markk
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Posts posted by markk
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I've just had two very delicious dinners (a week apart) at Nice Matin. The place is beautiful, the food is interesting and delicious, and the people are extremely nice.
It's also just a few steps away, so you could always go in and check it out.
We have eaten there and we were thinking about going back, both for the convenience of the location and for the very good food. We have no Nicoise restaurants in Philly as far as I know. I'm not sure if you were answering my question or the op's. That place would be good for a business dinner with respect to ambience and food, but I remember the noise level being a little loud.
I was answering the op. I didn't notice it being particularly loud - in fact, the second time we went it was with some out of town friends with whom we wanted to catch up, so we specifically didn't go to my favorite restaurant, Lupa, because of the deafening decibel level there.
For what it's worth, we drive in from New Jersey and eat at Nice Matin before opera performances at Lincoln Center - the time that we arrive for dinner is just when on-street parking becomes legal, and we stroll down Broadway and enjoy the savings from not having to use the Lincoln Center garage when the weather is nice.
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Have you taken a culinary vacation? Care to share your experience?
Yes, it's just about the only type of vacation we take. We also take some vacations that revolve around a favorite resort hotel in Florida with a magnificent pool which we never leave, but we have been taking culinary vacations to Italy and France for the last 30 years. I'll spend most of the year researching restaurants and/or wineries that we want to visit, making reservations at the restaurants and arrangements at the wineries, and off we go.
We are simply not interested in tourist attractions, or "sights". Each day (if it's a big enough city or town) we start with a list of restaurants we want to check out first-hand, food shops, cooking and baking supply places, and wine stores that we want to visit, and in walking the city from place to place, if we see something interesting, we generally do stop for a minute or two to admire it, and then when we get back to the hotel, we look it up to see what it was (learned that that big thing in Paris we had really enjoyed seeing was the Eiffel Tower that way, don't you know).
So, a resounding "yes". Why else would you travel?
(Some of our recent culinary escapades in France are found in the website in my signature.)
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I've just had two very delicious dinners (a week apart) at Nice Matin. The place is beautiful, the food is interesting and delicious, and the people are extremely nice.
It's also just a few steps away, so you could always go in and check it out.
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If you're taking the Trou Normande to mean a glass of Calvados in the middle of the meal, then no, I've never had that. I have been in lots of restaurants that serve a sorbet laced with an eau-de-vie:
(this is a lemon sorbet laced with marc de gewürztraminer, prevalent in Alsace)
But I have had the famous Trou Gascon, which is of course a similar thing, only native to Gascony in the southwest. I've had it at the restaurant D'Artagnan in New York (there's a current thread about this too) before it closed. It is a glass of white, or unaged, Armagnac, here served in special glasses that have a round ball at the end rather than a flat base, which means the contents must be consumed, as you cannot set the glass down until it is empty. (And after their 7-course foie gras dinner, it does the trick!)
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Where is Restaurant Faude?
markk's website with photos of Restaurant du Faude .. thought he might add his link ...
and, ahem, who first brought up trou normande in this tangled web .. thread? Moi ... ici, mes amis ...
Thank you, Melissa.
Thanks, too!
There are actually lots more photos of the Faude food here, on the website that I maintain more carefully:
more Faude photos from Markk's Eating in France Extravaganza
Faude is in the Vosges Mountains in Southern Alsace, not far from Colmar, and it is an enchanted place - the hote/restaurant, and the area. I've sent other gulletteers there with an introduction to the chef and his wife, and they reported back that they had a fabulous time.
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The frustration continues. I wrote to the chef/owner of Restaurant du Faude in France (who has become a friend and pen-pal over the years), in whose restaurant I am sure they use the term, and I explained our situation (that we're not looking for 'sorbet', but the name of the course for which that is served to cleanse the palate) and gave him a sentence with a blank to help him:
“Comme _______, le chef vous envoie ce sorbet”
... and replying to me in English, he wrote:
"The french name for this is Trou Normand "...
except that's not the phrase fighting to escape from the cobwebs of my mind, or stuck on the tip of my tongue...
