After a busy day of shopping, I walked over to Chez Papa Resto to have dinner with a bunch of friends. Their food for the most part was quite tasty, but what really stood out to me was the impeccable service.
The restaurant was crowded (Friday night) and we had to wait a while for our table. In their defense, I had made it difficult by adding 3 people to our reservation last minute. Once there, we happily sat down in the waiting area to nurse our cocktails and catch up with old friends. About halfway through our aperitifs, one of the hosts in the front presented us with a plate of amuse bouche. I'm not certain if this was an apology for the wait, or if this was customary on their end, but it was certainly appreciated.
After several courses, one of the servers got wind of the fact that it was my friend's birthday and the manager presented our table with a celebratory round of drinks. Overall, it was a great experience.
Amuse bouche of lightly seared tuna over a bed of haricot vert and scallions
Tapenade duo for the table
Labelle Farm Foie Gras Two Ways: Terrine with Quince, Seared with Apples and Banyuls Reduction
Most of the time, I really enjoy terrine foie. This time, however, I really think the seared easily won out over the terrine in terms of taste. I wasn't fond of the heavy bitter wine undertones in the terrine version, and I wish the sweetness of the quince were a bit more potent. The seared foie, on the other hand, was excellent. I also thought the accompanying bread strips were quite out of place, considering the richness of the foie; I would have preferred some crispiness to complement, but that's not really a big issue here.
Easily my favorite dish of the night was this lamb appetizer. It was simple, grilled lamb chops with ratatouille, herbs de Provence, and lavender sea salt, but it was done very well. For me, the ratatouille clearly took a back seat to the meat. The chops were grilled a nice medium, and had a great crust on the outside. I wish I could smell a tiny bit more of the lavender, but I think that's because I love lavender. My friend, who understandably dislikes associations of flowers with his meat, disagreed with me, and loved that there was only a hint of it in the salt sprinkled on top.
Butternut Squash Agnolotti with Brown Butter, Sage and Parmesan.
I wasn't a huge fan of the agnolotti, even though I love all the components above. It was somewhat bland. I'm wondering if a bit more salt could have brought out the sweetness of the squash. That said, it wasn't bad. Just not my favorite.
Sautéed Bluenose Bass with Braised Leeks, Meyer Lemon Beurre Blanc and Black Truffle Emulsion.
I had a few problems with this dish, mainly with the texture of the fish. I know this bass is less oily than, let's say, a sea bass. But I definitely felt my bass was slightly overcooked. Flavor-wise, the black truffle emulsion was lacking heavily in the truffle department ~ I wanted more. I know people say less is more sometimes since you don't want the truffle to become a crutch for otherwise ordinary foods. In this case, however, I felt the other flavors, namely lemon, leeks and butter, were pretty mild. An additional healthy dose of truffle would have upped this dish. I also found the fish to be a wee bit salty.
Châteauneuf du Pape Braised Lamb Daube with Market Vegetables, Rosemary Oil.
The crowning moments of the meal were clearly the two lamb dishes. I think the appetizer outshined this entree lamb daube, but this was good in its own right. The lamb was braised beautifully in a rich red wine sauce and the meat was very tender. The turnip-like vegetable (reminded me of Jerusalem artichokes) was nice too.
Orange Blossom Panna Cotta, Blood Orange and Port Gastrique.
The panna cotta was simply delicious. I would go back for dessert just to get this dish. The citrus and port provided bolder flavors without drowning out the more delicate orange blossom and rose flavors infused in the custard. It was really a great end to a meal.
As depressed as I was over the Lakers' loss in double overtime tonight, I rallied with a simple recipe ~ white chocolate cranberry cookies. I love quick and simple, especially when baking with friends. C and I made these cookies in less than ten minutes, and devoured them in a heartbeat.
Warm and gooey on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside
Almond cake!
Amuse bouche of lightly seared tuna over a bed of haricot vert and scallions
Tapenade duo for the table
Labelle Farm Foie Gras Two Ways: Terrine with Quince, Seared with Apples and Banyuls Reduction
Easily my favorite dish of the night was this lamb appetizer. It was simple, grilled lamb chops with ratatouille, herbs de Provence, and lavender sea salt, but it was done very well. For me, the ratatouille clearly took a back seat to the meat. The chops were grilled a nice medium, and had a great crust on the outside. I wish I could smell a tiny bit more of the lavender, but I think that's because I love lavender. My friend, who understandably dislikes associations of flowers with his meat, disagreed with me, and loved that there was only a hint of it in the salt sprinkled on top.
Butternut Squash Agnolotti with Brown Butter, Sage and Parmesan.
Sautéed Bluenose Bass with Braised Leeks, Meyer Lemon Beurre Blanc and Black Truffle Emulsion.
Châteauneuf du Pape Braised Lamb Daube with Market Vegetables, Rosemary Oil.
Orange Blossom Panna Cotta, Blood Orange and Port Gastrique.
I liked the Hamachi (on the right), and the Shiro Maguro wasn't bad either.
The monkfish liver was quite good. Beautiful round taste, and buttery texture.
The "Valentino" dish is going to be geared toward lovers of Japanese fusion cuisine. Unagi is mixed in with seared foie gras, dark chocolate and sweet yellow gelatin cubes. Personally, this dish is not for me, since I tend to favor the fish itself over the tastes of the surrounding sauce. Plus, I felt like the whole dish really just tasted like Unagi (the kind that you find on a dragon roll, but without the rice) and was a waste of foie. It definitely sounded more interesting than it tasted. But maybe I'm too much of a purist.
Toro ~ nice and rich chutoro (I think). Smooth texture, buttery taste ~ still somewhat lean yet melts in your mouth ~ no complaints here.
Not a huge fan of the torched toro ~ the flavor of the toro was a bit more fishy (not because of bad quality ~ I think the cooking process plus extra seasoning intensified the fishiness). The texture became chewier too. I would have preferred to eat this un-torched.
Hawaiian Tuna and Escolar
One of my only major complaints about the meal came toward the end with this dish. We ordered the Halibut Sushi with pickled shisonomi topped with Yuzu-Kosho Paste. The peppery yuzu paste was fine, but the fish was extremely chewy and difficult to eat. For someone who's focused 90% on the fish quality and 10% on everything else, this dish was a disappointment.
By the time this seared black cod dish arrived, we were anxious to leave since we had waited for a long time to get this dish, and had to rush to the airport. I love black cod, but this dish was entirely unremarkable. I would have preferred just a piece of black cod, seared, without the thick soupy substance on the bottom, and without the rice. That being said, however, I felt like most of the meal was entirely enjoyable and I will come back again!
