National Cheese Appreciation Day!
Hey, did you know that that Jan. 20 was National Cheese Appreciation Day? Neither did I, until I got an email from The Cheese Mistress, who was honoring the date by organizing one of her meet-ups at Artisanal Bistro. It was a bitterly cold day, but we found warmth and sustenance in the form of yummy red wine, bubbling fondue and platters of cheese chosen from Artisanal’s in-bistro cheese boutique. When picking out the cheeses, I was attracted to one in particular: the Bierdeckel Beermat from Switzerland, described as having “an explosive barnyard aroma”.
Never one to shrink from a challenge, I stepped-up to the cheese plate and nearly passed out from the smell. Whoa! I believe this is the stinkiest cheese I have tasted to-date. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it was TOO stinky. Offensively stinky. At least to me, because there were a few among us (mostly the fellas) who really liked it. Go figure!
I was, however, introduced to a new favorite, the Brescianella Stagionata, a raw cow’s milk cheese from Italy. It was creamy, tangy and had a slight pungency that wasn’t overpowering. I loved it and the happy day of cheese talk.
The Cheese Mistress: www.cheesemistress.com
Deux Amis
This kind of freezing weather brings on cravings for hot and steamy things to warm you from head to toe. In particular, I get a hankering for cassoulet, that classic French country stew made of white beans, pork sausage and duck confit baked in an earthenware pot. When served with crusty bread and a hearty red wine, nothing could be cozier; and the cassoulet they’re cooking up at Deux Amis fits the bill perfectly.
Deux Amis is a quirky little place and it took me a while to succumb to its charms. The crowd is a little wacky: one part ancient, plastic Sutton Place denizens, one part United Nations delegates and one part Midtown professionals. It’s not a place I naturally gravitate to, and I only started coming here because friends in the neighborhood liked it; however, the food is so much better than expected: classic French bistro fare with a Moroccan twist. Here you will find excellent versions of French onion soup, escargot and steak au poivre, as well as delicious couscous stews served with chicken, lamb or vegetables. And that near-perfect cassoulet that finally won me over. Worth going back? Oh yes. You will find me here quite a bit.
Deux Amis: 356 E 51st St. between First and Second Avenues.
We interrupt this generally upbeat blog with a bit of ranting. I make an effort to keep my comments on the positive side. I think there’s more than enough snark to go around in the world of bloggers, and I do my part to accentuate the positive; however, I need to vent my frustration with BLT Market.
BLT stands for “Bistro Laurent Tourondel”, not the sandwich. Chef Tourondel is furiously building a brand, with his BLT restaurants multiplying all over the place like popcorn: BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Prime, BLT Burger. The new one is BLT Market, attached to The Ritz Carlton on Central Park South. His restaurants are so overtly branded that I have resisted trying out any of them, but BLT Market has been receiving particularly good buzz lately, so the time had come to check it out and Gastro Chic made us a reservation.
Her reaction to the experience was much more generous than mine; read her review here. BLT Market is jumping on the current (and all-good) local-seasonal-artisanal dining trend. But it rings hollow to me here and seems so completely calculated. There is a blackboard with hand-written specials. The napkins are dish towels. The menu has a wooden clothespin attached. Water for the table is served in a chunky old-time milk bottle. Over by the maitre d’ stand you can pick-up a colander, a jar of honey and a cookbook on your way out.
On the positive side, it’s a bright, festive and fresh-looking room. The service is warm, friendly and professional. The crowd is attractive and sophisticated. The food is very good, if way overpriced, with some dishes truly and deeply delicious, such as the amuse bouche of “pigs-in-a-blanket”, crusty bread slathered with a garlic-parsley pesto, the venison bolognese with shaved pecorino and a poached lobster gnocchi with a lemon beurre blanc sauce.
But oh, the plastic-ness of it all. I can see a branch of this restaurant opening soon at an upscale glitzy mall near you. Gastro Chic captured my sentiments perfectly, saying it “feels a little slick, like Marie Antoinette playing country house.” In a way I can’t blame a chef for making the most of his success. After all, the food business is brutal and any hint of revenue-generating excitement should be encouraged. The reality is that all successful chefs and their monied backers are doing it, so I shouldn’t be so naïve.
I just wish it weren’t so in your face.
Worth going back? Certainly not on my dime.
BLT Market: 1430 Sixth Ave. at Central Park South