Last hurrah for Le French May

The Alcoholics have a visitor from out of town, and we hadn't seen him for a few months since that trip to Seoul never actually happened.  Bistronomique @Staunton was chosen as the venue four our gathering tonight, since the food is always good at Bistronomique, and the corkage policy is pretty friendly.

As the Specialist was gonna be late due to a conflicting engagement, we started with a few appetizers to share while we opened and slowly sipped the wines...

These filo pastry rolls were stuffed with spinach, truffle and cheese.  Not bad.

The ham is always decent.

I also nibbled on some steak tartare.

I decided to be anti-social and not share the main courses with the rest of the gang.  There were a few items in the appetizer section that I wanted... and I wasn't gonna share with anyone.  Besides, I highly doubt that the others would have much interest, anyway...

Roasted bone marrow - pleasantly surprised to find three pieces instead of two, which made me practically giggle with glee.  Greedily scooped up chunks covered in parsley and herb crust, then placed them on top of slices of baguette.  Chomp.  Chomp again, calories be damned.  This is rich and nutritious like mother's milk.

Boudin Basque - it's been waaay too long since I last had this, and I needed a fix.  I love any blood sausage, but this was especially yummy because it also included other parts... Did I just chomp on parts of the tongue?

Tête de cochon - never get tired of having this.  Love that collagen wrapping... crunchy at the same time.  I appreciate that they serve it on top of some egg salad with enough acidity to cut through the fat.

I was very stuffed, since that was a lot of rich food for one person - especially considering the amount of bread that went along.  But of course I needed enough food to go with all that wine we were gulping down...

2005 Tattinger Comte de Champagne - toasty, a little ripe on the palate.

1985 La Mission Haut-Brion - very smoky, minty, pencil lead, a little earthy, with some fruit.  Classic claret.  Soft on the palate with velvety tannins.  A beautiful wine.

1996 Guigal La Mouline - beautiful, rich and fat, with leather notes.

1998 Guigal La Mouline - beautiful, with bacon fat, sweet fruit, floral notes, a little coffee and some potpourri.

1995 Chave Hermitage - a little floral, nice and lovely with leather notes.

1998 Jaboulet La Chapelle - initially still a little closed but opened up a bit more later.

1995 Jaboulet La Chapelle en jeroboam - leather and animal notes.  A very generous contribution from our guest, who insisted on opening the bottle despite our protests...

Pain grillé... encore...