Les Halles!

Our second night in New York, and before we headed to the Broadway Musical Jersey Boys, Zach and I went to Dinner at Les Halles.

Named after the Central Food Market in Paris, Les Halles is the New York restaurant where Anthony Bourdain (Travel Channel's No Reservations) got his start as a chef. Now while Anthony isn't behind the scenes anymore, is now the Owner, Chef-at-Large, and regular during his visits to NYC.

I knew we were in for a treat, Bourdain's food preferences (from years of watching No Reservations) tend to be for the No Fuss but Crazy Good variety...and that is absolutely what we got! Were they the prettiest, most artfully displayed dishes...No, but they were packed with a ton of flavor from those traditional french sauces...

For our Appetizer, we split the Foie Gras sauteed with Apples, Walnut and a Calvados Sauce (Zach and I became obsessed with Calvados when we studied Abroad...it is like an Apple Brandy...in Normandy they make a lot of deserts flambeed with Calvados!). It was fantastic, the sweet fruitiness of the Apple etc. was the perfect complement to the rich buttery foie gras.  The dish also had a bit of crunch since the sauteed foie gras was served on a crostini...Unlike a Book, I feel like You can always judge a restaurant by its first course, and this was fantastic!

I stayed in the Duck family for my entree too, getting the "Magret de Canard" - translation, Roasted Duck Breast in a Pomegranate Sauce served with Green Beans with Beets (I picked around the beets...I'm just not a big fan...) and Potato Gratin (not your standard, more of a cheesy chunky mashed potato!)...Fantastic...literally melt in your mouth!

And Zach got the Restaurant's Signature dish, Filet coated in Cracked Peppercorns and Frites! Zach's favorite thing about our time in France and French Food in general, is the popularity and acceptance of eating French Fries or "Frites" with a nice dinner, and these fries were perfect - Crispy but still potatoey! He was in heaven! And the Steak great, a strong but not over-powering peppercorn flavor with a Red Wine Reduction Sauce on top!

I finished off the night with Les Halles' Creme Brulee...I mean you can't go to a French Restaurant without Creme Brulee right? (I actually had a quest during our Summer in France to find the BEST Creme Brulee...so I consider myself a bit of an expert...). It was good...was it great? No...but definitely good. The caramelized sugar coating on top was perfectly torched so that it had a nice shatter when you broke into it (my dad is who taught me to appreciate a creme brulee's cracking...) but the flavor wasn't anything extraordinary.  In hind sight I wish I had gone with the Profiteroles!

I was impressed with not only the quality of the food and the ambiance...but Les Halles was a great bang for your buck too! My next time in New York - it is a must return to! Les Halles did not disappoint and was the perfect place to start off our night in the city...but what would you expect when Anthony Bourdain puts his name on it!