Casual din din in the 'hood

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It's Friday night, and I'm back in my favorite Neighborhood for a casual dinner.  I was meeting up with a friend over a simple bottle of wine, and I couldn't think of a better venue for it.

The Man in White T-Shirt asked me in the afternoon whether a whole chicken would be too much for us.  Since there were only two of us, I let him know that we wouldn't be able to handle a whole bird... even though I knew any bird he sends our way would be really, really delicious.  After a quick word with him, we decided to order a few dishes and take things easy.

Fried white asparagus / bacon mayo / trout roe - I had this a couple of months ago, and I definitely wanted some more of this... especially that sinful bacon mayo with the trout roe on top.  It's coming to the end of the season for white asparagus, and I could start to taste a little more bitterness on the palate.  But that's nothing that a little bit of bacon mayo could cure...

Wild Alaskan sockeye salmon crudo - these stay I stay very far away from salmon, unless I know that it's not farmed and doesn't come from Norway.  Well, when the Man in White T-Shirt tells you to try this salmon, you dutifully follow his instructions.  Very tasty, indeed... and that nice, crunchy texture tells you that this ain't no farmed fish.

Wagyu skirt steak tartare / egg / truffle - the steak tartare here never fails, and what's not to love about a little runny egg yolk and plenty of black truffle shavings?

New season matsutake mushroom pot-au-feu - I've had more than a few amazing pot-au-feus from the Man in White T-Shirt, and when I see this on the menu - with matsutake (松茸) mushrooms to boot - I just gotta hit it!

Besides the fresh matsutake, each of us also got a big chunk of poached foie gras in our bowl.  Even though it's the middle of summer and people are melting in the heat, it still felt really good to drink a nice bowl of soup.  So comforting.

Warm Riviera vegetables "Ducasse" / truffle jus - they must know that I'm not getting enough veggies in my diet, because the kitchen sent this out for us.  The peas were amazing, and the carrots were damn good.  Love the acidity in the artichoke, too... and of course the truffle!

Australian wagyu hanger steak - this was pretty nice and tender, and I got absolutely no complaints.  All that black truffle on top of the mashed potatoes didn't hurt, either...

Canelés

2005 Pascal Lachaux Clos St Denis - lots of black fruits here.  Opened up really nicely to show forest and herb notes.

For a casual dinner, this was definitely too much food... but very satisfied as always.