The XtraSuitcase

de pastorale

D had off work on Monday for the holiday so he treated me to a very special lunch.  We drove about 30 minutes outside of the city to a two star Michelin restaurant, de pastorale. 

 

The decor was beautiful.  Very soft and chic.  With an Alice and wonderland feel to the garden.

It made for a for a very interesting juxtaposition of the quiet soft interior mixed with the over exaggerated comical animals in the garden.  The big green rabbit sat just outside the window of our table, as if he was asking for just a little bite.  Good thing we had fish and veal……not sure I would have been able to eat rabbit   :   )

 

And the meal was one of our best!  The chef describes his food as "total taste".  That was a very accurate description as every bite was so flavorful it bounced off every part of our taste-buds.

It started out with a bread stick that looked like a tree branch.  D thought it was decoration at first.  It was made with mushrooms and had a tomato coulis sauce for dipping.

 

Next came a variety of bread with butter and olive oil.  We could have been happy just eating the bread with salt and butter for lunch.

Beautiful presentation throughout the meal.  Simple, yet elegant.

 

  Our first amuse bouche was was one of the most creative servings we have ever had.  The waiter came out with two spoons and handed us each one.  This happened so fast we could not take a photo.  On the spoon was a small circle of goat cheese, caramelized.  On the bottom on the spoon was a dollop of cream mixed with a flavor. 

The second amuse bouche, chicken morsel with couscous and foam.

 

      We were ready for our first course. 

In an article, De Pooter, 39 was described as being strongly influenced by art and architecture and by a culinary movement towards food that was low in fat and sugar.  Did you catch that?  This entire lunch was a diet meal. 

Donald's dish:  veal breast, confit, sweetbreads, cardamon, green olives and artichoke.  This was the first time we have had sweetbreads.  They were veal sweetbreads, which are deemed the best,  "prized by gourmets throughout the world" .  For those of you who are not familiar with sweetbreads, they are thymus glands.  By the way….I had one and half glasses of wine at this point, so yes, I did taste!  And we both thought they were delicious.

 

Another clip form the article; De Pooter's cuisine is visually arresting yet strangely cool, almost as if the physical beauty takes precedence over everything else.  We agree – they were absolutely beautiful dishes.

My dish: pike perch, baked, cumin, petite carrots, onion, and asparagus.  The sauce was carrot.

 

The dessert was a winter wonderland with a multitude of "white" flavors – coconut, cream, powdered sugar, white chocolate, ice cream.  I am not a big white chocolate fan, but this was in a world of it's own.  The ball on the side of the dish had a delicate shell with a flavorful burst of citrus when we ate it.  It was a stunning dessert.

  

…………and deserves a closer look:

 

Post-dessert & coffee.  We have learned that the coffee course in expensive restaurants in Europe is an experience in itself.  The coffee comes….

 

and so do plates of bite-sized treats……  

 

fun little sweets to amuse your tongue.

And if that was not enough, out comes the post-post-dessert, tarte tatin (were were told it was the chef's interpretation of apple pie with a dollop of ice cream).

 

Wow – one of the best meals with service to match.

Of course I HAD to walk in the garden with the creatures.

 

The rabbit told D a secret – he never did tell me what it was.

   

We can't wait to go back!