chickenfeet

We finally celebrated lemurcatta 's birthday last night with dinner at Ici Bistro. It's a tiny place (it seats maybe 20) with an open kitchen and it's the latest endeavour of J-P Chalet. I know J-P because he takes his rugby almost as seriously as his food and I used to coach his son Morgan. I'd heard good things about Ici and finally managed to get a reservation for a sensible time. To cut to the chase we had one of the best meals I have ever eaten. Blow by blow commentary follows.

J-P spotted me as soon as we got through the door and we had a bit of a chat before we took our seats at the bar overlooking the open kitchen. J-P kindly comped us a couple of glasses of an excellent 13th Street rosé sparkler while we took a look at the menu. We were also presented with an amuse bouche of tiny tartlets of goat cheese and caramelized shallots that were exquisite and promised well for the rest of the meal. There are maybe a dozen dishes on the carte. Each comes in large and small portions and they have no qualms about sharing. In fact they encourage it. Each dish comes with a pair of wine recommendations; one Canadian and one French, all available by the glass. We started off with the trio of steak tartare, which is something of a house specialty. This is a generous plate even for two. The three presentations were as follows; with pommes dauphinois, with a potato gratin and a slice of Reblochon cheese and, best of all, topped with a couple of oysters and some Canadian caviar paired with a small pile of French fries. The combination of flavours, temperatures and textures was amazing; especially the rich meat with the salty, cold oyster and caviar and the hot crisp fries. We drank the rosé with this.

Next up was a scallop dish. Two perfectly cooked scallops were sliced horizontally and stuffed with king crab salad before being sandwiched between rounds of fried pear. They were accompanied by lobster, pickled rhubarb and thin slices of raw radish plus a small heap of potato "risotto" and a Newburg sauce. It was a superb combination of flavours again. We tried both the recommended wines. The Canadian was a most unusual fumé blanc from Stratus (whose wines I usually avoid). It didn't taste much like Sauvignon Blanc but it was delicious and a fine match for the dish. The Corbières blanc was much more conventional but very pleasant.

We followed this with the "Quartet of Lamb". The four ways were a fairly straightforward chop, a delicious piece of grilled saddle, a slice of roast gigot atop potato gratin and a cannelloni stuffed with truffled, braised shoulder. All of this was accompanied by a mint and pea puree and a very intense bordelaise sauce. All very good again. The wines were a strange blend of Syrah, Merlot and Cab Franc from a producer I don't remember but it was fruity and very food friendly and a much more conventional Corbières rouge which I would have sworn was a Médoc if I had tasted it blind. It could have used another year or two in bottle but was very nice.

At this point J-P sent us a complementary cheese plate that included the best Brie de Meaux I have ever had plus Reblochon, a semi-hard goat cheese and a Petit Basque. We finished off with a dessert that combined a rich chocolate cake, a chocolate mousse, superb vanilla ice cream and some berries washed down with a little Calvados.

There was enough food to satisfy without overwhelming as North American portions so often do. The cooking was exceptionally skilled and sophisticated and the wine list very well chosen. I wish I could afford to eat there often but the prices are what one should expect to pay for cooking of this class.