Le Bateau Ivre - oh la la!

RRR, Marcello & I went to dinner on Sunday to Le Bateau Ivre, a French wine bar in Midtown East. Being punctual to a fault, RRR & I arrived first and decided to relive our journey through French wine country by having a tasting of five wines (for a mere 20 bucks) while we waited. We chose wines from Chorey Les Beaune, Morgon, Vacqueyras, Bandol and a Coteaux du Languedoc - all quite lovely despite being a bit too chilled for our liking. In this "flight" the Morgon and the Bandol were the standout wines.

Luckily, our seat at the small bar was right next to the stove, so I got a chance to survey the entrees before we sat down for our meal. Short and sweet, this was pretty darn close to a French casual dining experience. The service was attentive, the wine list was impressive and the entrees were buttery French bistro fare.

RRR had the tartine de brie au miel which they serve on "Poilane"-style bread - can you really go wrong with creamy brie complimented with a touch of sweetness from the honey?

Marcello chose the les cotes d'agneau sauce bordelaise: lamb chops with wine sauce, Montrachet tomato and potato gratin. He was nice enough to 'play along' and let me snap a photo of his dinner.

I went with the filet de bar, fagot de haricots verts lardes et champignons: pan-seared sea bass with string beans wrapped in bacon and mushrooms. The bass was crispy on one side, buttery on the other and the mushrooms were equally buttery and rich without being soggy. And the crispy string beans wrapped up with a bacon ribbon was the proverbial icing on the cake.

We ordered a side of the frites moison which were thin, crispy and salty. All I have to say is WOW!

Oh France, how I miss you so....