckhunter's dish was simply spectacular and the house specialty, the cassoulet. It was clearly slow cooked for a long time as the white beans were soft. It included sausage, pheasant, and pork.

I got the grilled duck magret in porto and orange sauce. It was impeccably cooked. I also liked my side of potatoes au gratin.

Dessert was also spectacular. We shared the black chocolate mousse on praline crust. The crust made it all worth it.

We also got a dessert called floating islands, vanilla & caramel which consisted of poached meringues in creme anglaise.


330 Rue Marie-Anne Est
MONTRÉAL, QC, Canada
(514) 282-6342