"Did you like the famous crepe?", our waitress asked as she whisked away my now empty plate. I gave her a slightly puzzled look but I could see how news of the delicious appetizer could spread quickly - the tamale-like braised, tender pork filling, neatly tucked into a herb-laced savory crepe was the perfect marriage of French refinement and Latin comfort.
We had dropped in on Tuesday night "Neighborhood Appreciation" night where the prix-fixe was $20.
Here's a shot of the crepes again, this time you can see the marinated cauliflower micro-florets and chili sauce. Trey Popp does a great run-down of the flavors you're going to find on this plate over at City Paper - guajillo pepper, Coca-Cola, lemongrass and vinegar. I found this article after we'd dined at Paul...little did I realize that I'd ordered much of what City Paper covered, so here's the pictures to go along with the article.
Elizabeth started with the soup of the day - The French Onion soup was heavy on the croûton and the consistency was on the thicker side of the F.O. soup spectrum, but the flavors were balanced...usually there's an overload of salt when you have a hearty F.O. soup.
The braised short-ribs were fall-off the bone delicious and came served over polenta...a solid rendition of an early-winter comfort dish. The polenta couldn't quite handle the amount of sauce that accompanied the ribs.
Here's a snapshot of another dish that Popp sounded off on, the seared skate wing. The coating was a fine-grained herb crust that reminded me of fried chicken. The skate was cooked perfectly, with a flaky inside, crispy fennel-studded outside, and without that oily heaviness that you can sometimes get with a breaded fish.
The peppery potato-chorizo hash beneath the skate was aggressively spiced...we're talking habanero heat. It's not so much heat that it's unpalatable....I just wish I'd brought a wine that was a little more evenly matched, like a Gewurtz.
It looks like the chef at Paul who served up this meal has left the kitchen.
Here's his side of the story, posted over on Yelp and has since been deleted - thanks to a savvy buddy of mine who scooped up the cached version of the review and broke the news to me.
Don't know if the link is still valid, but if you care to read it...
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