September 12, 2013 P’tit Louis Bistro

September 12, 2013 P’tit Louis Bistro What a wonderful evening. Cynthia and Ricardo and we decided to go to the 50th Anniversary opening of the UNM Art Museum and then P’tit Louis for dinner. I mentioned the plans to Mike on Wednesday when we went to La Salita for the first time in about three months and he said he would join us for dinner. We went to their house for a drink at 6:00 and after trying a new Scotch we drove to the Museum. The Art Museum was remodeled about one or two years ago to add another floor of space. It now is on three and one-half floors. Three of the Gallery spaces are named for seminal figures in the history of UNM’ art department, Raymond Jonson (Lower Gallery), Van Deren Coke (a side gallery a few steps up from the main gallery), and Clinton Adams (Upper Gallery). The Raymond Jonson Gallery - There are nearly 2,400 artworks in the Raymond Jonson Collection, which are divided into four distinct collections. The largest and most significant is the Jonson Reserve Retrospective Collection composed of over 600 paintings and drawings by Raymond Jonson selected by the artist in 1978 as most representative of his 65 year career. The next largest collection, the Raymond Jonson Estate Collection, consists of approximately 400 paintings that Jonson set aside to be sold in support of the permanent collection. The Other Artists Collection is made up of works by Agnes Martin, Elaine DeKooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Josef Albers, members of the Transcendental Painting Group (1938-1942), co-founded by Jonson and Taos painter Emil Bisttram, and many others. Finally, the Jonson Students Collection consists of artworks by many of the artist’s students during his 20 year tenure as professor of art at UNM (1934-1954). Jonson taught and lived at UNM for the latter part of his life. The Van Deren Coke Gallery (the new gallery) - The University of New Mexico Art Museum’s permanent photography collection includes some 10,000 photographs (by over 1,000 different photographers) and early cased objects, spans the entire history of the medium and constitutes, along with the print collection, the heart of the museum’s holdings. Begun in 1962 by Van Deren Coke, the museum’s first director, this significant collection is without question the foundation on which the museum’s reputation was built and rests to this day. It is the largest fine art photography collection in the state of New Mexico and one of the major collegiate collections in the country. Some of the renowned artists in the collection include: William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Nadar, Hill and Adamson, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Edward Steichen, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, August Sander, Laura Gilpin, Helen Levitt, William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, John Coplan and Alex Soth, to name only a small selection. and the Clinton Adams Gallery - The UNM Art Museum is the archive for Tamarind Institute, founded in the 1960s by June Wayne (1918-2011) in Los Angeles, and accordingly collects and preserves multiple impressions of all lithographs executed at Tamarind from its early days in California to the present in Albuquerque. In addition, the museum holds and maintains the estate of Clinton Adams (1920-2002), which includes paintings and his graphic œuvre. Adams, who worked closely with June Wayne during the early genesis of Tamarind, eventually brought the lithography workshop to New Mexico under the umbrella of the university in 1969. He was an indefatigable artist and writer whose scholarship on both the history and technique of lithography was instrumental in renewing interest in and appreciation for lithography. Adams served as the director of Tamarind Institute from 1970-1985 and Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the university from 1961-1976. The five anniversary exhibitions included paintings from the permanent collection, works on paper and photos from the permanent collect (which included my favorite piece, a 1913 water color painted by Georgia O’Keefe from inside a tent when she was on her first trip to the Southwest), an exhibition of photographs made by Andy Warhol, an exhibition of Agnes Martin’s early works from 1947 to 1957 and a photography show of Martin Parr’s photos of people on beaches. Cynthia made a reservation for six for 8:15 at P’tit Louis. About 7:45 we had seen everything and took off