Jean Georges’ Warm Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream – $9

Nougatine at Jean Georges is on the first floor of Trump International Hotel at Colombus Circle, overlooking Central Park. Guests enjoy signature dishes from Michelin Starred restaurant Jean Georges in less formal setting. The signature Warm Chocolate Cake was part of our Three Course Brunch ($28), which can also be ordered as a dessert for $9. This chocolaty cake is crispy on the outside and filled with molten Valrhona chocolate. The cake was originally created by Jean-Georges Vongerichten himself, and copied all over the world.

1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023

Phone: (212) 299-1000

Filet Mignon with Grenailles Potatoes – Euro 32.00

Presented at this new Parisian dining establishment is very standard menu but using the very best ingredients. This steak was extremely tender, breaking apart with the slight movement of my knife (which is also pictured above). The baby pebble like potatoes were also an excellent supplement. They were firm and did not crumble. One thing that was missing, in this reviewers opinion, was an option of sauces or mustards to accompany the dish. The sauce as shown above was merely as it seems for presentation purposes as it was stuck to the plate.

There are a list of side dishes you may choose from as well including: green salad, fries, quinoa, bushel of spinach, green beans, mashed potatoes, and grenailles potatoes. All sides were Euro 8.00.

37 Avenue de Friedland, 75008, Paris
Phone: 01 82 28 75 08

Caramelized diver scallops, cauliflower purée, almonds, balsamic reduction – $14.00/$26.00

REDD is definitely a must-go if you are visiting Napa. All the ingredients were very well complemented as there was like “chemistry” in every bite I take. The scallop was perfectly seared, especially given the size of it. Not chewy at all and a lot of moisture. The cauliflower purée was well-blended, not too mushy, and tasted super smooth!  I was happy to find cauliflower florets too, and they were a bit roasted. Finally, the almonds added a nice crunchy flavor along with some raisins. This dish was actually part of an afternoon tasting menu so I thought there was an excess of purée for that one piece of scallop. I forgot how much the tasting menu cost, but REDD offers an appetizer portion or entrée portion on its menu. Ah, how I wished I could have had more!

6480 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
Phone: (707) 944-2222

Filet Mignon – Euro 36.00

The newest edition to the Costes family of restaurants, La Societe is hidden in plain sight with no signs or mention of the restaurant. Once inside patrons must take a side door to enter the restaurant which has been designed by Christian Liaigre, and is frequented by the Fendi family as well as Domenico and Stefano Gabbana. The filet mignon steak is presented simply with a portion of sauce bearnaise. The dish is also accompanied by a portion of mashed potatoes.

4, Place de Saint-German-des-Pres, 75006, Paris
Phone: 01 53 63 60 60

Warm duck confit salad $10 (Brunch) $9 (Dinner)

Warm duck confit with haricots verts, frisée, tomato, lardons, crispy potato and poached egg.

Sardine’s duck confit salad is a phenomenal experience of textures,
pieces of tender duck confit (duck salted and slowly cooked in its own fat),
along with fresh long green beans, some
baby cubes of bacon, and
thick potato crisps,
tangled by the frisée, topped
with a poached egg,
soaked in just enough olive oil,
sprinkled with fresh ground pepper and salt.

A great size for brunch, or as an appetizer for dinner.

Sardine
617 Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
608.441.1600

Roasted Littleneck Clams – $25.00 (lunch)

A plate of littleneck clams bathed in a tangy spicy red sauce with scallions. The light sauce has hints of tomato paste and white wine similar to moules frites. On top of the entree are three baked garlic bruschettas which may be too hard for the average customer to eat without cutting up their gum, but the plentiful sauce allows the bruschetta to soak up and soften. The ideal way to tackle the meal should have plucked clams on the soaked bruschetta eaten in one bite, but that is typically impossible with this kind of dish, so expect a mess. I suggest take a bite out of the bruschetta and then fork a clam, simple and easy. The clam meat may be small, but the dish has enough clams to provide a satisfying meal.

550 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 423-0550

Raw Oysters – Market Price ranges from $2.00 -$3.00 each

A small seafood restaurant with the raw bar occupying half the space, this truly is a seafood hole-in-the-wall. Neptune Oyster has a set of daily oysters from the east to the west coast that changes every so often. Their selection of oysters is quite large with every oyster having its own distinct characteristic. On our raw dine out, we had the following. Who knew oysters could have fruity tastes.

Starting from the lemon on top to the center of the plate:
Island Creek: medium-large, medium salinity, juicy, fruity finish
Taylor Bay: medium-large, medium salinity, seaweed finish
Summerside: medium, medium salinity, juicy, citrus finish
Kumamoto: small, sweet, plump, creamy, hints of honeydew melon
Fanny Bay: medium, low salinity, sweet, cucumber finish

63 Salem Street, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 742-3474

Macarons – $0.75 (each)

Often this French pastry gets confused with its American counterpart macaroon another sweet confectionery. L.A. Burdick is one of the few places in the Boston area that offers this yummy dessert. Although not the finest in the world, but definitely beats anything in Boston. It is basically sweet icing sugar sandwiched by chewy sweet almond cookies. The macarons come in a variety of flavors: ginger, chocolate, coffee, citrus, lavender, and raspberry. When I enjoy these cookies at this cafe, I prefer to enjoy a cup of tea to balance the sweetness of these macarons, personal preference.

