Text 798, 98 rader
Skriven 2013-05-04 10:15:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: tastes 500
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There's this place near South Station, Les Zygomates, that
I was always rather fond of - you can get a reliable steak
frites (blue rare) sided with a watercress salad in 15
minutes, and the wine list is pretty good, with a few
bargains for those who look hard enough. Plus I lost my
credit card there once, and they held it behind the bar
for a week before I could come and retrieve it, with nary
a hitch, so I figure I owe them and so have been coming
back periodically for the decade since (to be sure, I
had come periodically for almost a decade before as well,
as some jazz musicians I knew performed there when it was
just getting started).

Plus it's an Open Table place, so I get a buck off for
making a reservation (it's called 100 points, but it
counts for a buck off a future meal).

Anyhow, it was on a line between the train station and
my destination, and I had 2 hours before I had to be at
the meeting, so I figured I'd duck in for a couple appies
and a couple glasses of wine, dropping, oh, 30-40 bucks.

I'd made a reservation for one (it's always strange to make
a reservation for one, but you get the same buck off whether
you reserve for one or eight) and was greeted semi-warmly
and shown to a table that turned out to be manned by a
supercilious but somewhat amusing waiter whom I'd encountered
before, the sort of person who says "good choice" to
everything even when he thinks it's a bad choice, only this
guy and I have this understanding, he doesn't make any
comments and if he does, I say something sarcastic at him.

I was in a fatty mood, see below, and the guy didn't crack
a smile as he took my order, though I suspect he bust a gut
out back in the kitchen, the heck with him. Anyhow, I started
with a glass of Gutierrez Colosia Finca Elcano Fino, which
was appropriately acid, almost lemony, with nice rancio that
complemented a dish of

pan-fried sweetbreads with brown butter and capers - these
were done a bit over what I'd have liked, so overfirm. I
suspect people send them back when they come mushy, which is
the way I like them. A restrained hand with the brown butter
and a generous one with the capers - perhaps someone in the
kitchen disapproved of my fatty mood -, but the dish was okay.

Roasted marrow and parsley-caper salad - this came from
preservative-treated bones, which they almost always are these
days. I can't get a fresh-smelling dish of bone marrow any
more, even when I ate at Fergus Henderson's place, and he made
his reputation on the stuff. Anyhow, it was roasted just so,
but one of the three lengths came with a big grid of bone
(this means that the shin came from a too-mature-for-the-dish
animal and also that it was difficult to eat). I had to really
knock the heck out of the bone with my knife to get my proper
portion. The parsley-caper salad came with onions, which was
fine, as though my committee chair used to be kind of pretty,
I had no interest in kissing her or anyone else at the meeting.
With this I had another glass of the Sherry.

At this point I wasn't sure what I was going to finish with,
so I asked if I could change my order to a bottle of the Sherry,
and then I could have another dish that went with it, but he
said there wasn't enough, so I went to plan B and ordered what
is characterized as "classic" "grass-fed" beef tartare, hold
the yolk. Though I could have used the fat, egg masks the taste
of the beef, a bad thing for good beef. It wasn't classic at
all, being cubed about 1/4", not filet (I suspect eye round!)
and having a lot more texture than I expected. Didn't taste
bad, and truth be told I prefer round to filet in this and
almost all settings (chuck is best of course). On the side
a very acidly dressed mess of greens with lots of coarse salt
mixed in - surprisingly welcome and savory. Two similar oaky
Cabernet Sauvignon wines went with, one I thought would be more
appropriate, the other one of those rare bargains on the list.

Fitch Mountain Cabernet (Alexander Valley) 09 - somewhat
thin and acidy with a bit of the green Napa taste, even though
it was a Sonoma wine. Honeycomb, cherries, respectable but not
what I thought it should be.

Conn Valley Prologue Cabernet (Napa) 09 - this was a more
harmonious match with the food, more drinkable now (brambles,
a certain richness) and also probably more ageworthy (good
texture, noticeable tannin, vanilla). Also a bit of the
honeycomb stuff that I used to look askance at when I first
encountered it in Napa wines decades ago but have come to
appreciate or at least tolerate or at least expect.

I was wrong - the bargain (Conn) was a better wine and also
better with the food, and I should have had two glasses of it.

Damage: 2 weeks' worth of groceries. Luckily I am being fed
several times this week.

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