Bouchon is my kind of place - nice but not stuffy, and possessing a menu loaded with French comfort food. After a pre-vacation discussion with my friend Philip, who fondly remembered consuming large amounts of foie gras, I went to Bouchon with one main motive: eating cold foie gras. Politics aside, I cannot squash my foie gras cravings. Considering I only get to eat it about once every 6 months, I don't really mind.
And so it happened that Jen 2 and I found ourselves sitting at the lovely zinc bar at Bouchon - she after missing two flights and finding that it can indeed take 18 hours to fly to San Francisco from Columbus - sipping Qupe's Marsanne, and waiting impatiently for our foie gras and fries. The menu states that the foie gras is 5 ounces, but if it is anything shy of a fully cup I would be amazed. The bartender set that charming little jam jar of pure, luscious fat liver before us, and, noticing our hesitation, asked if he should remove the butter cap for us before we began. "NO! no, no, no - we are just having a little moment of silence before we tuck in!"
And tuck in we did. We consumed so much foie gras (although we didn't nearly finish the jar), that when we arrived at Bouchon the following evening for a little pre-French Laundry glass of rosé, the bartender remembered us fondly as "the girls who ate all the foie gras!" Well, I guess it's nice to be remembered, for whatever it may be.
Our only complain with the foie gras is that it came alongside a little ramekin of coarse sel gris (gray sea salt) which, although it added a nice crunch and saltiness, was really too much. We both admitted that we accidentally oversalted each bite. One of the things that I love about Chef Richard Blondin's foie gras at the Refectory is the way the delicate flakes of sea salt melt with an ethereally light crisp, leaving just a slight wash of saltiness to give the liver an edge. The coarse salt at Bouchon was a little too much, and if I felt in any way elevated to give them some advice, it would be to offer a flakier salt.
But on with the fries, which come in a tin vase lined with a paper cone . . . It is because of the fries at Bouchon that I will never again be able to enjoy fries the same way. Served with what the bartender cheekily referred to as "sauce rouge et sauce blanc" (ketchup and mayonaisse), these twice - fried fries were unbelievable crisp with a light interior and a full potato flavor. Heavily salted as all fries should be, they didn't really need either sauce, but we dunked anyway - we were in the process of consuming 1000 calories in duck fat, why shun the mayonaise? The best part is that the fries never wavered in texture - even to the last one we ate (nowhere near the bottom, I might add), which was just as perfect as the first.
Oh, and we also had a little palate - cleansing salad of mache (aka lamb's lettuce) and roasted baby beets (from Bouchon's own garden, of course).
There was also a lemon tart, about which I will make no comment, seeing as I do not like pine nuts and feel that it would be unfair to thrust my opinions thereof on my readers.
I regret that I did not have any oysters or croque madame at Bouchon, but will definitely be on my must-stop list the next time I am in either Napa or Las Vegas. I have told several friends that if they find themselves in Napa without their much-coveted French Laundry reservation, they should be sure to have an all-out at Bouchon - it's a snap to get a reservation, or just walk in to the bar, and they serve food until 12:30am - where I think they perfectly happy.
Info: Bouchon 6534 Washington St Yountville, CA 707.944.8037
