Roger did his first guest post as the winner of the “Edible Garden Festival and Mario Batali Cooking Demo”. He did such a great job that I invited him to attend the Jeanne & Gaston press dinner on my behalf. He’s now started his own blog Roger eats like a pig!

Here is his review:

Jeanne & Gaston is a quaint traditional French restaurant in Chelsea whose nondescript appearance belies a laid-back and comforting ambiance.

On the Thursday that we went, there was a live band playing some jazz, making the restaurant feel lively yet quiet enough to maintain a good conversation. Apparently the backyard garden is great during the summer, although they were doing renovations to prepare it for colder weather during my visit.

The menu is quite traditional for French cuisine, with Chef Claude Godard sticking to expected tastes and textures rather than attempting unique things. Overall the menu and ambiance made this a prototypically French experience, although nothing in particular about the food wowed me and many of the flavours were a bit too muted for my liking.

Complimentary Bread and Butter
I always like to start by reviewing the bread because quality bread shows attention to detail that bodes well for the rest of the meal! The bread offered here was excellent. The mini-baguettes were wonderful baked with a nice crunchy exterior. While these were not made in-house which would have been preferred, the sourcing of the bread was still great! Unfortunately the butter was disappointing though. It tasted like standard butter and did not have the airiness of fresh butter.

Charcuterie Platter Rosette de Lyon, garlic sausage, prosciutto, and duck liver mousse
We started off with a charcuterie platter of various meats. The Rosette de Lyon was my favourite of the bunch. It’s a dry-cured pork sausage that is a speciality of Lyon. I enjoyed it because the alternating chunks of cured meat and marbleized fat made for a great contrast both texturally and flavour-wise. The garlic sausage was quite typical and I felt the garlic taste could have been stronger. Unfortunately I missed out on trying the prosciutto, although the appearance looked solid. Finally, the duck liver mousse was not as rich and buttery as foie gras but still had the distinctive taste of liver. Those who enjoy the taste of liver might find it weaker than other similar dishes (like Chicken Liver Toast at Spotted Pig) but it was still solid.

Wine Pairing: 2010 Jurancon Sec, Chateau Jolys
I liked this white on its own as a palate opener. Jurancon Sec is produced in the Pyrenees of southwestern France and has a nice sweetness with hints of tropical fruits. However, the pairing went better with some of the items over others (I liked it with the Rosette de Lyon and sausage but it didn’t go well with the mousse).

Sea Scallop Lightly seared with creamy polenta, carrot and cardamom sauce
The scallops were cooked well, with a good texture that did not feel too rubbery or fall apart too easily. However, they were only very lightly seared and I felt that a bit more searing would have brought out more natural scallop flavours. My favourite sauce here was the creamy polenta, which was just as creamy and yummy as it sounds with small grains of millet mixed in. The cardamom was the boldest flavour of the lot but it was drowned out by the excess of creamy polenta and scallop.

Wine Pairing: 2009 Bourgogne Chardonnay, Domaine Brocard
In the spirit of the paired dish, this white tasted inoffensive yet lacked a standout quality. It would have been a better fit had the scallops had more flavour as it would have been delicate enough to not overpower the dish.

Quenelle Pike Mousseline in Nantua Sauce
I’ll be honest: I had no idea what a quenelle was until I looked it up afterwards. It’s a mixture of fish and white sauce that is filtered through a sieve to remove bones, yielding a consistent mixture that is then shaped into the oval and coated with sauce. Pike mousseline is a traditional dish of Lyon, where it is found accompanied with Nantua sauce, a béchamel based sauce flavoured with crayfish. I appreciated how traditional this dish was prepared and the quality of the pike used was excellent. However, I felt that the crayfish flavour of the sauce could have been stronger to accentuate the umami tastes because the mousseline itself was quite bland. The texture of this dish was quite homogenous and lacked variety. Overall this wasn’t my favourite dish of the night but those looking for traditional hearty French cuisine might appreciate it more.

Roasted Duck Filet Red cabbage, grapes reduction
It may have only been a sauce, but the most memorable component of this dish was the grapes reduction. It had a great smooth texture and the tempered sweetness and fruit flavours complemented everything else so well! Together with the red cabbage and the duck filet this made for another quintessentially French flavour combination that wasn’t fancy yet was still satisfying. However, I felt that the duck could have been more tender and would have preferred a sous vide preparation here.

Wine Pairing: 2009 Fronton Classic, Chateau Brouissel
This was a solid yet unremarkable dark red that paired nicely with the duck filet. The sweetness from the wine was hard to detect as a result of the grape reduction but violet notes were quite prominent.

Brioche Pudding Diplomat Candied fruits and crème anglaise
This was a great way to end off the meal! I thought the brioche diplomat pudding was really well made, with a consistency that struck the right balance between brioche and pudding. The chocolate ice cream on top was full of rich chocolate flavour and the temperature contrast between the ice cream and brioche pudding was wonderful. The crème d’anglaise, which consists of milk, cream, eggs, and vanilla bean, was also very well made although it got overwhelmed by the chocolate ice cream. I would’ve loved to try the floating island dessert that they are well-known for, but unfortunately it wasn’t on the menu. The candied fruits on the side didn’t really add anything to this dish.

Dessert Wine: Sauternes (sorry they didn’t provide any more info!)
This dessert wine was my favourite glass of the night! The partially raisined flavour of the grapes really stood out, making this wine easy to drink on its own yet not too sweet for an after-dinner treat.

Disclaimer: This dinner was complimentary of Jeanne and Gaston. Dishes shown may not be representative of the equivalent at a normal meal.
Thanks again to Cindy for inviting me and to all of the ChubbyChineseGirlEats readers for reading my post!