Pigall's Four Star Menu

Tuesday May 20

We last went to Pigall's on Barbara's birthday, and our visits are usually for birthdays or anniversaries.
But this time Jean-Robert was celebrating Pigall's fourth consecutive Mobil Four-Star Award with something called the Four Star Menu. It was four courses for $40, with wine pairings for $20, and we were so there. So maybe we were commemorating Florry's birthday, a day late.

As always, we were seated at one of the two banquette tables in the back - either they remember that Holt likes a banquette, or they like how we look against that background. One of our staff of assiduous servers soon came with our amuse-bouche: a phyllo packet of duck confit with a hint of dried cherry (a typical Jean-Ro production), exploding with flavor, on a smear of wholegrain mustard sauce; a tiny salmon terrine with chopped radishes, cucumbers, and hardboiled egg; and an espresso-cupful of carrot soup with apple chantilly cream.

Once we'd been amused, we got serious with the second course. The menu had two options, so as usual, we each had half of each.
The shrimp salad with spring vegetables was very fresh-flavored (though I don't think of broccoli and cauliflower as spring vegetables); our server poured bright green broccoli/leek Vichyssoise around it from a teapot. It was served with a light, grassy Francis Blanchet 2006 Pouilly Fumé.
The other option was Indiana goat cheese ravioli with lamb shank, confit tomatoes and Pommery mustard. These were in fact the same lamb shank ravioli made with gyoza wrappers in lamb shank sauce we had at the birthday dinner last year, with very little sign of goat cheese inside at all. They were served with Lioco 2006 Sonoma Chardonnay, tasting all butter, no apple or oak; an odd pairing for something so meaty, but nice all the same.

Our third courses were:
a perfect, lightly browned skate wing on a raft of julienned carrots, mushrooms and spinach, all atop a circle of whipped potato and caramelized onion, ringed with a light vinegar cream sauce. This probably won the prize for best-done dish on the menu, and was paired with a Danjean-Berthoux 2005 1er Cru Givry, in good Pinot Noir style.
The meaty option was a savory, glutinous chunk of beef short ribs in basil red wine sauce, along with nice nubbly local grits, carrots, and zucchini. This came with the best wine, a rich, aromatic Dragon 2005 Cotes de Provence.

And finally, when we could hardly absorb any more, a jam-garnished plate of four tiny desserts: raspberry mousse in a chocolate cookie cup; apricot sorbet in a profiterole with ginger syrup; a tiny frangipane (again, Jean-Robert loves these) topped with almond ice cream and a mint leaf; and a miniscule warm honeycake. They came with some sparkling Jura from Jean-Robert's own label.

Congratulations, Jean-Robert, and thanks for letting even the non-wealthy (like us) have a good restaurant meal just for the fun of it sometimes.