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Mar
31
The Shop Tart and her husband don’t mean to go to La Fourchette every time they are in Charleston, but they do. Why? Because they love it. Going to La Fourchette is like taking a trip to France for a few hours. It’s the little bistro you would discover by accident, but you never do, because you’re in France and you’re lost. In Charleston, you can find it right there on King Street.
After her first night under the tents at Charleston Fashion Week, the Shop Tart wanted to relax. She decided to forgo the “Official After-Party” at Fish and slip into La Fourchette instead, where she sat at the bar, perusing the fashion week magazine for previews of the rest of the week.
Mais oui, she started with a glass of bubbly. Although there was free bubbly under the tents where she was seated*, she couldn’t over-indulge, because bubbly and paying attention don’t mix for her. And, while she normally shuns unnecessary carbs, this bread is worth it. Absolument.
She quickly decided on tartare de boeuf and salade verte (salade après, bien sûr.) The tartare arrived right when she was ready, with the eggshell containing the yolk on top of the beef, as it should be, so she could pour it over the plate. Heaven!
As she ate, she enjoyed chatting with chef and proprietor Perig Goulet, who is always charming in addition to being a source of excellent information about food. And the Shop Tart does love food, although they share a dislike for the word “foodie,” much to her delight.
She was also delighted to learn he remembered her fondly (or pretended to, very convincingly) from her last visit, in spite of the fact that she had one too many and insisted on going into the kitchen to see his famous crêpe machine (which was really cool, by the way!) She explained how she had hated beets until she tried the roasted beet crêpes at La Fourchette that evening. He began to extoll the virtues of the beet and leek salad and, as her mouth began to water, she knew she had to change her salade verte order.
The salad was divine, the perfect ratio of beets to leeks to vinaigrette**. The vinaigrette is spectacular and is made from only three things, according to Perig: white wine vineger, extra-virgin olive oil and mustard from Rouen, where the Shop Tart’s mother-in-law just happens to have originated. Her belle-mère is in France right now and the Shop Tart hopes to reach her by e-mail and see about obtaining some of this divine mustard. Of course, it’s quite likely there’s more to the vinaigrette than he says; French people are like that, you know. He once offered a large quantity of the vinaigrette as a wedding gift to a patron who wanted it for her reception and found her caterer unable to oblige.
At some point, her glass had been re-filled and she began to feel at home, a much nicer home than her own with better food. When Perig asked if she had a sweet tooth, she demurred, but was talked into just one bite. He prepared this delicious treat right on the bar - crispy puff pastry filled with something creamy and cold and covered with rich, dark chocolate sauce. Does she need to tell you how good it was?
We love the bistro late at night, when chefs from neighboring restaurants stop in for a bite and a glass. Chef David Pell of Coast was at the bar that night and several other friends of Perig’s stopped by to say hello.
After turning down another glass of bubbly, because she wasn’t willing to walk home in her heels, the Shop Tart left, pleasantly warm and full. Delightful!
She is surprised more people haven’t tried this gem, which is always packed during dinner hours. During this recession, a night out at a restaurant seems more practical than a tour of France, n’est-ce pas?
In other news…
- Granger Owings is having a trunk show tomorrow featuring Samuelsohn, Peter Millar, L. Gambert and Allen Edmonds
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
* Love those media passes. But seriously, who are these journalists who can guzzle bubbly and think at the same time?
** Can three things be a ratio?
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