A Night of Tartare, Fondue and Oysters [& etc] at Artisanal

A while ago I was in the mood for some steak tartare [it’s all Jacala‘s Mr. Borderon’s fault.. I still haven’t found better steak tartare… sigh….] and fondue… so where else to go but Artisanal [I was between Artisanal and Ca Va which I went to a few days later….]

I almost always start off dinner with a glass of champagne, especially when I know I’ll be having food from the raw bar…

Petit Fruits de Mer

Oysters, Shrimp, Ceviche, Clams & Dayboat selections [Crab, Uni & Mussels]

Sauces I don’t use….

I asked for some horseradish and they brought out a HUUUUUUGE saucer full… wait, are these called saucers?

Freshly grated Horseradish

What’s up with the Snooki hair? I also look 3 feet tall lol

Mussels Provencal

Garlic, Tomato & Basil

Delicious. I don’t really like cold mussels, so I ate these warm ones instead :D

Housemade Charcuterie

Rabbit Sausage, Duck-Foie Gras Rillettes & Tete de Cochon

Another reason why I chose Artisanal was for their Bunny Boudin… hahaha aka Rabbit Sausage

Rabbit Sausage

It didn’t disappoint but I didn’t end up eating much of it… I prefer my bunny warm not cold :[ I excepted a warm sausage… cooked with a nice pop in the skin

Duck-Foie Gras Rillettes

OOOOO but I ate the crap out of the rillettes.. so creamy and divine. Absolutely naughty tasting and just amazing. I don’t prefer my foie cold but this worked beautifully… especially on the yummy charred bread…

Tete de Cochon

I actually wanted to get the Lomo, but they were out. How could I ever say no to headcheese? This melted in my mouth… heavenly.

Cheese Plate

I asked for some simple cheeses… not too pungent.. these were what I got, I forgot what they were.. but the creamy one was amazing.

Grilled Octopus

Fingerling Potatoes & Smoked Paprika

Good, simple but nothing special. I think I’ve been overdoing it on the octopus lately – everything is cooked great but it all tastes the same lately….

Foie Gras Torchon

Fig Chutney & Grilled Bread

Great Foie, like always I don’t eat too much cold foie [simply seared is the bestest] so the dinner date ate most all of it.

Carpaccio of Yellofin TunaShaved Fennel & Ratatouille Vinaigrette

Definitely a lot more wet than I expected but the flavors were amazing – I LOVE fennel… so I try to eat as much of it as possible when in season.

Steak TartareArtisanal Blend Beef

Check out that sexy caper berry on top, HUGE, no? This was a bit too mushy for me….

Anyways the waitress wouldn’t let us order fondue at first, she said we already had too much food – lies. Got the fondue anyways….. and it was glorious… ended up licking the bowl clean – most likely.

Petit Gouda & Stout Fondue

Les Baigneuses

Apples, Crudites, Kielbasa & Chicken Tenders

It’s all about the apples :D I love the contrast of crunchy, sweet, creamy, cheesy, salty….

Isn’t this cute? Didi ended up sleeping on my glasses the whole night – she is way too adorable. :D

Ommegang Beer Dinner @ Resto

Monday, I had the opportunity to join in on another resto Beer Dinner series…. A delicious four-course dinner by the ever loveable genius, Bobby Hellen…. This time it was with Ommegang.

It was great, I got seated next to Jonah Shaw, who opened a restaurant – Quarter Moon Cafe – with Ommegang. Awesome awesome guy, we talked a lot about food and beer and what was trending, etc.. etc.. etc.. :D Great company. Well on my LEFT was great company, on my RIGHT was a girl who wouldn’t stop giving me the stinkeye and whispering stuff and staring at me to her neighbot [who looked like a blonde Kramer]

ANYWAYS. I first discovered Ommegang during Craft Beer Week! Delicious beer.. and I had a LOT of it that week – hehe – so OBVIOUSLY I had to be at this dinner.

ONWARDS.

“Brewery Ommegang is 3,264 miels from Brussels, but its heart is right in Belgium.  It is a place where brewing is an art and partaking is a passion.  In Ofctober of 1997 ground was broken for what was to become America’s most unique microbrewery.  The beers are based on traditional Belgian farmhouse architecture and set on a former hop farm in upstate New York.  Brewery Ommegang was born with the philosophy that truly unique ales must be built  from the ground up.”

Here’s an Ommegang Rep, Chris Toia, talking about the first beer….

-first course-

charcuterie and cheese

Local Tilsit from Brovettos farm located in Harpersville, NY and a Cumin Gouda from Dysenroth Farm in South Kortright, NY.

