Amelie

 I love when a restaurant has staff that is actually from the same country as the food.  When you walk into Amelie, you are greeted by a French manager and if you sit at the bar, you are served by a French bartender.  Needless to say, a few minutes into my entrance, Amelie was off to a good start.

Amelie features an impressive selection of quality wines by the glass.  While seated at the bar, the bartender allowed us to sample several different sparkling wine options before committing to our own preferred glass  (a drier sparkling wine for me and a sweeter sparkling wine for Mitch). 

After our friends arrived, we were seated by the charming French manager and then largely ignored by our server, which I barely noticed for at first because I was too busy sipping my sparkling wine and perusing the menu.  After a ridiculously long period of time passed, we succeeded in tracking down our server.  Once we found him, he was attentive (by European standards, not so much by American standards) the rest of the night.  We all had different wine preferences so our server made suggestions and brought out samples.  He did an impressive job matching our preferences and finding glasses of wine that complimented the food.

Our server overheard us talking to our friends about our one year anniversary celebration and surprised our table with a complimentary round of Cava to continue the celebration.  We truly enjoyed our evening at Amelie (free Cava aside).  Amelie is a great spot for a small group of people (four or less because the restaurant is narrow and has limited seating) or a date night. 

What to Eat:

Start with the Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese.  The large, round sphere of decadent goat cheese is rolled in chopped pistachio nuts and then lightly doused in honey.  As if that isn't heavenly enough, the goat cheese is accompanied by a generous serving of sweet, caramelized onions.  The dish includes a few slices of lightly toasted French bread but you will want and need more bread so make sure to ask your server to refill your bread basket.  Amelie's fresh French bread tastes buttery (without putting butter on it).  The sweet and savory contrasts in this one dish are top notch.  This is one of the best cheese appetizers I have had in NYC AND it is large enough to share.






For an entree, we tried to order the Trout but the dish was sold out so instead we went with the Skate, a special.  Amelie does fish well.  Amelie's skate was light and slightly buttery, a nice contrast to the heavier goat cheese appetizer.  The skate was topped with sauteed garlic, tomatoes, and potatoes and sat on top of a bed of hericot verts.  I liked it so much I'm making it for dinner tonight!  I've never cooked with skate but I found this dish inspiring.

Need a wine bar to help keep you warm?  I'm still day dreaming about the Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese,

Your foodie friend

Insider tip: skip the Tuna Tartare, called it average is a generous statement.