As yesterday was ESDay, AZ and I had our 'nice night out'. I'd opted for Blackbird, based on some decent reviews here and there (and some praise for the owners of Blackbird on the part of Tony Bourdain in a recent Gourmet column about counter eating.

Blackbird is, as AZ pointed out, another in a line of minimalist (white, flat color decor) restaurants we've been to. Presumably this is focuses the attention on the experience and on the food. And the food was indeed lovely.

AZ started with a variation on a favorite dish of hers, fried clams. These were pan-fried, lightly, served with some greens and a sauce. I had a 'cheese salad' of figs, a lovely double-cream, greens, white asparagus and haricots verts.

For entrees, AZ surprised me a bit by choosing a venison with rhubarb; the bite I had was lovely - a warm rare meat, strongly flavored with a bit of punch on top from a homemade worcestershire sauce. For my part, I had the lamb t-bones, which were served with a hint-of-mediterranean yogurt and garbanzo.

One of the items highlighted by Bourdain in his review of counter eating was the homemade sausages at Blackbird's sister restaurant, Avec. There was a smattering of them served with my lamb, and they were a delight - spicy, meaty and very, well, sausage-y.

All in all, a lovely meal, accompanied by a St-Emillion red and finished with some tasty desserts.

A fitting companion to conversation of the days musings and plans.

Technorati Tags: dining, blackbird

Posted by esinclai at May 05, 2005 06:55 AM |