The Tilsit was SOOOOO amazingly good. As Jonah described, like a nice crumbly cheddar. It was delicious. I had two huge chunks of it… and the Gouda was just as magical.  So much cumin, you could see it [you can even see it in the dark photo I took of it]… but perfectly balanced with the creamy thinly sliced Gouda.

Delicious crusty bread

This went great with the cheese :D In fact I ended up nibbling on a few pieces…

Pork and cheddar sausage flavored with Ommegang witte, white pepper and coriander.

The sausage actually reminded me of a chinese sausage… but a much creamier, mild version.  The cheddar really made it have almost a creamy texture in the middle… full of great flavor but not overpowering.  The side salad had roasted squash [I believe] whichever way – it was a lot more strong in flavor so it matched the soft sausage’s mildness [well more mild than what I’m used to when I think snau-sage hehe]

Paired with: Ommegang BPA 6.2% ABV

This interpretation of a true Belgian style pale ale is brewed with give speciality malts and hopped with three hops.  Columbus for bittering.  Celeria for aroma, then dry hopped with Cascade.  It is refreshing and well balance.  BPA has citrus aromas, floral notes, and delicious hops without being bitter.

This is a delicious beer. I could drink a lot of it… oh wait, I did. Did I mention I started off with a bottle of Sofie first? I’m forever a Sofie/InEdit girl but then I was pouring an extra glass or two, or three with the cheese :D It went ESPECIALLY well with the Tilsit.

-second course-

shrimp croquette

Served over a Belgian classic, Stoempt, along with a Buerre Blanc.

These were so good….. even the potatoes.. and I’m not even a potato girl [maybe I’m changing lately] I thought the croquettes were a slight but dry [needed a nice sweet/heat sauce to it maybe?] but the flavors were BANGING. B-A-N-G-I-N-G…. you could taste and see the chunks of shrimp in it. BAAAAANGING!

Paired with: Ommegang Hennepin 7.7% ABV

Hennepin is Ommegang’s American example of a fairly obscure saison.  Hennepin is a bright and lively in your mouth with warming mix of spicy gingersnap and citrusy hops.  Enjoy and tell us what you think.

This beer was really light and had a ton of flavors to it. When I had it with the shrimp, it just added so much shazam and crazy extra flavors to it.

-third course-

lamb sheppards pie

Braised in Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, along with carrots and onions.  Layered over mashed potatoes with Chanterelle mushrooms and rosemary.

Yep, Tiffie ate lamb. YEP. Only Bobby could get me to eat this much lamb in one sitting. It was ground and was a nice thick layer on the bottom… Atop were super flavorful potatoes and chanterelles. AMAZING. Absolutely delightful. It wasn’t heavy at all – usually I think of this dish as a heavy more of a wintery, warming dish – Very few people finished all of it – but EVERYONE raved about it.

Paired with: Ommegang Adoration Ale 10% ABV

Ommegang’s first winter ale is brewed in the authentic style of a Belgian Noel Beer.  It is strong, malty and assertively spiced.  This beer is brewed with five spices, including coriander, cumin, mace, cardamom and grains of paradis.

You could definitely taste that it was heavier. Great flavors, harder to drink a lot of [for me] but at 10%… :] And after that many beers.. it went a down down down….

-dessert-

This time it was AJ, another rep, speaking – the one Chris told us to boo at hahaha

beerimisu

Lady fingers soaked in Ommegang  Abbey and Stumptown Espresso.  Layered with marscapone cheese, french vanilla whipped cream, and shaved chocolate.

This was SO freaking good. The beer went SO well with the espresso and chocolate, it was heavy in flavor but soooo light and fluffy in the belly. My only complaint? I wanted more…. needed more, craved more… I licked the glass clean ;D Really…

Paired with: Ommegang Zuur 6% ABV

This limited edition, Flemish sour ale, is the perfect beer to pair with dessert!  Ommegang brewmaster, Phil Leinhart, made several trips to the Belgian sister brewery Leifmans to formulate this brown.  It is aged and blended.  It has noticeable tartness from being spontaneously fermented.  The style differs however in that there is no oak aging involved.  So the flavor of Zuur is more subtle, balanced and refreshing.  The perfect way to end a perfect meal!

This beer took a few sips to get used to. It really IS sour. Sour and bitter, but a great contrast to the sweet dessert.

I’ll be looking for these beers in the stores…. :D AND YOU SHOULD TOO!!!

I’ll be finishing up a lot of my posts in the next week… I’m actually back in Boston for awhile so I’ll be cooking more – making things from my food idea/experimental notebook, doing some videos AND I have a PROJECT in the making that I’m super excited about.