Farewell to Foie: Petrossian

Tomorrow, California's foie gras ban begins.  This is sad for so many delicious reasons, but I really liked Diana's take on the ban.  You should read it.

Yesterday, insomniac and I panicked.  We'd forgotten.  We'd procrastinated.  We scrambled.

Luckily, insomniac booked an early reservation for us at Petrossian, where I had the most gorgeous meal with dapotato and Winnie nearly two years ago.

Dining with insomniac is a joy.  She loves food as much as I do.  She makes me laugh.  She holds menus for me. 

When we eat, we do it right.  She gets it.

There was no better companion for this meal.

We barely made it, people.  Barely.

I can't tell you how fortunate we were to experience this meal together -- five glorious courses, each better than the former.

Every single bite was happiness laced with sorrow.

How's that for dramatic?

First Course
Summer berry gazpacho, Armagnac poached foie gras, pickled beets.

insomniac ate my blackberries for me because I am allergic, but, even without the blackberries, this was a burst of fruity sunshine punctuated with rich, creamy cubes of foie.  So bright!  So fun!

Second Course
Asparagus salad, black summer truffles, little gem baby lettuce, truffle jus vinaigrette, foie gras ravioli.

The pasta was impeccably al dente and delicately stuffed with our beloved star ingredient.  I swirled the ravioli all over the plate to soak up the wondrous truffle jus.  Each mouthful was an incredible explosion of truffles and luscious foie.

And then we got really excited.  It was time for our usual favorite preparation -- the sear!

Is this girl thrilled with the arrival of this plate or what?

Third Course
Seared foie gras, cherries, mint, pistachios.

Oh, the sear.  The sear!  Exceptional.  The tangy.  The sweet.  The nutty.  All perfect accompanying flavors for this stunning piece of shiny, fatty foie.

Fourth Course
Prime flat iron, foie gras, onion, fines herbes, Fresno chili.

To say this portion of steak was generous is an understatement.  We both ate half and boxed up the rest to take home.  It was tender.  It was meaty.  It was sitting on top of a splendid pool of foie gras sauce.  Yeah!

Fifth Course
Foie gras ice cream, brioche, raspberry jam, sea salt, honey.

Neither insomniac nor I have a sweet tooth.  If, given the choice, we'd both pick savory over sweet any day.

But this dessert was extraordinary.

Like heart-stoppingly amazing.

Epic.

Imagine the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the whole universe, except instead of peanut butter and white bread, you have the most decadent and incredible foie gras ice cream hugged by fresh, fluffy brioche.

Now multiply that bliss by 100.

That was this dessert.

This did us in.  It was so good that it made insomniac weep.  No joke.

With reactions like this, it's obvious why I love this girl to pieces and why she was the perfect person to help me bid farewell to foie gras in California.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
They banned foie gras and made us hustle to eat a lot.

Foie-ck you, ban.  Seriously.

Pretty Pretty Petrossian

If you've not yet subscribed to Blackboard Eats, you really should. You can get awesome deals like 30% off your entire bill at Petrossian.

The space is pretty. The food is pretty. My friends, dapotato and Winnie, are pretty. And Winnie's photos of our meal are the prettiest of all. She is a real photographer. Sigh.

Complimentary blinis (usually $18).

Manager Chris kindly treated us to this stunning plate of caviar on top of cream on top of billowy little pancakes of yum. The blinis were lined up according to increasing levels of flavor. Chris recommended that we eat them in order of saltiness, and we appreciated his explanation of the differences in the caviar. What a grand way to start!

Crispy egg, cipollini onion soubise, smoked salmon, caviar ($18).


Golden crunch on the outside! Yolky surprise on the inside! Complex. Exquisite. Inspired.

Wild mushroom cappuccino ($10).

Creamy and frothy and wondrous. Kudos to the master mushroom barista in the back. And I don't even like fungi.

Foie gras, haricot verts, toasted walnut, black truffle vinaigrette ($14).

You know green beans are really really really good when they make you forget that you have a big slab of foie gras on top of them. Cool and crisp. If you like crunch, you'll love this. Big contrast between the fresh green beans and walnuts and the silky foie gras.

Caviar pizza, crème fraiche, chives, capers, red onion ($26).

This is no ordinary pizza. It is a fancy-schmancy flatbread smothered with expensive stuff and served cold. You'll savor every last interesting bite of it.

Truffle burger, caramelized onion, truffle cheese ($22).


We wanted something without caviar in it, so we opted for some good ol' hearty beef. The burger is usually served on brioche, but the kitchen was out of brioche, so our burger was served on focaccia instead. Still awesome. This is probably a safe bet if you're dining with anybody who has a less adventurous palate.

Vanilla panna cotta, exotic fruit marmalade, pop rocks ($10).

Snap, crackle, pop! So fun! Fine dining needs more levity. Throwing pop rocks into a creamy and slightly tart dessert? Mad genius. We giggled a lot as we ate this. Pop rocks are surprisingly loud!

Pistachio creme brulee, macerated strawberries, hibiscus ($10).


I have a passion for pistachio, so it is no surprise that this sweet ending pleased me greatly. Like I-want-to-lick-the-glass greatly.

Petrossian kicked ass. I look forward to returning to try more of the menu, even without a Blackboard Eats discount.