Lunch at Bouchon

[devinf]

Damn colds. Thank God for heavy doses of Day/Nyquil.

I wasn't feeling that crappy and I couldn't say no to a lunch at Bouchon yesterday. Went with Frank, his fiance Desiree, and his 50% employee discount (hooray!). The folks there hooked us up quite well and it was a 3 hour eating experience.

They started us with complimentary glasses of Schramsberg Brut Rose and plopped a massive platter of clams, oysters, lobster and mussels in front of us. We slurped and sucked our way to seafood nirvana. After cleaning our hands with lemon wedges and warm towels we got on with the first courses.

We ordered the salmon rillette which was fabulously decadant. It had a thin layer of clarified butter and was served with warm crostini. Also had a serving of the pate which was good but took a backseat to its companions. We also tried the duck confit served with lentils and cherries. We ordered a bottle of Viognier for the table, but while we were eating, the server (Jerry) came by with a tasting of a pinot noir that he said matched perfectly with the duck. We each took turns taking a bite of the confit and a cherry then sipping the wine. Flavor bombs erupted. Perfect! The pinot was super fruity and at first I thought it was a zinfandel.

We ordered our mains. I had the boudin blanc (white sausage with mashed potatoes and braised prunes). The prunes were to die for. They held their form long enough to give some resistance, then they just melted away. The sausage was excellent, but the prunes were the standout. I had this with a glass of a recommended reisling. Frank ordered a skirt steak that wasn't on the menu but he took a chance they still had some left over from the special they ran the night before. I can't for the life of me remember what Desiree had, but by then we were all getting warm and fuzzy.

We moved to dessert and split a wedge of their citrus tart and an order of profiteroles which we asked to be filled with pumpkin ice cream rather than the normal vanilla. The profiteroles were good, but what was even better? Taking the chocolate sauce of the profiteroles and using that with the lemon tart. Dee-lish! Our server recommended a Spanish dessert wine - 1971 Don Pedro Ximenez. I think it was a type of sherry? but the spanish labels are difficult to figure out. It was thick and sweet but not overly so. A wonderful ending to a long, luxurious lunch.

We floated out of the restaurant in a haze. Our wallets survived intact (under $100 for my part) and we drove on towards St. Helena to do some shopping, meet some friends and enjoy the rest of the day.

Life is good up here, folks.

[SiseFromm]

Your meal and experience sound amazing. We're headed up there ourselves with lunch reservations at Bouchon on Tuesday and Thursday of the week begginning 12/05/2005. I hope we're in for meals as good as yours.

[Markian]

Heading up there myself for an early supper January 19th...French Laundry the day after...should be pretty sweet. I'll let you know.

Cheers

[SiseFromm]

We ended up eating at Bouchon three times during our stay in Yountville. Five I suppose if you count our two trips to the bakery for heavenly macaroons, doughnuts, eclairs, and jellies. Bouchon was beyond good. I died when we received the cod brandade fritters with oven-dried tomatoes. Salty, smoky, cruchy, creamy. They were perfect. I thought the boudin blanc with pureed potatoes and french prunes was about as close to a perfect dish as anybody might ever get. Damn it was good.

Did anybody hear about the French Laundry Inn being planned? How about the new French Laundry Butcher also opening in Yountville?

[The Cynical Chef]

DAMNIT !

I hate you guys in California....lucky SOB's

Here in the culinary wastelands this town is practically breathless with the news that PF Chang's is coming. Strike up the freakin' band Gladys, PF CHANGS is here! Our esteemed food writer stated in print that this is "quite an accomplishment" for our city....

Tell me again about that boudin blanc with prunes, only this time I want you to whisper all of those naughty details in my ear while I caress and fondle a warm, supple glass of Domaine Serene 01 Evanstad Reserve.

[samgiovese]

Did anybody hear about the French Laundry Inn being planned? How about the new French Laundry Butcher also opening in Yountville?

The Inn is still in the conceptual stage. It was supposed to feature some apartments to help with the housing crunch in Yountville, but Keller's last plan eliminated that element, much to the chagrin of the city fathers (and mothers). I wouldn't plan on making reservations anytime soon. Check out the Napa Register article here. The butcher shop has been discussed conceptually, but I have not heard any definte plans.

From Paul Franson:

"Cucina la Carte, the deli behind Vintage 1870 in Yountville, has closed. It's rumored that Thomas Keller from the French Laundry may take over the space for a retail operation, possibly a French-style butcher shop."

