06 December 2009

Resto and Belgian Fries/ Resto et des frites belges


I have to apologize for my complete absence from the blogosphere in the past couple of weeks. D. and I decided to go the US for Thanksgiving, which was fun, but traveling often makes me sick and this time I caught a bad cold while we were there and another one now that I'm back. That, on top of catching up on everything from when I was gone, has make me a little crazy lately!

Il faut que je m'excuse de mon absence complète de la blogosphère pendant quelque semaines. D. et moi avons décidé de partir passer le Thanksgiving dans ma famille aux USA, ce qui était très sympa, mais j'ai remarqué que voyager me rend souvent malade et cette fois j'ai eu la crève pendant que j'étais là-bas et je l'ai ratrappée en revenant aussi : quelle chance !


In terms of food, much of the trip was herbal tea and soup, given my cold, and then Thanksgiving food, but we did get to go to a couple of our favorite restaurants in NYC with the family, and we discovered a new one that we all liked (thanks Josh!) called Resto. Resto is a Belgian restaurant in Murray Hill and has mostly what you would expect from a Belgian restaurant: waffles, fries with different sauces, a large selection of beers, and everything is delicious.

Comme j'étais malade, j'ai mangé beaucoup de soupe et bu beaucoup de tisane, mais à New York, nous avons quand même pu nous rendre dans quelques-uns de nos endroits préférés et (grace à Josh !) on a découvert un nouveau favori, un restaurant belge qui s'appelle Resto. (Ce n'est peut-être pas un nom très chic pour les Français, mais pour nous, c'est exotique.)


I had a cheeseburger with pretty much the best fries ever, but because it was brunch, some of us ordered breakfast fare and I have to say, these homefries with caramelized onions were to die for. I'm going to have to make my homefries that way from now on.

J'ai pris un cheeseburger avec les meilleurs frites au monde, mais j'étais quand même jalouse des patates sautées aux oignons caramelisés qui ont été servies à ma soeur. Maintenant, j'ai envie de faire tous mes patates sautées comme ça ! Miam !


Even though it was brunch, I couldn't resist their selection of beer. I tried the Christmas Ale, which was dark and spicy -- mmm -- and my dad tried another dark beer that tasted like chocolate.

Malgré le fait que c'était un peu tôt, je ne pouvais pas résister à la carte des bières. J'ai pris un Christmas Ale qui était ambrée, épicé et délicieux, et mon père a testé une autre bière ambré qui avait un fort goût de chocolat.


One of my sisters and I were intrigued by something called a dutch baby on the menu and so we ordered one for the table, and were glad we did! Dutch baby is sort of like a flat beignet served in a cast iron pan and covered in powdered sugar with lemon to squeeze on top. If that's what they eat in Belgium, I'm feeling silly for not having popped over there sooner!

Pour le dessert, une de mes soeurs et moi avons commandé un "dutch baby" - que tout le monde a mangé. C'est un beignet plat dans une poêle servie avec du sucre en poudre et du citron. Je ne connaissais pas vraiment la cuisine belge avant, mais maintenant je veux profiter du fait que je vis à Paris pour aller en Belgique et manger !

15 comments:

Katharine said...

Magnificent photos that truly capture the Resto experience! Come back soon so you can take (and eat) more... I'm sure it was the Dutch baby and Christmas ale that alleviated your cold. Love, Mom

Cicero Sings said...

Glad to see you post again. I was wondering what happened to you and hoped all was well.

Those fries look SO yummy. I'm partial to those dark winter beers myself. Mmmmm.

That Dutch baby looks like my Dutch Apple Pancake but without the apples ... I'll have to try it with just the lemon juice and icing sugar ... nice and easy.

Loved how the fries were served in the first picture. We got the deep fryer out and made fish and chips recently ... twice in fact. Tasty and I made my own tartar sauce which was also good with the chips. Mmmmm.

Hope your health AND schedule settle down soon.

TTFN ...

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Mmmhh, those big fat fries look irresistible! Great food!

Cheers,

Rosa

Ivy said...

Glad to see that you had a terrific time with your family. Those fries look so yummy.

Le Moineau said...

Bon soyons sérieux: la cuisine belge, c'est bien. la cuisine belge en Belgique, c'est mieux. Et j'aurai bientôt, si tout va bien, enfin un canapé convertible ;)

Hopie said...

Mom - Yep, next time I have a cold I'm going straight for the miracle cure! :-)

Cicero - Mmm, dutch apple pancake sounds delicious. And homemade fish and chips with tartar sauce - yum! Is your tartar sauce recipe on your blog?

Rosa - Indeed they are - it's terrible ;-)

Ivy - It was nice to see everybody. I'm glad to be back too though and settle in for a little while.

Paule - La cuisine belge en Belgique - je suis pour !! Si tu as besoin de testeurs de canapé convertible... ;-)

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you've never had a Dutch baby before! My brother used to eat them on pretty much a weekly basis - usually at his favorite breakfast place (The Original Pancake House) but sometimes he an my mom would whip one up at home. It's a real treat, but I've never seen one in Belgium...

That beer, however, I will have to look out for over here. :)

Sam said...

I don't think I've ever eaten Belgian food before (except chocolate of course!) it all looks fantastic especially the fries they look perfect.

I'm really intrigued by the Dutch baby too, I've never heard of it but now I really want to try some!

Le Moineau said...

oui, j'aurai bientôt besoin de testeuses de canapé :-)

giz said...

Everything looks wonderful. I'm sorry you got sick - the good news is that you got to spend time with family and I'm sure you got an ample dose of nurturing through your cold.
Glad to see you back.

Hester Prynne said...

Mmmm, everything looks delicious, I have to try that restaurant when I go back to NYC

Maria said...

Welcome back ... I'm sorry you weren't feeling well but I hope it didn't affect your trip too much! Resto sounds like a great place and I will look into trying it soon.

Heather S-G said...

Oh wow, the beers sound amazing...and I love the "dish" the fries are in in that first pic...gorgeous! And I've heard of a Dutch baby, but haven't tried...looks yum :)

Ren said...

Mm, now I want beer. And fries. ::pats expanding tummy::

Hopie said...

Camille - Hmm...still, I think I should go to Belgium to check out the dutch baby situation...just in case, you know?

Sam - The fries really were some of the best ever!

Paule - Ouais !!

Giz - True, nothing like being near Mom when one has a cold for some good nurturing :-)

Hester Prynne - I definitely recommend it.

Maria - Thank you! I hope you like Resto :-)

Girlichef - Yeah, I thought the fry-cups with sauce were pretty cool.

Ren - I know how you feel!