The XtraSuitcase

 

 

Yesterday D took off work and we drove an hour and a half into the western part of Belgium to go to

St. Nicholas Hostellerie – a two-star Michelin restaurant.

 

 

Warm bread was immediatly brought to the table.  Then, our first course, an amuse bouche.  From left to right: a guacamole pillow wrapped in bacon, prawn marshmallow, and goose foie gras covered in a crackle crust served with a glass of kir.

 

 

The little pillow crunched in our mouths

and then a shot of guacamole flooded in.

 

 

The marshmallow melted like air, dispersing

a shrimp flavor over our tongues.

 

 

The next course, another amuse bouche, was king crab wrapped with beef carpacchio; and in the white dish, (right to left) goose and quail liver parfait with shrimp, risotto, and a mushroom.  The parfait was delectable.  This was served with a nice white wine from Spain.

 

 

What a fun way to serve a small taste. 

Just a simple glass turned upside down.

 

 

Beautiful! 

The chef, Franky Vanderhaeghe, described the main theme of his cooking as "pure gastronomic pleasure".

 

 
Here is a detailed shot of the goose and quail liver parfait.

 

 

The chef is fairly young to have two stars. 

He creates very innovative and creative dishes.

 

 

We have never seen black gloves worn by the servers. They had them on when they placed the silverware on the table or when serving a dish. I wonder how many time they take those gloves on and off in a day?

 

 

 

Our third amuse bouche was a cup of prawn bisque with veal tartar on the bottom.  The herb leaf was peppered with parmesean cheese.  And on the plate was ham pate wrapped in a vegetable casing.

 

 

Look at the little puprle leaf on the left.

 

A unique table accessory, an eyedropper design used for olive oil for our bread.

 

 

Our appetizer was shrimp served five ways.  

But we think there was a frog leg thrown in there (sometimes hard to tell with the language barrier)  :  )  all were divine.

 

 

The biscuit on the end of this shrimp roll was so savory.

 

 

Our main course was wild boar with potato quenelle, celeriac puree, and mixed fall vegetables.  They pared a soft red wine from Bordeaux.

 

 

At first we were told it was deer and it was described to us as white pork – remember we are in west flanders – the Dutch speaking part of Belgium.  We tried again with another server who was able to tell us in French which of course D was able to understand…wild boar.

 

 

The boar meat was delicious and as tender as butter. 

 

We thought this garnish was very creative – endive leaves wrapped around the potato quenelle.  We may have to give this one a try at home.

 

 Dessert time!  For the first round, we were served pear sorbet and mint foam marshmallows.

 

 

With a little biscuit and meringue.

 

 

The yellow cube is the mint marshmellow.

 

 

Next came our coffee.

 

 

I absolutely loved the container the cream came in.  When we took off the lid – it had a little ladle.

 

 

I need to look for one of these for us to serve our cream!

 

 

This is what I love about the Michelin restaurants, just when you think you are finished, out comes another round of desserts!

 

 

The very popular macroon with an orange filling,

 

 

a lemon drop with silver leafing which burst with flavor as we bit into it,

 

 

and a decadent brownie bite.

 

 

I like this angle D captured of our sweet little morsels.

 

When we finished the second round of desserts, D leaned back and declared this to be a perfectly wonderful meal!

 

I agreed!