In the 36 years I have been with Tom I have never set foot in Bayona. This has always been a source of amazement and embarrassment until I started to check the menu from time to time. Finally, I understood why I've never made it there. Bayona is too gourmet for me.
That disconnect came to an end this evening because I finally saw a menu at Bayona that intrigued me. It was a special 3-course prix fixe to celebrate the late great Julia Child’s birthday, which happened yesterday.
Bayona is a charming restaurant with a great patio, though even I wouldn’t sit out there now. Inside is a warren of very nice rooms that invite meandering. The wait staff is professional and competent. Nice place.
After a friendly greeting, we sat inside the door. They brought an amuse-bouche of cheese straws that were sharp in flavor and soft in texture. Despite the texture flaws (cheese straw should be stiff but crumbly) the flavor of these was irresistible.
I asked for French bread to keep Tom occupied while we waited for food, and they sent out a perfectly toasted piece of baguette and soft butter to match.
The first course came and the Tomato Galette was clearly the star. It was almost an entree-sized portion. The crust was flaky and the inside was filled with too much leek. The little slices of heirloom tomatoes were placed sporadically on the top. This little pie appeared bereft of cheese, which would have been very helpful.
It was still quite good, and the combination of the corn salad and the pie was a tasty mouthful.
My appetizer wasn’t as good. It was a saffron terrine of seafood, including lobster and crawfish in a gelatin. This was served in a small slice on a plate with rouille and a pile of nori dust. Interesting. The seafood terrine didn’t make much of a statement, but the presentation did.
For an entree Tom had the tuna which came with mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and olives. I have never seen tuna so gorgeous., and I have not seen a Mediterranean preparation of mashed potatoes before. A large hunk of soft tuna was seared beautifully on the edges and perfect inside. Tom devoured this.
My steak was beautiful. I took a few bites from around the edges until I noticed “the thing.” I asked if it was sous vide and I didn't need to wait for the answer. Sous vide ruins beef for me. It was served on a flattened brioche toast. There were a few shavings of foie gras on top, and a luscious demi-glace underneath. Two perfectly cooked fingerling potatoes came with this, as well as some smallish asparagus spears. I'm hoping some pan-searing at home of the leftover steak will return it to edible for me.
For dessert, I got the Chocolate Sheba cake, which was a dark and dense flourless chocolate cake with ganache icing. It was served with raspberries and crème fraîche. This was pretty great.
Tom, meanwhile, was working on the Roulade Suzette, their interpretation of the famous French dessert. It was a light cake with a cream filling and little pieces of orange scattered about. This was great too.
All around the dining room were large parties of people having a great time. A lot of them knew each other. It does seem like a great place to hang out. And I'm glad to have finally made it there after all these years.