If you're interested in keeping up with Yountville events, there is an excellent little weekly published in town, the Yountville Sun. It's available for $50.00/year and is delivered first class mail, so you receive it very close to its publication date (every Thursday). The Sun can be reached at 707 944-5676.

Edited January 10, 2006 by samgiovese (log)

[SiseFromm]

DAMNIT !

Tell me again about that boudin blanc with prunes, only this time I want you to whisper all of those naughty details in my ear while I caress and fondle a warm, supple glass of Domaine Serene 01 Evanstad Reserve.

←

The Boudin Blanc was a chalkboard special. My wife didn't understand why I would order that over the multitude of bistro classics on the main menu. I passed over Steak Frites, Moules Frites, Gnocchi, Trout with Almonds, Rilletes . . . all the biggies. Then she realized the genius. Silky, heavenly potatoes pureed with cream and emulsified with cold butter. Tender white sausage made from pork and veal, cooked to perfection in I believe a court bouillon of some sort. Nothing could have set off those two ingredients like the prunes though. I've never, ever had a prune like this. I don't know where they came from or what their preparation was, but the sweet chew of those little gems in conjunction with the sausage, potatoes, and brown butter was absolutely divine. On our second trip there, Holly, my wife, ordered it immediately as it was still on the board.

Did anybody hear about the French Laundry Inn being planned? How about the new French Laundry Butcher also opening in Yountville?

From Paul Franson:

"Cucina la Carte, the deli behind Vintage 1870 in Yountville, has closed. It's rumored that Thomas Keller from the French Laundry may take over the space for a retail operation, possibly a French-style butcher shop."

←

We were eating at Redd and happened to sit next to the manager at French Laundry as well as one of the cooks (and gardner). They were the ones I believe that mentioned the French Laundry butcher. I might be wrong about that though. We talked to soooo many people when we were up there.

Yountville is truly a gem. It's one of the greatest foodie/restaurant spots I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. If I could, I would go there every year for a week at least.

[artisanbaker]

Laura Cunningham has been promoted to Director of Operations and is now deeply involved in the design and opening of the French Laundry Inn slated to begin construction in 2006.

-Napa Valley Life Magazine January/February 2006

[samgiovese]

Did anybody hear about the French Laundry Inn being planned? How about the new French Laundry Butcher also opening in Yountville?

From Amanda Berne's "Inside Scoop" column in the Chronicle today:

"Another Bay Area visionary, Thomas Keller, keeps upping his own busy schedule.

In addition to running the French Laundry, Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery in Yountville and Per Se in New York, Keller plans to open a butcher shop and is starting a new catering company. The butcher shop, called Bouchon Boucherie, is set to open next winter across the street from the bakery in Yountville, in the Vintage 1870 complex (6525 Washington St.).

The new butchery makes perfect sense. Chefs at Keller's restaurants already butcher their own meat; the new venue will centralize the production, and will also serve as a retail outlet, so that the public can buy many of the same meats that Keller uses at French Laundry and Bouchon.

"Don't expect 99-cent ground chuck here," says Keller.

The store will also carry artisanally made charcuturie, but Keller is still determining who the purveyors of those products will be.

The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Keller's other project will be called Bouchon Private Dining, and is a collaboration with Vintage Inn and Villagio Inn & Spa, both also in Yountville. A new outdoor event space, accommodating up to 600 people, will be built in a garden between the two hotels for the venture.

Keller calls it a private dining business -- catering sounds too industrial, he says -- but it's not like you'll be able to call up and ask, "Can you send ol' Thomas over to cook a 10-course tasting menu?"

"It's not French Laundry-esque at all," says Keller. The food will be more in the French country/bistro style, with Bouchon chef Jeff Cerciello as chef. Cerciello will also remain executive chef at Bouchon. "

[alanamoana]

Lunch at Bouchon this past Sunday, the 5th.

There were three of us and we started out by sharing the pig's foot (trotter) appetizer. Shredded meat and cubes of the skin formed into a cylinder were served atop a sauce gribiche with a little side salad of lightly dressed mache. I have to say this was my favorite of the day. It was delicious and the richness of the meat was nicely offset by the acid/mustard of the sauce.

I stuck to something pretty mundane for my entree (actually we all did) and I had the Steak Frites. This is sort of my benchmark for brasserie dining. I order it at each place and compare. The Bouchon version didn't disappoint and offered a little something different. A large amount of chopped caramelized onions were served on top of the steak and this was topped off with a generous disc of compound butter. The dish was served with an insane amount of perfectly cooked pommes frites. I have to say, I liked the onions (as I love them in almost anything) but it was a large amount and came back to haunt me later

We shared three desserts and only had three glasses of wine between the three of us and our check wasn't too huge, but definitely bigger than I would have expected (probably the wine).

