Rouge et Blanc for Upscale Vietnamese Fusion at a Cozy Location in Soho

Saw a feature for Rouge et Blanc on Mike Colameco's Real Food show on PBS about a month ago and the food looked phenomenal and the plating was absolutely gorgeous.  The head chef used to work at Eleven Madison Park, and it shows.

Rouge et Blanc serves French-Vietnamese fusion cuisine, and the show featured a dish that I HAD to try....roasted bone marrow with baby octopus.  The bone marrow was sweet and acted like a jelly.  It's slathered with just a little plum sauce for some tartness.  You also get a scallion roll where you're supposed spread the yummy bone marrow.  There's also a fennel salad that was tart and cut through the richness of the bone marrow.  The octopus looked cool on top for presentation but went well with the marrow as well.

Another featured dish on the show, as well as our waitress' recommendation was the yellowtail sashimi with grapefruit and black truffles.  Wooow...Oh my Gah this dish was amazing and just exploded in your mouth.  The tart ponzu-esque sauce brought out the fish and truffles and the grapefruit was a nice surprise since it went so well.  Easily one of the best bites of food I've had this year!  It's a must order dish if you go there.

Off their "wee plates" menu we got the house cured salmon with basil oil, soy, shaved parm, and almonds.  Another super pretty dish that tasted solid, but the flavors were more familiar.  (Maybe the yellowtail was a tough act to follow...ha!).

We split an entree of skirt steak with a maitake mushroom ragout, sea urchin, veal just, and grilled sweet potatoes.  A pretty and yet super rustic dish.  The maitake mushrooms were great and grilled whole scallions made the dish super earthy.  As much as I love sea urchin, the dish didn't really need it.  You probably could've cut the cost of the dish by close to $10.

For dessert, we were talked into ordering the caramelized foie gras dessert.  Foie gras?? For dessert? Seriously?!  As weird as that sounded it actually went really really well with the pears and ice cream!  It kinda works the same way as bacon (savory) does in dessert since it goes with sweets.  Another surprising dish!

Rouge et Blanc is a great place for a date since they serve beautiful food in a cozy, romantic, yet unpretentious setting.  They actually also are open for lunch and serve banh mi sandwiches...am curious to see how those are and will stop by at sometime!

Rouge et Blanc

48 Macdougal St

New York, NY 1001

(212) 260-5757

Summer 2011 Restaurant Week Review: A Great Meal at Lure Fish Bar

Made it to Lure Fish Bar in Soho for lunch on the last day of restaurant week for the summer this year.  Same deal as other lunches...three courses for $24.  The menu at lure looked enticing, with a great selection of seafood for both apps and entrees plus dessert for a mere $24 a person.  On paper the choices looked great but how does it stack up???

First, I ordered the salmon tartare to start, while everyone at the table couldn't help but order the raw oyster for their appetizer.  The tartare was very well prepared; it tasted very bright and fresh, was topped with salmon roe and , and came with some toast points and I think some basil oil .  A great great start!

Here it is...6 east coast oysters for a restaurant week appetizer.  This is really a great deal since oysters at a restaurant are often already at least $2 each (so this would at least be a $12 dish in most places).  The oysters were shucked well and delish!  It came with the usual cocktail sauce and cider vinegar with shallots.

We chose three different entrees from their menu, all of which were great.  The standout for the entree courses would be the steamed branzino.  The portion was surprisingly big not only since it's a restaurant week entree, but also it's usually an expensive fish dish that you order in other restaurants.  Lure's branzino was steamed PERFECTLY...it was so soft and flaky and just melted.  It was topped with julienned oyster mushrooms sauced with a scallion soy sauce.  The pulled off the Asian flavors really well.

Another person at the table ordered fish tacos.  It may not look like it from the picture, but the fish tacos were actually really good! Again, the flavors were bright and crisp.  I forget what type of fish was used but it was topped with a citrusy slaw.

Lastly, another person ordered sushi.  While the sushi was of decent quality, the fact that you're getting 6 nigiri sushi, a roll, a seafood appetizer, and a dessert for $24 makes it quite a steal!

For dessert we made two choices.  Most ordered the cute little home made ice cream sandwiches.  Some thought they were a tad on the sweet side but I thought they were delicious and were the perfect little bites.

The other dessert was a warm molten chocolate cake, which was again not super original but was prepared very well.  Warm and oozy in the middle, the cake was cooked perfectly.  It came with some ice cream served on top of caramel popcorn, which actually went very well together!

