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| She's so much more tan than I am! |
We were able to visit Sacre Coeur, which is located at the highest elevation in Paris. It was a pretty incredible sight to be able to see the city below, and then turn around to see the basilica rising up above us.
After walking around and seeing such pretty scenery, we figured that a luxurious meal is called for. My brother-in-law is French, and found a cool restaurant with a truffle theme. Indeed, most menu items were topped with this decadent treat. It was definitely difficult to decide what to have, but we ended up with pretty tasty dishes! With the exception of the dessert, the truffles never felt too gimmicky, and definitely added a lot of aroma to each plate. And if what ended up on the dish wasn't enough, you could top it off with a selection of black truffle oil, white truffle oil, or truffle salt!
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| Gazpacho with black truffles and basil sorbet |
The cold soup was the undisputed winner of the night. The tomato base was highlighted by the presence of the truffles; the soup tasted tangy yet earthy. The basil sorbet worked REALLY well, and added a hint of sweetness as well.
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| Beef Carpaccio topped with seasonal black truffles |
This dish was almost TOO much; there was a healthy drizzle of truffle oil over everything and the truffle flavor overwhelmed the beef a bit. I almost wanted a cup of coffee beans or something to sniff at while eating this dish, so I could cleanse my palate between bites.
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| Tortellini topped with truffles |
The tortellini was able to hold its own with the truffles quite well. The pasta was al dente, and the cheese added a creaminess that worked really well with the truffles. The only minor complaint was that a dash of salt and some more sauce was needed.
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| Risotto with truffles |
This plate was a fantastic reminder that sometimes, simple things are the best. This was the tastiest of the three main dishes. It was uncomplicated yet complex; the starch and creaminess from the rice provided the perfect canvas to show off the earthy truffle.
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| Kinda looks like mac and cheese, no? |
We were kind of skeptical of a chef's ability to translate the truffle into a dessert. Visions of Iron Chef danced in my mind as we ordered the crème brûlée. And when the plate was put in front of us, I could see little dark shadows under the custard. Yep, there's truffle in it! It's hard to judge this dish; as a real dessert, it wasn't very good. The custard wasn't creamy enough, the sugar didn't cover the top sufficiently and didn't crackle under our spoons. The truffles didn't add much to the flavor of the dessert. In theory, I know that truffles and eggs work well together. I think that if this dish took a small savory spin, it would have worked much better. I'm thinking of something like a sweet custard base topped with crabmeat and truffles. But I guess that wouldn't be a dessert then, hm?
All in all, it was extremely interesting to try this restaurant. And while working off the abundance of calories consumed, this handy scene was available to accompany us on our evening stroll:
Breathtaking, isn't it? :)
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