Rover's

A while back we had the night which I like to refer to as "And at the end of the night I ended up in a parking garage with Danny Bonaduci".  You would have heard about it here except that the dumb Blogger app ate all the pictures and basically ruined an incredibly odd turn of events.

The sum up... we ended up with tickets that night to see Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at the Paramount.  I had no idea what we were in store for but my friend The Artist wasn't able to use them and offered them to us.  We already had sitter plans so we took them up on it.  When the talk of reimbursement for the tickets came up, she said "Just take us out to dinner sometime."  That night was PHENOMENAL and everything I could dream of as a Food Network/Bravo TV foodie/Coach Bag Foodie etc. etc. etc.  So funny and I *loved* every minute.  And at the end of the night, while paying for parking, we ended up right next to Danny Bonaduce.  Weird. 

Enter Rover's.  Anthony Bourdain said it was one of his favorite spots to eat at.  It has *always* been on my list since I have had the Coach Foodie bug.  A perfect spot to go with friends?  Yes.  Once in a lifetime, for sure.  Very special. 

And I met the chef.  Thierry Rautureau.  In his hat.  Yes, I enjoyed this night. 


Enjoy the pictures.  I'm sure I can't remember all the details of what was eaten.  Nor are there pictures of everything because, well, sometimes I was just plain hungry.  I did love everything I ate. And I had no idea morel mushrooms cost THIS much (they were not bad... best mushrooms I have ever had along with truffles, but that's not saying much since mushrooms barely count as food to me).

From Left to Right:  Sardine with relish, duck confit, and celery soup

Hamachi and purple cauliflower roe plus fried razor clam and quail egg on ailoi

This one was different:  A Foie Gras mousse with cherry gelee and marcona almonds.  Best way I can describe it is like a semi-savory meat flavored cheesecake.  Got mixed reviews from the table.  Overall, I enjoyed it!

Seared foie gras

I'm pretty sure this was The Critic's... deer tongue and quinoa cake?  Or something.

Nifty little ginger drink with a cranberry sphere (total liquid)... like an edible water bead for plants.  One of my favorite "dishes" of the night.

Something halibutish... belonging to The Critic.  My notes on his items were not as complete as the ones of mine... which were still pretty sparse.

A crab salad with some cool little things to go with it (aka part of The Critic's meal)

Honestly can't remember whose this was... but the deliciousness rings a bell.  Mmmmm!!!

Okay... time to fess up.  This is the one and only picture I have of my pork with polenta and whatever else came on that plate.  You can see I didn't enjoy it... not at all.  The picture was taken at the exact moment I thought to take a picture.  Before that, all I thought was MUST EAT THAT FOOD!!!

Lovely dessert trio -- I like the chocolate on the left.  I also liked the lemon-raspberry thing in the middle.  And I enjoyed the rice pudding creme brulee.  Yeah... I liked dessert.  But really the chocolate was best.  Or the creme brulee.  If I had put them together........

To keep the party going... a chocolate bon bon on the left and a raspberry gelee on the right.