Eataly / Les Halles

Part 2 Les Halles.

  If you move a couple of blocks uptown to Les Halles, you will enter into another unique world of food. Les Halles is a little more of what I have come to expect from a fine dinning establishment. Les Halles is a "brasserie", which is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed, upscale setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. A brasserie can be expected to have professional service, printed menus, and, traditionally, white linen, unlike a bistro which may have none of these. Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and serves the same menu all day. I know it's not The London, Le Bernardin, or Per Se, but I really wanted to experience dinner at a place that I know so much about, thanks to Anthony Bourdain. Now I know thats sounds all fanboy like and all, but the truth is that I am a fan of Bourdain, as well as anyone else that has busted their ass in a professional kitchen or at home, cooking great food for lots of people. Unlike Eataly, which has that open european market feel. Les Halles is dimly lit and the dinning room is a bit cramped with tables , but spacious enough to enjoy you meal. I guess the only complaint I would have is that, it is a bit noisy in the dinning room but deal-able. Being that it was a Saturday the place was packed, and the kitchen seemed to be moving along with the demand of the dinning room. Our appetizers came out quickly, and I got to have a dish that I havent had since I was a kid. My old man would once in a while make me Escargot when I was around ten or so. That was around the time in my life where my dad and I would eat what most people that dont know good food would consider heinous and disgusting. Now I have been in many French restaurants since I was ten, but never really felt the need to order Escargot, but tonight was different. I saw that item on the menu and everything else seemed not as enticing. Of course everyone that was at the table did not care for a taste of "snail awesomeness"...Oh well, more for me.

 
 Our entrees were timed very well, so no one had to wait too long for a dish to be served before we all could eat. That is one of my biggest pet peeves when going to a better than average restaurant. The host/hostess shouldn't seat a table if the kitchen cannot time the food properly for that table. The staff that work at Les Halles are pros. The flow of waiters and servers, seem to be completely in sync with the kitchen....Well at least while we were there. The entrees and specials all looked great, but I wanted to have a steak done perfectly, so I ordered the Filet de Boeuf, Béarnaise. A beef tenderloin with a Béarnaise sauce. Served with a salad and their award winning "Steak Frites".













It was perfect. I couldn't have had a better steak unless I cooked it myself...

 Aside from the beautiful filet, I got to try a bit of everyones dishes and they were all outstanding. The Confit de Canard is one of my favorites. A crispy duck leg confit with a frisée salad, and truffled potatoes. The Steak au Poivre was done perfectly, it reminded me of my latest version of the dish and what I need to do to improve on it. Steak au Poivre is a lean steak coated with cracked black peppercorn and served with a Cognac pan sauce. That dish will be featured here on this blog, Facebook, as well as my YouTube channel in the near future. Probably the highlight of the evening was when my wife Liz ordered the alway exciting "Crepes Suzette". This dessert dish is prepared and flambeed for you table side, and at Les Halles this is even more entertaining due to the full dining room. From beginning at Eataly to ending at Les Halles, I had an amazing time with friends and family. We enjoyed So many great meals, snacks and drinks, that I wish we could do this everyday. Sadly we can't, but we can all learn from our culinary experiences, try to replicate some of the dishes at home, and focus on eating well and eating healthily. Check out the links below, and try to visit these places when you can.

http://leshalles.net/
http://www.eataly.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhqpKuKU1w0