Citronelle

not being made of money (or work in the private sector in this city)...a visit to citronelle is definitely only called for on a special occasion. and as a send off to my very good friend and fellow foodie, my ucsd travel buddy, and former roommate, ting, before she leaves the district, i felt this a very worthy chance to spoil myself with some of michel richard's delectable cuisine.

opting for the 3 course dinner prix-fix as opposed to the promenade gourmande, i chose the mosaic to start, the venison as the entree, and finished it all off with the napoleon for dessert. throw in an amuse bouche as a little appetizer and another for dessert, and i left with my belly stretched and my taste buds satiated.

i would have to say that the amuse bouche was a very welcome starter. it included bites of quail egg topped with ikura, a salmon tartar wrapped in pickled jicama, and a mini cupcake with creme fraiche icing...all of which i quickly popped into my mouth followed by "holy crap...this is great" comments after each morsel. though i would have to single out the quail egg as the best of the three.

as for the venison, you must enjoy the gaminess of the meat to fully appreciate this dish. so if you already have trouble with lamb, stay away from the venison. as someone who has a rather indiscriminate palate for food, i rather enjoyed the dish...leaving me with my only criticism that there wasn't enough of it to go around. served with a cabbage cannelloni and a very succulent gravy, i was almost tempted to just lick the plate clean...but felt the inappropriate for the standards and class of a place like citronelle.

and to finish it all off, a creme brulee napolean. and i'm usually not a big fan of desserts (or sweets in general), but my first taste was immediately followed by another "holy crap" moment. the puff pastry that divided the vanilla creme brulee slices were perfectly flaky...the assortment of fruits that covered the dish were fresh and exquisitely paired with the passionfruit sauce. i must say, dessert usually being the course that surprises me the least, this one stood out.

so after the rave review, why only a 4-star rating you ask? even though the food was great and the service was top-notch, it is difficult to justify the costs even for a foodie like myself. there aren't many things that i'm willing to unconsciously drop large sums of money on, and food is one of them. but it is still without a moments pause to think that you have to be prepared to shell out a couple of benjamins if you want to savor the experience that is michel richard. personally, i'm glad i came, but it would take another momentous occasion to bring me back. i'll stick with his much more accessible and equally delicious central for my standard monday evening meals.