Since we had planned to spend the day “at home”, we walked down to Bon Appetite and picked up some pastries for breakfast. Their chocolate-almond croissants are to die for! David also got some apple turnovers for snacks later in the day. A short walk on the beach turned up a couple of pretty sea glass finds…there doesn’t seem to be as much as we’ve found in previous years. We had thought it would be extremely hot and still, but a nice breeze picked up and it was quite comfortable reading by the pool for most of the day. When I tried to fix lunch, the apple we were going to have with our Gouda was bad, so we went back down to Bon Appetite and had a couple of small salads. Both were good, and filled the need for something to tide us over until our evening meal.
We had decided to go to L’Estaminet in Grand Case for dinner, and I made our reservations for 7. With the traffic being what it has been, we left the resort around 5:15, planning to wander through the shops if we got there too early. Traffic was backed up badly at the bottom of Billy Folly, so we turned left and went through Maho. The construction in Sandy Ground is finished, and we really didn’t hit any traffic until just outside of Marigot. From there into Grand Case it was pretty much at a crawl, and we arrived at around 6:30. The public parking lot across from Le Pressoir is brightly lit, and there was a substantial Gendarmes presence there.
We walked down to the restaurant, where we were warmly greeted by Carole, and escorted to our usual corner table. The specials were presented in their typical detail, and we decided that was the way to go. We ordered the special appetizer, a green tea infused crab preparation (almost a mousse, though not as light), wrapped around marinated salmon, and served as a maki roll, with the crab taking the place of rice. This was presented on a bed of julienned greens with a tiny vial of vinaigrette. Carole suggested that we share this; what I love about L’Estaminet is that shared dishes are plated individually, and are just as beautifully presented as a single dish would be. Carole suggested a nice Sauvignon Blanc with this, and of course the pairing was perfect.
For my entrée, I had the seafood special of the evening, which was described as river shrimp and scallops in a lobster bisque sauce. The sauce was richer and thicker than a bisque, and a little spicier. Never having heard of river shrimp, I was a little unsure, but knew Carole wouldn’t steer me wrong. It was presented shelled, but the head was arranged on the plate, and it definitely looks like a huge shrimp. The texture is a little softer than shrimp, and the flavor is delicious. This was combined with perfectly seared scallops (rare), in the delicious lobster sauce. Alongside was polenta two ways: creamy and crispy. The creamy was surrounded by scallop chips, which were thinly sliced scallops baked in a very slow oven for several hours. The flavor of the scallops was so concentrated, and the polenta was so smooth it just melted in the mouth. Of course, the typical vegetable presentation accompanied both dishes, each seasoned a different way, but all perfectly complementing the dish: carrots with cinnamon, broccoli with lemongrass, cauliflower with truffle butter, jicama with vanilla, purple cabbage with a delightfully spicy Cajun twist, and parsnips. I forget what Carole told me about them, and we never could figure it out as we ate, but they were as fabulous as everything else on the plate. The Sancerre that Carole brought to accompany my meal was the perfect choice.
David’s entrée was the duck stuffed with fois gras. The duck breast was wrapped around a small piece of fois gras, rolled and cooked perfectly medium rare, then sliced and served with a sauce of three types of pepper. I’m not a foie gras fan, but I did taste this, and it was superb. The meat was cooked just enough to allow the foie gras to melt just slightly into the flesh of the duck, and the fat on the outside of the breast was nice and crispy. The sauce was absolutely decadent, with little bits of peppercorn bursting as you ate. This was served with a truffled mashed potato and the same vegetables as I described above. For David’s wine, Carole chose a delicious burgundy, which again was the perfect accompaniment.
Both of us completely cleaned our plates but managed to save room for dessert. We wanted to try something we hadn’t had before, so we had the rice pudding which was also prepared like a maki roll. An apple slice is surrounded by the rice mixture (which has been baked for five hours) and all of that is rolled in a thin chocolate coating to create the maki roll. Served alongside is a small pot of what I would call chocolate ganache, and a tiny apple coated in raw sugar and presented flaming in Calvados. The contrast of the flavors and textures were perfect. Again, Carole suggested that we share this, and each plate was presented as if it was a complete dessert, rather than one plate in the middle of the table with us arguing over who gets that third piece of pudding!
After the meal, we enjoyed their signature tiramisu shot (complimentary). I’d try to describe it, but I know I’d get something wrong, and I’m sure Carole and Ina are already groaning over mistakes I’ve made in how some dishes are prepared and presented. Suffice it to say that we love this place, always look forward to our meals there, and will definitely be back once more before we leave the island!
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