Mais Oui ….

I’ve always loved French cooking and dining. I mean, what’s not to love? All those great sauces, meats, vegetables, classic recipes and meals, makes me salivate just thinking about it. About the only thing I haven’t been able to get my palette around is French charcuterie:  those almost raw meats, foie gras, pates, terrines, etc. As I wrote to my esteemed colleague in Vegas, John Curtas, do you like those? Because for me, it looks and tastes like expensive, high end cat food. John got my sense of humor and replied that he did love those kinds of dishes, but it’s definitely an acquired taste. So where am I going with all this? 

Well, when I was doing a little research for our cruise stop in Boston, I came across Ma Maison’s restaurant site. Well-priced entrees, with the traditional white cloth tables, I knew I had made an excellent choice upon entering a packed restaurant filled with lots of boisterous, happy patrons. Squeezing into a rear booth next to the kitchen, the web gal and I were knocked out at how delicious and tasty the cream of broccoli soup special was for that night. Web gal said it was the best soup she ever had. Combine it with some excellent soft bread and butter that they buy from a local French bakery and we were off to a great start.  

The web gal still can’t get her palette around eating escargots, or to her, slimy snails. But I had no problem ordering Six Burgundy Escargots in Garlic Parsley Butter for an appy. It came piping hot to the table with a nice, light crust on each snail and I loved all six bites of rich, garlic, buttery goodness. Moving on to our mains, the web gal ordered the Chicken Thigh Coq Au Vin with butter noodles and I was about to order the steak frites as I saw a fine example of it when entering the restaurant. But my rabbit ears heard a lady to my right ordering Duck Magret with cherries and asparagus. I asked our waitress if it could be cooked rare? “Certainement. Is there any other way?”

Well, Asian restaurants sure cook the hell out of duck. Recently, saw an old episode of Tony Bourdain’s No Reservations and he was gobsmacked while duck hunting with some good ole boys when they said that they couldn’t understand why people liked duck meat. Once he found out that they never had duck cooked rare, he took the day’s bounty back to their cabin, cooked it rare in a skillet and they couldn’t believe how good it tasted. Exactment. And oh, the gal chef on the grill who has been with Ma Maison for 15 years, seemed to know exactly what I wanted. It came to the table in dark red perfection, every piece so delicious, could have stayed all night if that dish kept coming out of kitchen. To hell with getting back on the ship!! Ha ha!!! 

And speaking of duck, it seemed only fitting when we perused the wine list and saw Sonoma Coast 2021 Duckhorn Decoy, that it had to be the wine we ordered. It turned out to be a fine choice, a very nice, smooth cab that matched with our food perfectly. Especially when we were comped a chocolate mousse that the web gal said was her favorite course. I’m not big on desserts, but I was lucky I got a spoonful as the web gal inhaled it and I stuck to polishing off the wine. What a fun night. Was really impressed how they maintained that kind of quality without the head chef being on site, so I called the restaurant and asked head chef/owner Jacky Robert to do the NSI quiz. Cheers and enjoy…

What was last night’s dinner? Korean BBQ… Just so tasty and good…

What’s your favorite music? I like mood music, Miles Davis, Androne…

What’s your favorite drink? Red wine. Any of the classic Bordeaux’s or Burgundy’s…

What do you love about living and working in Boston? The four seasons. I cooked for 20 years in San Francisco and while I really enjoyed it, it’s not the same as the east coast. Hot summers, cold winters, just seems to rejuvenate me every year.

What makes a great restaurant? Being a chef, you would think I would say the food, but I think it’s the service. You’ve got to hire good servers. You can serve the best food in the world but if people don’t have a good time it won’t make a difference.

Any wine, meal or trip on your bucket list? Actually I had a bit of that when I cooked in San Francisco. I cooked at this Marin County charity event where they were pouring three bottles of Bordeaux from the 1870’s, two of them were corked, but I got to have a taste of the good one and it was fantastic.

Any brush with celebrity? Matt Damon came in here a couple of months ago for lunch. He was shooting a movie at the fire station a couple of blocks from here. Nice guy, didn’t ask for any special treatment, ate a cheese omelet that he seemed to like and left. 

Final thoughts? I love surprises. In the restaurant business, there’s no two days that are alike and I love that it changes every day.