Last week, Monday, August 15th was Julia Child's birthday. We're celebrating a Fixed Price menu at Sly's featuring Julia's wonderful - and wonderfully precise - recipes. Boeuf Bourguignon? Of course that's on the menu, along with Veal Liver "Persillade" and silky Quenelles of Sole "Veloute", with a classic white wine fish cream. And three incredible desserts to choose from - including Crêpes Suzettes, Queen of Sheba Cake, and my own personal favorite, the upside down Apple Tarte Tatin covered in delicious caramel. If instead you want a bit of terrific cheese, we have a Caembert Fermier, specially selected by our friends at C'est Cheese.
Charming, intelligent and witty, as well as really tall, Julia was bigger than life, both physically and as a force that elevated our awareness of French food, and frankly, gave us the means to prepare it with her thorough recipes.
Consider Sly's Julia Child Fixed Price Menu choices sort of "Julia's greatest hits" - we only hope that we would do her proud with our execution. From the silky Chicken Liver Mousse to the rich "Queen of Sheba" cake, there are three wonderful courses for each course. And, of course, there's the dish that launched Julia's career as a cook who taught us all so much - the Dover Sole Meunère, simply and perfectly prepared, slowly sautéed in butter, and boned tableside by your server - or by yourself, if you'd like. ($10. supplement for the Dover Sole)
A personal story: About 1990 or so, when I was Chef at the El Encanto Hotel, I sat on the terrace with Julia Child and her husband Paul. My first cook book was Julia's "The French Chef Cookbook", and frankly, I was always in awe in her presence. As usual, there was much talk of food, and at one point, Julia said, in that squeaky voice of hers, "What this town needs is a good dover sole Meunière."
I always remembered that, and that's exactly why we always have the Dover Sole Meunière on our menu at Sly's
Sly's Fixed Price Menu is still just $35., or $55. for three courses with selected wines. All of Julia's specialties are available a la carte along with the other items from Sly's extensive menu, of course.
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