Archive for the Out-of-Town Category

Among the highlights from our trip last year was Le Petit Pontoise, located on Rue Pontoise in the 6th arrondissement. We dined there for lunch, and this past November, we returned for a great dinner.

But our favorite place this time around is located across the street from the Islamic Center, and is called l”A.O.C.

First, it has such a homey atmosphere. The name refers to France’s designated agricultural regions, and features different foods from these diverse places. In effect, you’re getting some of the best eating ingredients from across France.

I started with some jambon, or ham. It was simple, served on a wooden platter, and delicious.

XS had what were advertised as giant snails, although they were “regular” size by his estimation. I loved the garlicky butter, which I soaked up with bread.

My dish was baby pig with crispy potatoes, and it was divine.

Served in Le Creuset, XS got the cassoulet, featuring sausage and pork belly as my favorite contributions. It’s a rustic stew with beans, and it had an incredibly flavored sauce.

Most highly recommended. Their homemade ice creams were delicious, as was the Île flottante.

Learn more online through their website.

While in Paris, I dined at Au Bascou for lunch.

For my entrée (think appetizer) I ordered something particularly regional to the basque region, piperade.

This is an egg dish featuring different peppers. The eggs were done gently, and the flavors were good. If I had to describe the flavor and aroma, smoked paprika came to mind.

A special that day was a truffled ravioli. It too was delicious, served in a mild creamy sauce.

XS’s favorite dish was the appetizer of Pyrenees ham, close in flavor to jamón serrano.

Be sure to visit the bathroom; it’s an interesting area, and the sink is operated by foot pedal. Very convenient for hygiene.

Recommended!

Last month, I dined at Le Chateaubriand in Paris, France.

Dining here was a small adventure. While we had planned ahead for a reservation, it was ultimately never made for us, and our best bet at eating here (on Thanksgiving night, no doubt) was to arrive around 9-9:30 PM and hope for a seat.

The line extended outside, and it was packed. It was a little confusing on how you were to put your name in — you didn’t, you simply maintained the line as it went inside this small place, right against the bar. After about 1 hour and 25 minutes of waiting, we had hope, and then it happened so quickly - the man behind the bar pointed, and a newly-cleared table was ours.

For 50 Euros per person, you get what the chef wants to serve you. After three amuses, we got the dish seen above, pickled vegetables with raw fish.

Next, bitter treviso.

The entrée (plat principal) was duck with mushroom, including mushroom powder.

A duo of desserts included salsify, the other, berries covered in a dome of cream.

So - how was it, right? This place is currently listed at #11, I think, of San Pellegrino’s top restaurants in the world. First, unlike many American restaurants, this food wasn’t too filling. After eating several plates, each one was reasonable. Each component on each plate had a purpose, it gave something to an over all aesthetic of taste and flavor. Texture wasn’t such a big thing here, the chef is paying his attention on flavors, especially those that may be novel yet ultimately satisfying.

Service was pretty good, with the waiters’ ability to speak to us in English. As it turned out, this place was almost completely filled with Americans at the late hour. But is it a world destination?

I sadly don’t think the wait was worth it… I was happy to eat here, and had a great time. And one could argue about value at the price point. But this is a small restaurant, nothing is fancy. Service was good once we were seated, but it lacked polish. The waiters and waitress were young, doing their thing. The food was imaginative. But, it wasn’t mind blowing or profound.

That’s why, when leaving, and getting a taxi down the street to return to our hotel, I thought of Town House in Chilhowie, VA. It too is a laboratory of flavors, and like Chateaubriand, operates with a small staff and small kitchen. Yet, the flavors are amplified many times over, the courses more numerous. Town House is world class; Chateaubriand, not so much.

Who is to say… I had a good Thanksgiving dinner, but the menu changes nightly. I’d love to return, but I take great satisfaction in knowing better food is available right here, in my own country, and in my own state.

This weekend, I once again traveled to Chilhowie, VA to sample the cuisine of Mr. and Mrs. John Shields at Town House. For me, this was a trip planned for labor day weekend that got postponed, and also a kind of personal reward for suffering through some recent exploratory surgery.

We took some friends along, and as before, had a great time.

First, where to stay? We tried - but the restaurant’s own place, Riverstead, was taken. So we opted for a fresh stay at the Martha Washington in Abingdon.

