Pétrelle was a small place that was open for dinner Wed to Sun and lunch on Sat and Sun.  They serve only a tasting menu designed by Chef Lucie Boursier-Mougenot that reflects the seasons and her partner Sommelier Luca Danti runs the front of the house.  The night we were there an additional course was offered to supplement the 4-course menu and the server suggested we split one, which we did.   The place has been around for 18 years and used to be frequented by stars like Madonna to Mick Jagger as well as several French presidents, but this was under the past chef and management.  Still, it is a lovely little place filled with candles, white tablecloths, an assortment of tables and chairs, music in the background, lots of dark wood and a blazing fire the cold night we were there, as well as the photo of a flame.  With only 9 tables it can be a hard reservation to get but it is well worth your while and a real value for the money.  The menu is constantly changing but this team provides you with a wonderful evening and meal.

Set-Up

 

Food

A welcoming bite was a fabulous gougere topped with some trout roe and herbs.  It had a lovely texture and even better flavor.  A scallop consommé also contained some egg and other treats below the broth.  It was warm with a nice flavor.

 

The bread service was sliced brown bread with a good crisp crust and soft interior.

 

The first course was cuttlefish with kumquats and Brussels sprouts and fresh goat cheese.  It was a very good combination of flavors.  The cuttlefish was cut into strips that mixed well with the creamy cheese and the sprouts were in the form of poached leaves and fried halves.  A citrus sauce brought it all together.  Lots of textures with the fun punctuation of tart kumquats.

 

Gnocchi was plated with crab and pieces of pumpkin all topped with guanciale.  The gnocchi were solid (as opposed to lighter ricotta ones that are more cloudlike) and were good with the sweet crab and the smokey meat.  It lent itself to making numerous combinations of fun flavors.

 

Saint Jacques or scallops were the optional course that we split, but they were fairly large so two was plenty per person.  They were sauced with XO sauce made with shrimp and ham and then topped with shallots and well-cooked broccoli.  Some chili sauce was on the bottom that put a little spice into the dish.  It was good.

 

The last savory was a roasted pigeon filet topped with walnuts and a confit leg laying on radicchio and quince. A purée of celeriac was on the side and deeply flavored jus was below.  The breast meat was kept nicely rare and turned out to pair well with quince.  The radicchio was sauced with browned butter which made it delicious.  This was a great plate.

 

A kiwi pavlova was the dessert.  Under the meringue was a sauce made with celery, lavash, parsley and too many herbs for me to get down.  Whipped cream was inside the meringue shell and then topped with sliced kiwi.  This was sweet, creamy and yummy.

 

A second dessert was chocolate ganache with candied ginger.  The very smooth chocolate was perfect with the chewy ginger – a great twist to the usual chocolate.