My Parisian Palate says: “Je voudrais avoir un peu plus s'il vous plaît.”

Have you ever had those moments where you wake up well rested a little ahead of schedule and you get a few extra minutes in a steamy shower? For me, those mornings are few and far between, so when it happened this morning it made a world of a difference. I knew it was going to be a great day the moment I found myself drawing smiley faces on the fogged over mirror with my finger.   Taking a few sips from my cup of coffee and pondering over what I would be blogging about, I looked outside unto a gray sky with rain drops bouncing off the deck as they hit.  It was cool and I thought to myself many may think of it as being a gloomy sort of day, but not me, not today anyways.  Between the weather and quite possibly the French Vanilla creamer I had put in my coffee, I was inspired…… PARIS baby!

My dear friend Bootsie was always telling me about a terrific little Parisian Bakery in Downtown Columbus, OH.  Not being well versed in his pastry and dessert names, he simply would say “They have some really colorful cookies that are to die for!”  To find out he was told by a friend who was told by a friend who had been to Paris several times and they said “they” were awesome and just like the ones in Paris. Impressed that Bootsie had even been to this place, I wanted to try it myself for quite some time. In my French state of mind, today was the day and I grabbed my beret and set off to Columbus, Ohio. 

Pistacia Vera the dessert boutique is located in gorgeous German Village- Columbus.  They make all of the yummy goodness on sight, by hand and offer what is considered to be the best coffee & espresso in the town according to their website and happy consumers.  So what are “they” you ask? Based off of Bootsie’s description, I should have guessed; "they" are in fact Parisian Macarons!   

Anyone, whom is anyone that knows something about macarons, knows that an authentic macaron is:

 A.) Spelled Macaron not Macaroon 

B.) Very difficult to bake/ difficult to make aesthetically pleasing/ difficult to achieve the correct texture

 C.) Tend to be pricey due to a variety of quality ingredients

However even if you aren’t somebody that knows something about macarons, your mouth will know a good one form a bad one, trust me I’m a chef....(chuckling at my own joke) 

Pistacia Vera offers 12 signature flavors, and in true Chef FeFe spirit I can’t make the trip without sampling the fare.. all the fare.  In my defense I am blogging for the people ;)  All are quite tasty in their own way but my faves are the vanilla bean, lemon matcha, key lime and rose water (not a signature).  The vanilla bean is very traditional and is a common macaron flavor; my borrowed philosophy:  if it’s not broke don’t fix it.  Having a love for citrus flavored desserts and dishes the lemon matcha is a natural like for me; It’s refreshing and delicious.  A key lime macaron plays with my mind and makes me feel as if I caught some rays in the keys and grabbed a flight at Marathon Airport and flew to Paris..  Oh the life I live (in my mind).  Lastly the rosewater macaron (which I don’t believe is always available), is quite lovely.  If I was ever asked the random question: Fe, if you were a pastry what would you be and why?” (‘Cause that happens in real life ;) ) I would say I would be a rosewater macaron because we are both beautiful contradictions of ourselves. To even the most qualified individuals we can be incredibly difficult and complex with an airy and crunchy exterior with a delightfully simple infused flavor soft interior.. hence the beautiful contradiction.

Pistacia Vera has a beautiful store front, café style tables with marble tops are scattered inside the small showroom.  The smell of quality café au lait  and espresso filled the air and my eyes were  tantalized by the glass case displays.  The staff was kind and smiling and I got a real sense of baker's satisfaction.  When I purchased my yummy delightfullness they packaged it in a gorgeous ribboned box and placed it in a bag.  Another of my favorite things about the bakery is that there are several places the you can see the bakers at work; one being while positioned at the register (on your vist be sure to buy something that takes a while to package ;)) as well as outside on the left side of the building.... you can peek through windows.  I recommend if you are ever in the Columbus area stop by and visit this fantastic German Village jewel.  Otherwise you can order off the company’s website: 

Pistacia Vera- German Village- Columbus, Ohio

So, the story continues- I tried them and now I am telling you “they” ARE amazing macarons, but not just any macaron’s the best macaron’s I have ever tried stateside.  So much so that My Parisian Palate says: “Je voudrais avoir un peu plus s'il vous plaît.”

