SUNDAY-Le Rostand

Sunday was a catchup day for us, jet lag is a cruel mistress. We slept late, had breakfast, slept late, and then went out in the pouring rain to a protected outdoor cafe near the park.


We kept it simple with a great cheese plate and bread. There was gorgonzola, cantal, reblochon, and camembert. All of them were yummy, but I fell in love with the orangey rinded reblochon. Soft, lightly pungent, and oh so cheesey.


Dessert was a chocolate item for Jeri that was like descending into a chocolate darkness. Not sweet, but a deeply chocolate mousse perched atop a thin, coarse piece of white cake and surrounded by creme anglaise on one side and a dark chocolate sauce on the other and dusted with cocoa powder -- the sauce alone was so darkly chocolate, it almost had a petroleum taste. The creme anglaise was no match for this and almost seemed to be there just to show how it withered in the face of such chocolateness. One could hardly see while tasting this blackness, let alone breathe.


It was the first chocolate thing I've ever tasted that made me appreciate chocolate as a serious flavor. Astonishing.


I had a very traditional French dessert: an apple tartin. Simply put, it's an apple upside-down cake, but so much more than that. The apples are slowly cooked to the point where those on the bottom become something crossed between a burnt sugar caramel and apple butter (minus the cinnamon and spices). The base was several
buttered phyllo layers and the dish was served with a tart creme fraiche that perfectly complimented the dark, buttery apple/sugar flavors. Yummers.


Our coffee's went exceptionally well with the dessert and the cheese. I'm understanding why cheese can be a dessert dish.