Lunch at Les Halles

Hey, you know who I haven't written about in a while? Anthony Bourdain! Well this time I actually have a half-valid excuse for writing about him - I just had a fantastic lunch at Les Halles.



It's a slow day at the office today, so I decided to head down to Bourdain's place with my co-worker Julia in tow. Upon arriving we found a packed restaurant, but were seated only after a two minute wait.

Our drink orders were taken within minutes and bread was set down at the table. The bread was good portion of soft french bread with room temperature butter (the way it should be in my opinion), and it was enjoyed with a glass of wonderfully light Chardonnay.

For our lunch, I ordered the mussels with white wine, shallots, and garlic, and frites. Julia ordered the cream of mushroom soup and mac and cheese with prosciutto.

What really struck me about this meal, and what really led me to write about it was that about ten minutes after we ordered, the restaurant manager (I'd have to assume that's who it was) came out and told us that the mussels that were made for me weren't to the chef's standards, and presented us with a comped plate of frites.

First of all, it was an incredibly gracious gesture. Second of all, I love the frites at Les Halles - they're up there with Central and Palena for me.

When the mussels came out, they were perfect - and there were a lot of them.

Both of Julia's dishes were on par as well; the soup was very creamy and had a great earthy taste to it, and the mac and cheese wasn't at all greasy and were very flavorful.

We both left full, and very satisfied. This was my second trip to Les Halles, and I'm already trying to figure out when to go again.