Restaurant Week: Le Périgord in New York, NY

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One of the first things I do for Restaurant Week, before looking for the menu, is to look for the cost. Opentable has this $ sign that goes from $ to $$$$, the latter meaning expensive. So I decided to apply a filter and picked Le Périgord, a French restaurant located Midtown East, that has been on my list for a while now. 

Périgord is a region in the South-West of France, known for its cuisine often made of duck or goose, such as confit or foie gras. Well, Interestingly, the family who started the restaurant are not from there! George Briguet, who opened the restaurant in 1964 is from Switzerland and his wife, Marie‑Thérèse, that I met after our meal, from Brittany. 

This is an old school place: fresh flowers on the table, white table clothes and upholstery on the walls that transported us back in time.

Menu wise, they only brought us the Restaurant Week menu and I wondered at that time if it was some kind of profiling, restaurant bringing usually the regular menu as well as this one...

They first brought us some bread

And butter.

I admit that I was disappointed with the bread: it is a French restaurant bon sang! I mean serve a good baguette, not a bread that seem to have been store bought and is not what you would expect for this type of restaurant.

For her entrée, Jodi ordered the salade mélangée that is baby mixed green salad and goat cheese.

On my side, I got the pâté du Chef:

It was served with ratatouille

And celery remoulade.

This was a really good appetizer: the pâté was delicious, as were the ratatouille and celery remoulade. I was please to have a dish composed of three classics, instead of just having the pâté with bread (and you know what I thought about the bread).

For her entrée, Jodi ordered the salmon. It was cooked with a lemon saffron sauce and served with vegetables.

I did not like it, the salmon having a fishy taste. However, my dish was divine: it was the veal kidneys with mustard sauce.

I was in heaven! The kidneys were perfectly cooked, smothered in a delicious sauce. I realize, writing this, that it sounds creepy, but no, this is not an episode of Hannibal, although sometimes Jodi calls me Dr Lecter, because of my love for creepy meats. The dish was served with a nice risotto, that is a change, as I usually see potatoes served.

For dessert, Jodi ordered the ile flottante or floating island, a classic French dessert made with egg whites and crème Anglaise.

On my side, I went for the chocolate mousse with Grand Marnier.

Both dessert were a bit disappointing, lacking some "oumf" that would make them memorable or at least delicious.

Jodi was not as lucky as I was for her meal at Le Périgord. I am glad, at least, that I tried it during restaurant week, as I was always curious about that place; but it did not entice me to go back, the restaurant missing the charm that would attract a young crowd hungry for French cuisine.

Enjoy (...)!

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Restaurant Week: Porterhouse in New York, NY

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There is no doubt what Porterhouse, located on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center, is serving: steaks, steaks and steaks. 

With seafood, but steaks. It has been a while since I went to a steakhouse for restaurant week, as I typically tell people to avoid these types if places during that period, the quality of the meat being often sacrificed. I even did a test with my favorite steakhouse in Hoboken, Dino & Harry's: while the steaks have always been sublime, they were not good for Restaurant Week (see the post here). Why did I change my mind? Because my friend Julien convinced me that I would not be disappointed at Porterhouse. 

So, we booked the place on Opentable for a Sunday, for lunch. We arrived a bit early and got seated fairly quickly in this incredible 140 seats place that overlooks Columbus Circle.

To give you am idea of the place, it all started in 2006, when Chef Michael Lomonaco took the bet to replace Jean-Georges Vongerichten's V Steakhouse place by a more traditional and more successful restaurant. The decor, designed by Jeffrey Beers (The Wynn in Las Vegas, DB Bistro Modern in NY) is very elegant with its leather banquettes, polished designed and the restaurant feels roomy. Contrary to most of the steakhouses, there is a lot of light, thanks to the large windows. 

So we were there for the Restaurant Week menu that was printed on the bottom of the regular menu, replacing their business lunch and eliminating the awkward moment when you ask for it and can see in the eye of the waiter an expression that says "I should have guessed". 

Right after we ordered, they came with a bread basket that had three types of breads: French white, raisin-pecan and whole wheat. 

Jodi went for the French white

While I went for the raisin-pecan. 

Some say that you can judge a restaurant by its bread: it started well!

For her appetizer, Jodi ordered the soup of the day: a gazpacho. 

It was a fairly large plate of a delicious and refreshing chilled soup, perfect for the hot weather. 

On my side, I ordered the classic Caesar salad. 

Wow, that was a salad! It was, again, a large quantity and they were very generous with the amount of cheese on top. And yes, I ate all my salad. 

Then, came the steak frites that we both got. 

When I ordered, I asked the waitress what cut it was. She simply said "the tender", repeating what was written on the menu ("The butcher's tender"). So I asked if it was a tenderloin and she said yes. 

