Another night of bliss at the Northshore Brasserie
As I mentioned recently, the Northshore Brasserie is one of two authentic French restaurants in Knoxville. Tonight, I joined four friends for another evening of exquisitely prepared classic French dishes. Just like the last time the five of us dined there together, the food, the wine, the atmosphere, the service, and the presentation were all flawless.
We started off with two appetizers; first, we had fried Camembert wedges with watercress and a strawberry vinaigrette. Yes, it's fried cheese, but it's fried cheese like you've never had it before. Rich and nutty, the Camembert was perfectly offset by the crisp breading surrounding it. The sections of cheese were thick enough that the centers were still creamy and smooth, yet the outer portions flowed perfectly into that sturdy golden crust surrounding them.
The Camembert dish was excellent and could certainly stand on its own, but we accidentally upstaged the cheese with some of the best oysters I've ever eaten. Our second appetizer was a dozen Chef's Creek oysters on the half shell; the flavor was creamy, yet exhibited hints of melon, and perhaps even citrus on the finish. These ever-so-slightly sweet oysters paired beautifully (as did the second dozen we ordered) with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne.
Did I mention the Brasserie offers half-price bottles of wine on Tuesdays? That made the Veuve Clicquot pretty compelling. It's an exquisite, heavenly wine, and at 50 percent off, it's too tempting to resist.
For the main course, the five of us chose one of two dishes: three of us chose gnocchi with clams and scallops, and two of us chose steamed mussels. The gnocchi (those classic Italian potato dumplings) were tender, soft, and very hearty. Gnocchi is a difficult dish to get just right; it's very easy to overcook them to toughness, or under-cook them so that they're still doughy and spongy. The gnocchi at the Brasserie hit the perfect medium, cooked to exactly the right consistency. They were solid but not chewy, done just to the point that the potato dough was cooked throughout to the point of perfect equilibrium. The shellfish in the dish were likewise prepared exactly to that elusive point where they are cooked throughout, yet still tender and rich.
One of us chose the mussels Brittany, and I chose the mussels Mariniere. The Brittany mussels were steamed in some kind of white Belgian beer (perhaps a Chimay, or maybe something like a Hoegaarden) with shallots, and the Mariniere were steamed in white wine (I suspect it was a Riesling, but that's just a guess) with shallots and parsley. Both were paragons of the familiar, delicious moules of the Low Countries. As is traditional with that dish, the mussels were served at the table in their cooking pots, with that deep, rich liquid waiting below the shellfish at the bottom of the pot. All five of us ended the main course by sopping up that liquid heaven with morsels of French bread. If we could have up-ended the pot and drunk from it without causing a scene, we might well have done so; it was just that good.
In addition to the Veuve Clicquot, we had a bottle of 2005 Robertson shiraz (one of my favorite South African wines), as well as a great bottle of Bourgogne. Unfortunately, I forgot to note the vineyard of that wonderful Burgundy, but I can state that it was warm, light, and bore a subtle hint of jasmine in the bouquet. I just wish I'd written down the name. Like the Robertson, it married perfectly with the shellfish; although some might consider it a faux pas to drink red wine with shellfish, I personally think that softer reds go very well with aromatic shellfish, steamed in herbs, butter, and garlic. To me, that's a perfect match.
To finish off that landmark meal, our desserts consisted of a gorgeous puff pastry with chocolate fudge sauce, a sorbet (which I didn't sample), and a delicate, fluffy espresso chocolate cake (which I nearly inhaled). The espresso cake merged perfectly with Irish coffee, prepared (as the server suggested) with "all the frou-frou."
If I'm having Irish coffee, by dang, I want the frou-frou.
As I mentioned in my earlier review, this establishment is an authentic French brasserie. By "authentic," I do not mean that it's merely an accurate imitation of the real thing. The Northshore Brasserie is no mere simulacrum; it is genuine and real, with food, service, and atmosphere crafted with love, depth, and understanding.
Joseph Campbell said, "Follow your bliss." If I followed my bliss, it would probably lead directly to 9430 Northshore Drive.