Le Pichet

So, ever since the close of Chez Shea (*sniff*) last year, we have been without a favorite French food restaurant in our time of need. After an appropriate period of mourning (almost a year?), we finally went to Le Pichet a few weeks ago. (Weeks ago = poor food descriptions). This restaurant is also located in the Pike Place Market area, though lacking the beautiful view of Puget Sound. The ambiance is very much bistro like, with tiled floors and a walk up bar in the back. Very low pretension. The tables tops are made of slate, with chalk available for children as needed. The restaurant overall was very dark, however we were lucky enough to snag the window seat.

Our meal started with a complimentary amuse bouche of raw radish chunks, sprinkled with salt and pepper with a side of butter. I am not a huge radish fan, by itself. However, it was actually quite refreshing and not bitter at all. I failed to take a picture before we gobbled them up.

Here is an obligatory shot of one of my favorites, Bread and Butter. Evan has taken a liking to putting his hand in the shot lately. Call it artistic.

Appetizers
Pate albigeois. (Country style pork pate with honey and walnuts). This pate was all right. Tasty, but a bit dry and chunky. The accompaniments were classic, except for the honey and walnuts (new to me, at least). It was totally outshone by our other pate we ordered that night.

Sausage special with ramps and potatoes. We ordered this in the hopes that Evan would eat it has his dinner meal. (He is a sausage connoisseur!). Alas, it was not to be and we ate it for him. A little dry, however I believe the sausage was smoked before hand, so probably expected.

Terrine de ris de veau, creme fraiche, et salade au cresson. (Veal and veal sweetbread terrine served with watercress cream and a salad of watercress and pickled radishes). Now this was terrific. Good moisture, flavor, and consistency. The cream sauce with it was a nice bonus. The radishes were fantastic, adding that acidic bite that often accompanies pate! (I probably enjoyed them more than the veal itself).

Asperges grillees, lard Iberico, oeuf mollet et pommes gaufrettes. (Washington asparagus broiled with garlic-lemon oil, thinly sliced Iberico fat back, soft cooked egg and crispy waffle cut potatoes). After all that fat and meet, we had to order some veggies. Asparagus is in season and was the perfect size between not too-thin, not too-fat. See those sheets of film on top of the asparagus? Nope. Not cheese. They were super thin sliced pieces of fat back. Sounds really good, but they were sliced so thin, I'm not sure I got much flavor from them. The soft boiled eggs were the perfect consistency. (Though we sometimes make this dish at home with poached eggs, letting the yolk run everywhere). The waffle crisps were pretty, but a little overcooked to my tastes.

Entrees
Poisson du jour <<Bercy>> et son saute aux epinards et aux salsifis. (Fish of the day poached in white wine fumet, with parsley-lemon butter, heirloom spinach, salsify and crispy Serrano ham). My meal for the night was presented with beautiful rolled fish fillets (some sort of delicate white fish). While pretty, I think I prefer the texture with one fillet bite at time, versus several layers. The sauce was very light, with a small tang of wine and lemon. No heavy butter flavor at all. The Serrano ham added a bit of crunch to go with an overall well balanced dish.

Bavette grillee, beurre aux poireaux savages et sa duxelle rustique. (Grilled Northwest Grass Fed beef skirt steak, wild ramp butter, rustic mushroom duxelles and pommes frites). Probably the best entree of the night. The steak was perfectly cooked and tender. I can't remember what the sauce was on top, but was definitely not an overpowering bernaise. I wish the frites had come with a little aioli dipping sauce.

A pork tenderloin special with leeks. I'm not sure I can describe this one either, as I only had one bite. However, it was probably one of the best cooked pork tenderloins I've ever had. No dryness, whatsoever. Good flavor throughout. The accompanying cream sauce was hard to identify, mushroom maybe? (Yet I still liked it).

Saucisse de canard grille et ses gnocchis aux orties et au fromage blanc. (Pan roasted duck-pork suasage on fromage blanc-nettle dumplings, poultry jus, spring greens, and red wine poached rhubarb). This dried sausage was good, but probably our least favorite entree of the night. The gnocchis were a little disappointing, more mouth filling with little flavor instead of "pillow fluffs." The broth was good, however, was very reminiscent of a Southern collard-green broth.

Dessert
Oh... the desserts... so good!!!

Chocolat Chaud.  This was some of the richest hot chocolate I've ever had. It was like taking a spoonful of the inside of a molten chocolate cake and putting it in your mouth. It just completely covered all taste buds in a thickened, rich, chocolatey goodness. The whip cream on the side was essential to break up the flavor a little bit. So rich, we couldn't finish it.

Passion fruit cake with chocolate shavings and cream. A nice break from the chocolate on the table. The passion fruit was light and renewed the taste buds. Very light cake, almost like a flan.

Mousse au chocolat.  Once again, some very rich chocolate with a side of whip cream. Good density and flavor. We couldn't finish this one either.

Complimentary Caramels. I love caramels. However, we were so stuffed from the other deserts, we couldn't possibly eat these too. They are still sitting on my kitchen counter. I'm sure they are delicious. 

A wonderful meal overall. It was nice to have French food again, and these were very classic, rustic dishes. Definitely will come back again. Still on the hunt for a more "fancy" place.