Le Rivage Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Executive Chef of Le Rivage, Paul Denamiel
The triumphant Filet Mignon
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Ooooh la la we adored The Collection so much set in Paris that Mademoiselle Deegan was looking for fine French food especially and she found Le Rivage! Open since 1983, Le Rivage was created by August Denamiel, Paul's father's brother, who grew up in the Pyrenee Mountains near Toulouse, France. A graduate of CIA Hyde Park, Paul Denamiel has been Executive Chef for 27 years at Le Rivage and grew up here! He's been at the helm as owner since 2000, and the Denamiel family-Paul's dad and uncle- also opened Cafe du Soir on Manhattan's Upper East Side in the 1950's. Do you know they are Pat LaFrieda's oldest customer? The Denamiel family has worked with three generations of the LaFrieda family: Pat (who can claim a St. Patrick's Day birthday), his dad and his grandfather, who worked with Paul's uncle.
We began with the bright, delightful Roasted Beet Salad and they were happy to put the dressing on the side, as we asked.
Exquisite slices of maroon and gold beet radiated upon fabulously buried creme fraiche, hidden like buried treasure. For all Eagles reading, yes we always pick Boston College color food and yes, it does taste better.
The Romaine Salad Caesar Style arrived dressed and was robustly fresh. Parmesean gracefully dusted the greens and danced with sun dried tomatoes and croutons, successfully announcing that less is more.
How we love escargot!!!
Six stylish snails in shells greeted us in garlic glory.
Sensational escargot in a good size were properly piping hot, waltzing in garlic herb butter and white wine. Succulent, tender and beautifully presented, these escargot can walk down our tastebud runway anytime. We would have been even more aggressive with the garlic because Peachy loves it, however, if you like lightly to moderately garlic-ed snails, these are perfection.
Quentin suggested the Pate de Campagne as a menu item not to be ignored, and we'd quite concur. A gorgeous combination of duck, veal and pork, this classic pate is further enhanced by cornichons and moutarde that will hit the spot. We noticed there is quite the array of soups on the menu which is particularly notable as the weather gets colder. The wine list is fabulous and french.
A picture could never capture the true majesty of the phenomenal seafood crepe. For someone that doesn't like crepes all that much, Peachy Deegan totally loved this! While too many that will come and go get wrapped up on trendy nonsense, Le Rivage struck us as committed to the classics that are just superlative. To us, this was original as we do not believe we've ever had it. The warm and soft crepe boasted Bay-Scallops, Shrimp, Mushroom Duxelle, Cream and Caramelized Onions that cumulatively light up the scoreboard of your stomach! Note this spot is not too far from MSG, Rangers fans! We're talking to you, Mark Messier.
Inside!
Deciding if you like the seafood crepe or the filet mignon the most is impossible to decide.
We like them both the most! Every bite of ideally seared medium rare Filet Mignon will absolutely melt in your mouth as you revel in the flavor sourced by the 3rd generation of LaFrieda to work with the 2nd generation of Denamiel.
This is no ordinary meat: it is hand picked cuts, as indicated by the menu. Perfectly halved brussel sprouts are terrific vegetable companions to the carnivorous endeavor, and are joined by mashed potatoes that meet and exceed all our Irish potato standards.
Also, you'll see in Chez Peachy, our home column, that we critique china and absolutely love Belleek. We love that Le Rivage has their own Le Rivage plate.
We do love le poisson also and the Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon was tremendously desirable. A perfectly cooked salmon section was just delicious and paired so well with the mustard sauce that heightened its flavor. Grilled brocolini, so much more sophisticated than mere broccoli, and superb roasted potatoes came to the poisson party in suitable attendance.
The final hit of the night earned Le Rivage a double feature in A Peachy by any other name does Smell as Sweet. Peach as a menu item is underrepresented everywhere we go...except here because this is our first time! Meet peach melba, a classic made even better by raspberry sauce and almonds. The super peach reigned supreme over vanilla ice cream and we loved it.
Le Rivage impressed us on our first visit and we look forward to seeing what they do next.
