Eulalie was a small French restaurant in the Tribeca neighborhood of NYC.  Run by Chef Chip Smith in the kitchen and Tina Vaughn doing front of house and wines.  White cloths cover the well spaced tables and the lights are lowered.  Mood music was in the background to work with the light green walls decorated with paintings and plants.  One difference in this place was that they do not do online booking, you call to make a reservation but that seemed to exemplify the personalized service of the place.   All the staff work in conjuction to make your evening relaxed, comfortable and memorable meanwhile Chef Chip turns out food to match.   Moving here from North Carolina they opened in the L-shaped space that formerly held Corton in December of 2023.   The Prix Fixe tasting menu was written by hand by Tina and you can add a cheese course, dessert and/or wine pairings.  The server also told us about several additions to the menu that night and we enjoyed some of those.  I found it a lovely idea that dessert was optional and she helped us choose a bottle of wine to go with dinner although took the interest to pour us additional glasses that she felt went with some of the courses, although she quickly tells you she has no formal wine training.  They sensed how much we were enjoying dinner and offered us a kitchen tour when we finish, so be sure to go and meet the chef.  All quite humble yet so very talented- it was an absolutely delightful evening and I’d heartily recommend that you call and make a reservation whenever you find yourself in NYC.

Set-up

 

Food

All menus start with terrine of the house which our visit was duck and venison with foie gras and on the side were pickles, peppercorn dijon mustard , brioche bread and prune jam.  The pickles were sliced and slightly sweet yet spicy – delicious.  I love a spicy mustard and this one fit the bill with a bit of horseradish in it.  The prunes were also wonderful with their sweet fruit working magic with the terrine.  Lots of fun combinations here.

 

Bread was a crusty roll with nice doughy interior.  The butter was well softened and tasty.

 

Lobster salad was on a lightly toasted brioche, topped with chips and avocado on the side.  The sweet lobster was dressed with mayo and mixed with a few vegetables.  The fried potatoes on top gave it even more crisp and a tad of salt.  The salad had a slight spiciness that was wonderful and it mixed with the creamy avocado spectacularly.  Yum.

 

The chef chooses a bowl for all for the next course and tonight it was fish soup.  It had oysters and fish, was topped with caviar and dotted with crisp croutons.  This was amazing – you can bet my bread soaked up every bit of it.

 

Another option to the menu tonight was pan-seared Hake with artichokes, Thumbalina carrots, fava beans, maitake mushrooms and a beurre blanc sauce.   The large chunk of fish was cooked perfectly and so tasty, yet not overly rich, with the sauce.  The fresh mushrooms were tasty as were the tiny artichokes and carrots.   It appeared to be a simple plate and yet it held extraordinary tasting food.

 

We opted to split a dessert, Coconut cake, which is a signature dish of the chef.  The cake comes in a ball shape and was yellow cake covered with coconut and layered with a thick creamy filling.  It was one of the best coconut desserts I’ve ever had – I can see why it stays on the menu.

 

The servers really wanted us to try another dessert, Pot de creme and so they brought one accompanied by a delicious butter cookie.    It was thick, dense semi-sweet chocolate and lovely but oh that shortbread cookie was heaven.