Mon Ami Gabi is one of those restaurants with a few locations: one in Vegas, one in Chicago, and one conveniently close to me in Oakbrook, Illinois. It's a French bistro-style restaurant that has a wide range of items to pick from, a quality that almost guarantees that no one will go without finding something they will love.
I've tried some great stuff there before, from savory crepes filled with chicken stew to a Burger au Poivre, crusted in pepper and served with au jus and green peppercorn aioli. Anything you order is delicious, and if it's served with pommes frittes (French-style crispy-fried potato strips) it is downright amazing. They always bring out crusty French baguette with raspberry jam and whipped butter at the start of the meal (pictured right...superb!).
I've been stuck in a rut lately, alternating between the Burger au Poivre and a special that seemed to pop up a lot, a succulent lamb burger. But on my last visit to the restaurant, I decided to try a dish that has been calling out to me since the first time I stepped inside: Macaroni Gratin.
Now, this ain't your mama's mac 'n' cheese. Instead of elbow macaroni, they use teeny-tiny shells that really grab onto the luxurious, silky bechamel sauce. They add crisped, salty cured ham to the mix and top it all off with a substantial layer of Gruyere cheese. And then they bake it. Wow, oh, wow. It is so creamy, so rich, that you're probably only going to polish off a third of it (just a third!) and that's if you're really hungry. Isn't it pretty?
Readers! In my haste (and my excitement about my macaroni) I neglected to mention the tasty soup that I tried as a starter. At Gabi, they present you with a bowl of garnish and pour the soup into the bowl at the table. The soup I tried during this visit was a mushroom soup. It wasn't necessarily a cream soup, but it was creamy. My only complaint about it was the garnish they used.
Most of the time the garnish is a perfect complement to the soup, like a paprika-scented creme fraiche atop a velvety butternut squash soup. But the garnish for the mushroom soup was a few pieces of fresh wild mushroom and croutons. The wild mushroom was entirely raw and completely unseasoned. It was begging for salt, or maybe even garlic. And the poor, pitiful little croutons (also painfully underseasoned) were not quite crispy enough, and they became extremely soggy when the soup was poured over them.
Now that the soup is out of the way, I digress. Let us proceed to dessert!
French desserts are, to put it quite simply, exceptional. My aunt, my sister, and I tried desserts that weren't necessarily French, but they were rather exceptional.
When it comes to food, we first eat with our eyes. Presentation is paramount. The white chocolate bread pudding (below) that my aunt and I shared was plated beautifully, topped with ice cream and caramel sauce. And the chocolate-pecan tart my sister ate (at right) featured a cannelle of fresh whipped cream and a decorative smear of caramel.
I'll speak first about that tart. My oh-so-generous sister let me try it, and it was delicious. The crust was sweet, more like a graham cracker crust, and the pecans were like pralines, embedded in chocolate. If you have a sweet tooth, then this is the dessert for you, and it's always on the menu.
The bread pudding...OMG. It's really all I can say. It was custardy and warm...if it weren't so rich I could have eaten three. I'm pretty sure it was on special that day, but if you ever see it featured, get it. You will not have any regrets (just don't ask to see the calorie count).
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