Collared in the Hood

My Birdbrain Favorite Cousin pinged me a few weeks ago, asking me to take her back to Neighborhood for the so-called "Peter menu".  Knowing that Mr. and Mrs. Birdiegolf also enjoy taking in the "Peter menu" at certain places in town, I figured I should rope them in for this dinner.  After all, I haven't been to my favorite restaurant in a couple of months, and certainly not since the white truffle season started...

Veal tartare / Burrata / hazelnut - Mr. Birdiegolf would have preferred beef over veal, but this was what we got.  And those shaved slices of white truffle certainly didn't hurt...  Very nice.

Foie gras potato salad - I was never a fan of boiled potatoes, and the potato to foie gras ratio was completely wrong, IMHO, but damn those shaved ribbons from foie gras torchon was beautiful!  Oh and those chunks of black truffle weren't too bad.  What they lacked in quality were more than made up in terms of quantity.  Still got plenty of fragrance after chewing them in the mouth.

Fried padron peppers / homemade bottarga - those Padrón peppers are always a crowd favorite, and the bottarga cured in-house - which came in thick cuts, remains moist, and stuck stubbornly to one's teeth - was beautiful.  By the way, the bottarga worked really well with Champagne.

Smoked threadfin / watercress / sour cream - lovely smoky flavors here reminiscent of smoked sturgeon and other types of fish available at Jewish delis.  That watercress purée packed a real wallop with all the garlic inside!  And The Man in White T-shirt added a little caviar to the sour cream, which turned out pretty well.

Morisseau mussels / Sichuan pepper - just enough peppercorns to add some fragrance and the slightest hint of numbness on the tongue.

Soupe de poisson / monkfish liver / shirako - always love this soup, with the chunks of monkfish liver and the strong fennel flavors.  Thankfully no fish cum in this one for me.

These beautiful scallops came with a garlic and herb butter similar to what one finds with escargots à la bourguignon.

I did think, though, there was a little too much sage (?)...

Cauliflower / Mimolette gratin - love cauliflower and cheese, even if the sauce was a little watery for my taste.

Andouillette - OMG!  I was sooooo happy!  I LOOOOVE andouillette, even if some others around me pinch their noses at it.

So these came sitting in a butter sauce with honey, and topped with mustard seeds.  And yeah... the flavors were 200%... and really needed to Cali cab to go with it.

There was also a dish of scrambled eggs and white truffle... but unfortunately The Man in White T-shirt decided to put some fish cum on it... and of course Homey don't play that shit!

I saw The Man in White T-shirt take a small rolling pin to crush some crab legs in order to extract the meat.  Unfortunately this did not show up on our menu... and instead went to my friend The Film Buff!

Tuna collar paella - well, we did pre-order a special dish...  This collar from a tuna caught off Hokkaido (?) came served on a pan of paella...  This just looked totally awesome!  Definitely makes a visual impact.

After showing it to us for a round of pics, this was taken away and The Man in White T-shirt to dissect... I think he got enough meat and goodies out of the piece of collar, and made sure to give us enough of the crunchy skin which was now like a bunch of potato chips...

This... was just FUCKING AWESOME!  The amount of collagen here made the meat taste sooo much better.  And the smokiness from the charred, crunchy skin.  And that paella... with that socarrat...  Knowing that The Film Buff couldn't order this special, and given that we would never be able to finish it, I offered some of this to my friend's table.

Aubrac beef hangar steak / mashed potato gratin - I was too full to have any...

I was also too full to have any cheese or dessert, so I just had the canelés.

There were a few casual bottles tonight:

Jacques Selosse Version Originale, dégorgée le 21 Avril 2015 - nice and yeasty, lovely mousse, with mineral notes.

2009 Joh.Jos. Prüm Wehelener Sonnenuhr Spätlese - served too cold.  Petrol notes.  Kinda light on the palate.

1996 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon - decanted after opening for an hour.  Softer now, still got good fruit, with minty notes.

2014 L'If - kinda pungent and reductive, potpourri, concentrated.

The Film Buff was kind enough to send over a couple of glasses from their table for me to taste...

2002 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques - nice and fragrant with sweet fruit.

2013 Mark Haisma Bonnes Mares - not bad lah... actually pretty fragrant and sweet fruit, with leather notes.

Yet another evening here where we are stuffed to the brim. Hopefully My Birdbrain Favorite Cousin enjoyed herself. I know I did!