Tree

Another girls’ night out on a Friday… we found ourselves at Tree, a cute French bistro in the East Village.  TT recently wrote about Tree here… reasonably priced menu that changes somewhat frequently, a BlackBoard Eats code… the tiny space, a cold backyard garden area that they obliged us when we asked to be seated inside instead of in the cold garden… I appreciated the place and its strict adhesion to its reservation policy; while AB and I chatted at the bar (we were early/on time for our reservation), we overheard the maitre’d turning people away, saying that they were booked until 9pm despite the empty tables around us.  Very cool.   

Our bread basket was standard, but I really liked how the cold butter tasted on the slightly warm bread.  Call me crazy.

We opted to split an appetizer: the pork belly, with bourbon mustard on the side and red cabbage & cranberry kraut.  The kraut’s sweetness cut through the fatty delicious pork belly nicely, and the sharpness of the mustard was well-appreciated.  I really enjoyed this appetizer, and half of a slice (there were four of us) was the perfect amount.  Any more might have sent me into pork fat overload.  (Heh… perhaps not.) 

StB tried to order the foie gras as her appetizer, but our server returned shortly and regretfully informed her that it was unfortunately sold out.  She instead ordered the duck liver mousse.  I totally forgot to ask her how she enjoyed this. 

AB ordered the scallops almondine, which she said was good.  She did comment that the green beans were a little oily. 

StB’s main course (which is actually an appetizer that she ate for a main) was escargots.  I actually totally forgot to ask her what she thought of any of the food, so I’m not sure… but based on her both finishing her dish and dipping some bread in the garlicky topping afterwards, I would say she liked it fine. 

SpB ordered the steak au poivre, which she enjoyed and said was cooked exactly to her request.   

We also ordered a side of pommes frites for the table.  I happily munched on these, though they were quite salty.  I wished they were crisper or thinner or more interesting, perhaps, but at the end of the day, they were solidly decent pommes frites. 

For my main course, I chose what is listed as an appetizer as well: the charcuterie board, which had prosciutto di parma & parmagiano reggiano, rabbit pate (I’ve discovered one of the few ways I can cope with eating rabbit is pate, and I kind of like it!), and duck liver mousse.  Gherkins, a pico de gallo of sorts, some mustard and a few crostini accompanied the pates.  I enjoyed them all, though what struck me was the texture of the duck liver mousse.  It was whipped into a creamy froth, airy and light, then a quennelle of such plated on the board.  Pretty yummy, rich, and not even the slightest hint of that iron-y metallic taste that those who tend to not favor liver, tend to dislike most.  Mmm.  The other items were good, the rabbit not very flavorful in its own right, and the prosciutto starting to dry around the edges… I’d stick to just the duck liver mousse next time.  Yum… (also that pico de gallo or salsa crudo on the side was really lovely!) 

We decided to splurge calorically a bit and split two desserts.  First up, the ricotta beignets with spiced honey; these came freshly fried, piping hot, and pretty good.  The honey was spiced nicely though I couldn’t identify the spice – though in all fairness, these were farther away from me on the table and I was busy eating the other dessert…  

Um, hello… cookies & cream panna cotta and a fried Oreo.  Fried Oreos are… interesting.  Not necessarily my favorite thing in the world, but the heat melts an Oreo into a creamy, chocolatey lovely mess.  I liked the small bite of that I tried.  The cookies&cream panna cotta surprised me though.  It was basically panna cotta with chopped Oreos mixed throughout.  Interesting.  The textural contrasts were very intriguing, to the point I kept eating it because it was slightly creamy from the panna cotta portion, then the chew of the softened Oreo cookie… I might try to make this at home, though it would definitely not be just for me.  I also wonder how they got it to suspend mixed in like that, since in my experience, anything ‘heavy’ in panna cotta pre-setting tends to just fall to the bottom.  Hmmm. 

Yvo says: I greatly enjoyed the meal overall, especially at its cheaper price, though even without a discount the prices are fairly reasonable.  I would definitely go back – as TT wrote, it’s a great little date place, but also a nice place to sit and chat with your friends as no one tried to rush us out, our server was attentive and the food was good with reasonable prices.  Yum!
recommended – make reservations, it’s a really small place but they are excellent at keeping your table for you