Bistro 2, 6 and 4

A night of appreciation, a night of great food, a night to remember.

Hubby, friend M and I were invited to friends A&M's house in Aylmer, across the Quebec border near Ottawa, for dinner as a thank you for having helped them with their wedding prep. This would of course be a special occasion on any given day, but this dinner would be extra special: friend M used to be a professional chef. He may not know this but we called him Chef for a long time when they first started dating, when we 'girl-talked' about the dates and oohed and aahed at the love that was blossoming.

I, for some reason, still can't figure out why I had decided not to blog about this dinner. How. Ridiculous. The following morning, the first thing that popped into my head was, "Why, oh why, had I decided that?" Sigh.

At least I had a pic of my favorite course!

So much thought had gone into his meal: from the ingredients, to the presentation, to the respect for the non-dairy request, to the wine pairing, to the whole menu and, to the name, 'Bistro 2, 6 and 4'. (Their address number)

Their smiling faces at the door welcoming us to the bistro was a nice touch. Another, the evening's menu on a chalkboard, the same one used to map out the tables at their wedding reception.

The first course was tomato-basil crostini with local feta. It had thin slices of onion on it too and a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

The second course was spicy tuna tartare with mango salsa, cilantro oil and a slice of seasoned flatbread.

The next course was surf and turf. A piece of beef tenderloin was served with three jumbo shrimps and three cherry tomatoes. All grilled!

To wrap up the meal, fresh blueberries were served, topped with homemade lemon curd and whipped cream (on most).

Review:

Although this dining experience won't receive a typical "review", I can say these same things that I normally would for such an awesome meal. Great service, great food, great prices, great ambience. I wish the 'bistro' was open regularly to visit on a whim!

The tuna tartare was outstanding, (maybe even better since I had a tiny roll in the plating, helping make up the plates following an example Chef had prepped for his sous!). The moist, almost creamy, tuna with its full rich flavour, the tangy mango and tomatoes and the pop of cilantro was quite the balance of flavours and textures. We all liked this course so much that friend M has requested it for her upcoming birthday potluck meal. Hope she gets her wish ;)

Everything else was delicious too but that course was definitely the wow factor for me. The crostini was perfectly toasted, not too hard, not too thick. There was a good ratio of toppings-to-crostini. Traditional flavours for the toppings and all-around yummy.

The steak was über tender and just perfectly cooked. It was quite thick, and cooking a steak of this thickness can be tricky for some, but this was no feat for Chef! The portion was just right, and even though we had steak, the course was light as there was no starch. You couldn't have had better accompaniments than the candy-like tomatoes and the plump juicy shrimp.

The dessert was elegantly served in a champagne flute. This made the simple sweet end to the meal stand tall with importance and grace. The lemon curd was divine. Have I ever mentioned how much I love curd? I do!

There was free parking. :)