le Gourmand

[SparrowsFall]

As promised, some impressions from Saturday night.

le Gourmand has stayed very much the same (predicability can be a good thing in restaurants, as in spouses), but has gotten even better. Same funky, drive-right-by-it location across from Domino's Pizza, with the interior beatifully upgraded eight or ten years ago (lovely garden fresco covering one wall). Same great service (Sarah's been there like nine years now...) Many/most of the same menu items I've been enjoying for decades, with some additions and deletions, and constant variations based on what's fresh and in season.

I've always loved the food (threw my daughters' two christening parties there, back when he'd give you the whole place for a loooong sunday afternoon at a very good price--he's too succesful now). But I didn't regularly look to heaven and say, "omigod that's good." I did that several times saturday night.

I didn't memorize everything--was concentrating on eating, drinking, and conversing--so this is a spotty review. Somewhat more complete one in The Weekly.

Bruce has always been ready to orchestrate menu items into a multi-course feast, but he's now added a tasting menu--seven or eight courses, you buy desert separately, and you can swap in a different entree than is on the standard menu.

Cucumber soup (hot, cream). I aways wonder how he manages to extract and concentrate the flavors in his soup so well--especially something as subtle as cucumber. Eyes raised to heaven on this one. I remember eating his asparagus cream soup two weeks after I tried making one. I was in despair. I haven't tried to match his nettle soup.... They're so good partly because of his stock. This one based on duck stock, I think--he boils ducks, then takes that stock and boils ducks in it. Yikes.

One disappointment was the foie gras--quantity problem, not quality. A piece about the size of a half dollar, one good bite or two small tastes, in a salad-plate sized surround of sauce. Even the waitress (not Sarah, another) seems to have felt the need to say "the sauce is really delicious if you sop it up with your bread." This was absolutely true--the sauces are unfailingly delicious--but....

The normal plate of steamed greens and new potates (from the kitchen garden) for the table that accompanies the entrees was especially good this time. Not just the butter imbued through it, there was a sweet deliciousness that came from I know not where.

Mussels in some kind of remarkably delicious liquid (white wine involved), among the best I've ever had.

Duck in black currant sauce. At one of his cooking classes (last? sunday of each month, watch Bruce cook in the kitchen and eat the results) he showed how: place skin-side down in frying pan, place pan on the bottom of a very hot gas oven, leave fifteen minutes until fat is rendered and skin is way crispy. Eat.

Various very unusual mushroom usages--roast chicken stuffed with duxelles, chanterelle cream sauce (take your lipitor in advance), etc.

Green salad with fresh flowers from the garden, lightly dressed.

Profiteroles with ginger-cinnamon ice cream. A very liquid, rich, warm creme brulee, with homemade brandied raspberries floating in it.

Wine list. As smart as they get, and well-priced. New world and old. Often only a 25-50% markup. 94 Segla (second of Rausan Segla) at $36--the same price as four years ago! Trimbach Creme d'Alsace (sparkler) for $40. Recent Mordoree Lirac for ?$30? '89 Lynch Bages for ?$130? Of course you can also get the 82 Mouton for $1,500....

Much more, but that's all I can manage for now. If you haven't gone, or haven't gone lately, I'd certainly recommend it.

[nightscotsman]

Thanks for the great review Steve. This place has been on my list for a long time, but I think it's time to bump it up a few notches. Too many restaurants, not enough time (or money )

By the way, do you happen to remeber any of the other dessert choices? Did your dining companions order anything that looked interesting?

[Blue Heron]

Steve, your review was a real pleasure to read.

What was your favorite thing out of everthing you had?

How did you like the duck vs. the chicken dish? Do you recall offhand any other entrees you've had in the past that you also liked very much? I'm thinking of going, but perhaps not ordering a tasting menu (due to time & money considerations, but still wanting to try the place if possible). I'm curious, about how long did the dinner last with all of those courses?

