I took Megha to a french dining place called La Papillon in Saratoga on 8th October (yup, that’s right. Mark your calendars!).
Neither of us had been to an exclusive French restaurant before. If there’s one difference in our tastes, it’s the appetite for experimenting new meats! I was very interested to try out the Foi Gras or the Grain Mustard Crusted Rabbit with Golden Chanterelles and Tarragon or perhaps the Noisettes of Red Deer. However Megha hates all that meaty stuff and we decided to stick with fish.
The appetizer was the Ahi Tuna Sashimi with Grated Daikon and Soy Wasabi Sauce which being mostly raw was entrusted all completely to me 
The entres were Slow Roasted Wild King Salmon with Truffled Hearts of Palm “Risotto” and the Herb Crusted Halibut on Saffron Basmati Rice with Dill and Cherry Tomatoes which were very good.
And the desert, the Grand Mariner Souffle was the part I liked the best.
And last but not the least, the wine was also very nice. … And expensive. That’s when we also learnt what “corkage fee” meant.
Overall a good foray into fine french dining. But not a cuisine that either of us would die for. Perhaps Italian, or maybe Middle eastern would be something closer to our tastes outside of Asia.
You know, I wonder if the food we eat reflects the type of people we are. The Italian, Middle Eastern, and other Asian cultures have a flavor of chaos in them. The large crowds in small gatherings, the casual lifestyle… does stand out from a more refined attitude that the French or the English have historically known to have. Ofcourse all this is mainly historical and stereotypical at best. But somewhere down there, in between speaking in whispers with Megha lest the others at the restaurant get bothered, and those silent sips of wine, I realized that everyone eventually likes the food that they grew up on the best. And for me… french wasn’t it!
