Rebelle

My very lovely friend Naomi was visiting this week, and I had the pleasure of meeting up with her and her husband for a few meals. Letting her pick the venues was a no-brainer – she does her own research, makes the reservations, and I just went along for the ride. I think that’s a win-win!

We started off with a couple of appetizers – an incredible lamb tartare on the left, and deliciously seared scallops on the right. The scallops had a great crust on them, and the sauce on the bottom complemented it perfectly.

Sweetbreads, artichokes, lobster veloute. The sweetbread was okay; the artichoke was a little bland; I thought this dish was only so-so.

Oh my stars, this is a terrible photo but this strip of duck breast was *amazing* – meaty, tender, the smoked almond with it was the perfect bit of je ne said quoi, and the endive proffered a little bitterness. I loved this dish.

Pork, headcheese. This was also really good, but not my favorite.

And after that, we had a bit of dessert – St. Honore that was literally the best I’ve ever had (since I’ve had about zero, I believe) – shell of caramel crackling around a bit of pastry cream, just amazing.

Clafoutis for two, chantilly cream alongside – very tasty but couldn’t hold a delicious candle to the St. Honore. I need to start eating more St. Honore…

I haven’t heard a lot about this place previously – wonder why it hasn’t gotten more press and visitors. The location is a little grungy – when we were walking to the restaurant, there was a homeless guy lying on the sidewalk two doors down who started peeing as we passed him – but the space itself is spacious, way bigger than I expected, and quite nice. Our service was a little awkward – they didn’t seem to understand that we wanted to share everything, and kept putting plates in front of each of us even as we asked them to put it in the center – and there were way too many people going in and out of the open plan kitchen. Despite all that, though, we all enjoyed ourselves very much and had a great time sitting in the back room, observing the kitchen, and eating our way through the menu.

So happy to share this meal – and another – with Naomi!!