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On their final New Year's Eve, we had the 7-course Foie Gras Tasting Dinner - oh my, it was sublime!
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Are any of you New Yorkers familiar with Garden of Eden Gourmet Markets?
There's one about to open in Hoboken NJ and I'm curious what people think about it.
(I didn't start this thread in NJ, because this will be their first NJ store, so I don't think anybody can be familiar with it.)
Are they any good?
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I don't know how recent you want this to be...
But in the 90's when we were in Paris, we drove to the three-star restaurant La Côte Saint Jacques in the town of Joigny in the Chablis region of Burgundy, which is truly in the middle of nowhere, for dinner, and of course stayed over there in the hotel portion becuase there's nowhere else to stay, and it's too far to drive anywhere after dinner. (It was a spectacular meal.)
And on another trip in the 90's, when we were vacationing in Italy on the island of Capri, we flew up to Bologna and rented a car to drive to the town of Imola for a dinner at the 3-star restaurant San Domenico. (And being farther than we anticipated, we were late for dinner, although we called ahead, and they were, well, not thrilled.) (It was a lousy meal.)
Of course, Michelin's definition of a 3-star restaurant is (or used to be) "worth a special trip", as opposed to the 2-star "worth a detour".
I don't think we've done anything that crazy since (I may be wrong).
Do those count?
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Help us out here, Mark, you eat a lot of meals in France ...
Did you mean me?...
This has been driving me nuts since I read the first post last night - the word is on the tip of my tongue !!! I can hear it now, "As your _______ the chef has sent a sorbet" - but it will not come to mind.
Entremet is not the word used for this; to my understanding, anyway, those are sort of like pre-desserts, not the course Paul is talking about.
I'm going to write to a chef-friend in France and see if I can't give him mental block too!
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I have been devouring, and loving this report!
Sadly, we didn't get to visit the villages around Strasbourg on this trip. Next time, though, I plan to make a point of it. But with only three and a half days, and given how enamored I was of the city, I just couldn't bring myself to leave.
This is so, so true! When I first discovered Strasbourg, we'd go for extended weekends (4 days), and we'd do it several times a month over a 6 month period. But we never left the city. People would tell us that we hadn't seen the "real Alsace", and we'd read and hear about all the great places we could drive to, but we still couldn't bring ourselves to leave Strasbourg proper. It was a long time before we ventured out of town into the surrounding region. It is indeed an enchanted city.
Thanks for bringing back all these memories. It was like going there for the first time again.
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I find duck breast meat to be so delicious when cooked rare that I no longer sauce it - I just drizzle it with some of the 'jus' that collects as I leave it to rest after I pan sear it, and the very most I do is serve it with a little salt, sometimes truffle salt. I make it about once a week or so.
I do try to serve interesting things with it that complement the flavors - here it is served (plus the leg confit) with a salad dressed with walnut oil, aged sherry vinegar, and a little apricot:
And here I've served it with Truffled Mushrooms, Champagne Mangoes with aged-sherry vinaigrette and Maraschino Liqueur, and Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Thyme-Scented French Lentils, Purée of Yam and Turnip:
(I hope none of the people from the "my food is touching" thread are over here!
I used to put a lot of effort into a sauce for it, and found that (to our tastes anyway) that we prefer the breast meat rare, crispy, and plain. BTW, I always make a Moulard duck breast, but I've had almost as good luck with the Muscovy. Do you know the breed of your duck?
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I'm glad you had a good experience, and he certainly is a good guy.
I've been to the Texas de Brazils in Miami and Orlando quite a number of times, and I think they do a great job all around, and I think the meats are delicious. I'm familiar with a few other similar places in Florida and New York, and I think Texas de Brazil outshines them all with their food and their atmosphere (the restaurants are beautiful).
