Les Halles

Todd's birthday was Wednesday, and he chose Les Halles (on Park Ave South) for dinner. I think it's because he read Kitchen Confidential recently and was curious to see the place Bourdain wrote so much about. It's funny because if we had given it any real thought the Les Halles in our imaginations would have matched the real one, but we both imagined something less dark, crowded and noisy. We were both game, though, and really grew to like the liveliness.

Our drinks were ho-hum, but we split an order of smoked herring and potato salad to start that was my favorite part of the meal. It was one whole smoked herring fillet, draped over four big chunks of boiled potato. The herring was not flakey, but had the texture of tough cold-smoked salmon. At first Todd said the texture bordered on revolting, but he grew to like it. The best part was that the potatoes get covered in all that smokey olive oil from the fish, the excess of which I mopped up with the good bread.

I almost wish I had stopped there, simply because I was so full after eating my main course that I could hardly enjoy dessert. I ordered merguez and frites. The four lamb sausages were very unevenly seasoned from link to link: the cumin and heat of the first one overwelmed any other flavor, but the second link was more mildly seasoned, and benefitted from the spicy harissa served with. Good fries and a few greens that offered a cool break from the heat of the lamb. Todd's steak (a NY strip, I think) was so sweet and tender, with a pronounced beefy flavor, like a good hamburger on the grill. (Is it depressing that I think his steak tasted like hamburger? I don't mean it that way.).

Chocolate-banana cake for dessert, which I would've enjoyed more had my tastebuds recovered from my main dish. Happy Birthday, Todd! I hope you enjoyed it.