A Happy Birthday at Notting Hill
Restaurants come and go in my neighborhood but recently a new restaurant, Notting Hill has open in the location of an Old Town staple, the old Le Gaulois restaurant. Peter and I decided to try it out for my birthday. Great choice!
It was an unusually slow night but to our benefit, because we literally had a private dining experience. This is a panoramic shot from Peter’s iPhone camera. Behind us was a roaring fire adding to the inviting interior. They did a great job with color blocking – using different complementary paint colors on perpendicular and parallel walls, as well as the ceiling.
Here’s a better view from the restaurant’s website.
Everything on their dinner menu sounded excellent and worth trying. I will definitely go back to do so. However, here’s what we had:
Composed Beets
Firefly goat cheese mousse, rocket and orange marmalade vinaigrette, pistachio butter
Corn Crusted Rappahannock River Oysters
Pickled horseradish, celery root with an apple cider-ranch dressing
The Chef was so kind to give us complementary cups of his:
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Crystallized ginger creme fraiche
which was probably the best butternut squash soup I’ve had. The trick, add honey!
Maine Lobster Fondue
Sweet potato, apple wood smoked bacon creamy rainbow chard, verjus butter
Cast Iron Seared Rib Eye
Roasted salsify, kabocha squash and red wine sauce
I think I won out on both the beet appetizer and lobster main meal. The flavors were so deliciously paired and different from your typical gourmet style — either too bland or too weird and wacky and overkill, like I remember seeing sea urchin on the menu once from a competing destination restaurant.
We both shared their:
Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
with braised pineapple
— just the right amount for dessert because the meal was rich.
Next time, we’ll have to check out the upstairs bar, which used to be Bar Baudelaire and preserves the same French style.
We’re excited to go back, especially knowing they have:
Live Entertainment
casart
I'm an artist, wife and mother of two boys. I started my illustration business, The Occasional Palette over 35 years ago, when my oldest son was an infant. Once my children were in school, I began painting decorative, faux finishes and murals through my second business, Casart, now over 30 years old. My third business, Casart Coverings, is a springboard from my second. Click on the link on the sidebar to see innovative, custom, designer wallcovering, removable and reusable wallpaper and coordinating decor.
