Spring Menu Tasting at Patou

It has been two weeks since I last posted anything, but it seems like a million years. First, I had very beloved little pet die, which sucked all the fun out of food and made blogging about cooking and eating seem like such folly. But time has passed and now I feel like I can move back into the food obsessed life I was living with a little hole in my heart.... If you want to read about my pet bird I made a blog for her: SASHA BIRD .

The night before Sasha died it was the Spring menu tasting at Patou, a truly magical evening with two of my oldest friends, Brook and my older brother Walt. The three of us were hanging out 20 years ago, when I was an avid baker of first class mud pies in the back yard. Now they are city slickers and I am still a fan of playing with food, just real food now. Thanks, for going with me guys and being willing to put out the $25.00 a head for it.
Patou is a French influenced restaurant in the Dilworth area of Charlotte. There was very limited parking and I parked in a Starbucks parking lot, regardless of the sign threatening to tow and after a three hour meal I was a little worried my car wouldn't be there when I came back. There was a guitarist and a pianist playing music when we arrived and they sat us in a booth in a section of the restaurant reserved for those who were there for the Spring tasting menu. The tasting menu consisted of three course of four items per course. We were given a menu and below each item we had to rate the taste and presentation of the dishes and whether or not they should be on the Spring menu. I was very excited about this because I love to grade food and discuss it and try to pick up all the flavors in a dish and if and how they work together, so having a meal where the focus was thinking and grading your food was the perfect way to spend a Wed. evening.
We started out with a glass of Vouvray, which was crisp and light on the tongue and mellow in my stomach. Then they began to bring out the appetizer course, which was Baby Scallops with a yellow and red pepper sauce, Spinach mousse with a black olive sauce, Goat cheese cake with caramelized onions and orange sauce, and finally, a baby spinach salad with goat cheese, candied pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette.

My fave was the goat cheese cake and caramelized onions (at right in pic). The orange really complemented the goat cheese and onion. Second was the baby spinach salad, presented here, rolled up in a thin strip of cucumber. My least fave was the spinach mousse, which probably could have been good but it was way too salty. I should have snapped a picture of Walt or Brook's plate because mine wasn't plated as evenly as theirs.
The entrees came on separate plates. They were Salmon stuffed with crabmeat in a buerre blanc, Lamb Wellington, Chicken Roulade, and a Pork tenderloin with a blueberry, brandy and apple sauce. They were each very good. The best was definitely the salmon. It was perfectly seasoned and it was pure crabmeat in the stuffing no bread at all. My second favorite was the chicken roulade, it was stuffed with goat cheese, spinach, mushrooms and herbs and had a rich creamy sauce. The meal was going really fast at this point and the conversation was flowing so I forgot to get pics of the entrees except the lamb and the picture I got of it was a little blurry. I'm sorry because they all looked really good but here is a pic of the Lamb Wellington

The final course was my favorite since I am a big dessert fan and read the desserts section of the menu first. It seems all too often dessert menus are so uninspired. This one wasn't incredibly brilliant but it tasted really good and had some thought to it. It was a lemon mousse, chocolate mousse cake, diplomat, and a fruit tart, which looked sort of like a biscuit but tasted more like pate a choux with a cream and custard filling. I liked the presentation and thought the dessert plate had the best presentation of all of them. A great way to end a great night.















After lingering at the table a little longer the three of us left heading in our separate directions feeling quite full and relaxed after a long meal where we didn't even have to think about what to order it just came. That was something I enjoyed the most, not having to choose what to order or decide on one thing. In this abundant age when there are restaurants and grocery stores and convenience stores bursting with food choices on every corner. It is easy to get overwhelmed. Now we have so many possibilities that it causes us to feel unsatisfied, like maybe a different choice would have been better..... (I swear there are books on this stuff) and I have a major case of it. I tend to dwell on decisions and think and rethink things until I do nothing at all. My brother says it is analysis into paralysis.
So I drove home happy, satisfied, no decision to be questioned, no pet to miss. I actually pondered on the 45 minute drive home how happy I was and why did I feel so happy. Maybe it was the full stomach or just being alone in my car driving at night. I'm not sure, I never could quite put my finger on it but I just let it resonate and fill me with the bliss of a good night and moments when all the stars seem especially bright and nothing can touch you.