Wednesday, October 17th - Get on With it Already, Would You???
Before I start, I feel compelled to warn you all that I'm going to spell somethings wrong in this review. I worked out before eating and didn't want my sandwich so now I'm drinking leftover champagne and eating cheese (good cheese that I don't knwo...
see? I told you this would happen... the name of, but I'm pretty sure it's French).
And that is indeed fitting and proper, seeing as this update is all about our Frenchie friends at Bistro de Paris. If I only had some chocolate eclairs ... not only would I be in fake-French heaven, but I'd totally negate that workout I did after getting home tonight. Ahhhh, there's nothing like the chocolate-covered taste of futility is there?
Before I get to dinner ...
**Collective groan: Good Gawd, woman! It's taken you 6 weeks to get off your 40-mile wide hiney and now that you're finally going to give us a meal we can sink our teeth into you're going to take another meandearing detour that has nothing to do with food???**
Uh, yeah, but it won't be long.
Really, it won't.
See, we had a mini-meet scheduled with some fellow DISers who were taking a
Disney cruise October 20th-27th. Jay and I were actually booked on that cruise and for many reasons that will bore you all to the point of gnawing off your fingers we had to cancel. However, I got to know some really wonderful people from exotic places like Canada
! and England
! and we were able to meet at Martha's Vinyard at 5PM that evening. One nice lady (Auntie Karen!!!) was planning on kidnapping Plankton to allow him to experience the joy of cruising Disney.
But Plankton had a plan...
He
always has a plan...
Always.
Is this malevolent mitosis or have I had too much to drink?
Your eyes do not deceive you my fiends, er, friends. Plankton is always looking for ways to take over the World ... it's what he does. His plan was (and is) to create an army of Plankton to do his bidding. It seems to be working, too. At last count I think there are at least 5 Planktons scattered among various DISboard members ... perhaps more. Beware, friends; beware.
So... why did we pick Martha's Vinyard for our meet? Well, Cass and Rob (Timon and her hubby) were meeting us after their anniversary dinner at Beaches and Cream and AFEG and his family were staying at the Swolphin and Jay and I had ADRs in Epcot. In short, it was an easy meeting point for three out of four of us ... sorry Karen!
There's not much to say about Martha's place - it's a bar / lounge but it's nice and comfy and looks out onto Stormalong Bay. And the bartender made some fine drinks, too. Try a Kir Royale the next time you're there - mmm, mmm, good!
If you ever have a chance to meet up with some of your fellow DISers, I highly recommend it. Everyone Jay and I have had the pleasure of meeting has been delightful and genuine. I always get nervous before these things ... I really don't mingle well and I'm not remotely interesting under pressure (not to imply that I'm interesting in calm, secure circumstances because I'm pretty sure I'm not). And Jason is the strong, silent type ... he smiles and nods and doesn't say much (it's safer that way). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was worried that we'd all meet up and then not have anything to say to each other after chatting on-line for 16 months.
No worries! We hugged and chatted and exchanged cards and gifties and had a few drinks and life was good.
A handsome group of Konked Kruisers...
Thanks to Karen Mouse and family, Timon and family, and AFEG and family for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with us. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
And now ...
Bistro de Paris: We Can't Spell it, But the Food Sure Eats Good!!
Bistro is an upscale French restaurant located in Epcot - it's upstairs from Chefs de France. They only serve dinner and they only accept reservations 30 days in advance. Check-in is at a podium at the rear entrance to Chef's, which is around the corner and up the small hill towards the pastry shop. You will be asked to wait in the foyer until someone escorts you upstairs. We couldn't have waited more than five minutes before we were taken to our table.
Spiral staircases are cool
I don't like to wait but I guess I will ...
Tables just to the right of us
Isn't the napkin cute?
The man never takes a bad picture ...
So what's for eating? Bistro offers a standard menu and a degustation (tasting) menu. The tasting menu was $120 per person with the wine pairings and $75 per person without them. Those of you who are familiar with our eating and drinking habits already know what we chose for the evening.
That's right!
Bring on a taste of France, baby, and let's wash it down with some wine!!
Here is the tasting menu and choices we were presented with that evening - we both chose one item for each course.
Course I: Saffron and Mussle Soup; Organic Smoked Salmon Dome with Blue Crab Lemon Grass Vinaigrette and Curry Biscuit; Foie Gras Terrine with Apple Calvados Cake, Pruneaux Coulis - $5.00 additional charge.
Course II: Atlantic Red Snapper, Vegetable Spaghetti, and Saffron Sauce; Seared Scallops Skewer, Braised Green Cabbage with Bacon, and Tomato Blinis.
Palate Cleanser: Strawberry and Basilic Granite, Key Lime Sorbet, and Pomegranate Liquor.
Course III: Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Morels, Potatoes, and Shallot Confite; Chicken Breast Stuffed with Porcini Mushrooms and Prosciutto, Macaroni with Black Truffle au Gratin, and Baby Onions.
Course IV (Optional): A French Assortment of Cow and Goat Cheeses with Mixed Salad, Toasted Bread, Pine Nuts, and Chives - $5.00 additonal charge.
The End: A Dessert Sampler!!!!
To start the evening off right we were presented with the chef's Amuse Bouche for the evening.
Make my mouth happy ... now!
This, we were told, is a Frog-Leg Mousse. I wish I remembered more about the name of this dish and the saucey-splashes on our plates, but I don't. That's the problem with Amuse Bouche ... it's not listed on the menu so you must rely on your booze-addled brain to remember the details. I can tell you this - it was very very good. I've never eaten frog before (that I know of) so I wasn't sure what to expect, but this had a light taste and texture and the sauce was just a little spicy. I liked the mousse equally with the sauce and without it.
We were both just glad that it wasn't salmon mousse - that would have been an inauspicious beginning to the meal indeed, especially if it had been served by the Grim Reaper.
There was a girl who wandered around the restaurant with a basket of fresh bread and now and then she'd offer us some. It was so good that I had to be careful not to eat too much of it.
Bread, glorious bread, and a big hunk o'butter
Time for the first course!!
Salmon Domes et al
Jay ordered this but we actually shared everything back and forth throughout the evening in order to try a wider variety of dishes. This was a tasty offering even if it does look weird. I told Jay that his salmon dome looked like something from
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes...
. Even the biscuit, which is positioned on the corners of the plate was decent, and I'm not really a fan of curry. And you can't tell from this picture, but there is sweet, succulent crab hidden beneath that dome...
insert drool icon here.
Foie Gras
This was my big $5 gamble of the evening. I loved the foie gras at Victoria and Albert's, so why not try it here? Errrrr...I still must have a ways to go when it comes to edumacating my palate because this foie gras was served cold and I found it absolutely disgusting. The apple cake was yummy but cold foie gras just didn't do it for me - the taste and the texture were just gacky. I don't know how else to explain it. Jay ate a fair amount of this - he said it wasn't bad but he, like me, much preferred the warm foie gras we tried at V&A's.
Wine Paring: Peu de la Moriette, Pichot, Domaine le Vouvray
The wine was chilled and light and crisp and we liked it a lot even if neither one of us really know how to pronounce it!
To be continued ... thanks for reading!
I think guys are related to birds sometimes!
