Our current 3 course fixed price menu at Sly’s. It’s still just $35., and only $55. with three glasses of French wine. (Sly's also offers 10% off any bottle of French wine on our list when you order the menu) As usual, this menu will run for about 6 weeks before we chance to another interesting region of France, idea, time or concept in French cooking.
The French menu in America.You might say that in modern times, It started with the Kennedys - and Jacqueline Kennedy. A French Chef - in the White House, René Verdon. And it continued for years, especially after Julia Child came along and made us even more enamored with French food. A fancy, special occasion restaurant in Manhattan, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco or Los Angeles in those years? Chances are, it was French. Your local, go-to neighborhood restaurant in those same cities? Probably a French bistro as well. Fine food was, well, French food. The 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were great years in America for “French” food.
Those were great years for me, too. I was reading The French Chef Cookbook by Julia Child, doing an apprenticeship, first at a fancy French restaurant in Orange County, then at the Ritz in Paris and the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, and working with 3-star Michelin Chef Michel Guèrard in Eugenie-les-Bains, Paris, and New York City.
A Frenchman might not have recognized all of the choices of our American French menus, but we Americans had a pretty good idea what we thought “French” was - and it included things from Frog’s Legs and Onion Soup right on to Crème Caramel and Chocolate Mousse. And, don’t forget the Camembert cheese - what could be more French than that? So, that's the sorts of dishes we've included in our current Fixed Price Menu.
So, this Fixed Price French Menu at Sly’s celebrates “The French Menu in America”. If you’re old enough to remember, come on down and reminisce with some old favorites. If you’re younger, come try a little history, and maybe you’ll understand a delicious part of American’s past. Either way, it's a great dinner, and a great value at Sly's in Carpinteria.
Sly's French Onion Soupe Gratinée is one of the items on our Fixed Price menu - homemade chicken broth, slowly simmered onions, a croûton made from our homemade bread, and carefully baked with Gruyére and Reggiano Parmesan cheeses.
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