Monday was Betsy’s birthday. After trying to decide on restaurant I told her to please limit her birthdays to other days of the week from now on, most of the places I wanted to take her were closed. I settled on La Panetiere in Rye based on some recommendations. Pretty dining room in an old Victorian. Service was attentive (formal without being stiff), and food was quite good.
As we sat they brought some cheesesticks and an assortment of nice fresh bread, followed by an amuse of black olive "ravioli" (actually crispy, at first I thought pastry but realized it actually WAS pasta baked till it was hard), served with a tomato coulis. All tasty.
For starter, Betsy had the foie gras. One slice of cold and a small warm "crème brulée" with chutney. We got her a glass of the 1986 Ch. D’Arche (Sauternes). Rather straightforward sticky, not long on complexity. Lighter style, easy if not exciting. B
I had the duck terrine with pistachios and truffles, accompanied by a relish and cornichons. Both dishes were quite good.
I felt wine list was quite reasonable for upper-end French. Burgundy section was heavy on negociants, but the negociants were ones I like such as Drouhin Some older bottles, some (Beaunes from Jadot for instance) quite reasonably priced. The Bordeaux list was much longer, with many many mature bottles, and prices seemed mostly good to me. Older or more expensive bottles were most 1.5x to 2.0x retail, less expensive stuff averaged 2.5x by my calculations. I got the
1998 Grand Corbin Despagne (St Emilion). Nice modern St. Emilion, the ripe blackberry and black plum fruit framed but not overwhelmed by some cinnamon toast and vanilla accents. Gets a little chocolately through the night, tannins are integrating nicely. This is the best showing of this wine I’ve seen, though I might have been influenced by the company. A-/B+
Betsy had a sirloin, with Brussels sprouts leaves and pasta with a cheese crust. I had pheasant with a port sauce, a croquette of celeriac, and sweet potato gnocchi w/mushrooms. All were quite tasty. Betsy had a dessert, grapes and Asian pear stewed in a wine/saffron sauce baked under a pastry lid, accompanied by grape granite. I had a huge cheese plate that included Mimolette, Humboldt Fog, a chevre, and two sheep cheeses. Betsy felt dessert was delicious, but superfluous when the tower of petit fours arrived.
Nice place, we’ll be back.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.