Andrea was out of town so I’m home alone. So what’s an epicurean enthusiast to do…go out to brunch! We ate ere 5 years ago for dinner when it coincidentally happen to be white truffle season. It was 1-star restaurant back then, but they lost their star in the latest Michelin guide.
I wasn’t really looking for the typical brunch fare, and the 3-course prix fixe here seemed to fit the bill. I arrived at 11:30 and the restaurant was entirely empty except for one couple seated at a table. It did start to get a bit more filled as my meal progressed.
I ordered the Carne Crudo for my first course, the Butter-Poached Maine Lobster Benedict for my entree, and the Beignets for dessert. The meal started with their coffee cake with cinnamon cultured butter. Moist, flavorful, and the cinnamon butter was decadent. It was quite large and really better split with someone else, but I ended up eating half and taking the rest home to enjoy tomorrow with my morning cofffee.
Then came the amuse, which was a Miyagi oyster from Washington with a bloody mary granita – I’ve always enjoyed Miyagi’s and bloody marys and the savoriness of the granita went well with the oyster.
The first course, the Carne Crudo, was very flavorful, enjoyable, and nicely presented. The beef was very tender and was dotted with mustard, tiny crutons, and capers all topped with some olive oil and shavings of parmigaiano reggisano. It was also nicely seasoned with a bit of salt.
Before the entree, they gave me the Tory Farm Stone Fruit Salad. I’m not sure if they give an additional dish to everyone or if it was because I was taking photos with a camera (my new food camera is a Sony A7c, Tamron 35mm 2.8 which has a 6-inch focus distance) and they were wondering if I was reviewing them. But either way, it was appreciated. The dish had a trio of slices of stone fruits along with a touch of burratta and prosciutto made for a nice interregnum between my two courses.
Then came the lobster benedict which was mostly a classic preparation except with swiss chard instead of spinach, homemade english muffin, and of course the poached Maine Lobster.
For a brunch, I was getting quite full and I was thankful for a bit of a pause before dessert. When it came out, it looked very simple, but was executed perfectly. The beignets themself were just freshly fried, but not greasy at all, light and moist and sugared. The two sauces were creme anglaise and Vahlrona chocolate. Both were excellent, but the vanilla custard nature of the creme anglaise was my favorite.
All in all, it ended up being a great option for brunch and I’d happily do it again!
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