The crème de la crème at La Crémaillère

Recently, Westfair Table Talk columnist Jeremy Wayne glowingly reviewed La Crémaillère.  

So when we received an invitation to dine there after the legendary Bedford restaurant, which reopened in January, underwent a kitchen upgrade and opened again in August, how could we resist? 

Executive chef Thomas Burke ”“ a big teddy bear of a man, who told us he made it his goal to work at the best restaurants in the United States, including Le Bernardin in Manhattan and The French Laundry in Yountville, California ”“ so wanted us to relish the chef”™s tasting menu. Again, how could we say no? Never has such irresistibility been so delicious.  

Burke likes to pore over cookbooks, building flavors the way an artist layers on paints until they fuse into a creation. A creamy, savory, broccoli-based amuse bouche set the scene, and the taste, for what was to follow ”“ rillettes of salmon in dill and Persian cucumber; Hudson Valley foie gras on homemade brioche with an apple cider reduction and parsnip purée; butter-poached Maine lobster tail in a tomato Béarnaise sauce; Long Island duck with a celery-root purée in a cherry sauce; and Colorado lamb with a spinach purée and tarragon sauce.  

Did we have the French 75 cocktail (Champagne, gin, sugar, lemon) and the Grand Marnier soufflé and an iced decaf latte for dessert? We most certainly did. 

The wait staff was impeccable ”“ warm, attentive but never obtrusive. The historic, French country-style setting and the homemade baguettes-as-rolls and butter were divine. And chef Thomas was all boyish, eager-to-please charm as he showed off the kitchen and its hard-working but calm staff. 

Certainly, our guest, who had been to the restaurant many times as a child, was carried away into the past. But we, who had never been there, realized that La Crém was also a good place for new memories.