DINNER AT BOUCHON'S

WOW!!!!

O.K., notes in hand, here goes! First note is - "truck parked in 6C" - big damn parking garage at the Venetian...The restaurant is gorgeous and then we started…

Had a look at the menu and our tag team servers told us of the 'specials' (that doesn't seem to go with the place )When we had what we thot we wanted to order, we had the sommelier come over to see if we could match one bottle of wine with all the goodies - and what a wonderful choice he made for us. (June and bbally, I'll list the wine first 'cause that's probably what you two will scroll down to see!)Domaine La Milliere 2003 Vieilles VignesCotes du RhoneCuvee Unique

My first first was when they brot out the 'in house' made rolls with a small bowl of butter, of course, but also a bowl of pistachios...I'd not seen that before, but a great combination!Next we were surprised with an amuse-bouche - a small pastry 'thimble' filled with really sweet crabmeat and topped with a crispy tarragon leaf. What a delightful combination.

Hors d' oeuvre(s) - Confit de Canard (confit with riz rouge-red rice- and sweet peas shoots)Roy's Plats Principaux - Gigot d'AgneauRoasted leg of lamb with garlic braised Swiss chard, rosemary roasted sweet carrots and lamb jus (jus - to die for!!)

O.K, now here I have to digress a tad. For years my father-in-law promised to prepare sweetbreads for me, but for some reason the years passed by and he never did and I've never tried them and then he was gone.When the server mentioned Sweet Breads was a special of the evening, I thot well, if I'm ever going to try them, Bouchon's is the place!!

They were out of this world and I'm just now realizing I could have been eating these for 30 years if....The Sweetbreads were served with Hen of the Woods mushrooms, spring onions, thyme all placed on a very subtle vanilla infused béchamel (?). The 'breads' were lightly floured and sautéed quickly for a wonderful crispy outside and creamy inside. (I just know my f-i-l was looking down, thrilled that I was finally having his favorite!)

We chose to have Fromage with honeycomb to end the meal - we selected three from six offeringsSt. Maure de Touraine (goat cheese)Fourme d'Ambert (cows milk)P'Tit Basque (sheeps milk)and of course the honeycomb served in an apple ring.

I suppose talking of money is bad form, but!! We went in expecting to spend at a minimum of $200 - but with the $50.00 bottle of wine, the total came to $148.00!! Can you believe that? (Hell, we could have ordered the Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard at $45.00/for 5 oz!!)
Speaking of the wine, this bottle saw us thru the entire meal and was wonderful with every flavor!!!

Evidently the 'house' pays attention to the requests of customers to the maitre d'. The sommelier began by saying he understood I was a semi-retired chef and they were delighted to have us with them.Towards the end of our meal, one of the servers came over and said whenever we were ready, the pastry chef was waiting to give us a tour of the kitchen. (many of you know me well enuf by now to now how incredibly excited I am at this point!!!)

We were taken back to the kitchen and met Pastry Chef Chris Heron. What a delightful young man and talented chef he is. He showed us the entire kitchen and we met everyone (no, not Chef Keller) at each of the stations. I spied a sauté pan of sweetbreads on the stove and headed over and the cook took me through exactly how he was preparing them - is that wonderful?? And, he seemed so pleased at how much we enjoyed them.

The line cooks told me I could join them in cooking anytime I was in town...oh my!

And that friends, was my dinner at Bouchon's.P.S. 11/06 – During the planning of our annual C2C fundraiser dinner at Florian’s, Chef Chris Heron was planning on joining us in Flo’s kitchen for this dinner! But, pressures of his job prevented this at the last minute. What a thrill that would have been for all of us!