52D Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
Phone: (617) 491-4340

Escargots de Bourgogne – $8.50

Snails with butter, garlic, and parsley served on a ridiculously hot escargot plate. The escargots have volume and substance, definitely traits to be prized for. My companions and I found that the left over butter, garlic, and parsley in the escargot plate was a great dipping sauce for the complimentary toasted french baguette.

560 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 422-0224

Banana Mille-feuille

This French dessert is made with soft crispy pastry sandwiching banana and a sweet cream in a repeating pattern. On top of all the goodness is a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with actual grainy vanilla bean  still apparent. The sweet cream and banana mixture is also cool in temperature giving you an all encompassing experience.

776 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 535-8800

Beef Tenderloin With Gravy and Chips

The menu at this particular French brasserie changes daily, but once in awhile you may catch this delicious entree. The entree consists of beef tenderloin that is very tender at medium rare that is immersed in gravy and their special house sauce. On top of the tenderloin are puffed-up potato chips. The combination of chewy beef, crispy potato chips, and foamy potato puree is fabulous.

11, Rue Dupin, 75006 Paris, France
Phone: +33 (1) 42 22 64 56

Foie Gras with Brioche Toast and Pear

From one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, Bofinger’s homemade foie gras of duck is smooth and creamy. Two pieces of foie gras for the entree with one over a sliced pear and the other over a brioche bread. Extremely fatty foie gras was about 1 inch thick, enough to satisfy your intrail desires.

7, Rue de la Bastille, 75004 Paris, France
Phone: +33 (1) 4272 8782

Crepes Suzette – $10.00

A thin and chewy crepe with sweet tangerine hot sauce, powdered sugar, and whip cream. The sauce is a made from liqueur, caramelized sugar, and some orange derivative, typically orange juice.  The final steps of preparation for this dessert is done in front of you where the sweet liquid concoction is lit on fire while the sauce is slowly poured onto your Crepes Suzette.

115 E Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL
Phone: (312) 475 1100

Crème Brûlée – $6.00

The dessert is made with bourbon-Madagascar vanilla with a few raspberries and blackberries. The custard has an extremely rich vanilla taste and it is still very airy. The caramelized crust is thin enough for you to break the crust into small pieces for every bite.

115 E Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL
Phone: (312) 475 1100

Marinated Yellowfin Tunafish — Euro 165 (part of 5 course meal)

This marinated yellowfin tunafish with black garlic, coconut and mechouia sauce was extremely delicate. The sauce pairings provided a unique expirience with every bite. The design was very appealing as well matching colors and playing with tones in the food. This was similar to the other dishes which were all very light in general. The restaurant is one of 9 three star Michilen restaurants in Germany and ranked number 57 in the world by the Pelligrino list. Chef de Cuisine, Sven Elverfeld, well-known for his imaginative talents in creation of excellent dishes as well as for his aesthetic presentation, was named Chef of the Year 2007 by the gourmet magazine “Der Feinschmecker”. If there is interest gathered by comments I can provide the additional courses as well.

StadtBrücke 38440, Wolfsburg, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 5361-607000

Chocolate Souffle – $7.00

The hard-to-make Chocolate Souffle has raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream to accompany it. It has a crispy crust on top and filling chocolate cream mixture on the bottom. The preferable way to eat this is to break the souffle crust on top and pour the raspberry sauce in and dig into Chocolate Souffle with the vanilla ice cream.

Basement 1, 211 East 43rd Street, New York,  NY
Phone: (212) 953-7253

Steak Frites – $19.75

Steak with thin frites (fries) and bearnaise sauce. Alternative sauce for the steak is maitre d’hotel butter.

560 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 422-0224

Macarons

These mouth sized pastries are uniquely French. Ladurée’s macarons have extremely crisp and soft outter shell that sandwiches a cooled sweet chewy creme. Any attempt to pick up the macaron will crack the outer shells. This pastry is perfect with Ladurée’s unique selection of tea. In the picture are a variety of flavors more than 20 offered, but I don’t remembered what I had picked.

Champs Elysées 2nd Floor, 75 Avenue des Champs Elysées – 75008 Paris, France

Bouchee Burger: foie gras, braised onions and pommes frites, two sauces 25.00

The burger was cooked medium rare. The burger was flowing with juice with the added butteriness of the foie gras.

Chocolate Bread Pudding with banana Bavarian cream

Deliciously soft bread pudding that isn’t too sweet.

11 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill, MA