[tighe]

Steve,

Thanks for the great account of your dinner. GOD I LOVE LE GOURMAND!!! I had the mussles you mentioned last time I was there and they are fantastic. I understand the issue with the fois gras, but come on, is there realy EVER enough fois gras? The only time I've ever been sated is the one time we made it at home and I almost died that night from my arteries spontaneously clogging. I've never done the full-on tasting menu, but have always thought the the regular menu was a great value. Now I've got myself worked into such a frenzy I may have to figure out a way to go there soon.

[SparrowsFall]

I think we spent four hours over that dinner. (Yeah, I know--we were rushing it.) Paced much like restaurants in France, with more attentive service. (You don't, for instance, have to wait 45 minutes between coffee and the bill.)

I think my favorite thing was the cucumber soup. Marvellous flavours, deftly blended but individually distinguishable.

Agreed on never enough foie gras (but this was too little). Made it at my house once (purchased at University Seafood), and it was enough and wonderful. I recommend this for special occasions. Easy to cook, you just do it in hot oil (you end up with a *lot more* hot oil), and take it out at the right time.

A few more menu items. Not all of these are on the menu right now--some come from memories of years past, others I pulled off web reviews to supplement my steadily declining memory. Asterisked items are, I'm pretty sure, still on the menu, though with some variations to the sauces based on what's fresh. (Like I said, at le Gourmand le plus ca change...)

Double asterisks are old standys that have been on the menu forever--again, some variations.

There are always vegetarian options, but I can't remember them.

Fresh sole and shrimp mousseline with chive beurre blanc.

** Rabbit liver pâté (with a touch of cognac?)

** Blintzes filled with Sally Jackson sheep milk cheese, in chive butter sauce. (baked, not sauteed.)

** Beef tenderloin in shallot butter and Merlot pressings (I remember cabernet pressings, but two reviews said this). This is actually boiled in stock on a string, which is amazing to me. Served rare or as-you-like-it. In general I figure anyone who boils good beef is either english (apologies to the many fine english chefs), is capable of letterspacing lowercase type, or has unnatural relations with herbivores. But this is perfect and wonderful.

* Rabbit in apricot sauce (different sauce now....)

* Boned quail

** Venison in elderberry and pinot noir stock.

** Washington lamb in a sauce of lamb stock, Italian prunes (in season), fresh dill and cognac.

* Salmon in a gooseberry, cream and dill sauce

Sturgeon in Matsutake mushroom sauce.

Raspberry tart with lemon crème, glazed with red currant sauce. There are always wonderful tarts on the menu--what's fresh and good. Don't look for contraption desserts here--generally more straightforward. Homemade green-fig ice-cream, other such stuff that I (and I'm sure you) make at home all the time.

There is also a cheese plate. I wish more Seattle restaurants offered this--or even better, a cheese trolley from which you can choose your own. Probably not enough demand though, to keep them all fresh.

A good review at:

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/sc/0002/r...restaurant.html

[LaurieA-B]

A very liquid, rich, warm creme brulee, with homemade brandied raspberries floating in it.

sfroth, could you explain this further? My experience with creme brulee is a chilled custard, with crisp sugar top. Was the entire dish warm? Were the raspberries embedded in the custard underneath the sugar?

The meal sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing with us. Welcome!

[SparrowsFall]

A very liquid, rich, warm creme brulee, with homemade brandied raspberries floating in it.

sfroth, could you explain this further? My experience with creme brulee is a chilled custard, with crisp sugar top. Was the entire dish warm? Were the raspberries embedded in the custard underneath the sugar?

Bruce's Creme Brulee is dangerous, cause it kind of spoils you for the same ol' that you get everywhere else. Think of a shallow dish (like for shirred eggs) filled with rich, creamy stuff, kind of like unset custard in its consistency, but not quite. Kind of...I don't know...fluffy. Brandied raspberries scattered in, sugar on top, broiled in the oven, not with the normal gastronomic blowtorch. The sugar isn't hard--more like toasted marshmallows but not sticky.

I'm such a fan of this (I only remember one time it wasn't on the menu) that many years ago for my birthday (at my house--a long crawl up the hill from le gourmand) a friend had Bruce make up several, brought them up and broiled them in my oven. Yum.

