During the past couple of weeks, nostalgia (not to mention the pursuit of great food) brought me to two of the top French restaurants in the Northeast. When my mother, a former Madison resident making her annual migration from the Bay Area to mid-coast Maine, wanted to return to a place of memories shared with my father, who passed away in 1998, she chose Le Petit Café in Branford. And when my dear friend, Elise Maclay, wanted to share a meal at a restaurant we both love that would let us forget our daily toils and troubles, she chose La Panetière in Rye. Either Gallic restaurant is a brilliant choice for anyone with a decent budget and a proper appreciation of food.
We were among the first to arrive at Le Petit Café, a romantic and charming spot near the Branford Green that frequently receives the top food score in the Zagat Survey for Connecticut.
Descended from Huguenots who came to America in the 1620s, my Mom was a French instructor at the University of Oregon and Fullbright scholar who lived many years in France.
My wife is descended from Philippine chieftain Lapu-Lapu, whose warriors ended Ferdinand Magellan’s life in the shallows of Mactan Island during his attempted circumnavigation of the globe.
We saluted friends and loved ones, still and no longer with us, over glasses of Champagne.
Chef-owner Roy Ip has set up Le Petit Café as a four course, prix-fixe menu, which changes infrequently but is a lesson in perfection. But there are delights beyond the four official courses, including freshly baked bread
served with black truffle butter,
wonderful gingery roasted beets (that years ago opened my eyes to the possibilities of a vegetable I had detested much of my life),
and assorted olives.
Drinks, of course, are not included. We chose a 2007 Hawk Crest Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa, California, which is an approachable, fruit-forward wine produced by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
For our first course, Mom, ordered the delicious sautéed French escargots prepared with Saint Agur blue cheese and Cognac sauce over herb-accented puff pastry.
My wife selected the delightful chilled jumbo shrimps served with European cucumber, soba noodles and spicy sesame vinaigrette.
I chose the delicate Viking Village sea scallops served ceviche-style with field-ripened pineapple, pink grapefruit and sweet red onion in a jalapeño-cilantro vinaigrette.
Our second course was a stunningly fresh salad with a round pat of superb goat cheese riding atop a slice of European cucumber.
For our third, and main, course, Mom enjoyed roasted all-natural five-spice duck breast served with black organic rice, toasted almond, Port wine cherries, sautéed snow peas and caramelized orange sauce,
my wife enjoyed a Texas premium-aged Angus New York strip steak au poivre with watercress salad, French fries and brandy-and-black-peppercorn sauce,
and I enjoyed baked miso-glazed Chilean sea bass (MSC certified) with sautéed baby bok choy and grape tomatoes.
For our fourth, and final, course, Mom savored vanilla crème brûlée,
my wife the bread pudding,
and I the chocolate hazelnut fondant,
our desserts embellished, and our meal punctuated, with glasses of Muscat.
Although Elise and I exhaustively cover the state of Connecticut, there are times when we look beyond our borders as well. One of our favorite restaurants is La Panetière, which offers an impressive prix-fixe option but whose regular menu is more traditional. Like Le Petit Café, La Panetière is both charming
and romantic,
with endless little winning touches.
We order a bottle of St. Francis Chardonnay,
glasses of which were poured for us, the bottle then placed in an ice bucket.
A server brought us
an assortment of breads
with good butter
as well as breadsticks.
A server also brought us an amuse bouche of a dainty shrimp in a lovely sauce.
For her starter, Elise ordered the lighter-than-air Comté cheese soufflé with crackling rinds and spring pea coulis,
while I had the lovely napoleon of lump crabmeat and avocado guacamole.
For her entrée, Elise had the noisettes of veal with gremolata crust in a morel mushroom au jus with asparagus and air-filled potato “soufflés”
while I had roasted noisettes of lamb with a ras el hanout sauce and petits légumes farcis.
For her dessert, Elise elected the Grand Marnier soufflé
while I had a chocolate fondant with a molten caramel center.
But the kitchen also sent us a chocolate soufflé with chocolate truffle
and these mignardises.
We didn’t want to leave, and we were the last to do so.
Le Petit Café, 225 Montowese Street, Branford, 203-483-9791, www.lepetitcafe.net
La Panetière, 530 Milton Road, Rye, New York, 914-967-8140, www.lapanetiere.com