This past weekend I decided that I wanted to go to a French Bistro resturaunt, Mon Ami Gabi. It used to be phenomenal but went down in the past year and a half. We arrived very suprised at how crowded it was. A year ago, it would have been empty- and considering the reccesion and the fancy place it is, I was suprised. So thirty minutes late we arrived at our table. The bread was brought out and it was terrible. It was terrible. It was not nearly as good as it used to be. It was terrible. It was terrible. Picture below, the street across from Mon Ami Gabi- Very nice.
So our waiter brought the bread with a beet mixture which was very tasty. But the butter was too hard and cold. OK, if you remeber my last post (just scroll down if you don't) then you heard about my recipe for hanger steak. Well, I ordered the hanger steak and it was good for the first few bites, but then was bad. My Nana asked me if she thought it was tough and I said, "I don't know..." She gave me a bite of hers and I agreed that mine was also bland and tough. The frites were a bit soggy and tasteless.
I was wanting to do a throwdown with the chef- my steak would win hands down. My Nana got a mashed cauliflower side which was very good actually. The cauliflower had taste. It wasn't terrible. For dessert, my father got peach sorbet. It tasted fine, but a bit artificial if you know what I mean. And my chocoalte flourless cake was good, I guess. But to be honest I do not remember it that much which is not good!
And the *oddest* part of the meal was while waiting impatiently for the valet service to get our car, a racoon scrambled out from somewhere and ran out into the allyway.
Oh yes! This is a Parisian blog, written by an American. I should incorporate this post more with Paris, or shall I say France? So this was a French Resturaunt, right? Well, I am thinking about what to say about that statement. And I must say that I would no tbe that suprised if the executive chef of that resturaunt was Mexican! He should study good French Cuisine better.
*As well, on November third, I went to the mall and "This is It," a Michael Jackson documetary was playing. I guess that the man or women doing the titling on the big board thingy outside the mall never passed third grade. He spell Michael as Micheal. And I know it wasn't just a clumsy misplacement, becasue on the other side where he also posted it, it was spelled Micheal also. Rather odd, also!
Sorry to hear the place has gone down. I was there one time; Bob Schieffer from CBS news was eating there! I thought it was okay, but I am not a big steak person; I like fish and chicken more.
ReplyDeleteLast night on the news they featured a restaurant called Osteria. I was there and did not think it was very good; the news person and chef made pizza which we had; they said it was good. I guess people have different tastes. I think a chef could be from anywhere and still make different cuisines. Does one have to be French to cook French?
I too am not pleased with the bread at Mon Ami. It used to be wonderful french bread and now has a more commercial, some may say pedestrian tast. I will not give up on it as any restaurant can have a bad day. But perhaps the quality has gone down.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand about the racoon through? Was it coming out of the restaurant? What did people do when they saw it?
Jaques,
ReplyDeleteI don't think one has to be French to cook French food, anymore than one has to be Italian to cook Italian. I once had a great fish taco made by a Peruvian (someone from Peru)on a street corner in Shamokin, PA. I think Sam who writes this blog is American but he cooks French style. I'm sure he can cook other foods too.
I knew a women who used to put rotten vegetables in soup and it was pretty good.
I don't think they teach that in any cooking school.
Jaques- I went to Osteria, and thought it was a "wannabe" resturaunt. It was ok...
ReplyDeleteI cook French Food and I'm not French, but I don't know???
Max- I totally agree about the bread!With the raccoon, it came out from the bushes (???) and scampered around places. Then, I heard a girl scream and saw her jump, but no one got harmed!
J. Benardi- I really, do love international flavors, but France in general is my favorite place in the world! London is high up there too, though!
Thanks everyone!
-Sam
Sam, Jaques, Max, and J. Benardi,
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine is a lawyer. He says there is something in the law called "the doctrine of authenticity". This law allows Chinese restaurants to hire only Chinese waiters to provide realism and atmosphere or whatever.
I am waiting for a new Chinese restaurant to open near where I live. There is not good Chinese food in my neigborhood.
Sam, do you like Chinese or other Asian cooking?
To be honest, I have never been a fan of Asian cuisine, but if it is homemade and really interesting and yummy I like it. I have had homemade eggrolls which were phenomenal, and I had some stir fry which was good. I am picky with my Asian Cuisine, though!
ReplyDeleteI am picky to about Chinese cuisine. But there is very little to choose from. I live in a small town, Sayre, New York not far from Cornell University and them is slim picking I tellyou.
ReplyDeleteMax-
ReplyDeleteYes, good Chinese food is rare- Sometimes the only way is to go to a fancy Asian "flare" resturaunt like "The Source" in Washington D.C.
Very Good :)
Thanks, Sam
Have you ever been to Ten Penh....I went there a long time ago, and I think that they used to have have some sort of "asian" flare....not sure if they still do.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy reading your work!
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI have not been there, nor have I heard of it. Where is it? Thanks!
PS- Is it good, in your opinion?
Sam,
ReplyDeleteIt's in Washington DC on Tenth and Pennsylvania Avenue, thus the name Ten Penh. Yummy. Look up the menu and tell me what you think.
Beth
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI have the menu here at:
http://www.tenpenh.com/menu.htm
and may I say, it looks great! A little pricey, though. The octopus salad sounds good to me.
Thanks for the information!
-Sam