Next Magazine Review - Gascogne

Gascogne

158 Eighth Ave (btwn 17th/18th Sts)
212-675-6564

Gascogne is one of my favorite places to eat, drink and hang out in New York. On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, my fella and I took a special lady there to do all three things, while celebrating a certain holiday for all of our beloved mothers. As the weather was on our side, we took our seats happily ensconced in the leafy glade outside in the rear of the restaurant.

Orange juice, a Mimosa or a Bloody Mary is included as part of the Prix Fixe Brunch Menu ($22) but we cut right to the chase and ordered cocktails, straight up. A Bombay Sapphire Martini ($11) is a delight any time of the day, when served appropriately brisk and ever so dry. Same goes for a Belvedere Martini ($11.50), which I utterly adored. A Hennessey Sidecar ($9.50) was also perfect for my guy.

To the food! Young rabbit, a.k.a. Lapereau ($12.50) was outfitted as a terrine for our appetizer and it was quite good, spread upon hearty slices of rustic country bread.

While we eyed the plates of beefy Kobe Sliders ($14), and the Cotelettes d’Agneau au Romarin ($17.50)—lamb chops prepared with rosemary and thyme—and the Steak Tartare ($17.50) that whirled past us, we chose the Crab Cake Benedicte ($14.50) instead. It was nicely seared and thankfully not soggy as sometimes happens. Oeufs Benedicte ($12) with fresh gravlax (garlic sausage was the other option) fully featured salmon that was definitely swimming upstream! The revered Croque Madame ($12), a classic ham and cheese sandwich with a perfect egg on top, was a little salty, but indeed sizable.

We were delighted to find Profiterolles ($9) on the menu and ordered them straightaway. The three little balls of puff pastry stuffed with ice cream and dappled with chocolate suited our trio just fine. To further our boozapolooza, we put some Baileys ($8.50) in our coffee and had a glass of Armagnac ($10) or two to grandly finish our most celebratory meal on such a lovely day.

First published in part for Next magazine.