Capsouto Freres

[rstarobi]

<unlurking>

First post here.. been reading Fat-guy's site for well over a year now, and the e-gullet boards for a month or so.  

I'm going to Capsouto Freres for a family dinner tonight, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations regarding particularly good dishes to order.

Thanks,

Rob Starobin

[Fat Guy]

I haven't been in quite some time, but I recall the two best items being the saucisson and -- the restaurant's signature -- the classic chocolate souffle (which must be ordered in advance).

Anyone with more recent experience?

Thanks for posting.

[Andy Lynes]

Rob, hello from the UK as well, nice to hear from you.

[Fat Guy]

And please let us know how your dinner was. Also, what was the general feeling in the neighborhood?

[rstarobi]

Greetings all.  The food was very nice.  I had the prix-fixe dinner for ฮ.01 with a Heineken.  We had about 10 family members there, so nearly everyone was sampling the various permutations of the meal.  My appetizer was smoked salmon on a bed of ice with roe, capers, and a few other toppings.  The roe is really not to my taste in general, so I left that for other family members, but the salmon was very tender.  Maybe a bit too much smoke flavor, and a bit too little salmon flavor.  My main course was Beef Bourguignon, which I'd never had before, so I have no real reference points to say whether it was a particularly good example of such, but it was also very good (to my tastes).  Very tender beef, with a bed of heavy egg noodles in a wine sauce.  The wine sauce could have done with a bit more flavor.  

And then there was dessert.

This was the killer.  I loved the desserts at this place.  I ordered blueberry crepes, and was overwhelmed by the sweetness of the blueberry (I think from frozen actually, but it worked).  The crepes were wonderful too.  My girlfriend, a recovering chocoholic was dazed by the mousse, which was a bit too powerfully chocolate for me.  My father was told by the waiters to order the raspberry Souffle (not on the prix-fixe) and enjoyed it thoroughly (as did I, my sister and my girlfriend).  The only disappointment were the banana-creme profiteroles.  The flavor combination turned off everyone at the table except for my mother.  Service was largely unobtrusive, and my water was filled regularly.  All in all, a nice dining experience.

Now as for the neighborhood.  My girlfriend said it best, when describing it as forboding.  The entire area (west-most side of Greenwich village) was darkened and empty by 8:00 at night.  It truly felt like walking through a ghost town, with only the occasional police officer to break up the bleakness.  Being able to see the floodlights from ground zero while walking back to our car did not help the atmosphere.  And speaking of atmosphere, the air down there still smells of burnt concrete, ionized rugs and exploded jet-fuel.  Not what you want to smell either going into or coming out of a large meal.  

Anyhow, the meal gets a big happy grin from me.

-Rob Starobin

[Fat Guy]

Thanks very much for the follow-up report.