In search of the perfect croque monsieur
Three Springs ago Ann and I ventured on a “field research project” to Paris. By field research, I of course mean, we ventured on a 4 day eating trip to the most delicious place we knew. We planned and plotted our every meal. Nary a museum did we see. Every bite we took, every meal we ate had been carefully thought out. We walked from one end of the city to the other to visit the perfect open food market and sample cheese or fresh fruit or rotisserie chicken with roast potatoes. We went to brasseries and bistros and consumed as much street food as we could-crepes, sandwich, glaces. We tried croissants and baguettes in every boulangerie we saw. Ann did most of the planning. I was more than happy to go along for the ride.
On our last day in Paris, I could just walk no further. We had spent the morning shopping (our other favorite French past time) and we were exhausted. Ann had a particular lunch place in mind, way across the entire city. I begged, I pleaded and I cajoled and finally she agreed to stop at this corner cafe instead of trapsing across town. She was not happy to be spending our next to last meal at this unknown entity. We sat down and ordered, croque monsieurs with some frites, just to be safe. Well. Need I say more? What was brought to us was the best croque monsier that either one of us had ever had. It was made on big oval peasant bread and it was stuffed with the perfect amount of gruyere, ham and bechamel. The top was browned to the ultimate crusty goodness. We are still talking about it to this day.
Last week we went to Bar Boulud for lunch. This is a New York City restaurant that has been touted as having the best croque monsieur in the city. We sat, we perused the menu, we ordered the much anticipated croque. When it came we were skeptical. It was made on the more traditional square white bread and it sat alone, unadorned on the plate. We also ordered frites, but they hadn’t arrived yet. Ann cut it in half. Still skeptical we both took a bite and OMG! It was fabulous. It oozed cheese and bechamel and the ham was house cured. The top was so perfectly brown and crusty it crackled when you cut it. The frites were good too, but that was to be expected. We were instantly transported to that cafe in Paris, a cafe we will never visit again because we do not remember where it was, but a cafe whose memory is still in the forefront of our thoughts.
So, if you want to bit of Paris in New York, steal yourself away for lunch one day and try the Croque Monsieur at Bar Boulud. You won’t be sorry.
Lisa
Afterword: Dessert
Now you might think after the most perfect of lunches we would stop there and be totally satified, but we thought we would just peek at the dessert menu and see if there was anything that would tempt us. Tempted we were, so much so we ordered A Salted Caramel Tart. What arrived at our table was a large wedge of soft caramel heaven encrusted with a dark chocolate crust and a slightly burnt lacey caramel topping. Now say it with us……..SUBLIME. Both of us looked at each other and with expressions of pure delight. The buttery thick salted caramel paired with the chocolate and covered with the burnt sugar was the perfect ending to an already perfect meal. We left there knowing that Bar Boulud would see us very soon for a return visit.
Happy Lunching
Ann
