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After last year’s great experience at The Left Bank, we had to go back again this year, and once again, we signed up for the 7 course chef’s tasting menu.  My brother didn’t even look at the regular menu – he wanted to be surprised.  For someone who loves Taco Bell and KFC, I am always impressed at his willingness to go the foodie route with me.

Everything was great – not a big surprise.  Here’s the rundown:

Amuse Bouche: Cold pureed summer squash, with a nice chunk of local cured bacon in it to give a bit of bacon-y goodness and chives on top.  Very refreshing and a nice start.  Despite the fact that it comes in a demitasse cup and you just knock it back, I still always instinctively go looking for a spoon…

NC Pamlico Sound Oysters finished in an aged sherry mignonette with champange caviar on top. I’ll admit I was a touch concerned with raw oysters.  Not because of any health/safety reasons, but because the ones I’ve had have been rather chewy and not so great.  Well, I had nothing to worry about – these were spectacular.  They said they were “finished” with the migonette, but I’d swear they’d been marinating a while or something.  They were sweet and tasty and when you chewed them – they broke into pieces in your mouth!!  Amazing!  There were 2 medium sized ones and 1 large one, all served on the half-shell.  They could have easily gone with just 3 mediums, as the large one was HUGE.

Baby seedless watermelon with arugula, feta, pinenuts, capers & honey balsamic vinegar. This was the only thing I didn’t think melded super well.  The watermelon was really wonderfully sweet on it’s own, so the vinegar made it almost too sweet and it didn’t go quite right with the arugula.  However, there is an easy solution to that!  Eat the watermelon first, then the arugula salad with the vinegar.  Problem solved. :)  This was when my brother said, “Apparently I don’t much like arugula.”  Understandable – it is an aquired taste and it’s hard to get used to the peppery finish on it when you’re used to greens that *don’t* have that.  I think the watermelon would have been great as part of a dessert plate, or with any number of cheeses.  Or just watermelon for that matter!

Jumbo lump crab galette (Crabcake!  Just call it a crabcake!!) with seared local shrimp over butterbean succotash with lobster mushrooms and ramp puree. Very good.  Lots of crab, not a lot of filler, the shrimp on top was perfectly cooked and I love butterbeans, so that was just a bonus.

Line caught rockfish, with abalone mushrooms, cipollinis, spinach and a garlic puree. Well, I love rockfish, cipollinis and garlic, so I was sold on this right away.  Really tasty.

The best of the night:  Braised pork belly, with a raspberry reduction, and a braising reduction of the braising liquid, baby squash and carmelized onions. The pork belly just fell apart on the plate, and with the sweet onions, it was just heaven in your mouth.  My brother and I both agreed this was the winner of the night.  So simple, yet so absolutely delicious.

Sugar Loaf Farms Hoop Cheddar and fruit butter, with toasted almonds, sourdough crackers and blueberries. OH YUM.  Bit of fruit butter, a blueberry or two, a piece of cheese and a couple bits of almonds on the fork, eat.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Scuppernog-Blackberry Granité. Served in a little egg cup, it was just the right amount, because it was pretty sweet.  I might have gone heavier on the blackberries than the scuppernog grapes, but nice and cold and refreshing.

Dark run carmelized white peach with a cinnamon sugar beignet, served in bittersweet chocolate soup and white chocolate chantilly cream drizzles. Again, OH YUM.  The peach and beignet were rich and filling on their own, and it’s the end of the meal – they could have easily gotten away with dark and white chocolate drizzles over it vs. the soup.  But it was a lovely finish.

The Left Bank Get reservations.

More “fancy” dining. :)  Apparently reservations are recommended, we lucked out because we wandered in relatively late in the evening and there were only two of us.

They’re very heavy on using local ingredients whenever they can and will tell you what is from local farms.  I like that a lot.  There are so many farms around here, there is no reason not to take advantage of them when you can.

I ended up going with the special – pan fried catfish with an heirloom grits cake, and andouille sausage with roasted peppers.  It was fantastic.  I was a little iffy on the grits-cake at first – it seemed like it could use a bit of salt/pepper/cheese, but that apparently was just the corner of it I started on, as the rest of it was perfectly seasoned and nice and creamy.  The catfish was great, too – cooked just right.  I love andouille sausage and it goes so well with the grits.  The catfish filet could have been half the size of what was presented and still would have been plenty to eat, as the grits are fairly filling.

IIRC, my brother got a steak and had there been a pattern on the plate, I’m not sure it still would have been there when he was finished.

Great place, will probably go there again next year.

Ocean Boulevard

We’re down at the Outer Banks for the next two weeks.  Which means seafood.  LOTS of seafood. :-D  I will be reporting accordingly.

Tonight after the drive down, we hit Awful Arthur’s Oyster Bar.  They’ve been around for years, but for whatever reason, last year was the first time I’d ever been there.

First, let me warn you – the mixed drinks are deadly.  I’ve watched the bartenders pour them and your liver had better be ready for it.  Me?  I stuck with Red Stripe.

AA’s is a basic steamer bar, and really good.  (Of course, you can’t be crappy and last around here.)  I had the crab & lobster bisque, which was awesome.  I had it last year as well and just couldn’t pass it up.  Knowing from experience how rich this stuff is, trying to figure out what to have with it was a little harder.  After much hemming and hawing, I settled on a half dozen clams casino.  I know this is a classic seafood app, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had it before.  Well, it was wonderful.  The clams were sweet and not at all chewy and well, anything with bacon on it is OK in my book.  Last year I had the crab bites – basically itty bitty crabcakes.  Those are great, too, but really rich.

My brother got the steamed shrimp & snow crab.  (OK, snow crab isn’t exactly local, but it’s yummy and it’s really not local anywhere on the east coast…)  His only issue was the shrimp may have stayed in the steamer a touch too long as they were a bit of a bear to peel.  But he perservered and managed to barely leave the pattern on the plate. :)

Definitely on tap this week, Meridian 42 and The Left Bank.