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P.S. Tarte Flambee, real ones, are my favorite things in the world. You can't get them in Philly, nor NY (remember Cafe D'alsace? Non. Nor even Paris last week at Le Epicerie de Bon Marche....You HAVE to get one in the region only.
And not only that (please don't anybody take offense) but according to real Frenchmen, you can't get them (real ones) in the city either - and here's why I say this. (Probably long-winded but I'll do my best to make the point).
On my first trip to Strasbourg in the early 90's we came a Christmastime, and street vendors and markets were everywhere, and everywhere we turned, we gorged ourselves on the incredible "Tarte a l'Oignon":
(Flaky butter-based pastry crust, eggs, cream, onions, bacon=heaven on earth.)
We heard about Tarte Flambee and not seeing anything different, assumed we were eating it. Then we did a little research and realized we weren't.
So at the hotel I brought into play a rule taught to me by a crazy Italian friend of mine: when looking for eating recommendations, always seek out an overweight civil servant (that they're fat means they like to eat, and that they're in a low paying job means they seek out the best food at the best value - you know, it has served me well!). So I waited till evening when a portly fellow came on at the desk at the hotel, and asked him to verify that what we were eating was not Tarte Flambee (it was not) and asked him where to find it.
Well, "not in the city, for sure" he said, and went on to explain that it was a country, or peasant dish. So he took out their handwritten book of restaurants, and flipped to the Tarte Flambee page, looked down it saying "ah, this one's closed, this one I don't like, nor this one... ah, here's a good place!" and he asked if we had a car - we did.
So off into the countryside he sent us. We were to leave the northern end of Strasbourg by a local road, and follow the signs for "Wolfisheim", where we were to turn for "Achenheim", where we were to turn for "Oberschaeffolsheim", then again for "Osthoffen", and finally "Dalenheim". The towns (I use the word loosely) got smaller and smaller, until Dalenheim, which was really only six buildings, three on each side of the road, about 25 minutes from Strasbourg.
There was a big tavern that specialized in Tartes Flambees (and now I know they dot the entire countryside) - they had a little hut out back with the wood burning oven that cooks them in under a minute, and inside they serve them in all their forms, from the standard with just creme fraiche and fromage blanc whipped together and spread on the dough (a bread dough pulled super-thin), top them with onions and bacon, and put them in the oven where they buckle and blister in 60 seconds - to the ones with cheese and a very few other extras.
There's a dessert one with apples and Calvados that is standard, and spectacular - the bread dough is spread with the creme/cheese mixture, and topped with apples, and baked. It's transported on a piel, and even though it walks through a freezing courtyard, it arrives at the table so hot that when Calvados is drizzled on it, it lights with a match; a mixture of sugar and cinnamon is sprinkled on it while it's flaming.
I don't have any photos of this, but I do have video of the experience, and I will try to dig them out and convert them to web format.
I do see that now Flam's has indeed opened in the city, and your Tartes, Megan, sure do look like the real thing (!)
(PS - I also have discovered that these Tarte Flambee places in the country seem to be "smoking obligatory" - they're so dense with cigarette smoke that you can't see into them. The first time, we endured it for the experience; when we tried to go back the next year, we couldn't do it, and turned around. Maybe when the new law passes...)
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Did you go? How was your meal, and especially, what wine did you have and how was it?
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if the beans were seasoned with a flavor that I considered not to be complimentary to the duck and sausage and would not want them to touch.
Well, I'm not a food separatist, but if there were/are beans seasoned with a flavor that isn't complementary to the duck and sausage, why would they even be served on the same plate to begin with, let alone in the same meal?
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I have to go to France now...
Is there an eGullet charter flight?
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My nephew, who lived with me for many years, had a great aversion to foods touching on his plate, and we used to tease him about co-mingling.
