Let me tell you a little story about a little restaurant that could. It's a little restaurant…read morecalled Le Saint-Jacques. This little restaurant has been operating for about for years. My girlfriend spotted this little restaurant hidden from any main Street. One of those little restaurants that you drive by and blink and you missed it. And that's ok because this little restaurant is filled with regulars only, where the owner calls you by name, pats you on the shoulder and treats you like family.
This little restaurant has nothing hip or trendy, you don't get served by strippers or hipsters with oily beards and man buns, they don't play loud music and you don't have to scream your conversation. No it's a quaint family owned restaurant, with a charming homey décor that seats 30, maybe 35 guests, tops where you get served by the owners, the chef is the owner's daughter, assisted by her husband.
This little restaurant has a menu that lets face it doesn't reinvent the wheel, straight up Italian and French cuisine (trust me it works) but as with all meals, it's all in the execution and boy does this little restaurant execute well. The menu is simple and short. This is good. It leaves more room for quality.
The opening was a simple soup, a potage, a cream of carrots and ginger. Perfect balance between the sweet of the carrot and the spiciness and bitterness of the ginger. If this was a preview of things to come, we were in for a great meal. I could have eaten a bucket full of that soup.
This was followed by this giant veal meatball served in this perfect tomato sauce that I licked up from the bowl with bread once I was done... the meatball was perfect melt in your mouth goodness, no weird spices or weird add-ins. All that topped with slivers of Parmigiano Regiano (hope I spelled that right). Seriously delicious. My girlfriend had fried shrimp wrapped in angel hair pasta served with a balsamic and maple syrup reduction. Looked awesome but I'm allergic to shellfish so I can't taste, but it was an eye crossing mind blowing experience for her.
The owner then asks us if we want to get the main right away or wait. We took a break. But the owner brought us a complementary plate of bruschetta which were just perfect and non acidic and not too salty (common mistake)
Then comes the main.
I had duck confit served with roasted vegetables and this crazy ass potato mash that's so simple and yet so perfect. The roasted vegetables was equally delicious. I was expecting the duck to be super fatty because it was confit, but it was well balanced and the accompanying sauce was... it was.... I dunno what it was made of and I should have asked but it had this fruity taste that just married perfectly with the duck, I want to dare say it was cranberry but I'm not sure. All I know is that I was thrown for a curve. Perfectly prepared, fall off the bone, perfectly seasoned and very flavorful stuff. My girlfriend had the pistachio crusted rack of lamb and there's no describing how good that was. The chef really has a knack for cooking meats perfectly. And the accompanying sauce was disturbingly tasty.
The meal was concluded with the classic tiramisu, often drenched in alcohol, but not here. Equilibrium was achieved. It was sided with fresh blueberries and caramel. POW! My girlfriend had a 3 chocolate layer cake that was very chocolaty but not over powered with sweetness.
The owner even introduced us to regulars sitting next to us and we became momentary family. He gave us nicknames: Francesco and Angela. Our new family was friendly and even shared with us some of the shoestring fries which were freaking awesome. By the bucket please.
Outstanding service. Mind blowing food. Subdued and welcoming atmosphere. So this obviously gets a 5 outta 5. We'll be going back and we'll bring more people.
