August In December

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone, but we certainly did have fun in December. It started on December 1st when we went to Restaurant August for the first time in ages. To be honest, the restaurant is a bit gourmet for my taste, and it is very expensive. When I learned that they were doing lunch on Friday only, and just for the month of December, I reserved a place immediately.

The place looks as good as the day it opened. We have a lot of great memories there, so we are kindly disposed to love it. Tom’s book “Hungry Town” opens with a scene at August, and our son had his wedding reception upstairs nine years later. The downstairs room remains a lovely and elegant place to dine.

We started with a delicious bread service with soft butter. I was under the false assumption that they were baking these crusty breads in-house until the Bellegarde truck arrived to make a delivery. That didn’t materially alter my opinion of the bread. I love Bellegarde too.

The amuse-bouche was served in a boiled eggshell. It was a savory custard with a crumble on top, followed by a second amuse of a little bite of cornbread with a plump mound of roe.

It was exceedingly pleasant to be back in a place with an amuse bouche…or two! At lunch. For a number of years now, such places have not been in our wheelhouse.

It was a tough call for the first course. Shrimp bisque, or any bisque, is always a lure, but so is daube glacé. I rarely see that on any menu, and I love to get it when I do. As a committed obsessive about hogshead cheese, daube glacé always intrigues me.

And even though Tom used to eat excessive amounts of raw oysters, the oysters app with celery mignonette and purslane was passed over because he only eats the chargrilled versions now.

He got the famous Besh gnocchi. I have always said no one does gnocchi better than John Besh. His crab meat gnocchi has been a signature item here almost since Day One. Today it was served with a very tall pile of enormous black truffles thinly sliced. The gnocchi was as delicious as ever. Plump and perfectly cooked, tossed in a delicious cream sauce replete with crabmeat.

I settled on the shrimp bisque, which was thick and intensely flavored with shrimp stock, There was a little piece of shrimp toast as the focal point. The shrimp toast was adorned with edible flowers.

For entrees, we got a duck dish and red snapper.

Duck cassoulet came beautifully presented as a leg quarter with crispy skin served over a generous amount of perfectly cooked Cannellini beans in a nice sauce, with a sprinkling of frisée about the plate.

The confit was braised beautifully under the crispy skin, and it was an intensely flavorful plate of food. The sauce with the beans was reduced to a fine demi-glace with a rich mouthfeel.

Tom had Snapper Pontchartrain with Bearnaise sauce, shrimp and lump crab meat, and wild mushrooms. The Snapper was encrusted with breadcrumbs and pan-seared. Two large shrimp and a smattering of crab nestled in the shrimp covered the fish. A generous puddle of Bearnaise was pooled alongside the fish. Tom devoured this.

Desserts were equally glamorous and artfully crafted.  I had a light chocolate ice cream served over a toasted walnut oil and caramelized crumb that included white chocolate. Tiny edible flowers dotted this beautiful presentation.

Tom’s sweet potato creme brulee had a citrus sorbet with it, and more edible flowers in a presentation as beautiful as mine. 

We were sent away with a little treat of two white chocolate truffles presented glamorously on a doily.

All of this was delicious, polished, beautiful, and utterly satisfying on a cold December day on this first day of the month. It was a great way to start the month and the Christmas season.

This was an extraordinary deal at $60++ for three courses. We hope to not have to wait a year to do it again.