Steve

[Blue Heron]

I had the wonderful pleasure today of attending a 1 1/2 hour cooking class that Chef Bruce Naftaly of Le Gourmand gave at the Seattle Wild Mushroom Show.

He prepared 4 different mushroom dishes. All were delectable. He started with a chantrelle dish with chantrelles, cognac, duck stock, and heavy cream . I was suprised to see him put all ingredients in the pot at the same time and just start cooking and reducing. The resulting dish was so excellent.

Next came a fresh shitake dish w/butter, olive oil, duck stock and herbs. Followed by duxelle made with wild mushrooms I had never tasted before (something like matsui - I will check) which was also fantastic. And finally just some simply prepared matsutake's, which is all you need with mushrooms that taste this good.

I was fortunate to be directly in front with everything cooking literally 18 inches away from me, and be able to get all my questions answered, too. Chef Natafly is a very friendly personable fellow, and when I took the liberty of mentioning that I know sfroth, he recounted several parties that he has cooked for him over the years, which sfroth has mentioned some of them, as well. Chef Naftaly also gives gourmet cooking classes at his restaurant, which another friend of ours has attended several and highly recommends. Steve, or others, have you attended any of his classes before?

[thelastsupper]

I've been to a bunch of classes with Bruce. They are a really good way of understanding his unique cooking. Besides the lesson you get a multi course meal with wine. Highly recommended!

[SparrowsFall]

Blue Heron, thanks for your wonderful account. That kind of up-close-and-personal time with Bruce (and his mushrooms) must have been a real treat. He's a sweet guy, and he knows from duck stock.

I've been to only one of his cooking classes, which was a treat. Hang out in the kitchen (maybe eight people fit?), watch him cook, drink wine, eat the results. What's not to like?

He does them I think the last Sunday afternoon of the month. Let him know you're interested and he'll call to remind you a bit in advance.

[Really Nice!]

Blue Heron requested that I offer an account of my dinner at Le Gourmand from another post:

Naked and sweaty in Seattle.

So we went to Le Gourmand for dinner last night for a prearranged dinner and had the seven-course tasting menu. Zucchini soup, foie gras, chanterelle mushrooms in port reduction, seafood terrine, basil sorbet,  roast squab, salad du temps, and hazelnut ice cream.

It was my birthday dinner so I didn't even know where we were going. I honestly thought we were going to a barbecue! There were five of us. Kriste brough along a bottle of champagne, which they graciously offered to continue chilling. No one recalls what they charged for corkage. We sat down at about 7:15 and everyone was there by 7:30. The waiter poured our champagne and let us be for a while.

I think it was about 8:15 before he got our order into the kitchen. THe whole night was a bit slow paced. We left at about 11:45 and I wasn't quite ready for the night to go that long. I would have taken a siesta beforehand to be better prepared. There were two servers for the 28 chairs, I counted 23 people when they were at their busiest.

The food was good, but a bit rich for such a hot evening. And as the evening wore on the restaurant got hotter.

Four of us had the seven-course tasting menu, but due to the heavy influence of mushrooms, Kriste opted for the regular menu, which consisted of blintzes filled with Sally Jackson sheep milk cheese in chive butter sauce, rack of Lamb in montmencory(sp?) cherry and lavender sauce, She thought this was the best dish of the night. I thought his chanterelle mushrooms were my best dish.

As Steve mentions, the foie gras a bit on the small side, but it was prepared well.

The fish/seafood terrine was quite good. Over the last couple of years I've developed an aversion to fish, especially steamed. I was hesitant to try this, but it went down okay.

We were kept being told that we were going to have legumes as out main side dish, but we got a plate of steamed greens and new potates.

They were out of profiterols.

We concluded that the staff was only going as fast as the kitchen. I'm not sure if adding one more person to the kitchen would help or hinder.

I liked the prices of their wine. After the champagne we had 2000 DeLille Chauleur Estate (white) for $42. Not bad considering it's $32 in the stores.

