Two chefs, his and hers kitchen, formerly apartments over the bistro and wine market they run downstairs. Wine's all from the store so it's not marked up outrageously (Can you say Chateauneuf-de-Pape for under $60? I can.). Only a Thursday tapas menu, a Saturday prix fix five course, and a few special wine tastings and dinners throughout the year.
Oh, did I mention Mr. and Mrs. Chef met when they worked at The Inn at Little Washington?
They make butter look good.
They make amuse bouche so simply and expertly that it really is a 'course.' They make it with fig, and cambazola cheese, and balsamic reduction. Sweet and tart and tangy.
They make shrimp risotto that is sublimely bound together and still retains every, single, luscious grain of rice.
You'll want a nice glass of wine. You'll be able to get one.
Then you clean the palate. And you clean it with greens and tomatoes that grew in the back yard. Topped with ricotta salata and a vinaigrette. Again, a balance of tartness from the herbs, the tomatoes (Brandywine), and the vinegar.
Choices for the next course. Lamb chops with polenta and broccoli raab. Filet with an onion & cheese pie and sautéed spinach. Grouper with fennel & red onion slaw and roasted red potatoes. There was horse-trading to make sure we had one of each on the table. The fish almost lost out. Thank's to Shaunica's gracious gesture to let me go lamb and order the fish herself we got it all. And it was all excellent.
Filet. Spinach. Potato. Steak house fine.
Lamb. Rare. Polenta that melts. Lamb jus. Bitter, garlicky broccoli rabe.
Desserts in house too, you say? Yeah. I thought so. Seester checked out the kitchen and found out that in addition to the six desserts on the menu, there was a creme brulee that was being served downstairs in the bistro that we could do as well. The only bad thing about that is that there were now six of us and seven possible desserts. Oh, well. We didn't really want mixed berry somethin'. We wanted chocolate. Lots of chocolate. And brulee, and Karl's peach shortbread (which was out of this world).
But like I said...chocolate. Chocolate Hazelnut cake. Chocolate pave. Mexican Chocolate cake.
Coconut cake...again with the chocolate.
As you've seen here today, dear readers and eaters, this restaurant has excellent chops. It's also quite fun. The 'restaurant' really is the old apartment upstairs from the bistro. There are TVs in every dining room that are closed circuit peeks into the kitchen. The chefs are happy to have you stop back in the kitchen and get a closer look at what's going on. The ingredients are phenomenal and the skill with which they're put together is superb.
2 comments:
One of the many benefits of having an apartment that is close to good restaurants.
makati condos
@stefano: Of course I would only settle for an apartment near a restaurant serving good food.
Rent in Makati
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