Lafayette (Part 2: The restaurant)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I couldn't wait to come try it because it's owned by the same people who opened one of my favorite restaurants, Locanda Verde. Earlier this week, I posted about the bakery inside Lafayette--you can read the post here. This post will be about the actual meal.

For an appetizer, we got foie gras--fatty goose liver. Foie gras became illegal last year in California, because in order to get the geese to gain sufficient weight, farmers will force feed them by sticking a tube down their throats. It's a disgusting practice, but it's also delicious. The way you're supposed to eat this is you spread it over bread (or, if you're greedy like me, you'll eat it with a fork). For those of you who have never tried it, you're missing out. It tastes like salty butter, but better because it's creamier. The bread that comes with this dish, too, is really good. It's warm, buttered brioche that's chewy and light.

Our second appetizer was eggs Lafayette with smoked fish and caviar. It was just okay for me; the eggs were ice cold, which dulled a lot of the flavor. The smoked fish was also made into a mousse-type consistency, which I'm not really into. It's just seems a little dated for me.

My entree was duck au poivre ("with pepper"), with organic grains (mostly barley, among others), radish, and bacon. Although I requested my duck medium, it was a little less done than that, but it was nevertheless delicious. So tender and juicy, and slightly fatty. I thought that it was such a tease, cutting the radish to look like scallops (I'd forgotten that the dish came with radish, and got really excited when the dish came). I'm not sure if the dish really needed the radish, but it was still really good, especially with the bacon on top.

For dessert, I got beignets--basically donuts--which came with a chocolate mousse/cream and passion fruit syrup. These were quite nice, although it's large, large portion, but that just means you're getting your money's worth.

Overall, I was very pleased with Lafayette, both the restaurant and the bakery. I really want to come back for brunch or lunch, because they have a bunch of entrees that look really good. So far, I recommend the duck and the foie gras. Even though they're a little pricey ($29 for the duck, $20 for the foie gras) they are well worth the money--just share the foie gras with someone, and make sure to take a lot of it.

Lafayette

380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.

http://lafayetteny.com/

Lafayette (Part 1: The bakery)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I was so excited to try it because it's opened by the same people who own Locanda Verde in Tribeca (post coming soon!). At the entrance, there is a mini bakery, and I ate at both the bakery and the restaurant. There's just a lot to talk about for each, so I'm going to split the review into two parts. This post is going to be about the bakery.

The bakery has some classic French pastries, like macarons and canele, as well as things like brownies and cookies.

They have some pretty unusual macaron flavors, like "birthday cake" and a signature Lafayette flavor. They all have a nice texture: crisp on the outside and gooey and dense on the inside. My standouts are the birthday cake (chocolate filling with sprinkles), Lafayette (I can't put my finger on the flavor, but it's like tea), and salted caramel. The one I didn't like so much was the pistachio matcha (green tea). It was kind of sour; not in a going-bad way, but it just has this off-note that green tea flavoring can have if it's not perfectly done.

I love that they know how to store each kind of baked good. Caneles should never be refrigerated, or else water condenses at the bottom, and you end up with a cold, soggy crust. I love these caneles for their texture; the shells are so crisp, and the insides are the texture of a bouncy, airy pudding (not the instant kind; more like Yorkshire pudding). I find that there's not much flavor variation between any canele; they all taste pretty light and slightly egg-y--really delicious, but what makes each one unique is the texture.

I also want to give a mention to their chocolate items. I think the mark of a great chocolate dessert is when it has a great, deep chocolate flavor, but isn't sweet (or at least not overly sweet) or cloying. I find that with a lot of chocolate desserts, I can only eat two bites because they're just so heavy. The brownie (you can get it with or without nuts) is the best one I've had in a long time; it's quite thin and flat, so the edges are nice and crisp. What ruins a lot of brownies for me, is when they make it too moist and too rich, and it just ends up being mushy and overly sweet. Lafayette's brownies, though, are just slightly denser than cake. The chocolate macaron is great, too. I'm almost never impressed by chocolate macarons, because they're just so basic and they all taste really sugary. This one, though, has a true chocolate flavor, which, ironically, is really rare in a chocolate macaron.

I hate that I will pass Lafayette everyday, because I am going to gain so much weight. I definitely will come back to try some of the other bakery items (like quiche and pain au chocolat) and I will do an updated post about those!

Lafayette
380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.