Well my dear 10 readers (ok ,that's aspirational). I blog when I travel, but I don't travel so much. I do, however, eat out frequently, so maybe I'll blog about that too.
Last night Husband and I went to Picholine, truly one of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan. It's always such a pleasant and memorable experience to eat there. By way of back story, we went to Picholine the first time a few years ago after seeing something at Lincoln Center (maybe Opera?). We had a great time. The next time we went back, the staff remembered us, remembered our table, what wine we had, etc. Now, I am not stupid. I realize they don't ACTUALLY remember my beautiful face - they rely on Open Table. Still, the fact that they really make the effort appeals to me. The service at Picholine is so wonderful and consistent.
Picholine had one Michelin Star when the guide first came out in New York, but was upgraded to two in 2009. We were very exited for the restaurant. Anyways, when it came to picking a place to eat for my first "real" meal post wisdom-tooth extraction, I picked Picholine, and we went Friday, January 15th. We were escorted back to the table in the corner where we have sat all but one time we visited the restaurant. It feels like home.....
Husband and I are generally 50/50 "full on tasting menu"/choose from the main menu. Sometimes, there are dishes from the main menu that really sound great, and others there are a few courses of a tasting menu that we could take or leave. Last night, we chose the five course tasting menu.
Wines:
Champagne - Pol Roger
Gevrey Chambertin, Domaine Dominique Gallois "Le Combe Aux Moines" 2002
Sherry, Pedro Ximinez
Banyuls, 2006
Amuse Bouche:
Manchego Tempura with black olive dipping sauce - nicely done. It was fried cheese, so you'd expect the texture of a mozzarella stick, but this was light as a feather (though still, FRIED cheese)
Asparagus soup with truffle foamish stuff - what a standout. This stuff was delicious. So delicious in fact, that Husband tried to steal the rest of Wife's as she was tasting the wine that we ordered. It didn't work. Wife slowly savors really good things. Husband should learn from Wife.
Gruyere something with green sauce - eh, it was ok, but gruyere is my favorite cheese, and this didn't taste very gruyere-y.
Pistachio panna cotta with a something gelee (geez, I'm good at this..... NOT) - also pretty awesome. I was definitely scraping the little saucer with my little spoon to finish the last of this one.
Course one:
Wife: Taste of winter vegetables
Husband: Game chips
Course two:
Husband: Foie Gras Torchon with apples presented in different ways (apple chips, apple reduction, etc., etc.)
Wife: Foie Gras "Shabu Shabu" in broth - the broth cooked the foie gras - it has pickled shallots in it - it was delish.
Course three:
Chestnut tagliatelle with black truffle - the most disappointing dish of the evening. This is basically the dish that was the deciding factor in the "tasting menu/off the menu" debate as both Husband and Wife desperately wanted to try this. The pasta was really bland. The chestnut piece and black truffle shavings were good though. Definitely returning to the risotto next time - we should have known to bet against the house on this one (I dream of the truffled risotto for days in anticipation of a night at Picholine).
Course four:
Lobster with yummy fried vanilla milk sauce - and I mean YUMMY. This was another standout dish. The lobster was cooked wonderfully.
Course five:
Wife: Pigeon - surprisingly good, also, surprisingly red
Husband: Lamb
Course six:
Le Fromage ;) Picholine has a great cheese cart (the best on West 64th Street!) and a very knowledgeable fromagier. They've switched fromagiers since last we went (or perhaps it was the tall guy with glasses' day off). I like the old guy better, but this guy helped us pick out a U.S. gruyere (who knew this existed), some soft cheese for the Husband, a Swiss gruyere and an English cheddar. But these are mostly hard, sharp cow's milk cheese - aren't you the least bit adventurous Wife? Uh no, not when it comes to cheese - I mean look, I'll try anything, but I LOVE the cheese that I love, so I'm not going to waste one of my four selections when there is something else on the cart that appeals to me. So if you ever feel the need to bring cheese to my house, make it moo-ey, hard and sharp. I'll love ya for it.
Course seven:
Wife: Liquid chocolate [fill in the blank]. When Wife sees "liquid chocolate" she stops reading and knows that is what she is going to order. Wife was not disappointed.
Husband: fruit something cannoli. Wife did not want to try. Wife doesn't think fruit and dessert mix.
Mini desserts:
There's this caramel thing they always bring out that Husband and Wife each secretly hope the other won't be in the mood for so Husband or Wife can have both. Never pans out that way. Also, no peanut butter fudge on this visit - which is another thing Wife and Husband look forward to.
All in all, a GREAT dining experience.
p.s., so the restaurant is quiet, and by 11 or so, when we left, it was us and this party of two girls wearing the shortest dresses I've ever seen. Husband was like "holy crap - there's skin between the napkin on their lap and the hem of the dress!" Anyways, they were visiting from Dallas and talking to the busboy about the boom-boom room at the Standard Hotel. First ladies, the busboy barely speaks English..... anyways, they must have literally overheard us talking about Dallas because they chime in with "oh Dallas is so great." Wife countered to Husband that she prefers Austin and the next words out of these labreshas' mouths were about how much they hated Austin. It was shocking, but very funny. As we were leaving, Wife must have knocked the purse off of the back of the chair of one of the girls. It really wasn't intentional (though I might modify the story later to make it intentional, because that makes Wife more of a Blair Waldorf-esque bad-ass). But Wife did not turn around, even as she heard the thud and realized what she must have done - she just kept walking without pause. Husband was amazed. Wife, 1 girls from Dallas, 0. Hope you had fun at the boom boom room ladies. Wear longer dresses next time.
