Last night, Mike and I had a date night at L'aile ou la Cuisse, or A.O.C., an authentic French bistro in the West Village. I lived right near it last year and had always been intrigued but never tried it!
Because it was a beautiful evening, we sat outside in their back garden. I love being able to dine al fresco in the city- it kind of takes you away from the hustle and bustle for a bit!
Wines by the glass were expensive, so we decided to split a bottle of Cotes du Rhone. All the wine on their list is French, which is appropriate for the feel of the restaurant.
Before our entrees came, we were also brought a loaf of doughy fresh bread. I had two pieces.
For my meal, I ordered the Thon Grille: grilled yellowfin tuna, black mashed potatoes, sauteed spinach and balsamic reduction.
Oh. My. Word. This was good. I was most intrigued by the black mashed potatoes, which were actually grey in color and completely delicious- very smooth, with more flavor than usual mashed potatoes. Everything paired amazingly with the balsamic reduction, as well. It inspired me to try my hand at reductions!
Mike got the PMT: prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and basil on a fresh baguette, served with a heap of crispy golden fries. I stole a few, and they were perfection.
Though our meals were very filling, we had to try their desserts. Two caught our eye- the Hazelnut Cube, a cube of chocolate-hazelnut mousse with wafer cookies, all enveloped in white chocolate:
And the Summer Basket, a dark chocolate mousse cake with some kind of chocolate truffle (I think?) filling.
These plates were practically licked clean. I preferred the Summer Basket, while Mike liked the Hazelnut cube....though we definitely each ate our fair share of them both. We work so well together- I consider it fate when your significant other has the same dessert taste and you can share two. Can you imagine if I was dating someone who didn't like chocolate, or worse, didn't like dessert?!
After our meal, we rolled ourselves out of there and down to The Village Underground, a bar and nightspot with live music in the village. The band was absolutely phenomenal, and we had a blast dancing like maniacs. Only downside was that we didn't realize there was a $25 per person drinks minimum to sit at the tables, so we ended up having to buy a decent amount of drinks. I had two fruity martinis- I never usually drink fun cocktails, but I really enjoyed them!
It's shaping up to be a gorgeous day in the city- have a good one!
Do you like French food? And what kind of desserts do you find yourself most drawn to- chocolate ones, fruity ones, creamy ones, frozen ones?
