Le Cornichon was a small bistro under the direction of Chef Sébastien Dagoneau since January 2020.  It was able to seat 45 with a combination of bench and table seating at small bare wood tables. The building was on a corner so windows to the street added extra light to the number of hanging light fixtures in the room.  The Chef was there greeting guests as they arrived and then came to take your order.  The menu was a la carte style with prices based on the number of courses you order.  The same menu was offered at lunch as at night with prices slightly higher at night.  Some options did incur supplemental charges.  Art was on the wall with one giant wood piece that looked like an unassembled whiskey barrel.  The neighborhood feel was nice and the good was good.  It’s the kind of place I’d go to often if I lived nearby.

Set-Up

 

Food

The bread service was a basket of sliced brown sourdough.  It was very crusty with a good dense interior.

 

The Tourteaux was crab in a salad with lemon alongside radish salad, apples, cucumber and an emulsion of cauliflower.  It was mildly flavored and very nice.

 

The foie gras was a pâté and served with Granny Smith apples and hibiscus coulis (dots) along with apple and ginger compote.  It was a nice dense round dotted lightly with salt.  The compote was a fun sweet accompaniment as was the coulis.  It was good in many different combinations or just eaten alone.

 

The sweetbreads or ris de veau, were fried to a crispy golden brown with butter, alongside fried potatoes on top of baby spinach and crécy puree.  It was a generous portion of sweetbreads cooked perfectly to a creamy interior with a slight crisp on the exterior.  I never determined what the orange or crécy puree was made of but it all was tasty.

 

The mature French beef was a pan-fried ‘fillet heart steak’ with a creamy potato gratin and a few tossed greens.  The beef was filled with beef flavor but the meat was slightly dry and tough, which would be expected from this beef.  The greens were a nice addition especially when they bathed in the beef juices.  The potato gratin was divine – lots of thin layers of buttery potato goodness with a beautifully browned exterior.  It was totally yummy.  There was a small bit of pine nut relish to mix with something and I dipped the meat in it.  Another generous plate of tasty food.

 

A dessert of the day was fresh strawberries with vanilla almond cream.  The strawberries were a bit tart but a beautiful red color and fine when mixed with the sweet cream.  It was good and a refreshing dessert.

 

The Chou Croustillant was a pastry stuffed with light bourbon vanilla cream and topped with caramel.  The pastry was very stuffed with cream and the caramel had a light citrus essence.  It was topped with a thin tuile which added sweetness and crisp texture.  It was good.

 

A final treat from the kitchen was 2 Madeleines.  Buttery and rich these were a delight to end on.