for the restaurant in a petty heavy rain storm. The restaurant turned out to be a lovely small bistro, sort of a movie set version of a small French bistro, with glass mirrors with the prices of vin and a carte of the lunch specials written on them. I did not know what to expect. The last meal we had had at P’tit Louis was at its downtown location after it had opened the Nob Hill location and the food was terrible downtown; almost as if they abandoned the downtown location to persons who were not chefs and could not cook and did not pay any attention to ingredients. Thank goodness that chapter is closed and the Café Miche crew has taken over P’tit Louis’ downtown location. Shortly after we arrived, Mike and Heidi joined us. Heidi is a Biology graduate student at UNM studying cockroaches. Her thesis is identifying 39 additional species of cockroaches, which she claims are one of the most important components of life on earth because they are benign and do not interfere with humans and they clean up all the nasty stuff in the environment. I think she said she was going to Rutgers next year to finish her doctorate. She was very interesting, having been born in Rhode Island and spent her youth in Botwana. Our meal could not have been better. Our waiter, Alex, an energetic 50 year old African American and Ben, a Frenchman, who knew about wine and service provided great service. The menu was interesting and all of the dishes were well executed. Mike started with steak tartare and Suzette ordered it for an entrée. It was well prepared with egg, capers, mustard, pepper and chopped steak. I found it to be a little harshly seasoned with pepper, but Heidi enjoyed its bold flavor. Alex brought us a complimentary cheese sampler plate of the cheeses that the restaurant served garnished with several different chutneys. I enjoyed a goat gouda and a Spanish cheese, made with cow, sheep and goat milk. Ricardo and Cynthia started with a beet and goat cheese salad. Heidi ordered Moule Frites which appeared to be done well also. Cynthia and Ricardo both ordered the Special, Sea Scallops garnished with a béchamel sauce served on a pile of mashed potatoes. The béchamel tasted as if some of fish stock had been used to make it, quite nice. I ordered a filet mignon with a Sauce Perigueux served on a pile of mashed potatoes and four stalks of steamed asparagus, all bathed in sauce. Recipe Serves: 1 Ingredients: Goose fat as needed ½ c White wine 3 T Cognac 1 medium Onion, sliced 3 Shallots, chopped 3 Truffles 1 T Beef stock 1 T Flour Salt and freshly ground pepper Directions 1. Fry the shallots in some goose fat. 2. Add the wine and brandy and ignite. 3. In a different pan lightly brown the onion, adding a little beef stock. 4. Prepare a roux with more goose fat and the flour. 5. Stir in the onion and shallots with their liquid and simmer over a very low heat for an hour, stirring frequently. 6. Season with salt and pepper. 7. Dice the truffles into small pieces. 8. Strain the sauce, add the truffles and reheat for a few minutes. 9. NOTE: The single best-known and widely cooked recipe from this tradition of Perigord cooking is sauce perigueux, now an essential ingredient of many dishes and part of the repertiore of every French chef. 10. It is often, mistakenly, called Dorgogne sauce, sauce perigourdine, which obscures its origins in the capital of Perigord. 11. In culinary terms, it is very similar to a Madeira sauce with the addition of truffles. BENTLEY, James Life and Food in the Dordogne. New Amsterdam Books New York MM Format by John Hartman Indianapolis, IN 21 December 1996 Obviously there were not 3 truffles in my sauce but I swear there were truffles in the sauce and the sauce was garnished with slices of truffle; a very pleasing surprise for only $26.00. We requested and were brought glasses of house wine to try. We ordered carafes of house wine. Alex brought carafes of red, white and rosé and kept bringing wine and did not charge us. It turned into a very jolly group with banter among us and Alex, who was a dancer, so had lots to talk about with Ricardo. By 10:15 when we dispersed I felt like I had spent an evening in New York or Paris; seeing a great art opening and then meeting friends for a lovely meal on a rainy evening at a wonderful French Bistro. P’tit Louis is an immediate entry at the top of my favorite French bistros in Albuquerque. Bon Appétit P'tit Louis bistro 3218, Silver avenue SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 (505) 314-1110