We often talk on the Food Show about steak. It is usually about steak at steak restaurants. But most first-class restaurants have steaks on the menu for the diner who is less adventurous, Anyone will eat a steak. I have often said that steaks are best savored in steakhouses, but I have also said that some of the best steaks I have had were not in steakhouses.
This is a tale about a very expensive steak ordered simply because we had already enjoyed everything else on the menu, and we had to order something. It was an unusual situation, but that is in keeping with our experiences at this restaurant. I am almost embarrassed to show my face there. Listeners to the show and readers of our posts will likely guess I am talking about Chemin a la Mer, a place I absolutely love but where we have consistently ridiculous experiences. It has absolutely nothing to do with the restaurant, which delivers uniform excellence in every way.
Once we left without paying the check, and they were kind enough to run it down with the credit card I left. I signed it by the valet. Once we had breakfast and lunch when we were stranded by the courtesy driver who dropped us while the car was in the shop. And the last one I have repressed, but suffice it to say it involved oyster Happy Hour. Three strikes and I called us out.
The steak dinner was what we did after Tom had a few raw oysters and didn’t want any more. I asked for the check, which was something like $6, which the waiter waved off as he chuckled. (I guess you are supposed to drink martinis while eating oysters) I offered to tip him but he refused. I feel pretty sure there are UNwanted posters of us in the kitchen.
We had these oysters on the balcony that is technically never open, but we always sit there. I was too horrified to leave like this, so I asked for a menu but didn’t want anything. Here was a good time to test out the steak-in-a-regular-restaurant thing.
The order was for a simple steak, potatoes, and salad trio. We ordered a filet, a side salad, and potatoes Dauphinois.
The steak was a thing of beauty, a nice-sized wonk of beef, tender to the touch and sizzling in butter. It was plated elegantly, with some roasted garlic beside it and a sprig of rosemary on top. It was butter-tender to cut into and was cooked medium rare. Since I am not a big meat eater, I always cut the edges off a steak like that and I let Tom enjoy the bright red interior parts. This was one of the best steaks I have had in a restaurant that wasn’t a steakhouse, which is what I would have expected from a Donald Link restaurant.
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The salad that accompanied it was very nice but nothing special. It was full of fresh and interesting greens with a perky citrus vinaigrette. Grated Parmesan coated it sparingly, but enough.
The potatoes we ordered as a side were the most interesting thing on the table. Chemin a la Mer is in The Four Seasons Hotel, so no ordinary regular potatoes au gratin will do. This was more of a quattro formaggio version of Potatoes Dauphinois. More intense cheeses like Gruyere and Parmesan were mixed with the cream, shaping the very thin slices of potato into a compact and dense mass of richness. It had my favorite feature: a hard cheesy crust on top.
This was definitely a meal comparable to anything in a first-class steakhouse, but I wouldn’t get it here again. All the other Louisiana food is so wonderful that getting a steak in a place like this diminishes the mastery Donald Link and the like have of our local cuisine.
The excellent food and glamorous surroundings made this newcomer an instant favorite of ours. If only I can stop being embarrassed every time we go in.
