March 2, 2018 Breakfast – Bouchon. Lunch – Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dinner – Le Cou Cou

We slept late.  The weather was terrible; snow blowing at 30 to 40 mph.  We grabbed a taxi to Bouchon at Rockefeller Center on 49th across from CBS.  I ordered a chocolate almond croissant and a large chai, suzette ordered a large coffee and a cream of cauliflower soup.  The croissant was flaky and delicious with a thick layer of almond paste in the middle and chocolate drizzled on the top .  We sat by the bakery and watched the ladies making French macaroons.

 

   
Then we took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum at a bit before noon.

We first went to see the new MesoAmerican art exhibit, which was really impressive with many objects made from gold.

We then went through the modernism reconsidered exhibit.  By 2:00 we were walked out, so we decided to go to the 4th floor to the restaurant.  It used to be the members’ restaurant but recently has been opened to the public.  It was beautiful.  We both chose almost identical pride fixe lunches.  We both ordered the kampachi with smashed Peruvian potatoes and kale and the chocolate molten cake.

I ordered a garden salad for my starter and Suzette ordered the tomato bisque.  Both were excellent.  The salad was made with the freshest ingredients, like cherry Kumatoes and yellow pear shaped tomatoes, and lovely fresh organic lettuce.  Suzette’s tomato bisque was to die for made with fresh
tomatoes and cream with croutons.

The dressing was almost all acid

The tomato bisqu

The Metropolitan Members’ dining room

We each ordered a glass of Gruner  vitliner white Austrian wine produced by Glazer that was well balanced with both fruit  and acid.  Suzette had a second glass.  I did not add any ice because I did not want to alter the wine’s delicate flavor.

The entrée were even better.  We both ordered kampechi after I looked it up in google and found that it was an aqua cultured fish farmed in deep water off Hawaii that was a relative of the Japanese Amberjack, which is hamachi, my favorite sushi fish.  It was a white fish with a distinct flake like halibut and a clean taste.  The dish included roasted smashed baby Peruvian blue potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and boiled and sautéed kale. I loved the dish.

But that was not the end of the meal.   We each had ordered the three course meal for $44.00 that
included dessert.  And we each had ordered The chocolate molten cake that was served with a small
dip of mocha gelato on a squiggle of chocolate laced across the bottom of the plate.


After lunch Suzette went to a bench to make calls and I toured the impressionists section.  There were several Monet paintings of the Seine that reminded me of our boat trip on the Seine near Giverny, where Monet painted lovely paintings of the light reflecting off the surface of the water.  Here are a couple.

I also saw one of the best Gaugin’s I have ever seen of two bare breasted Tahitian women.

I joined a Suzette and we walked through the Edo Period Show, enjoying the beautiful baskets, textiles, woodblock prints and ceramics.

At 4:30 we fetched our coats, covered up and raced down the stairs to a taxi and returned to Rebecca’s apartment.  We rested and showered and dressed and taxied to Le CouCou at 8:00 even though the sky had cleared of snow.

We arrived before Mickey and Rebecca.  I had a drink of Bigallet China China on the rocks, a sweet bitter orange liqueur to settle my stomach.

It did the trick.  By the time Rebecca and Mickey arrived I was feeling better and ready for some food.

We were seated at a table immediately in front of the kitchen, thanks to Rebecca reservation made a month ago.

This was the closest thing I have seen to a French restaurant since eating in France. The service was impeccable, the menu was interesting, and the flavors challenging, yet very classically correct.

Mickey and Rebecca wanted steak and ordered filets served with potato sliced baked in a pan on an oxtail reduction.


We ordered bottle of Gigondas red from Cotes Du Rhone for the meat eaters, suzette did not think it was very good but it went with steak and rabbit and was under $100.00.

Rebecca recommended the buckwheat crepe over a bed of creamed lump meat crab in a white wine cream sauce flavored with Meyer lemon juice.  I had a bit of trouble selecting a glass of wine.  I wanted a white with good balance between tannins and fruit and saw Savennieres on the wine list.  The sommelier poured me a taste of a 1999 Savennières Roche-aux-Monies.  Suzette, Mickey and I tasted it and we decided it had lost its fruitiness and character, so I chose the sommelier’s first suggestion for my selection of sweetbreads, a meursault because it had a strong commanding character and this one was no exception.  It was a little strong with the crab, but wonderful with my sweetbreads in a tomato, veal demiglace and tarragon sauce.

The veal sweetbreads were cooked perfectly, tender without a trace of blood or tendon.  I do not know how the sweetbreads were cooked that made them so tender.  The sauce was exceptional also, smooth without a tomato or veal stock or tarragon flavor.  This sauce is similar to the sauce in which Oslo Bucco is typically made, tomato, stock and herbs.

Suzette ordered a whole rabbit which was deliciously tender also.

Rebecca and Mickey enjoyed their steak, which I did not taste, but I ate and enjoyed some of their potato slices baked on a mushroom and and oxtail reduction.

Suzette gave me on of the rabbit thighs.  It was tender and I enjoyed dipping pieces of rabbit into my rich sauce.

For dessert I chose a  Chiboust aux chocolat on a bed of wild plums from France and a chocolate wafer drizzled with Armagnac. The waiter explained that Chibousts are made with egg whites and pastry cream and a bit of cornstarch to hasten their stiffening.  They are similar to soufflés but take
less time to cook.  I had never eaten a chiboust and really enjoyed it, with its vanilla and chocolate flavor and the plums mixed in.

The dinner was superb and Mickey and Rebecca were gracious to split the cost with us.  This was the best meal of our trip.

After dinner the waiter packaged the after cookies and chocolates served after dinner and we shared a cab to Mickey’s coop apartment.

Mickey lives on 14th with a view across the street to one of the oldest Synagogues in Manhattan.  He served us glasses of Gruet Brut champagne and we nibbled on the after dinner treats and talked for another hour.

Then we walked the five blocks back to Rebecca’s apartment and bed.
Bon Appetit