French Pasta Is French Pastry at Libertine | The New Yorker
"At a new French bistro in the West Village, Libertine, I found a menu built on butter and egg: the Gnocchi Parisienne — unlike Italian gnocchi, made not with potato but pâte à choux of flour (actually flour, butter, and egg), gently simmered then browned in butter — arrived as a pale pillowy puff coated in a rich Sungold-tomato sauce flecked with spring onions and fennel and seemed to melt on my tongue. The Scallop & Seaweed featured a plump, sweet diver scallop sliced and returned to its shell with sautéed leeks, bathed in a hollandaise made with kombu-infused butter and Espelette pepper, and lightly broiled until the sugars caramelized into a crème-brûlée–like crust. Butter was also served smeared in a glass pinch bowl with half an excellent crusty baguette and wonderfully sweet, meaty anchovies that made the butter taste even creamier. A classic œufs mayo was executed with medium-boiled eggs halved and draped in glossy mayonnaise, finished with chive and clusters of trout roe. The Poulet Doré Vin Jaune presented half a golden chicken (fed heirloom corn that gives the skin and fat a vibrant yellow and slaughtered the morning of delivery) with the foot still attached to the leg, theatrically hanging off the plate; I was more impressed by the Duck Deux Façons: a rosy-fleshed, crisp-skinned breast atop a creamy green-peppercorn sauce, paired with a cocotte of confited leg meat capped by a torched purée of potato, egg yolk, and Comté. Vegetables play a secondary role, though herbs sing: fresh tarragon lifted the salade maison, and parsley in the jambon persillé created a gorgeous green marbling in the terrine served with mustard and cornichon. For dessert a sublime chocolate mousse with a soufflé-like texture arrived with a dollop of crème fraîche infused with Chartreuse. Dishes range from $9–$72." - H, a, n, n, a, h, , G, o, l, d, f, i, e, l, d
