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Pearl Oyster Bar
New York, NY |
Sherpa’s Adventurers Restaurant & Bar
Boulder, CO |
THE Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA |
Tezka
Mexico City, Mexico |
Clem and Ursie's Restaurant
Provincetown, MA |
Global 33
New York, NY |
Stubb’s Bar B Q
Austin, TX |
Blue & Gold Tavern
New York, NY |
Golden Boy Pizza
San Francisco, CA |
Robin des Bois
Brooklyn, NY |
Chelsea Commons
New York, NY |
Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden Café
New York, NY |
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| Robin des Bois |
195 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY
718.596.1609 |
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The other night I was lured by an old friend to join him for dinner at funky Carroll Gardens café Robin des Bois, as a prelude to my monthly trip to Steam at Barbelow, just up the block. This friend, let’s call him ‘John’, is someone I don't see very often. In fact we hadn’t gotten together in a long time so I suggested dinner followed by drinks at Steam.
From outside Robin des Bois looks more like a hip East Village joint with its eclectic assortment of antiques and art lightly blanketing the walls, ceiling, and surfaces. It’s the quality of these ornaments and the laid-back crowd that saves it from being mistaken for a TGI Fridays. Actually Robin des Bois is both a restaurant/café and an antique/art gallery.
The place is full this Thursday night, but not overfull, and we’re immediately seated at a table for two. Unlike their Manhattanite cousins, the managers of Robin des Bois fail to make the mistake of over-cluttering the restaurant with tables. It’s a welcome relief to share conversation with the intended recipient without including strangers the next two tables over.
The tables here are small and intimate, and comfortable. Your dinner companion within arm’s reach. And the lighting is good all over, almost no direct light anywhere in the place. This close, and in the cozy yellow diffused lighting I study my friend across the table and sense the faintest stirring of thoughts I should probably leave alone.
"Let’s share a cheese and meats plate" my friend suggests, "like in France." We order a plate of goose rillette with spiced prunes and cornichons ($5) to start, followed by the sherwood special, a platter of charcuterie and fromage – French meats and cheeses ($20). My friend orders a bottle of Côtes du Rhone ($19).
The rillettes arrive first, served with baguette, spiced prunes, garlic toasts, and cornichons – those naughty little French pickles. Over glasses of wine we gingerly scoop rillettes on baguette, trading prunes and cornichons with our fingers. The rillettes are as good as any I’ve had in France, the spiced prunes sweet, spicy, and delicious – the perfect complement to the savory meat.
Once finished we help our waitress clear everything from the table – the platter of meats and cheeses arrives and it's almost as big as the table itself. It’s a spectacular spread of cheeses – brie, roblechon, and a wonderful hard cheese I was unable to identify, charcuterie, a tangle of mixed greens in a vinagrette, plus grapes, strawberries, and sliced apples. As we share the platter and pass tasty bits back and forth, the table seems to shrink. We trade tastes of things, we joke about how it’s like we’re in Paris. Our eyes lock and ‘John’ pours more wine, without once breaking eye contact.
Somewhere in the mix I reach to pass a strawberry and he leans forward just a little, with that unmistakable look. Maybe it was the wine, maybe the authentic French bistro food, but whatever it was we were about an hour and a half late getting to Steam. I usually say it's bad policy to sleep with your friends but goddamn sometimes you just have to go for it.
‘Robin des Bois’ is French for ‘Robin Hood’. I don’t know what the hell happened that night but if that’s what it feels like to get jumped by a Merry Man I don’t ever want to leave Sherwood Forest. |
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| chumwater |
| August 23, 2002 |
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