With the opening of Ouest in 2001, Chef Thomas Valenti is largely credited with reviving the food scene on the UWS...making it a neighborhood that people actually go out of their way to visit for a nice meal. Our meal Friday left us with no doubt that we'll travel to eat here again.
The dining room at Ouest has a modern French feel to it with dark wood and red booths that make the place rather cozy. The tables on the side we sat were a tad bit too close for my liking. This proximity coupled with the acoustics sometimes left me straining to listen to Karen rather than a potentially more interesting date conversation a table away (hmmm...I wonder what date number they're on) . But, I thought, hopefully the food would speak louder.
Having our handy little coupon for a bottle of wine under $60 for free, we selected a red wine just below this price point, a Gamay - Herve Souhaut Vin de Pays 2007. Neither of us remembers ever having a Gamay, so we figured we'd try something new. It was a fruity red that was smooth and quite delicious. Something we agreed we'd have again.
Shortly after we sat down, a tall wire basket of baguettes arrived with a ramekin of pureed chickpeas, tahini, and olive oil. The look of the bread was terribly deceiving. It looked like a crusty, unmoist baguette. But when I tore a piece off, I found I needed much less force then I thought I would. The bread was warm and soft with a oh-so-slight perfectly crisp crust. And that chickpea dip was marvelous...we cleaned our first bowl so well that they brought us another that fared equally.
We were all set to order the bone marrow appetizer, when the waiter arrived and described the special appetizer of the evening. We couldn't resist the special hamachi with a soy vinaigrette with chili flakes, minced lemon, and baby greens. They kindly split this between two plates for us (each plate being what I would expect from one appetizer portion!). This was SO amazingly delicious that we both wavered between completely devouring it and trying to make it last as long as possible. The hamachi was beautifully fresh and buttery and the soy vinaigrette had the slight kick from the chili with the tang of the lemon and soy. A gorgeous raw fish plate with multiple layers of flavor that was one of the best I've had in a while.
True to form, I ordered the pork dish - bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with grilled pork belly, braised celery and sauce soubise (an onion based white sauce). There were two large pieces of pork belly and four medium-cooked pork loin medallions wrapped in bacon. The pork tenderloin was perhaps one of the most tender/moist pieces of pork I've had in a very long time. It had a strong pork flavor that reminded me of the pork chops my grandma used to make. I used every last drop of the onion sauce that just complemented the pork so well and made it even more reminiscent of grandmas. The rich, grilled pork belly melts in your mouth leaving you in salty pork euphoria. I will say that I think the plate would've been just as good with one less piece of pork belly (or two smaller pieces), because the pork belly made the dish much heavier and diverted my attention away from the pork tenderloin. But should I really complain about too much of a good thing?
Karen had what we both agreed was possibly the most perfectly cooked piece of fish either of us has ever had...fork tender Cod with black truffle custard, cauliflower puree, asparagus, and enoki (those long thin white mushrooms). The cod split into these gorgeous flakes of buttery fish. The custard looked like a flan. So at first glance, we were both terrified that the texture would ruin our love of all things truffle. But, the texture was smooth and coupled with the fish beautifully leaving a slight truffle backdrop. The crunch of the asparagus added a nice texture to the plate. In ultimate testiment to how delicious our meals were, we both finished our plates.
Having had such extraordinary success up until this point, we figured why stop when we're on a roll?! For dessert, we ordered the iced cappuccino sundae with espresso semifreddo and housemade caramel sauce with a sugary tuile and biscotti crumbles. And because we're both secretly 60 years old (complete with early weekend curfews), we each had a glass of Grahams 10 year Tawny port. When we dug in, the sundae oozed over the sides of the dish (like every good sundae should). The housemade caramel was salty and sweet and the semifreddo and biscotti crumbles were great adult twists on a childhood classic. I thought the sundae was good, but next time I would try one of the other desserts.
This meal left me plotting reasons to be on the UWS for dinner, and left Karen and I with more reasons to return then a free bottle of wine.
And that's how the Ouest was won
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