Eating Out: The Bocuse Restaurant | Hyde Park, NY

To celebrate our anniversary, hubby and I drove up to Hyde Park, NY for a French meal at The Bocuse Restaurant of The Culinary Institute of America.

After we got seated, the server brought the bread, gave us complimentary glasses of champagne and congratulated us on our anniversary. We were already off to a good start!

We played a table game with open-ended questions, AMUSE, before and during our meal. We noticed that the people in nearby tables also played the game while waiting for their food.

Love the minimalist interior design. Love this light fixture!

Look at all those bottles of wine!

Even if we had our champagne, we still ordered our wines. Hubby had a glass of Château De Bel-Air Red Bordeaux Blend Lalande de Pomerol 2010. I had a glass of Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt “RK” Estate Bottled Riesling Mosel 2013 (not in the picture).

My choice of appetizer became an unexpected love. I actually saw a picture of this dish via Bocuse’s Instagram account. I told my husband that it looked simple – a salad with cheese. But fate has a fine way of playing a joke. The moment they presented my plate of Warm Goat Cheese with Baby Kale, Asian Pears, Pomegranate, Spiced Pumpkin Seeds, I thought it was a thing of beauty. I didn’t even want to touch it!

Delicately beautiful and beautifully delicate. Look how colorful it is! This appetizer alone is enough reason for me to go back to Bocuse. Seriously.

I was too enchanted by my appetizer to fully appreciate hubby’s choice of appetizer: Torchon of La Belle Farms Foie Gras (Torchon de Foie Gras) with Poached Pear, Date Compote and Brioche Toast. He made me taste this foie gras and it was incredibly rich and buttery!

As for the entrée, I was torn between the Roasted Fluke and the Sautéed Dorade. After asking our server Karl about the two fishes, I decided to try the dorade. They served it with Braised Artichokes, Red Pepper Confit, Caramelized Haricot Vert, Lentils with Roasted Garlic Essence. After setting the plate in front of me, they poured the roasted garlic essence under the fish. The fish and the red pepper confit worked well together. Somehow, the texture of the dorade reminded me of tilapia, which is pretty good since I like tilapia.

Hubby ate the Slow Braised Veal Short Ribs that was, in his words, “really good. The meat was so tender and juicy. It just seemed to slide down my throat.”

Afterwards, hubby wanted coffee. Instead of ordering regular good ol’ coffee, he wanted the Grand Café – coffee, Grand Marnier, hand-shaken Cream with caramelized orange zest.

When it was time for us to choose our desserts, we noticed that the people across our table had the table-side ice cream for their dessert, which looked pretty enticing from where we sat. Hubby and I agreed that yes, we must have ice cream. But I also wanted the mocha dessert because I love mocha and rarely find it. He agreed. After all, you can never have too many desserts.

I wasn’t leaving Bocuse without trying The Mocha (Le Petit Déjeuner au Dessert). It’s Mocha and Toasted Baguette Gâteaux, Sweet Butter Brioche and Tangerine.

Then we ordered the Table-Side Ice Cream and Classic Treats. We had Vanilla Ice Cream in a Waffle Cone. The ice cream was made by adding liquid nitrogen to the base ingredients. Here’s Karl (our server) working his magic.

Here’s the ice cream in the cone! We also got an extra bowl of ice cream, a leftover from that process.

The “Classic Treats” included Butternut Squash Clafouti, Canelé de Bordeaux, Green Tea-Red Bean and Jasmine Rice Pudding Gâteaux, and Date Cake with Pecan-Butterscotch Sauce.

Last but not the least, they gave us more sweet treats because it was our anniversary. No idea what they are, but we ate all the little bite-sized morsels of sweetness!

Here’s us after such a lovely and filling meal. We were planning to go back before we even left the restaurant. Tout était délicieux!

Verdict: If you’re interested in visiting this restaurant, keep in mind – eating there is a very delicious way of helping CIA students with their education. The students rendered all-around excellent food and service during our visit. The ambiance and decor was casually elegant and minimalist without appearing too stuffy. The prix fixe meal was very reasonably priced. If this is what they’re up to while they’re students, I cannot wait to see and taste the culinary delights they will come up with after graduating.

Address:
The Bocuse Restaurant
The Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive (Route 9), Hyde Park, NY 12538-1499