Pistacia Vera receives 5 out of 5 Knives and Forks:

A Night w/ The Harbor House- Milwaukee, WI

From the very first sip of my perfectly crafted martini created by the focused bar tender, I knew it was going to be a great meal.  It was a clear night, the cityscape including the color changing lights in the atrium level of the Milwaukee Art Museum added to the breath taking views.  The reflections of the city, the moon and the stars bounced off the waters tide of the Great Lake.  It was a bustling evening for the restaurant, fully packed with a wait list; luckily my date managed to get reservation for us in advance.  With great company in tote we bellied up to the bar and reviewed the specialty cocktails, drafts and extensive wine list; an Extra Dirty Bombay Martini for him and the Fish House Specialty Martini for me. 

The large square bar is located at the stern of the restaurant which allows for a full view of the hustle in bustle of the diners, staff, and open kitchen.   The dark wide plank wood that lines the eatery’s floors are a sharp contrast to the white marble surfaces, subway tile and lightly painted walls and ceiling.  Splashes of navy blue, black and white photography and polished silver are scattered around; simply put…. it’s nautical done right! While we waited for our table to be ready we indulged in some Wonderful… Wonderful raw bar options.  The market fresh oysters were delectable. We reveled in 6 different varieties, all were delicious but 3 of the 6 I would order again and again.  In fact I could go for some hearty east coasters right now! 

It wasn’t long after we finished our 2^nd cocktail and polished off the last of the dozen oysters when the lovely hostess re-greeted us and showed us to our port side, window table.  WOW, if I weren’t already in love with my date, this would have been the night I fell ;). I’ve ate my way around the country in all sorts of different places some to be considered a few of the top restaurants, from  5-star dining to curbside food trucks;  I say all this to point out the fact I am not wooed by pure ambiance.  Rather it’s a compilation of expected or unanticipated atmosphere, food quality/freshness, front of the house staff distinction and obviously overall experience.  It’s a rarity to find all of these things to be above par while leaving such places without spending half a weeks’ salary there.

Our server’s name was Matt he was a young early 20 something man dressed like his co workers in a freshly dry cleaned black collared shirt, black pants and a black & white stripped apron.  He was good at his job, describing the meal options and wine pairings.  My admirable date and I both decided to start this portion of our meal off with the Harbor House Crustacean Bisque.  How cliché of us I know ;) but this girl loves a GOOD Lobster Bisque.  To be completely honest the bisque had a wonderfully tasty base, it was creamy and had a full bodied lobster taste to it.  On the down side, I prefer my bisque to have actual chunks of lobster in it, this bisque did not.  It was tasty, but next time I will order the New England Clam Chowder instead. 

Next were our highly anticipated entrées; my date, the Filet Mignon & Scallops and I, the Filet Mignon & Cold Water Lobster Tail.  We usually order different items and go halvesies so that we can enjoy different aspects of the menu at one visit.  In addition, when ordering red meat we will ask for different temperatures; this ensures the communication between the front of the house and back of the house is solid.  We were both pleased by the preparation of our filets; both were cooked to the temperatures we asked for.  I thoroughly enjoyed my filet as well as the creaminess of the Yukon Gold Potato Puree that accompanied it.  The lobster was good but was slightly over cooked for my taste which made it a bit rubbery.  I think next time I will steer clear of all things lobster at the Harbor House and stick to just about every other item that is done perfectly.  My date loved the texture and taste of the spinach that adorned his filet and delectable scallops.  Oh, how I LOVED the scallops, you MUST get the scallops, they were seared beautifully and were fresh and flavorful.

We were so incredibly full after the meal that we had not saved room for the dessert, which is fine by me because we’ll simply have to go back again!  By this point the Harbor House was calming down and fewer and fewer patrons were around.  Our polite server was very kind and never pressed as we sat there for another 30 minutes or so, hand in hand enjoying that beautiful view over a glass of Pinot Nior.

The Harbor House Milwaukee receives:

4 out of 5 Knives & Forks

                   This is what we ordered:

·         Extra Dirty Bombay Martini – 11.00

·         Fish House Specialty Martini- 11.00

·         Draft beer- 9.00

·         Frank the Bartenders Special- 11.00

·         Market Oyster Selection - 2.50 each | 12.50 half dozen | 25.00 dozen

·         Harbor House Crustacean Bisque - 6.95 / 8.95

• Filet Mignon & Scallops - Seared Diver-Caught Atlantic Scallops, Potato Puree, Spinach 44.95
• Filet Mignon & Maine Lobster - Steamed Half Lobster, Boiled Red Potatoes 49.95
• Yukon Gold Potato Puree - 4.50
• Pinot Nior (unfortunately I forget the brand, total disappointment, sorry)

http://harborhousemke.com/

The photographs were not taken by me for this particular article; they were borrowed from the establishment’s website.