It was an extremely promising amuse bouche. A meaty slice of sweetly fresh, fatty salmon quickly sets a high bar.
We had the oysters to start they were Fanny Bay and Island Creek. Both were on the 1/2 shell topped with ponzu and tobiko. Very tasty. I would have preferred the toppings on the side.
We shared kobe beef with brandade. Both were excellent on their own. Together they were not completely in love. We shared a softshell crab dish and a pea soup with prawns. I thought the crab was misunderstood and not expressing it's character too successfully. The pea soup was astonishingly green with a matching bright flavor. It had a green sweetness that buoyed the sweet chunks of prawn. House salad was quite delicious, just barely dressed, crispy greens with extremely savory little nuggets of lamb bacon.
We ordered gnochi and asparagus as sides. The asparagus was delectably fresh and just steamed. The white chocolate sauce sort of tricked me into expecting hollandaise, I was disappointed. We shared curried lobster and cote de veau for entrees. The lobster was a shelled, pristine BIG meaty tail with claws. It was steamed to a tender, barely cooked minimum and shelled. Again, I thought that the lobster was misunderstood. The little pool of broth and small slab of flat bread might have matched better with a small pot of steamed lobster meat and vegetables, herbs/seaweed, flowers etc. However it morphed into an unbelievably luscious 'leftover' with leftover risotto the next day. The veal chop was prime and tasty.
First we had the excellent Lacroix house champagne with the oysters. Then the sommelier brought the red Sancerre to our table. He told us interesting details about the wine but I recall nothing except that it was a very enjoyable, lighter, non-oaky red that agreed with the mix of dishes we had. It was a lot like the Cab Franc that we learned about at the wine tasting. It was the first I heard of a red Sancerre!
Service at Lacroix was outstanding and the sommelier was a virtuoso of vinology.
