Gearing Up for the Big Birthday Dinner! – Friday, 19 June

Tonight I had a classic French dinner at a place Patricia Wells recommended several years ago, Chez Les Anges at 54, boulevard de la Tour Maubourg. It was great! And a double bonus: it is just about a block from my apartment. It’s getting my palate all prepped for Saturday night’s birthday dinner at l’Ambroisie, a Michelin 3-Star restaurant (the highest possible rating – there are only 70 of them in the world, of which 10 are in Paris) and one I’ve wanted to experience for decades! My friends Dale Halladay and Mimi Haddad arrived in Paris today – we had lunch at Café du Marché, and they are dining with me Saturday night. Whooo hoooooooo! I can hardly wait.

But a few notes about tonight’s dinner.

I ordered a Kir Royale (cassis (black currant) liqueur with champagne) for my aperitif, and its fruitiness was perfect with my first course of grilled langoustines (sort of like our crayfish) with shaved summer truffles and roasted white & green asparagus. The langoustines were absolutely amazingly pure and sweet and warming, cooked to the perfect degree of doneness. The bodies were shelled (but the shells were left on the tails) and sprinkled with just a little oil and some fleur de sel. I've never had white and green asparagus side-by-side, so it was fun to compare them. Both were perfect. The white tasted somewhat like a cross between the mildest possible baby cauliflower and waxed beans. The green had a distinctly stronger chlorophyll (green) flavor, like the most deeply flavorful green beans you’ve ever eaten. The truffles were, of course, mild and as earthy as anything can be and perfect with the other elements. Again, the fleur de sel plus some drops of mango puree and the sprigs of chervil, chives and parsley decorating the plate enhanced all the flavors.

I chose Pauillac lamb for my main course, served with some very creamy pureed potatoes and with leeks that had been cooked in raspberry vinegar and sugar. Wowie zowie! It was delicious, and there was a lot of it! A beautiful red Bordeaux – I didn’t write down the name (shame on me!) but I believe it was a 2005 from the Pessac Léognan region - perfectly complemented the lamb and fixins'.

For dessert I had the strawberry mille-feuille – beautifully caramelized phyllo or brik pastry with Chantilly cream, strawberries, strawberry coulis and strawberry sorbet. It sounds like it might have been strawberry overkill, but trust me, it wasn’t!!! The sorbet was especially heavenly.

Coffee with tiny shortbreads and financiers (almond cakes) finished the meal perfectly. Ahhh…what a glorious and totally underserved privilege to be able to eat like this occasionally. God is good!

www.chezlesanges.com