Dinner at Le Jardin Gourmand
Dinner at Le Jardin Gourmand, Auxerre was our best dinner out in France. Aperitifs were served on the deck with 2 amuse bouche, a scallop foam in a little glass with tiny spoon and a tomato salad. Perfect balance from the very beginning. Starting on the deck and moving to the dining room creates a casual feel in a formal dining experience. All the servers wore suits and yet were invisible. The ladies room was hidden behind a moving bookcase and oh so sleek and modern. There were very proper French couples in the diningroom and later in the evening young French hipsters dining on the deck. I'd like to be a regular.
The star of the meal was the asparagus salad. White, green and wild asparagus accompanied by crisp fried garlic leaves, a salad of tiny, mixed greens, edible flowers including a garlic blossom and a vinagrette with lemon caviar, crisp little yellow balls bursting with flavour that come from a unique, long, thin lemon from Australia. I'll be doing some research on those gems. A sunny side up quails egg that blended with the lemon and vinaigrette to create a blended sauce to finish the plate.
The main courses were good but didn't shine for us pescetarians the way the salad or the dessert did. David tried the dessert extravaganza, 3 sorbetto, a Caribbean Tiramisu, a crepe with a curry cream sauce (dessert ?) and an almond pistachio cake with rhubarb topping. He needed help with that and we happily set to with utensils and feedback.
Served with coffee was a dish of petite macaroons, marshmallows and tasty sweet surprises. Nine little sweets each and we ate every one.
This meal wasn't wildy creative, we ran across many meals with little glasses of soup or foam, even more asparagus salads,some sampler dessert trays and several trays of petit fours presented gratis at the end of the meal but this was the best.
The star of the meal was the asparagus salad. White, green and wild asparagus accompanied by crisp fried garlic leaves, a salad of tiny, mixed greens, edible flowers including a garlic blossom and a vinagrette with lemon caviar, crisp little yellow balls bursting with flavour that come from a unique, long, thin lemon from Australia. I'll be doing some research on those gems. A sunny side up quails egg that blended with the lemon and vinaigrette to create a blended sauce to finish the plate.
The main courses were good but didn't shine for us pescetarians the way the salad or the dessert did. David tried the dessert extravaganza, 3 sorbetto, a Caribbean Tiramisu, a crepe with a curry cream sauce (dessert ?) and an almond pistachio cake with rhubarb topping. He needed help with that and we happily set to with utensils and feedback.
Served with coffee was a dish of petite macaroons, marshmallows and tasty sweet surprises. Nine little sweets each and we ate every one.
This meal wasn't wildy creative, we ran across many meals with little glasses of soup or foam, even more asparagus salads,some sampler dessert trays and several trays of petit fours presented gratis at the end of the meal but this was the best.
It looks too pretty to eat !
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