Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

All I can say is that I love Anthony Bourdain. What’s not to like about a guy who puts duck, sausage, bacon and beans all into one dish? Or serves duck confit with foie gras sausage and another blood sausage? AND STILL puts rabbit on the menu?

Now that I’ve grossed out my vegan and vegetarian readers, I shall get on to my dinner review.

WARNING: The restaurant websites listed herein all seem to play loud accordian music, so turn it down before you click.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend asked me where I’d like to go for my birthday. I instantly told him Les Halles would be great. I have been meaning to eat there for a while, but commuting towards the White House for dinner after working near Dulles Airport is an exercise in mid-week futility. With the new gig closer to DC, it’s reasonable to make a 7pm reservation for mid-week. His response was to look up the menu and ask me if I didn’t want to go someplace more expensive for my birthday. Silly man! It’s not the expense of dinner, but the fact we love his show that inspired the choice.

Inside the restaurant, what can I say? It’s very French. It is just like a real Parisian brasserie. (Yes! I’ve been to one in Paris! I’m not just saying that. It’s what they really look like.) They have the dark wood panels and tables, tile flooring in white and black patterns, and lots of vintage absinthe and Pernod posters and of course, the obligatory Toulouse-Lautrec ones. We even had a French waitress! We thought could tell because she even spoke her English impossibly fast, so maybe not, but certainly continental.

February is choucroute month at Les Halles. Honestly, beats me what that means. All I saw was meat, meat, and more MEAT. It was a toss up for me. I love Bistrot Du Coin in DC for relaxed French fare. Pate de campagne with a salad is usually a great summertime lunch for me. Since it’s winter (Damn you Punxsutawney Phil!) and time for hearty fare, I had a hard time choosing between the rabbit entree, the cassoulet, and the choucroute au canard. For some reason I feel it’s my duty to order Bunny Foo-Foo when it’s on the menu since I like game meats and they turn up very rarely.

However, tonight, it was all about Mr. Quackers. I had not had cassoulet in years. The last one was at Bistro Jeanty in Yountville, CA about 4 years ago. It was delicious, but the beans were too much for me later on. Seeing as dinner was not on a Friday night, I decided that I would pass on the cassoulet (the aforementioned dish of duck, sausage, bacon and beans baked in a pot). I have very fond memories of my first boyfriend’s parents making cassoulet at home and letting me try real French cuisine for the first time in my life. It’s a sentimental favorite for me, but the choucroute au canard was calling my name.

‘Canard’ means duck in French. The choucroute had duck confit, same as the cassoulet, but the sausages were different. It was blood sausage and foie gras sausage on a bed of sauerkraut with boiled potatoes. I suspect the cassoulet sausage was made of pork, but that’s because boyfriend ordered it and let me have a wee bite to compare. The foie gras sausage was amazing. The cassoulet sausage couldn’t hold a candle to it. But the cassoulet beans were creamy and quite nice. I’ll have to get it one day when I’m able to be anti-social for the entire next day.

We also had a black olive and potato cake appetizer (Petatou de chevre) which comes with a little frisee salad and vinaigrette. It was very tasty. We couldn’t figure out the special seed/spice on it. It drove us nuts, because we couldn’t put our finger on it, but it was very yummy. I look forward to going back and trying it again.

Because my boyfriend and I do not enjoy the same kind of wine or beer, we did the non-frugal thing and ordered wine by the glass. The Gewurtztraminer the waitress recommended for me was ok, not great. The choucroute’s bed of sauerkraut was cooked in the same wine, so they tasted alright together, but the wine typifies what I dislike most about whites, crisp, light, ick. The second wine she recommended for me was a red one, a 2003 St. Emilion, “Les Halles,” Château Toinet Fombrauge (from the online wine list). Very delicious. But later she recommended a 2003 Pinot Blanc, “Bergheim,” Marcel Deiss for boyfriend, and we agree that was the best wine of the night for both of our dishes. (And we agreed that the sauerkraut on my plate was the best we’d ever had and he grew up in a place that has a lot of German-Americans.)

No dessert for us, just a stroll back to the metro in the cold with wine and food to warm us. Don’t ask me what the check was. Easily 3 figures because of the 5 glasses of wine we had between the two of us. Really, ordering a bottle is the best way to go, but everyone has to agree on it, and sometimes, having your own palate satisfied is priceless.

Though a brasserie is basically a restaurant with a fairly static menu and specials that reflect the season, it was still pricey enough that I don’t feel justified eating dinner there more than once a month. But it’s still inexpensive enough that you can make it nice treat for lunch more often than that, just don’t order wine and your check will be much smaller.

Total check was over $100 without tip, but could have been half that with a single glass of wine for each person. I think boyfriend spent at least $150, but I didn’t spy on what he wrote down.

A few weeks later, I went back for their new Sunday brunch. I don’t think the $18 Sunday brunch menu is worth it. It’s an omelet with frites or salad (I forget which), croissant and orange juice. Way more than I wanted to eat. Since I was going as someone else’s guest, I opted for the regular lunch menu and had the merguez grillade plate. Very nice. The frites were crunchy and potato-y, just the way I like them. It was about $13 for the merguez, so much cheaper than brunch, but still very filling. So don’t think it’s crazy expensive to dine there. The menu has lots of choices in a wide range of prices.