Mas (farmhouse)

We went to Mas this weekend, when I was in NYC for some work, at the suggestion of some lovely person on Clotilde's Readers' Guide to NYC, cross-referenced with Yelp. In the blog, Yuj, who'd recommended the place didn't say much about it:

West Village.
French-inspired American-interpreted cuisine until 4 am. (Yuj)

The yelp reviews were a bit more effusive, and most importantly, the use of seasonally grown, mostly local and organic were the tipping points.

The evening was lovely! We sat in a small round corner table. After we'd selected our meals (I chose their prix fixe, which conveniently lets you replace any item with any other item from the à la carte section), they brought us our cocktails and an amuse-bouche - a goat cheese frittata, I believe. It was heavenly and the drink was amazing! I had a ginger daiquiri (really more of a ginger martini).

Every dish of the meal was delicious, the wine recommended to us by our server was spectacular, the service was completely seamless.

These are the things that stood out, in my mind:

A chicken roulade, stuffed with mushrooms, on a bed of puréed eggplant with wee little Brussels sprouts. The caramelized flavour was addicting.

Delicate little goat cheese ravioli were like clouds in a sea of green pea purée. They were fantastic!

And finally, lovely little truffles served to us after our meals were finished. *sigh*

Beard Papa Cream Puffs

Who know I'd fall for a cream puff? Well, perhaps Ivonne is onto something... I mean, not that I ever doubted it, but I don't think I ever fully understood it.

For Big E's birthday this past weekend, instead of a cake, we got a dozen cream puffs from my new friend, Beard Papa. Yum! They're phenomenal - the pastry is light as air, the cream... *sigh* Rich, flavourful, incredibly smooth.

They come in vanilla (with little specks of vanilla bean), chocolate, chocolate covered and the special flavour du jour. This time, the flavour was caramel. Swoon.

Basteeya at Aziza

As any good Tunisian citizen, I'm stubbornly convinced that ours is the best of North African cuisine. More importantly, like many other Tunisians, I am somewhat inclined to believe that those Morroccans are just plain crazy with their sweet & savory mixtures. I prefer the intensely spiced tomato-based sauces with lots of garlic and onions.

Shattering these prejudices, I've eaten twice now at San Francisco's Aziza. Some of the best Morroccan food I've ever eaten is prepared by the somewhat amusingly named chef Mourad Lahlou (which translates to Mourad the sweet one).

There I discovered the basteeya. It arrives piping hot, a buttery phyllo pie filled with saffron braised chicken, ground spiced almonds and a sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon. (The dish is typically made with pigeon, but as I haven't tried that version, I was quite content with the chicken).

The ground nuts and sweet crispy phyllo make this dish taste a lot like baklawa or other middle eastern sweet desserts. The spiced warm ground chicken is at first surprising but then incredibly satisfying and richly savory. The combination is divine.

I was told that couscous was considered by Morroccans to be the peasant food whereas basteeya showed a more elevated social status. Based on this specimen alone (and compared to Morroccan, but not to Tunisian, couscous), I would have to agree.

Restaurant La Diligence - Montpellier

This smallish restaurant, tucked in the pedestrian downtown area of Montpellier, not far from La Comédie, was delightful. When we first walked in, I was struck by the coziness & warmth. Despite the high stone vaulted ceilings, the dining room wasn't at all austere or cold. The colours were rich and the lighting cast a softening glow on the walls.

First we sampled the house equivalent of a kir royale, where instead of kir in the champagne, they put a homemade raspberry liqueur. For my appetizer, I had the beef carpaccio, wisp thin, with shavings of parmigian.

The main course was my favourite, not only the dish I'd selected but also its presentation and side vegetables. I had chosen a Mille Feuille d'Agneau (thousand-leaves of lamb). Normally, mille feuilles are tons of layers of puff pastry filled with cream. In this case, it appears that the tender lamb was what replaced the pastry... A thousand layers of lamb - I swooned!

The mille feuille came on a large plate that ended up resembling a painter's palette: The lamb was in the center surrounded by splashes of colour - a tablespoon of carrot purée, a tiny stacked ratatouille (eggplant, tomato, and zucchini), a dab of Gratin Dauphinois (decadently rich potatoes, cream and cheese). Not one of the sides was more than a few tastes, and it was the perfect complement to the meat, just enough variety to keep tantalizing your taste buds without feeling like an overstuffed sofa.

The dessert, a tiramisu served in a parfait glass, was so light it floated onto my tongue and evaporated, leaving behind a mere hint of chocolate and cream.

Ristorante Da Cesari - Bologna

Via dei Carbonesi, 8, Bologna - Telefono: 051 237710

One of my top three* favourite restaurants in Italy, Da Cesari draws me back every year for a culinary pilgrimage. Once you are seated, the waiter will list the items that were prepared that day. A limited menu, but this is perhaps due to that fact that the chef exclusively uses produce from the "Umberto Cesari" farm.

My most recent meal:

A spring antipasti medley:
A delicate artichoke flan with a rich creamy sauce
Roasted sliced artichokes with shavings of sharp pecorino romano
Steamed asparagus topped with a hard boiled egg topping

Hand-rolled spinach pasta with the local specialty ragù
Fresh tagliatelle with a basil pesto

Beef fillet topped with prosciutto and melted cheese

Semifreddi di Zabaglione - This dessert was a masterpiece: I was not able to dicern the liqueur used in the zabaglione but the burnt caramel topping was phenomenal - bitter, creamy and sweet.

* For the curious, my other two favourites are Ombre Rosse in Parma and the recently discovered Osteria della Piazzetta in Rimini.