an egg is an egg...meditating at the Museo Miró in Barcelona

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Gastronomique Tour de France

Stage III of the Tour de France was celebrated at the Restaurant du Village in Chester, CT.

Bread? asked I to the hostess. [In French, no less!]. It's still in the oven, said she [In French, of course]. And it was worth the wait.

The Amuse Bouche was a plate of teeny yellow and red Tomato halves stuffed with Mousse.

First course: Jambon de Savoie Salade de Pommes et Frisée - Mountain ham served with a salad of apples and curly endive. They did not skimp on the ham which reminded me of a more lightly cured Jamon Ibérico. The flavors definitely played with each other. The wine was a Savoie White which had a bit of sparkle to it.

A Soufflé de Reblochon - Warm Reblochon cheese soufflé was the second course. These individual 'ramekined' babies were hot and light and full of flavor. This course was served with a White Wine from the Alpes.

One of the reasons we chose Stage III was that Roast Rack of Lamb with a wild mountain savory herb sauce - Carré d'Agneau a la Sarriete was the third course. This was served with Polenta and Baby Snap Peas. The savory herb sauce [we called it gravy] was sopped up with another basket or two of the bread. The wine for this was a Red [at last!] which was the same wine we lived on on our river cruiser down the Seine years back.

Dessert was a Gateau Grenoblois - Caramel Walnut Cake. Dense and full of flavor and floating in a pool of caramel served with a sparkling Rosé*. Coffees and a Cappuccino ended the meal.

blognotes: the service was impeccable as usual with the added attraction of a junior server being trained. We forgave him his few missteps as he was so young [and cute according to one member of our party].

*the rosé wine was a Bugey Cerdon from Alain Renardat-Fache in the Savoie region. It scores an 89 by the Wine Enthusiast magazine and has only a 7.5% alcohol level. As the review states, it is semi-addictive.

bloginfo: Restaurant du Village, Michael Keller Chef, 59 Main Street, Chester, CT 860.526.5301

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