My first visit to Hamersley's Bistro was a year ago and it was unforgettable. It was a warm summer night, the food was delicious, the wine was abundant and the air was filled with romance. It was one of the most romantic dates that I've had in my life and it hold a special sentiment in my relationship with B. So when B told me that he had made a reservation for Friday evening - a year after our first visit to Hamersley's - I was incredibly touched.
Although this wasn't an actual special occasion like a birthday, anniversary or Valentine's Day, B surprised me by starting the night off at our apartment with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Everyone knows that I am a huge fan of bubbly but Veuve is especially my favorite. I am a lucky girl.
We headed over to Hamersley's and requested an outside table. Call us hopeless romantics but we wanted to re-create the atmosphere of our first experience there. Although B made reservations, the outdoor seating is first come, first serve. We were in luck and grabbed the last two-seater against the railing strung with lights.
Although we were tempted to order more bubbly, we decided to order a bottle of Reisling. Our server brought over a huge bottle (larger than normal) of Reisling and we toasted to what would be a romantic night.
Hamersley's has been offering a prix-fixe meal for quite some time now and although the offerings were tasty, we decided to order off of their regular menu. To start, we ordered the plate of pate and duck liver mousse which was served with hearts of romaine, grainy mustard, cornichons and toast pointes. The liver mousse was very creamy and decadent, and I enjoyed spreading it on the crusty bread from the bread basket. The romaine was a refreshing salad that provided some texture and refreshment from the decadent fattiness of the pate.
For our entrees, I was determined to order roast chicken. Like everyone else, I am loathsome to order something as simple as roast chicken, which I can make on my own at home. So on our first visit, I ordered a special rabbit dish but B had to see what Gordon Hamersley's roast chicken was all about. I stole a few bites and it was a moist and flavorful chicken. It was so incredible that I even got the recipe to make at home, although I haven't worked up the courage to try this masterpiece out yet. So this time, I was determined to order the chicken myself so that I could have more than just a few bites of chicken.
But Hamersley's had a special menu in honor of Julia Child's birthday. And they offered duck a la orange. Made from her recipe. And I had just seen Julie and Julia earlier this week. I didn't stand a chance....
So I didn't order the roast chicken and ended up with the duck a la orange. The duck meat was so moist and tender but the skin was perfectly crispy. The sauce was rich and sweet and I loved mixing the sauce with the potatoes. I was in heaven and I didn't miss the chicken at all. B promised me that we'd come back again this winter for another chance to order the roast chicken (which he ordered again with a side of their corn on the cob). I suspect I will be tempted but something else. But the promise of Hammersly's roast chicken will keep me coming back for more.
We ended the night with a dessert from Julia's menu - the chocolate-almond dacquoise. It was a little cake made of layers of chocolate and almond meringue, topped with toasted almonds and served with chantilly cream. To be honest, it would have been an amazing dessert for a chocolate lover but it was a little too rich for me.
After dinner, B and I were going to meet some friends but we had a little time to kill. So we headed to Marliave for some cocktails. While B had a few drinks off of their menu, I didn't find anything that called to me so I asked the friendly bartender (Andrew) to make me a drink by describing what types of liquor I like. I ended up with a tasty cocktail of Ketel, grapefruit juice, St. Germain, prosecco and cucumber. It was light and it was refreshing.
We finished up drinks and headed to Vox Populi to meet up with my friend J, who was visiting Boston for the weekend. J is one of my oldest and dearest friends from college but we don't get to see each other often because she is medical school. Although Vox hasn't been my scene in over five years, we had a great time and ended the night with a few more drinks at McGreevy's.
It was a wonderful Friday night - one of the best I've had in ages. From the Veuve to Hammersly's to bonding time with J, I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the week and to start the weekend.
More to post from this weekend...hopefully I'll be better about posting blogs this week.
xoxo
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