TROIS

She says:
Our first and only visit to Trois was back in August, during Midtown Restaurant Week. We’ve been meaning to go back to do a full fledged review, but alas, it hardly seems right to splurge on fine French food when the economy is in such dire straits. So this will have to do for now.

He says:
Like its sister restaurants One Midtown Kitchen and Two Urban Licks, much effort has gone into Trois’s interior design. However, in contrast to its older siblings’ love affair with thumping music, dim lighting, and ghetto fabulous décor, Trois takes a minimalist approach far more appropriate for a fine dining establishment. The main room is large and airy, with tall chiffon curtains that keep the room alive with light. And while the volume never dropped below 11 at Two, Trois actually seems to try to encourage conversation. The Concentrics group appears to be taking a new tact with this restaurant, which is to let the food – and not the setting – take center stage.

The prix fixe menu started with a beef hanger skewer that came with a salad of shredded green mango and papaya. The beef was delicious, juicy with slight notes of fennel.

She says:
The second appetizer was an upgrade of your typical Caprese salad. Heirloom tomatoes, which had a ton of flavor, were topped with basil, goat cheese, and aged balsamic vinegar. I loved the substitution of goat cheese for the usual mozzarella..

The star of the night was the Sole Parisian. The fish was amazing! Perfectly prepared, it had a slight crispness on the exterior and a delicate interior. Capers provided a nice contrast to the buttery flavor of the fish, although really, the fish could easily have stood on its own.

He says:
The roasted duck entrée was solid, though it suffered in comparison with the sole. The flesh was moist though it could have been fattier. The mini egg rolls stuffed with bok choy and duck confit were interesting, but they didn’t add much contrast to the dish.

She says:
Dessert was warm chocolate soufflé cake. Trois’ version is exactly what you expect and hope for from this popular dish … not overly sweet, with a delicious oozing interior and vanilla ice cream on the side. As a bonus, the cake was drizzled with a raspberry sauce, the tart fruitiness rounding out the cake’s overall richness.

Based on my experience at Restaurant Week...

He says:
While Trois hit on all cylinders for our abbreviated meal, it’s still a step behind Bacchanalia in my book. Nevertheless, that is quite an accomplishment!





Trois
1180 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.trois3.com/home.html

COUPAGE

She says:
My first visit to this charming restaurant in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood was in early August, to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Following a fabulous dinner, I knew that I had to take Downtown Boy back. I was sure that he would love it as much as me (and GQ magazine, which recently named it the restaurant to dine at on a weekend getaway to Seattle). Luckily for us, the stars aligned…

The restaurant itself is delightful. The cool blue walls are warmed by booths the color of red wine, and a black and white mural covers the upper half of one wall with Parisian-style sketches of couples in a swirling café. It’s a small space, and both times I was there it was relatively empty, which made it feel all the more intimate.

Coupage is French for “blending,” which is exactly what the chef, Thomas Hurley, does with his flavors (largely Asian) and cooking techniques (mainly French). The result is a menu full of unique and delicious items.

He says:
We started dinner off with the pumpkin custard crab cakes. The freshness of the crab came through easily enough, but I had difficulty registering the pumpkin. Perhaps the palettes of those with finer sensibilities can glean the pumpkin flavor in the custard, but I couldn’t. To me it simply tasted like a pretty good crab cake.

She says:
On my first visit, I had roasted duck breast that was cooked to perfection – juicy and tender, with a slender line of fat bordering each slice of meat. The details of the rest of my meal are hazy to me now, but I remember being incredibly impressed by the side dishes as well (look at the picture and use your imagination to fill in the details).

My second time around, the menu had changed with the season, and I have to admit to being rather disappointed. It seemed heavily weighted toward beef and pork, neither of which I eat. Even the duck dish contained venison sausage. In this situation, I would normally choose a fish dish instead, but the offerings included Chilean sea bass, which is a big no-no according to the venerable Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Fortunately, my mom agreed to split the Apple Wood mesquite smoked chicken, which serves two. As far as chicken goes, this is probably as good as it gets. The meat was incredibly soft and not the least bit dry, and was saturated with complex smoky undertones. The chicken liver fried rice that came with was a little overpowering, mainly because I don’t like the taste of liver.

He says:
I ordered the famous “Coupage burger,” a freshly ground short rib patty served with seared foie gras, red onion kimchi, and tomato confit on a kaiser roll. It also comes with three different dipping sauces. I’ve had chichi burgers in the past, and this is one of the best of that fashionable genre. The meat was perfectly grilled, and the kimchi’s bite offset the richness of the foie gras – an excellent pairing. Still, when it comes to burgers, I believe simplicity rules. At the end of the day, I prefer a bold, juicy cheeseburger from Red Mill or Bartley’s over the subtle elements of a “glamburger.”

She says:
Over the course of my two visits to Coupage, I managed to try five different desserts, all of which were very good. My favorite was the opera gateau, whose distinct orange flavor, combined with rich chocolate and light layers of cake, really made it stand out.

Dinner at this enchanting neighborhood spot is not a cheap endeavor, but it’s worth the splurge. Although the menu could use some fine-tuning to be more environmentally friendly (not an unreasonable request in Seattle), the food itself is fabulous.



He says:
Without question Coupage has got it going on. But I’d need more than a fancy hamburger to give it five forks.



Coupage
http://www.coupageseattle.com/
1404 34th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

FRENCH AMERICAN BRASSERIE

(photo taken from www.fabatlanta.com)

She says:
There’s nothing like “restaurant week” to suck you into a place you probably never would have patronized of your own volition. Seriously, how could we pass up three courses for $25 at a restaurant whose initials spell “FAB”? We couldn’t, and so we found ourselves downtown at the French American Brasserie, a monstrously large space that seems part French country, part American swank. Maybe this is what they’re going for, given the restaurant’s name, but the mix of affected quaintness and implicit pretentiousness was a bit awkward.

The main drawback of the restaurant week deal was the fact that Downtown Boy and I both ended up eating the exact same prix fixe menu, which limits the scope of our review. At least it’ll be short.

He says:
The first course was a white bean soup with truffle oil, an über-rich soup with the consistency of porridge. It was like drinking a Big Mac, it was so heavy and filling. I remember liking it at the time, but now that a few days have passed I can’t even recall what it tasted like.

She says:
The soup was incredibly rich, and I was full by the time the entrée arrived. The sautéed skate wing, topped with Pantellerian capers and brown butter sauce, was a substantial piece of rich and yes, buttery, fish. It was served with garlic sautéed spinach and new potatoes, both of which were fine and completely unremarkable. Overall, the dish was extremely heavy… probably from being cooked in a lot of butter. It’s not really something you would hope for on a 100+ degree day in August.

He says:
For dessert, the Valrohna souffle cake with hazelnut tuile and vanilla ice cream sounded impressive, but it’s the same old molten chocolate cake that many restaurants are currently serving. It’s a solid performer, but I can’t help but feel the gooey chocolate cake & ice-cream fad has run its course. This is not an indictment of FAB specifically, but rather a plea to dessert chefs across the country to expand their repertoires.

We say:
Note to self: During August in Atlanta, avoid overly heavy cuisine that depends mainly on butter for its flavor.




French American Brasserie
30 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30308
www.fabatlanta.com