All-in-all it was an enjoyable evening, but it was very expensive.

Edited July 26, 2004 by Really Nice! (log)

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Blue Heron requested that I offer an account of my dinner at Le Gourmand from another post:

    [...snip...]

All-in-all it was an enjoyable evening, but it was very expensive.

I've been twice in as many months and agree with everything Really Nice says in general. A really nice <ting!> experience and good food, but yes, the foie gras was pretty puny.

And the service was excellent (though slow paced, as mentioned). One of our party ordered goose, but it came over-done, so they served it with immediate apologies and announced that they'd bring another shortly to replace it. A lesser establishment might have just served it.

As for value, the tasting menu is $50 less than Rovers. My two recent events where worth the cost of admission.

Speck

[Really Nice!]

One of our party ordered goose, but it came over-done, so they served it with immediate apologies and announced that they'd bring another shortly to replace it. A lesser establishment might have just served it.

I completely forgot, the same thing happened with someone at our table who replaced the squab with duck in her tasting menu. Our waiter too served it with immediate apologies and announced that they'd bring another shortly to replace it. We just passed the over cooked one around the table. By the time the dish came back to her, the new one was coming out of the kitchen.

Edited July 26, 2004 by Really Nice! (log)

[Blue Heron]

Thanks for your report!

When we went last year at this time, I recall my favorite & most memorable thing was their appetizer Rabbit Pate (with cognac). Yum. I would love to have that again. Also had nettle soup for the first time there, which was good, and with gorgeous color. I mentioned on the other thread my main course was Beef (tenderloin I think) with some type of sauce. They were both underseasoned, imo, as in a little too subtle in flavor. I can't remember off hand what our dessert was. Overall we enjoyed our meal though. Our service was good, although I have heard conflicing reports from others. I also recall the wines were a very good value by restaurant standards. We had a reasonably priced Adelsheim Pinot Noir.

Edited July 27, 2004 by Blue Heron (log)

[LEdlund]

I'm having dinner there with my parents on Saturday (it's my mother's birthday). I haven't had dinner there in years so I am looking forward to it. I'd forgotten how lingering the meals can be, I'm going to try and change our 7:30 reservations....they have an hour drive after they leave

[little ms foodie]

Dayne took me to Le Gourmand last night for my birthday. We had only been to Sambar and both really were looking forward to it.

The interior is just too funny! But somehow it works for them. Anyway I would love to see that overhauled but that is just me.

We started with glasses of bubbly. They had a full house, it was busy. We decided to not go with the tasting menu although it sounded great but just went with the regular menu. I was surprised at how reasonable it was- 3 courses for anywhere from $30-$45. I was thinking it must be quite outrageously priced since we hadn't been before! haha!

I started with the quince, apple and garlic soup- heaven. Dayne had Sally Jackson Sheeps cheese blintzes...YUM!!!

I had the rabbit with mushrooms and Dayne had the beef ficelle. Both dishes were excellent, cooked perfectly but the SAUCE!! Holy this is some good stuff. I honestly have not had a sauce that rich and beautiful in the states as far as I can remember. The stock this kitchen is making is serious stuff! Fantastic.

Salads came after, with homemade mustard vinaigrette.

We had an excellent bottle of wine, their wine list has some real heavy hitters! Can't remember it off hand but I'll edit this when I'm home tomorrow with the info.

Fantastic cheeses after, no room for dessert (although they were serving a mini bouche de noel that was hard for me to resist). A few glasses of Sauternes after.

Very good, we'll definatly go back and we'll try the tasting menu.

Chef Bruce talked to us for a while, he is very passionate about what he does, holds classes on the last Sunday of each month I think he said? He told me he has had the restaurant for 20 years. I'd say that is a huge accomplishment in any city!

[lalala]

LMF,

Classes are definitely fun. I did about six months of them, though I believe they were on Monday nights. You talk, you watch, you drink and then you eat. I have a nice little notebook of recipes and have a great appreciation for what Bruce does in his tiny kitchen.

lalala