All in all another great deal for restaurant week.  The food itself was just perfect and the fact that you're paying $24 for two quality seafood dishes including dessert practically makes the decision to come here a no-brainer.   I would so go again here winter in 2012.


Lure Fishbar 
142 Mercer St

(between Prince St & Houston St)
New York, NY 10012
Neighborhood: SoHo

(212) 431-7676

Restaurant Week Recommendation: L'Ecole at the French Culinary Institute!

The previous Restaurant Week this past February, L'Ecole emerged easily as my favorite for food and value.  For $35 you had a four course dinner including an appetizer, fish dish, meat dish, and dessert (plus amuse bouche and palate cleanser!  (Click here for my full review).

Although this time around the current Restaurant Week menu is only available for lunch for $24, it is still a great deal....  The new and seasonal three course menu has the standard appetizer, entree, dessert format.   The regular price for their three course lunch prix fixe is $28 a person, and as good a deal as that is already, restaurant week you even save an extra $4 a person! 

Around April or so of this year, I had a chance to tour the FCI campus as well as the L'Ecole kitchen since my brother was considering taking a course there.  We had lunch there and though we ordered a few similar dishes from the February Restaurant Week, please note that now the menu is completely new since it's seasonal!

Amuse Bouche

Fried mussels...this quick bite was delicious

We also got started off with some house made bread prepared by the baking class!

Appetizers

Cold vegetable terrine...this was so refreshing and was amazing!

Oxtail ragu with gnocchi and tomato jam...we ordered this for Restaurant Week but was soooo

good we had to get it again!

House made pate and mustard with pickles....this dish was delicious and beautifully presented.

Entrees

We also previously ordered this dish but it was one of my favorite lamb dishes....Lamb chops with goat cheese agnolotti and lamb demi glace...  This can easily be $30 by itself in any French restaurant!  For lunch it was as good as ever!  The lamb was perfectly cooked and oh-so tender!

Roasted chicken breast with string beans and mash...this dish was just ok.  Solid but not spectacular...

Desserts

For the life of me I can't remember what this dish exactly was (maybe I shouldn't wait three months before posting a review lol).  

Also ordered this before....Molten chocolate cake with goat cheese ice cream!

Another great dish....Ricotta dumplings with honeyed ice cream, grape compote and candied orange chip

L'Ecole
462 Broadway
(between Grand and Broome)
NYC

L'Ecole at the Frech Culinary Institute! Best Restaurant Week Deal Ever?

All I can say is WOW!  Thanks to my brother for finding this gem of a deal for restaurant week!  The normal price for a hearty and generous five course meal at L'Ecole is $42 (Restaurant week menu here), which is a great deal in itself.  The restaurant week deal shaves that price by $7 per person.  Why so cheap you ask?  The prices are reasonable since the cooks at the restaurant are the actual students from the French Culinary Institute in Soho, where high standards are expected.  There were three of us in our group and each of us got a different dish so we could sample all of them...and they ranged from good to spectacular!

Amuse Bouche:  

Roasted Butternut Squash soup with pumpkin seeds

Appetizer Courses: 

Oxtail Ragu with Gnocchi and Tomato Jam

Warm potato salad with goat cheese and tomato jam

Smoked Trout with sea urchin cream, seaweed, and salmon roe

Fish Courses: 

 Seared tilefish with jasmine rice, shiitake mushrooms, and cocunut milk veloute

Butter poached lobster with seared scallops and cauliflower puree

Seared striped bass with celery root puree and shiitake mushrooms

Meat Courses:  

Lamb chops with goat cheese agnolotti and lamb demi glace...this was probably my favorite dish.  

This can easily be $30 by itself in any French restaurant.

Seared pork chop with green peppercorn sauce and crispy potato cakes 

Duo of Duck: Duck leg confit and seared duck breast with curried leeks

Digestive:

Digestif salad with roasted pear and goat cheese

Desserts!  

Molten chocolate cake with goat cheese ice cream

Hazelnut raspberry torte with earl grey tea infused ice cream

Ricotta dumplings with honeyed ice cream, grape compote and candied orange chip

Yuuuum! Don't those dishes look good?  It's definitely one of the few times when I can say that I've eaten at a fancy restaurant and can genuinely say that I was STUFFED!   Restaurant week or not, I highly recommend this L'ecole and will certainly be back some time in the future!

L'Ecole
462 Broadway
(between Grand and Broome)
NYC