Traditional French at Benoit

For our 32nd Wedding Anniversary, Marita and I decided to have traditional French bistro fare.  No nouvelle cuisine, just good old-fashioned, heavy-on- the butter-and-cream French food.

We couldn’t have picked a better place than Benoit, Alain Ducasse’s bistro in Manhattan.

We had an excellent French meal.  Marita started with a plate of three appetizers: sardine escabeche, veal tongue,  and crispy pied de cochon – at $12, easily the best bargain in the house.  I had an ultra-rich cheese souffle (after we had a couple of gougere cheese puffs, which were the lightest part of the entire meal).

For my main course, I had filet de rouget (red mullet), that wonderful Mediterranean fish that I last tried in Cannes.  It was simply prepared with tomatoes and  carrots, with crispy skin on the outside and tender flesh inside.

Marita’s main course was Quenelle de brochet Nantua, the classic dish made of mashed pike fish and bechamel and shrimp or crayfish butter.  I was expecting small boat-shaped quenelles but instead got a single, creme-brulee sized mound of quenelle.  It was very rich and luxurious, and yes, very heavy.  I nearly ordered another glass of Sancerre to help me finish it off.

Dessert was poached cherries and pistachio ice cream – very good and also very heavy.

My Favorite Malaysian – Fatty Crab

I have to admit that I hardly ever look for Malaysian food.  But when I do have it, I am almost always satisfied.

The Fatty Crab in downtown NYC took part in Malaysian week so we took advantage of their relatively inexpensive pre-fixe menus.  We didn’t go for anything unusual or exotic.  Instead we opted for pretty standard Malaysian fare.

Marita had nasi lemak which was served with a half-cooked egg sitting on top of fried rice which I mixed together with the anchovies, peanuts, vegetables and other ingredients.  I had an equally unadventurous main course – beef rendang, which had a little more cartilage than I am used to, but actually was a welcome change.  I especially like the toasted coconut bits on the rendang.

Le Cirque

For my birthday, my kids treated me to dinner at Le Cirque.

I first had jamon iberico at Le Cirque, very shortly after the FDA made it legal in the USA, so I have fond memories for this gastronomic temple in New York.  I will again remember this meal at Le Cirque.  First, because I got to see I.M. Pei and Sirio Macchione, and more importantly because I was joined at the table by my year-old grandson, Dean, who probably has a gourmet’s palate like his chef mom Cindy.  My son Mark ordered mashed potatoes for Dean and he loved it  I loved them myself; they’re probably the best mashed potatoes I’ve had.

We had an interesting mix of dishes including scrambled eggs with caviar, soft shell crab,  wild mushroom consommé, Osso Buco Milanese; standbys like Flounder “Le Cirque” and Paupiette of black cod; Wagyu beef and foie gras.  But the most memorable dish – at least for me  – was Poussin “Under a Brick” or chicken cooked under a brick.  The video below shows how to cook this very simple, rustic dish.

We had Guinness ice cream at Mark’s apartment, made by Cindy.  As usual, I had one scoop too many.