This was nicer than I had expected… I stepped inside this venerable Civil War-era establishment on a previous visit to Chilhowie; it was old, and had charm, but it wasn’t until we stayed here that I fully got why this place commands a high price.

While certain parts of the property could probably be updated, other parts seem fresh and new. The room’s bathroom was well-appointed with a great shower, and the back of the property now features a spa with a great salt water pool and a double hot tub, outside.

This area is tranquil, with a nice garden.

It’s a short drive (about 30 minutes, by I81), northward up to Chilhowie. There still doesn’t seem much to say about this small town along the highway, except that it still has one of the country’s more innovative restaurants in its small downtown.

You’ve seen it before here on MC, and we started again with the now infamous minestrone soup. It still baffles me why they proffer so little of the delicious, sweet and cool vegetable consomme:

We appreciated getting an extra course on their tasting menu, this one, a “gazpacho” with watermelon and a stewed tomato:

One of the newer dishes, as featured on the Town House Blog is this “salad” of late summer lettuces, with beans and ham cream. It was delicious and created a buzz at the table.

One of the more noteworthy dishes, also new to us, was based on corn. It was basically corn a half-dozen ways, from real silks (tempered by boiling it in a corn broth), to a basil cream of corn, and for contrast, it featured Town House’s famous pig tail. This featured a double wine pairing from (whom we consider a) master sommelier, Charlie Berg. One wine was from Virginia, which had the corn notes, and the other, a Medeira, where the sweetness was an excellent foil against the pork.

Having recently watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show, his 100th episode, where he finishes at the estimable L’Atelier de Jöel Robuchon (which we visited during our Parisian sojourn), I was reminded of their egg custard. I didn’t like it too well, as the eggs were underdone.

Chef John Shields is a real master at egg custards. Each one on my (now) three visits has been different, but each is a master work. This was no different, featuring ramp and salmon roe.

Shields and Company seem to be ever more visiting Japanese influences, featuring bonito in one dish, a sake sidecar on another thanks to Mr. Berg, and in this dish featuring onions prepared different ways, uni (sea urchin).

Among the least successful of the multiple courses was this one, featuring abalone and chicken. The chicken and its flavor was outstanding. But my friends considered the dish too complex, and one complained that the seaweed was too bitter. I found the abalone satisfying at first bite, but ultimately too chewy. Previously, one of Shields’ seaweed dishes that featured oyster was sublime.

There were many masterstrokes in this meal, ever modern with continuous hints of sweet, savory, and sour in each dish. But one of the true masterpieces, a favorite by all, was Karen Uwe Shields’ dessert of stones.

This was a combination of confections that took on every texture, temperature, and flavor. Caramel, chocolate, coffee… all the right notes. Absolutely incredible.

Town House is a far trek, no matter where you live. But it has been featuring, and continued as late as this weekend, to serve incredibly accessible, delicious, fun food. Opt for the wine pairings for true synergy at each turn, should you choose three, five, or ten courses.

I recently had the chance to visit the J. Child exhibit again at the Smithsonian’s American History museum. I also took advantage of the time in D.C. to visit two great places: Zaytinya near the convention center near G and 9th; and a new place for me, Sushi Taro.

“Z” is a tapas or “small plates” type of place, but instead of Spanish food, is centered around Greek and mediterranean fare. Everything we had, from the veal cheek, to the crispy eggplant, to the heirloom salad was great. Bright flavors, well-seasoned, and great service too.

Another delight was their trio of ice creams dessert… they make these in-house, and you can choose three. The strawberry/lemon verbena one was great, but the rich vanilla with phillo and their thyme ice cream were even better. I highly recommend Zaytinya.

Sushi taro was interesting: we opted for a tasting menu. They offered three of these: a “traditional” one, one centered on fish, and a third centered on soft-shelled turtle. We took the sushi route, and we experienced almost twenty different tastes of different seafood. The meal was significant, but not so much that you left feeling uncomfortable. The tastes between different fishes is subtle, but when that next piece is alone on the plate or with two companions, the comparisons become intellectual. Intellectual eating doesn’t sound fun, but I tend to think folks who seek out rare foods or food experiences are considering what they eat in a very intellectual way.

Sushi Taro ended the meal with a mango ice cream that sounded pedestrian. Coupled with green tea, this dessert was quite extraordinary. While new to me, I’d recommend this experience to others who want to experience more traditional Japanese flavors.