When the steak came, it had this V shape characteristic of a hanger steak and the taste too. I would have known, I would have asked to have it medium-rare cooked instead of medium, as it is a tougher meat. It was anyway quite good, the meat being juicy and tasty, with a nice char. 

It was normally served with a wine sauce, that we asked on the side (if you do not like it and your steak and fries are smothered with it, your dish is spoiled). We also tried a delicious béarnaise sauce. 

With the steak were served some French fries that were very good: thin cut, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and not greasy. 

Last was dessert. Jodi ordered the raspberry and passion fruit sorbets

And I ordered the flour less chocolate cake. 

The latter was the best: very chocolate-y and moist in the center. But don't get me wrong: the sorbet was really good; you could definitely taste the fruits. 

This was a delicious lunch and it for sure made me want to go back to try their steaks. Porterhouse is definitely a place to know to enjoy a good meal in an incredible setting. 

Enjoy (I did)!

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Paname, French restaurant in New York, NY

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Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!  

Paname, that means Paris in slang, is a French restaurant located Midtown East, opened a year ago by Chef Bernard Ros, a veteran of the New York food scene, known not only for his cuisine, but also his mentorship in the industry, helping people get jobs or training them, solely for the love of food. The adventure started in 1967, when Chef Ros came to Montreal for the World's Fair. He then decided to go visit New York...and never went back to France, working in many restaurants, before opening Meli Melo and then Paname.

Chef Bernard Ros with the "Marilyn Monroe's legs"

I spoke at length with him during my dinner at Paname and truly felt that he was more interested in making his customers pleased with the experience at the restaurant, serving them classic bistro dishes, reinvented, at low prices, creating a loyal clientele, instead of one time diners. 

Chef Ros goes everyday to the market to pick ingredients, putting an emphasis on the quality of the meat and seafood he will serve. If you go to Paname, you will definitely see him (he is there 7/7) going from table to table, to ensure everything is fine. 

Menu wise, you will find classics, but as I mentioned before, reinvented. For instance, there are escargots (snails), but not cooked the usual way, with garlic and butter. Also, everything is homemade, including the desserts, that can be a challenge for a Chef, but not for Bernard Ros, as you will see in this post.

We started our meal with an amuse bouche that was made with gorgonzola and a tomato coulis, a perfect combination. 

Then, I tried few appetizers:

Tomato and mozzarella:

Grilled portobello mushrooms with mozzarella:

Homemade pâté with cornichons:

Escargots de Bourgogne with Russet potatoes:

The first thing I noticed was the presentation and then, the originality of the escargot dish: it was definitely a different way of preparing escargot, like a twist to stuffed vegetables, a French classic, where the snails replaced the ground meat. On the plate were stuffed potatoes and zucchini.

Also, the pâté had this rustic taste, full of authenticity.

For entrees, I tried:

The paella Valenciana:

You are right, it is a Spanish dish, but it seems that customers love this special, so it is often proposed. It was prepared with seafood (a lot, such as calamari, clams, shrimp and mussels), as well as chorizo and chicken. Delicious dish, very appetizing with all these vivid colors.

The sautéed cod fish à la niçoise with a tomato fondant:

I really liked it: the fish, sitting on top of smooth mashed potatoes, was perfectly cooked and topped with a sort of stew made with roasted tomatoes, peppers and a black olives (the à la niçoise part of the dish) that was sublime, giving another dimension to the dish.

Last was the bouillabaisse, a fish stew that comes from the city of Marseille in the South of France, where I was born!

When the dish came to the table, it had this wonderful aroma and I could not wait to taste the broth that was delicious and very flavorful, perfectly seasoned. It was composed of mussels, clams, baby scallops, shrimp and cod, accompanied with a garlic aioli (on two pieces of toasted bread, as well as on a spoon, to mix with the broth)..

That was very good and very comforting, definitely a dish I would recommend, even in Summer time.

Then, it was time for dessert. At Paname, they have classic ones, such as crème brûlée, tarte tatin or mousse au chocolat. I did not eat the latter, but Bernard Ros, showed me how they served it and it was amazing: not served in the usual bowl, it was truly artistic.

I tried the flourless chocolate cake that was probably one of the best I had so far. Prepared with some Valhrona bittersweet chocolate, it was dense and very chocolatey.

Last were the homemade crêpes, made with Grand Marnier and served with almonds.

The crêpes were thicker than what I am used to, making them a bit heavier. However, I truly appreciated that they put the right amount of alcohol and the added texture of the toasted almonds.

Last were cookies:

I should mention that I drank a glass (or two) of Côtes du Rhône with my meal.

The short walk after we left was welcome...Paname is a nice place to go to, simple and unpretentious, where the passion of its Chef and owner really reflects into the dishes. And with a $35 prix-fixe with an appetizer, entree and dessert, you cannot go wrong!

Enjoy (I did)!

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