Restaurant Week: Le Périgord in New York, NY

image of Le Périgord in New York, NY
One of the first things I do for Restaurant Week, before looking for the menu, is to look for the cost. Opentable has this $ sign that goes from $ to $$$$, the latter meaning expensive. So I decided to apply a filter and picked Le Périgord, a French restaurant located Midtown East, that has been on my list for a while now. 
Périgord is a region in the South-West of France, known for its cuisine often made of duck or goose, such as confit or foie gras. Well, Interestingly, the family who started the restaurant are not from there! George Briguet, who opened the restaurant in 1964 is from Switzerland and his wife, Marie‑Thérèse, that I met after our meal, from Brittany. 
image of rose at Le Périgord in New York, NY
This is an old school place: fresh flowers on the table, white tablecloths and upholstery on the walls that transported us back in time.
image of table at Le Périgord in New York, NY
Menu wise, they only brought us the Restaurant Week menu and I wondered at that time if it was some kind of profiling, restaurant bringing usually the regular menu as well as this one...
image of restaurant week menu at Le Périgord in New York, NY
They first brought us some bread
image of bread at Le Périgord in New York, NY
And butter.
image of butter at Le Périgord in New York, NY
I admit that I was disappointed with the bread: it is a French restaurant bon sang! I mean serve a good baguette, not a bread that seems to have been store bought and is not what you would expect for this type of restaurant. For her entrée, Jodi ordered the salade mélangée that is baby mixed green salad and goat cheese.
image of salade mélangée at Le Périgord in New York, NY
On my side, I got the pâté du Chef:
image of pâté du Chef at Le Périgord in New York, NY
It was served with ratatouille
image of ratatouille at Le Périgord in New York, NY
And celery remoulade.
image of celery remoulade at Le Périgord in New York, NY
This was a really good appetizer: the pâté was delicious, as were the ratatouille and celery remoulade. I was please to have a dish composed of three classics, instead of just having the pâté with bread (and you know what I thought about the bread). For her entrée, Jodi ordered the salmon. It was cooked with a lemon saffron sauce and served with vegetables.
image of salmon with lemon saffron sauce at Le Périgord in New York, NY
I did not like it, the salmon having a fishy taste. However, my dish was divine: it was the veal kidney with mustard sauce.
image of veal kidney with mustard sauce at Le Périgord in New York, NY
I was in heaven! The kidneys were perfectly cooked, smothered in a delicious sauce. I realize, writing this, that it sounds creepy, but no, this is not an episode of Hannibal, although sometimes Jodi calls me Dr. Lecter, because of my love for creepy meat. The dish was served with a nice risotto, that is a change, as I usually see potatoes served. For dessert, Jodi ordered the ile flottante or floating island, a classic French dessert made with egg whites and crème Anglaise.
image of ile flottante at Le Périgord in New York, NY
On my side, I went for the chocolate mousse with Grand Marnier.
image of chocolate mousse at Le Périgord in New York, NY
Both desserts were a bit disappointing, lacking some "oumf" that would make them memorable or at least delicious. Jodi was not as lucky as I was for her meal at Le Périgord. I am glad, at least, that I tried it during restaurant week, as I was always curious about that place; but it did not entice me to go back, the restaurant missing the charm that would attract a young crowd hungry for French cuisine. Enjoy (...)!
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