Sunday, August 3, 2014

Escargot at Brasserie Gigi
Picture by H. Chabot
     As sad as we were to see the Italian restaurant Mercato close in January, our happiness at the opening of a French restaurant in its' place knows no bounds.
     Brasserie Gigi at 102 N. Market St., purveyor of French cuisine extraordinaire, exceeded all of our expectations.   From the Escargot, prepared in a delicious broth of garlic, parsley, butter, chives, shallot and anise, served in the shell, to the chocolate pot de creme, all was perfection.
      Our party shared the Escargot, mopping up every last bit of parsley butter with extra pieces of freshly baked and soft (thank you!) French bread.  We pulled the delicious snails from their shells with a small-tined snail fork--many thanks to the waiter who, when he saw that one of our snails would not come out, brought us an even tinier fork with which I easily extricated the tender, recalcitrant mollusk.
We were served iced water throughout the meal from a large, chilled bottle and also enjoyed a very nice California Chardonnay.  Our waiter, Chris, was kind enough to bring an ice bucket to keep our bottle of white wine chilled tableside.
     Three of my dining partners ordered the classic Steak Frites for a main course.  We were all well pleased with the New York strip steak, seared and cooked to medium temperature with a nice, pink center.  The meat was moist, flavorful and accompanied by a delicious bearnaise sauce.  I dipped my skinny, crispy "frites" (french fried potatoes) in the bearnaise, too.  Oh yes, they were a little taste of heaven.  A salad of leaf lettuce and sliced tomato shared the plate with the meat and potatoes, dressed with a light and tasty vinaigrette.
     Shrimp Provencal,  tail-on shrimp tossed with linguine in a garlic and white wine sauce, was enjoyed by the fourth member of our party.  The lemon and thyme flavors dominated, adding much to the enjoyment of the dish.
     We finished our meal with after dinner drinks and two shared chocolate pots de creme.  The ramekins of milk chocolate were creamy, not too sweet and topped with fresh, whipped cream.  A sweet finish to a lovely meal.
We will happily return to Brasserie Gigi.

1 comment:

  1. Sad news. Brasserie Gigi has closed. Hurry over to Chez Nous or Rue de Jean for delicious French cuisine in Charleston.

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