Restaurant La Mère Brazier is made up of a number of small rooms on a couple levels. Heavy drapes and carpet provide much sound dampening in the rooms decorated in 2 shades of gray, white and cream.  The nice sized tables are well spaced, covered with white clothes and set with very starched napkins and set with alternating dark charger with light bread plate or the opposite combination, all with silver accents.    The comfortable chairs are a swivel type.  They offer 2 tasting menus, with optional wine pairings and an a la carte menu.  We chose the 3 course Classical Menu and got our own bottle of white and half bottle of red.  The “3” course tasting also had a cheese course and choice of dessert.  The pacing and portion control were great as was the service.  The staff were all very friendly and helpful, along with speaking good English.  Chef Mathieu Viannay, who also became the owner in 2008, was in the house and came out to visit with his guests.  They did a re-model of the restaurant a couple years ago.  The restaurant has been awarded 2 Michelin Stars.

 

While you made your choices they brought a slice of house made Pâté en Croûte.  It was delicious  On the side were some pickled cherries and a bit of the juice topped each piece.  The crust adhered nicely to the meat portion instead of falling apart.  Not sure what all was in it but it was great.

 

The bread basket was passed and included sour dough baguette, pumpkin, rye and beet root breads.  The sourdough and pumpkin were good.  They were served with a seaweed butter and traditional olive oil from Spain.  I didn’t care for the butter but the oil was fine and the bread was good without enhancement.

 

An amuse bouche was a fish soup with cod and red mullet.  The few tasty chunks of fish were combined with a few vegetables in a well flavored broth based on an intense roux.

 

Artichokes and Foie Gras included artichoke surrounded by foie gras, steamed artichokes with pickled oyster mushrooms.  The flavors were mild and the main texture was creamy.  It was good.

 

Crispy Pike Mousse with crayfishes was in nantua sauce.   The mousse was crispy on both edges and filled with a quenelle.  it was very good and rich.  The sauce was wonderfully flavorful and was a marvelous accompaniment to the excellent crayfish.  They were plump, juicy and totally tasty.  This was a great dish and a perfect sauce with just the right consistency and thickness.

 

The Veal Sweetbreads were plated with salsify, black truffles and tubers with an old Madeira wine sauce.  There was also a paste of black truffles.   The sweetbreads were very tender and not pasty.  The sauces were wonderful and added some nice dimensions to the dish.  The salsify was joined by Jerusalem artichoke, some of which was in crunchy strips, and both added nice texture to the dish.  Excellent combination of flavors and textures in this dish.

 

The cheese course was your choice among a large number of cheese options.  A walnut raisin bread was provided to go with this course, which was a tad dry but the cheese really didn’t need bread.  They were good.

 

Gouda cheese ice cream was paired with a Madeleine which was totally buttery, had a perfect crisp edge and a pound cake like interior.  It was a fun and tasty transition course.

 

The Grand-Marnier Soufflé was excellent.  It was light and creamy on the inside with a sugary crispy edge.  A perfect rendition of a classic.

 

The final treats were pistachio pie with Campari jelly and a praline-passion fruit sandwich.  The pistachio pie was buttery and good.  A great way to end a fine meal.