We had to ask more than twice for water.

Overall, it was really food and we sort of camped out until almost the beginning of dinner service but never really felt rushed. I don't think I'll go all the way back up there for steak frites unless I can't find anything better in my neck of the woods. Based on other people's dining notes, it would have been worth it to try something a little different (boudin blanc, etc.).

Samgiovese, how do you rate The Left Bank in comparison?

Oh yeah, it was pouring rain and somebody stole my umbrella from the umbrella stand. That pissed me off more than anything else!!!

[samgiovese]

Perhaps it was an off night, but the last time I had the Steak Fritte at Bouchon, I could not eat it. It came SMOTHERED in onions. Now, I do like a fair amount, but this was ridiculous! Once scraped off, the meat was utterly without flavor. I know it's not the best cut, but this was inexcusable. To answer your question, when I read your post, I was going to reply by asking if you'd tried Left Bank. It's a heck of alot closer, and, what I've had there was quite good. Bouchon's fries are probably better, though. Next time you're in Yountville, try Bistro Jeanty's version. I think its better, and the fries are probably the best in the valley. Also, there are some interesting true country French dishes there that are signatures (Coq Au Vin, Daube Du Boeuf, Cassoulet, Steak Tartare). We never miss eating there when we go to Yountville. Our favorite thing is to sit at the bar and meet new people...and the 2 regular bartenders (Bob & Kate) are SUPER people!

[alanamoana]

in retrospect, i have to agree about the onions...

the meat was cooked perfectly (can't really comment on the flavor of the meat), but the onions stole the show...not necessarily in a good way. just the steak and compound butter would have been better.

hopefully, i'll be going to napa more frequently. a good friend (and previous boss) is the pastry chef at julia's kitchen at copia. she's my "excuse" for dining around in the north bay!

[TarteTatin]

Four of us had lunch at Bouchon on 12/30. We had drinks while waiting for our reservation. It was very crowded, we enjoyed our pastis.

Mr. Tarte Tatin has been wanting to go to Bouchon for a long time. He is a great home cook, and follows Bouchon's recipes for his Quiche and their pot a creme, along with his roast chicken and a few other things.

I had frisee salad with lardon and egg, he had bacon and onion quiche with salad, another had beef carparccio with (? grapefruit?), plus I ordered four small clams at $2.00 a piece.

Hubby has been trying to perfect his Quiche for awhile now. He makes the pastry himself, and it usually comes out a bit too thick. He really liked Bouchon's thin crust. Also, hubby is serious about the custard, he thinks a good quiche should be all about how you make the custard, it should be light and high, not like people in the States usually like it. Many people really only want a frittata; thick. Sometimes at our dinner parties, it is not to everyone's taste the consistency of his custard. It's not undercooked, but the texture is different from what we are used to. Bouchon really got the custard right. The texture and consistency of the custard was just perfect. But, actually, I like the taste of Mr. TT's better. Also, at Bouchon, it had thick chunks of very tasty lardon, but we like the other ingredients to be finer.

Next I had poulet with a savoy cabbage and mushroom big square. Nice taste, and I liked the side. Mr. TT had steak frites, served medium rare to rare, he asked the waiter to serve it as the Chef wanted it served. It had a bit of compound butter on top, and the meat tasted good (the meat tasted good everywhere in California, I believe better than East coast). His frites were good, asked for mayo... Another had a trout with cauliflower and caper sauce and potatoes confit. My other friend had a crab & lobster salad that was very tiny, and not impressive. We had a side of frites.

A liter and a half of rose, then a half of sancerre, then a half of bordeaux was gone through.

Dessert: pot a creme, chocolate mousse, profiteroles. Mr. TT thought the pot a creme was souffled and not perfect. I don't really remember the other desserts.

It was pricey: $360 plus tip and $40 for drinks at the bar.

A few other notes in the area: Oakville Grocery is now Dean & Deluca. A few employees were wearing D&D shirts, and the items were just so touristy. I bought a sheeps milk yoghurt, regular size for $3.75 that I saw the next day in a Santa Rosa supermarket for $2.00. We did find fennel pollen there.

Went to Sattui after lunch. Tasting notes from our trip will eventually be posted on the Wine thread.