Le Coucou

[Sneakeater]

[Sneakeater]

1. Le Coucou might have generously comped early promising customers, but at least in my case, it clearly wasn't because they knew of any internet presence. They had no idea it was my birthday yesterday until my date let it slip mid-meal.

 

2. My date, who doesn't regularly read The Times, remarked to me that "something" must have happened since we were last there to make the staff more "haughty". Indeed.

 

3. My take wasn't that the staff was more "haughty". It was that they were more shell-shocked. Rather than removing pressure, I think the Times review increased demand to the point approaching the limits of tolerance. I hope Maitre d' Cecchi gets the vacation he looks like he needs before 2018.

 

4. Chef Rose, OTOH, looked like nothing in the world could rile him, one way or the other.

 

3. They now have a tete de veau. It frankly isn't as silkily superb as Chef Pujin's was. But I'll take it.

 

4. They had to reconfigure the pheasant to account for my date's (cancer-associated) lactose intolerance. So they replaced the butter in the recipe with fat drippings from the foie. This made the dish -- a classic Alsatian preparation, with the pheasant and the foie over the most gorgeous sauerkraut you've ever eaten -- almost too rich. The key word there is "almost".

 

5. They comped us what I think will soon be a new menu addition: venison carpaccio in a cocoa-nib emulsion. This was beyond fantastic.

 

COMP DISCLOSURE: That venison, a french fry dusted with caviar (an inside joke), and then once they found out it was my birthday they retroactively comped our pre-dinner drinks and maybe desserts.

[joethefoodie]

4. Chef Rose, OTOH, looked like nothing in the world could rile him, one way or the other.

Considering he also has a brand-new restaurant and an infant restaurant currently open in Paris, fairly astonishing.

 

That sauerkraut, which I think I referred to as "almost sauerkraut," is fucking delicious.

[Robert Brown]

There's buckshot in wild rabbits, but I was talking about the pheasant.

[taion]

I thought you used birdshot for rabbits?

[taion]

Not to mention, uhh, birds like pheasants.

[Anthony Bonner]

Either way you can't serve shot game in restaurants in the us no?

[AaronS]

isn't there an exception for scottish game? I feel like I've seen buckshot warnings on menus in new york.

[Sneakeater]

I think the law is something like you can't serve game shot in New York. I don't know if it extends to the entire region or even the entire U.S. Clearly you can serve imported shot game.

[taion]

But no matter what, you'd still use birdshot rather than buckshot for birds, no?

[Sneakeater]

I believe AR-15s are favored by hunters. Hence their legal availability.

[taion]

Then you definitely wouldn't have a buckshot warning.

[Wilfrid]

Looks like Michelin got my rabbit.

[Rich]

Cows jump over the moon, rabbits kick the stars.

[joethefoodie]

Looks like Michelin got my rabbit.

Maybe they just looked at your pictures and decided not to go?