But, what I love to do in eating is have foods in the meal whose flavors complement each other, and when I cook, my objective is to make and put as many things that go with each other on your plate. I remember one night years later having him and his wife to dinner, and I was particularly proud of myself because with my pork roast, I made about 6 side dishes, each of which I thought went brilliantly with another (or the roast) no matter how you combined them. Well, it was a happy moment when his wife said "I can't believe that no matter how you combine these things, they all go together so great!"
He, however, had to go and take a tranquilizer.
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I remembered the name of the wine person at that location - Jovany - and that he's very familiar with eGullet, so I called him and told him about this thread, and perhaps we'll see him on here to talk a little about their wines. As I've said, this is a great place - enjoy!
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Quite a few other locations in France would hotly dispute Strasbourg's claim to be the foie gras capital.
Well, they'd be wrong (he says smiling).
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This was the best foie gras I have ever had in my life -
Of course, Strasbourg is the Foie Gras Capitol of France, though perhaps not many people realize that.
Here's a scan from the Strasbourg Yellow Pages - note that the category is "Foies" - you just don't see many yellow pages any more with a category called "Livers":
As you stroll the streets of Strasbourg, you can stop in just about every fifth store and buy it freshly made in terrines and other preparations, you can buy those same preparations canned, and you can buy the various duck and goose livers raw, and wholesale.
From a restaurant in the Strasbourg suburbs, here's their first course, the Quadrilogie of Foies Gras:
Foie gras of duck, foie gras of goose, marbled foie gras with artichokes and Sauternes, and smoked foie gras!
(I should credit the restaurant: Auberge du Cheval Blanc, in the town of Schweighouse-Sur-Moder.)
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My connection to Strasbourg really took me by surprise - it's pretty much the only place besides New York to which I've felt I could move with no misgivings. I really think I could live there. Which is an interesting point - it's not the most exciting city I've ever visited, but it has a lot of really positive energy, and just made me feel happy at every turn.
I'm loving this thread, and love that you said this!
I discovered Strasbourg when I was in Germany on business for many months in 1991, and the lady we rented an apartment from told us "and just an hour to the south, you have France!" We went and instantly fell in love with the place, and I have been back more than a dozen times since, sometimes for weeks at a time; I think they have more food shops (pastry, foie gras, meats, cheeses, bakeries) than they have citizens! And not surprisingly, what happy people they are, tucked away like that, sheltered from so many things that would intrude on their way of life.
The first restaurant we fell in love with was L'Ami Schutz, in the Petite France section (it had what was probably the only separate no-smoking dining room in all of France, if not all of Europe), and I loved your comment from Chez Yvonne...
Louisa's quenelles were...um...unphotogenic, to say the least...because they all are. If I may, here's one in a photo of the Choucroute Garni from L'Ami Schutz:
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Well, it's from the Olive Garden people, and most of the entrees appear to be tiny servings. It kind of turns me off, but I'm eager to hear your report.
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to make... it by the bottle a bit more economical.
Another thing you can do to make this meal more economical is to join their affinity club via their website. They'll send you a 50% off dining certificate when you join (some restrictions apply, such as not valid on Saturdays), and various other 25-50% off promotions during the year.
Need advice on French Burgundy
in Wine
Posted
There really aren't any Burgundy producers there (pinot noir), but then again, that land and just about every vine on it, has been spoken for for many years.
The Alsace list looked really interesting - that's a great region of wines to explore.
I confess that I didn't read this entire thread, but (stranger things have been suggestd) if you're flying through Newark and are thinking of stopping off in NJ, the restaurant Park and Orchard in Rutherford NJ has probably the greatest cellar of Burgundies in the US, and is justly known and celebrated for it; and, they practically give them away. You can even download the 146 page wine list from their site. Buddy, the partner who collects the wine, is a passionate Burgundy lover, and visits there often to buy wines - he knows every vine, and every producer, and if he's in the restaurant, you'll drink great. As I said, stranger things have been suggested (and done) in the name of wine loving. (There are 33 pages of Burgundies.)
Park and Orchard Restaurant