La Leçon

Last night after a bad day of all sorts, I finally pulled it together to go out and have dinner at Market Table in the West Village. Lo and behold, it was a stone’s throw away from one of my favorite drink-and-cheap-tacos place, Cabrito.

Now, one thing you have to know about me is, while a serious gourmet, foodie, wine-pairing enthusiast, I rarely go out to eat. Why? Crippling nut and fruit allergies of the deadliest kind. I would swell up and choke 10 min after eating a sliver of almond. While it hasn’t stopped me from going to restaurants all together, it has made me proceed with caution. Thus why I research before each outings on menupages, eater, NY Times, even tumblr. Market Table was one of the few restaurants with all over glowing praises, so I thought I’d give it a go.

After a 2 weeks waiting period, I finally got to experience it yesterday. At first, I was seduced by the French bistro vibe of the place; dimmed flattering lighting, shiny bar front and center, exposed brick and all shades of wood making for a perfect decor. Our waiter guided us through the menu and the specials, making great pairing suggestions and refraining from laughing at our somewhat confusing French/english accent which, I don’t know why, came out in full force Yesterday ( we might have pronounced “seared” as “sea-red” ) …moving on!

Ah, yes, the food. THE FOOD. Well, food is too common a word. This was culinary art at it’s finest. I started with oysters ( because if you tell me they are available, I will order them. And roll my eyes with delight every time I taste one ) and then went on with the Grilled Artic Char. Delicately presented on a warm bed of creamy leeks (now seriously, I did say at the time that this was a bed I would gladly sink into. I was in love ) and topped by golden, crispy thin-as-can-be fried onions, the fish had the crisp, smoky bitterness of the grill on the outside while still being perfectly tender, almost lusciously raw on the inside. That mix of texture ( softness of leeks and pinkish flesh in contrast with the crisp of the onions and of the grilled outer layer of the fish ) was a perfect balance that was only enhanced by the glass of wine that it was served with ( name of which has slipped my mind, sorry! Well proof enough that it was great wine ;). The taste of that perfect first bite still lingers in my mouth. Oh, and of that perfect last bite too. And of everything in between. Mark my words, I will spend a great deal of time trying to recreate this amazing palette of lingering flavors at home.

My companion had the skate wing; can’t describe his plate, as we were ferociously defending both our plates from any wayward fork “I’ll just have a taste” attempt, but I can say that we didn’t leave anything behind. I had to pray that the waiter would take away my plate before I embarrassed myself by licking it. It took a lot of restraint.

Now, what puts this experience over the edge for me is related to my suffering of allergies; I need to feel comfortable in a restaurant. You don’t know how many alarming moments I have had, and how it pains me to avoid some places that just can’t cater to my ( not so special ) needs. Rude waiters, unreliable cooks, side-eyes: all part of my restaurant life. Not this time; the manager took the dishes to us himself, assuring me that there was no reason to worry ( because I will ask about it when I arrive, when I order and when I get it. Can never be too sure ) and even came back at the end of the meal to enquire about our evening. Now, we are nothing special, I didn’t bring a party of 20, and restaurant would be full no matter what, so the fact that he came to personally make sure that our experience was satisfactory was, I would say, touching to me and really sealed the deal on my coming back there. Well, that and the fact that I wouldn’t shut up about my meal all the way back home, even this morning, and that it made me write the longest post I ever written on my blog…

Oh, yes, I recommend it. But please, if you go, take me with you!

( pic is from their site, are you kidding? I was too busy enjoying my meal! )