What We Ate, Part 2

2. Dinner out, Saturday night:

[yes, that's right, after the epic lunch at Danielle and Gerard's house, we actually ate again. But we went for a nice outing Saturday afternoon, so after 2 hours of walking and six hours of digestion, another meal didn't seem quite so impossible as it had seemed at 2pm. I now understand why so many French restaurants begin dinner at 8pm.]

First, we ordered an aperitif. It was a kir Angevin, but I can't remember what the wine was. Perhaps just the house white, to which had been added cherry syrup. They served us a little aluminum tin full of pretzels.

Second, we had an appetizer course. Dominique and Brian shared a plate which consisted of: a wedge of camembert breaded and baked, laid over a bed of softened leeks with cream sauce. Charles had escargot. They had been sauteed, then topped with a blackberry sauce. All of it was served in a crepe which had been formed into a cup. My appetizer was pate. That's right - more pate. I couldn't resist, ok? My pate was duck (naturally, what do I look like to you?), and it came with a small pile of sea salt, cracked black pepper, and whole pink peppercorns. Brian ordered us a lovely red wine (Anjou Villages) to eat with the meal, and we began drinking it with the appetizer. YUM!

Our main course was a double double. Dominique and I had duck confit with potato wedges (fried? Baked crisp? Unsure). Charles and Stick had grilled steak, potato wedges, and the whole of it covered in currant sauce. I stole a bunch of the currant sauce with my potato wedges. I'm a thief.

Dessert exposed Dominique's weakness. She was all, "No, I'm full." So Charles and I ordered creme brulee, and Brian ordered a piece of chocolate cake. It looked fine, but whatever. Dessert is almost always pretty. So I was like, "Chocolate cake. Eh." Then Dominique tried it. She seemed kind of...surprised. Charles tried it. He was impressed. I tried it. I said, "Wow." Crispy on the outside, like mousse on the inside, buttery and chocolate-y, bitter and sweet: in short, ridiculous.

Dominique suddenly wanted a piece of her own. Charles flagged down the (charming) waiter, who Laughed Out Loud and said something like "I told you so."
As a cap on the whole thing, Charles discovered at the checkout that the shop sold not only wine but also whiskey. And they had Woodford Reserve! Charles and the owner chatted, and Charles had the pleasure of informing him of the Kentucky pronunciation of Versailles [Vuhr-Sales].

Incredulity ensued. I believe Charles may have been the most popular client that night. And not just because we took away a bottle of Cointreau for Danielle and Gerard. After all, we drank the last of theirs.