We met at Sandrine's Bistro, the lovely Harvard Square restaurant known for its French and Alsatian cuisine. For those who aren't familiar, Alsace is a region of France on the eastern border, which explains the blatant culinary influence of Germany. We were joined by the extremely knowledgeable Richard, otherwise known as The Passionate Foodie, Jacqueline Church, a culinary goddess also known as The Leather District Gourmet, Pam, of the brilliantly named Cave Cibum, and law student Adele, of Tales of The Basil Queen, with the most hysterical byline ever: "I would rather bake tortes than study torts." The event was organized by the incredibly gracious Chris Lyons, of Chris Lyons Communications. And while the company was delightful, let's get on to the meal.
We love wine. We love wine like we love dogs, books, movies, and the New York Times: Completely unconditionally. Luckily, we were introduced to an unusual yet delicious Alsatian white wine, a combination of five types grown in the region. Naturally we give the waiter the "refill, stat" look frequently. Later he switched us over to red wine, with a Cotes du Rhone (read: Rhone Hills). Luckily, it did not land on our dress.
As an appetizer, Sandrine's offers some beautiful salads. We had a hard time saying no to a pear and blue cheese salade (yes, they spelled it that way so we can too. It's French, people) with spicy cashews in a Port wine vinaigrette. However, we chose the Smoked Coho Salmon Trout, prepared beautifully in a delicious example of organized chaos. The salmon was entangled with marinated long stem artichokes and cippolini onions that exploded upon biting, mixed in a horseradish vinaigrette dressing with wasabi tobiko. (LOVE the wasabi placement amongst French cuisine!)
As an entree, we optioned for the Maine Lobster Risotto. Recently we've had some pretty blah risotto in decent restaurants, so we were extremely pleased how exquisite Sandrine's was. Pieces of lobster swam with wild mushrooms and peas in a cognac lobster sauce. It was simply wonderful! We wish all restaurants could dish out the risotto as well as Sandrine's. We highly recommend Sandrine's for a Valentine's Day date. 'Cause nothing is more delicious than little bit of Alsace in your face.
Sandrine's Bistro [MenuPages]
Sandrine's Bistro [Official Site]
[Photo: afxafx.typepad]
