Today's guest blogger is Janine Weisman, award-winning editor of the Newport Mercury and longtime Restaurant Week supporter. Janine carries on the legacy of Ann Franklin (Ben's sister-in-law), who published the original Mercury with her son in 1758 which is considered to be the oldest newspaper in the country (and making Ann the first woman in the Colonies to publish and edit a newspaper). Here, Janine dishes on her long-awaited experience at Newport's well-known Restaurant Bouchard.
I had the Jennifer Grey seat at Restaurant Bouchard. And while Patrick Swayze may have objected to where the maître d' placed me in the far back corner, I certainly wasn’t complaining.
Truth is, I was lucky to have this warm and cozy table for two with my husband Larry on a chilly first Saturday night of Newport Restaurant Week. (I made the reservation 2 ½ weeks earlier.) A wait list totaling 40 hopefuls were on stand by in case of cancellations at this lower Thames Street landmark known for its casual French fare and tuxedoed wait staff. One of 55 participating restaurants in Newport Restaurant Week, Restaurant Bouchard seats 75-80 people but is booked solid every night of this 10-day foodie extravaganza. Sorry to disappoint you waiting list people, but there was no way Larry and I were going to miss out on a three-course dinner here for $30.
That price point is a fabulous value at Restaurant Bouchard when you consider the regular menu: a first course could cost anywhere from $6.75 to $20, entrees $18-$38.75 and a soufflé for dessert $10. I don’t know how Chef Albert Bouchard can do it but he makes it work. And it works so amazingly well, let me tell you. So glad we were to toast the imminent end of Daylight Saving Time with a sumptuous meal.
I won’t quibble with the fact our first courses came before the wine. We are patient people after all. Larry and I went with a bottle of Decoy cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley, dry and textured and a joy to swallow. It perfectly complemented Larry’s first course, the rich house pâté of duck, pheasant and chicken livers, and his second, a mouth-watering (OMG!) sirloin steak with classic Béarnaise sauce. Not so much for me since I started with the tower of cold shrimp over crunchy Brussels sprout slaw with a light tomato remoulade followed by the roasted cod with a sinfully rich chive beurre blanc and chunks of lobster meat. I could have gone with a glass of chardonnay but I love the idea of getting a bottle - the performance of the waiter opening it makes the meal all the more special. Plus we were glad to discover a delicious red we’d never tried before.
Dessert was almost too joyful for words, but I’ll try. Larry’s heavenly chocolate soufflé came with a Grand Marnier sauce - we loved that the waiter drizzled it over the soufflé at the table. My dining companion almost forgot to give me a taste ... ahem ... until I gently reminded him that the joy of dining out together and ordering different items off the menu was that we got to taste twice as many dishes. My almond praline cream puff was simply divine, layering fluffy over flaky. Definitely not a hand held cream puff, I would have French kissed it anyway had my utensils been missing. I ordered a decaf cappuccino and struggled to pace myself savoring it all with small bites. I think I liked my dessert better than Larry's, but then again, I didn’t have an adequate soufflé sample to truly make a sound determination. And darn I'll have to chance the waiting list to try again. Ah, well. C’est la vie.
Chef Albert Bouchard in the kitchen