The most expensive dinner

I met up with a couple of friends tonight to check out Bistronomique.  We are all big fans of On Lot 10, and were curious to see what the menu would look like, since we had heard that this was more "down market".  I was surprised to find it situated along a row of new restaurants and bars in Kennedy Town.  The place is brand new, with high ceilings and a modern/minimalist decor.

The menu overlapped somewhat with the one at On Lot 10, offering a few offbeat but familiar items that I love.  It didn't take long for me to figure out what I wanted.

I was looking at a few other things when I saw roasted marrow bone on the menu, and I was sold.  I've always loved bone marrow, and the last one I had was pretty decadent.  Tonight this was covered with a layer of finely diced parsley, and I greedily scooped out chunks of it and laid them on pieces of bread.  Heavenly goodness.

We turned out to be a real boring crowd, as three out of four of us including myself took the duck leg cassoulet as main course.  It's been two years since my last cassoulet at La Tupiña in Bordeaux, and I've been missing it dearly.

The pans in front of us looked slightly different than we expected, as this was fairly dry instead of being a more liquid stew.  Most of the ingredients were there along with a few new ones - white haricot beans with gratin, a whole duck leg with very tender and juicy meat, diced lardons, yummy pig trotter skin and collagen, and even a gizzard.  Would have been better with some sausage, but it was delicious enough that we weren't really complaining.

I was kinda full by now, and decided not to take dessert... choosing instead to finish the wines we brought:

2002 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard - very toasty nose with minerals, buttery corn and sweet grass.  Exactly what I wanted out of this bottle of wine.

2002 Penost Robert Hartley Reserve Shiraz - this Aussie Shiraz was apparently a real bargain, and actually drank pretty well.  Smoky, a bit sweet with a hint of grass, minty with a potpourri nose.

David explained to me that after the initial period, they are now looking to change the menu  so that Bistronomique and On Lot 10 would each have its own menu.  I look forward to returning to find out what he has in store for us.

P.S.  I left my beloved DSLR along with my workhorse lens in the taxi on my way home.  Taking the cost of my camera equipment into account, tonight has to be the most expensive dinner I've ever had!