eat for work

Eat for School

To try something a little bit different than the usual work lunch, we decided to hit up L’Ecole – the hands-on practice/training restaurant for the French Culinary Institute. Feeling adventurous and slightly nervous at the prospect of getting a “failing student’s” work, we arrived at L’Ecole.

A side note: From now on, I’ll be posting a little differently – instead of simply talking about what I ordered, I’ll elaborate a little on what my companions ordered, and their own feedback.

L’Ecole

http://www.frenchculinary.com/lecole.htm
462 Broadway
(212) 219-3300

Definitely go for the Prix Fixe Menu – $28 for Appetizer, Main Course and Dessert. It’s absolutely worth it! Since this is “experimental” many of the choices have interesting combinations of ingredients and flavors, but most of our dishes were delicious, only a few being average.

Appetizers

• Warm Potato and Goat Cheese Salad with Thyme and Nicoise Olives – A co-worker ordered this and commented that it was “good”, and had “rich” flavors.
• Squab Consommé with Caramelized Butternut Squash – Our rep who kindly took us out for lunch ordered the consommé (a squab is a young pigeon and consommé is a type of soup) after coming off a 16 hour flight. He wasn’t too impressed with the broth-like soup, and said it “wasn’t the best choice”
• Butternut and Spaghetti Squash Terrine with Arugula Pesto and Spiced Marscapone – “delightfully elegant” were the only words that my other co-worker used to described this dish
• Fluke Carpaccio – I ordered the fluke carpaccio, and found it rather delicious, with sashimi-like qualities. The fluke was drizzled in a sauce and sprinkled with salmon roe, giving it an even more Japanese taste.

Main Course

• Bass with Celery Root and Apple Purée –
• Seared Tuna and Scallops with Squid Sauce and Spicy Vegetable Compote – after being slightly disappointed by the consommé, our rep happily devoured the tuna and scallops, claiming it was “excellent – great presentation, perfectly cooked.”
• Mustard Crusted Lamb Loin with Cabbage-Mushroom Ragout – The lamb was declared so-so, “mediocre”. Although the meat itself was cooked well, there really wasn’t much flavor.
• Salmon Tournedos with Bone Marrow, Pommes Anna and Bordelais Sauce – I ordered the salmon, and was delightfully surprised when asked how I would like it cooked. I usually find salmon at restaurants to be on the dry side, so I asked for it medium rare. I am glad I did so because the salmon came out perfectly cooked, not at all dry, with a delicious side of spinach and a crispy disc shaped of slices of potato. The sauces reminded me of a sweet teriyaki, and was not too heavy as to drown out the other flavors.

Dessert:

• We ended up ordering one of each dessert available and sharing them around the table. I was unable to get the names of the desserts, but they were all fantastic. The favorites of mine that I can generally remember were a goat cheese tart with pomegranate and raspberries, and a gingerbread cake with ice cream.

Side notes: The atmosphere of L’Ecole is bright, upbeat, and fresh – this really is a great place to take for a date or for a work lunch, especially since what you can experience from the meal is worth much more than the price. Also, the service is great – our waitress was extremely attentive. Only downside – the food took a while to come out, which, our waitress explained, was due to some educational mishap in the kitchen.

Overall on a scale of 1-10: 8 – You can tell that some of the cooking is still “in training,” but it truly was a fun experience, beautiful presentation of the dishes. It almost makes you feel like you’re part of some sort of cooking show like Top Chef or Hell’s Kitchen.