Fringale

This was our last Dine About Town meal out, again based on some recommendations from people we know. The first two meals were quite the rollercoaster of experiences, so I wasn't really sure how this would go, but I was hoping that overall, these meals would end on a good note. I was a little worried when I called the restaurant when we were on our way to tell them that we would be about 10 minutes late for our reservation because we were stuck in traffic. The gentleman who answered the phone with a French accent (translation = snooty) kind of brushed me off in a pretty rude way and abruptly hung up on me. Maybe some training on telephone skills?

When we finally arrived, we had another kind of awkward entrance...it was raining, so we kind of came through the door with some wind and rain, rushing to get inside...right into a tiny entranceway. And some other customers. The restaurant as a whole is actually pretty tiny, with no overbearing decorations or attempts to be the cool, hip place to eat. It's simply a nice, romantic, intimate atmosphere. When we were seated, we got both of their menus right off the bat. Excellent. We actually were seated next to a window (booo, chilly) but right on top of a heating vent as well. One would think that it would balance out...but it actually got kind of uncomfortable later on.

The two menus had some different options, so we ordered off both the Dine About Town menu and the regular menu. Our waiter clearly knew that we were switching some courses around (ie I ordered an appetizer that wasn't on the other menu for Dan, and he ordered mine, etc.) but he never batted an eye about it, which was nice. Throughout the meal, service was efficient, unobtrusive and still accomodating. A+

So, appetizers - Dan had the mussels which were done nicely, if a little plain in white wine and garlic. But, he had no complaints -- the portion was enough for an entree. I'd say there were easily 30 mussels on his plate, and he had no problems putting them all away. I started with the frisee salad with bacon dressing, poached egg, and some toasted levain bread and it was delicious. The bacon and egg were nice and salty, and the crostini soaked up all the leftover flavors when I was done with the salad.

Our entrees were also well executed. I had the hangar steak with pommes frites - the steak was tender and juicy, and the fries were great. It all came with a red wine sauce to soak up. It's not an original dish, but their rendition reminded me of why it's a staple on a lot of menus. Dan had almond crusted seabass, which just sounds scrumptious. I enjoyed the two or three bites I got, but it didn't seem to blow Dan away. He seems to think he could replicate it at home, so it may have left something to be desired (please note that I have not had any homemade almond crusted sea bass as of this writing). "It was good enough to make me want to come back, but I would definitely try something else."

Anddd we've come to desserts. I ordered the chocolate gourmand, which is a flourless chocolate cake, that came with sorbet. Sounds lovely, yes? Sadly, it basically came off as a gooey mess of chocolate-ness. I definitely could have done better. Dan, however, did do better. He had the apple tartin, and it was fantastic. It came out warm, with the apple sitting on top of a lovely flaky pastry and topped off with ice cream. The sauce on the plate was fantastic as well. I could have had a dish of just that.

One last note about the great service -- as we sat waiting for our check, the table next to us ordered dessert (which you overhear pretty clearly, as it's such a small place) and when two of the desserts came out, the third was missing. The waiter immediately apologized, recognized his mistake and hustled back to the kitchen. The third plate came out just a couple of minutes later, but the waiter apologized again and told them that the third dessert had already been taken off the bill. They continued to impress me right up until they opened the door for us as we were leaving.

Overall, yum. Great French bistro feel, great service, great food. Hope to be back soon.