Happy Birthday!

A few days late, but Happy Birthday bro! At 31 now, he's getting a bit old :o But he celebrates in style, and invited me to go to dinner with him and two other people to Le Gourmand. Not only did my brother choose a 5 star restaurant for dinner, but he went all out with the wine selection as well.

I never knew this, but restaurants will let you bring your own wine and charge you a per bottle flat fee to drink it there... which works out great for special occasions when you're wanting to drink special and unique wines. We had 3 bottles from 1976, my brother's birth year; white burgundy, red burgundy, and Alsace riesling. My brother's friend brought a 1990 champagne, but unfortunately it had gone a bit bad; so they bought a 1990 Bruno Paillard champagne to replace it. And we had a 1953 Royal Oporto to finish things off.

I'm not a wine connoisseur like my brother is, so I'll just say they were all very good wines and they paired very well with the 7 course meal. Pictures to follow, but in order of appearance.

1. Cherry soup made with leeks, onions, shallots, and a duck stock.
2. Blintzes filled with sheep's milk cheese with a chive butter sauce.
3. Chanterelle mushrooms in a very tasty sauce (I don't remember more about the name of this dish, but it was probably my favorite! Which is quite amazing as I don't usually enjoy mushrooms all that much.)
4. A seafood dish (don't remember what it was called)
5. Apricot sorbet.
6. Duck wrapped in homemade bacon.
7. Salad

And Dessert, a tartelette with fresh local fruits. Absolutely delicious! Then we finished off the night with a plate of cheeses. I'm still in awe with how good the food was, definately the fanciest meal I've ever had... maybe the fanciest meal I'll ever have :o The atmosphere at Le Gourmand is very nice, and the service is slow... in a good way. Don't come here looking for a fast meal. I didn't keep track of time, but I think we were there for about 4 hours!!... 4 hours of pure dining bliss!

On with the photos... I don't have photos of the duck or salad dish, and excuse the low quality photos... I don't bring my SLR with me everywhere I go ;)