Le Chateaubriand

Finally!

Sometimes, if you're really lucky, good things come to those who wait (...and wait and wait and...).  Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones last Wednesday when I got to eat at the premiere restaurant Le Chateaubriand.  For those that don't know, I've been dying to try this place out.  First of all it's right down the street from my apartment and it was voted one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.  The best part is that it isn't a fancy, stuffy, self righteous type of place.  It has a convivial atmosphere and a bare bones, bistro type of vibe.  Not to mention the food is AMAZING!

The restaurant is perennially booked for the first seating at 7pm (weeks in advance) and does not take reservations for the second seating that starts around 9:30 pm.  So I make plans to meet my friend at the bar around 9pm.  When I get there the place is abuzz with people claiming space at the bar and eagerly awaiting their spot at one of the tables.  I was so happy when the man of the house kindly sat us and offered us a run down of the menu in English (it is a prix fixe tasting menu of 5 courses for around 45 Euro- a steal!).  We were then joined by our sommelier and chose a wonderfully full bodied red wine from the Languedoc region.

The food, oh the food, this was the best part of the evening!  It did not disappoint in any way, shape or form.  There was a little bit of everything: meat, fish, vegetables.  La pièce de resistance was a paste on one of our final dishes that was made of eggplant.  I came across the video below which shows the making of the ink black paste (and is quite funny too!)

Chateaubriand-Onions in the Eye

The only thing lacking was dessert, but hey nobody's perfect and this meal very nearly was!

xx