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Adventures in high dining
Bunny and I found oursevles at La Nouvelle Maison [1], an upscale eating
establishment in downtown Boca Raton [2]. I'm not sure why she picked the
place—perhaps because our previous upscale dining establishment, Root Italian
Kitchen [3] is no longer open. Or perhaps it's “just because.”
In any case, we had a reservation for 8:00 pm. I made it yesterday, as Bunny
was running about Chez Boca worrying about the dress code (turns out—
“business casual” so I don't have to don my International Man of Mystery [4]
clothes). I received a text notification a few hours later, and a phone call
today, asking to confirm our time.
We arrived at 8:00 pm after a slight detour through the valet parking lot of
Trattoria Romana [5] next door (the driving directions from Mr. Google were
slightly unclear on that). We walked right in, stated our reservation name
and time, and were immedately seated in the quite crowded restaurant. I found
that quite surprising, given how busy it all looked.
One thing about high dining that I don't think I'll get used too—the level of
attention to detail. I think our waiter only had three or four other tables
to wait on, and when he wasn't busy, he was standing nearby, waiting at
attention. And if we was busy, his assistant (Assistant!) was nearby waiting
to serve us.
And boy, did we get served. A cheese platter of assertive goat, a more
assertive bleu and a brie that gave butter a run for its money. We decided
not to get any caviar, but we did get a Soupe à L’Oignon gratinee for me and
Pâté de Foie Gras for Bunny. Those were followed by a Petite Laitue Roquefort
for me, and a Salade de Betterave for Bunny.
And then the entrees. I ordered the Risotto de Saint-Jacques à la truffe et
aux épinards while Bunny had the Côte de veau aux Champignons Forresterie. I
think the most amazing thing about Bunny's dinner was the gratin potatoes.
Our waiter explained how they were made—the potatoes were sliced paper thin
(thin enough to see through) and then layered with gruyere cheese, pressed
down with a brick for over 24 hours in the refriderator, then baked and just
before serving, deep fried for about a minute. It was perfect cube of potato
and cheese about 3″ (7.5cm) per side, made up of easily a hundred layers.
Desert was a chocolate soufflé. That was my first soufflé, and also my last.
I'm not saying it was bad—it wasn't by any stretch of the imagination—it was
delicious! But my issue with the soufflé was one of texture. I'm sensitive to
some … textures … that some foods have, and this one triggered that
sensitivity. The only reason I ate more than one spoonfull was just down to
how good it was, and I was able to bull through my textural revulsions. In
all my times eating at find dining establishments, I've found that even if I
don't like a particular item, it will be the best particular item I've ever
had.
Was everything we had good? It's French! Of course it was good. All of it.
The service was incredible, and our only real complaint of the night was the
noise level when we first arrived—it was a bit too high for our liking. And
the price was about what we expected—it's the “once a year” level of price.
[1]
https://lnmbocaraton.com/
[2]
https://myboca.us/
[3]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2018/02/14.1
[4]
https://www.conman.org/people/spc/about/2010/0116.html
[5]
http://trattoriaromanabocaraton.com/menu/
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