Daily Archives: January 7, 2017

Brussels – 10/21/6 – Bon Bon

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As I dine out a fair amount, sometimes the meals tend to run together.  And when it takes me months to complete a blog post, it is not unheard of that I can’t remember anything about it.  Chef Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon was a truly memorable experience.  I had what I thought was the best seat in the house at the chef’s counter which was so close that my bread is literally on top of a ticket in one of my photos.  Dinner started with a long serious of snacks.  They aren’t on my typed menu and I can’t remember all of the ingredients of each, but many are at least partially self explanatory and all were delicious.  There were many great touches in dinnerware such as the egg cup and the multitude of amazing knife handles.  Its funny that I will probably remember those knives forever.  I have a weakness for a cheese cart of any sort, let alone one with this many selections, but a macaroon cart?  Brilliant.  Highly recommend.



Saint-Jacques de Dieppe – Finement tranchees, Chantilly d’echalote, Gaspacho d’huitres

Moules parquees 2016 – A la marollienne

Raviole – A la truffe blanche d’Alba

Coeur de cabillaud – Broccoli, emulsion chaude aux huitres

Caille farcie – Racine de persil, Jus de caille, genevrier-gin

Incredible knife handles.  Each one in the block was different.

Assortiment de fromages


Il n’y a pas d’omelette sans casser des oeufs

Truffe – Mousse de lait cru a la truffe blanche, Opaline de chocolat, Poire pochee


Macaroon cart!

NYC – 10/17/16 – Cafe Boulud

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Cafe Boulud seems to have become the place for the most frequent family dinners on the UES.  It was one of the first places I dined when I moved to NYC longer ago than I care to admit, and is just as solid as it was back then.


seafood ceviche – shrimp, scallop, tomato, yucca

beef duo “makgalbijjim” – braised shortrib, wagyu bavette, housemade kimchee

Running right off of the plate….

madelines

Pittsburgh – 10/15/16 – Bar Marco, Tako and Butcher and the Rye

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Bar Marco
So glad to finally make it to Bar Marco which has been on my to-do list for ages it seems.  This was an absolutely lovely brunch.  Plenty of eggs and enough beans and greens that I did not feel too badly about it afterwards.  And perhaps my new favorite brunch cocktail!

tiber fizz – gin, lemon, st. germain, egg white, red wine
a.m. salad – red leaf, purple potato, bacon, egg

beans and greens – kale, cannellini, egg, parmigiano, meatballs
quiche – foraged mushrooms, herbs, ricotta

Tako
This may be the most perfect slushy drink ever.

Squeal Mountain – tequila, green chartreuse, yellow chartreuse, Mountain Dew, herbs

Butcher and the Rye
Steel City certainly is fond of its very dark restaurants.  Another night of poor quality photos and extremely high quality food.  From the second floor we had this fantastic view down to the bar.  The portion sizes certainly were larger than they appear and larger than I am used to.  The lamb neck is definitely one of the best lamb dishes I had in 2016.  Actually this was a meal of many of my favorite things – the Lion’s Tail cocktail, brussels, farro and lamb.  Kind of perfect.


Lion’s Tail’s

Cauliflower – roasted farro, carrots, pine nuts, brown butter, harissa yogurt

Caesar – kale, compressed tomatoes, parmesan, anchovy garlic bread, caesar dressing

Smoked lamb neck – sumac & black pepper, spicy greens & beans, marinated feta, mint chimichurri

Brussels – brown butter, dill, parmigiano reggiano, preserved lemon aioli