Bouchon Bakery

Swimster and I broke up a few months ago. It was a really hard time for both of us, but as the saying goes, time does heal everything and I think we're both doing really well on our own. He spent the summer in London working and as a sort of "last supper," or in this case lunch, he took me to Bouchon Bakery to bid me, and us, farewell. I suggested we do lunch because I knew I'd be less tempted to order alcohol, and consequently less likely to get emotional and teary-eyed over food.

Bouchon Bakery is Thomas Keller's latest New York endeavor and it seems to be doing very well. The French word "bouchon" describes a particular style of cafe that exists in the province of Lyon. It also means "stopper," but I don't think that's what Keller was really going for with his restaurant's name.

I arrived at Columbus Circle a few minutes early and thought I'd window shop (since that's all I can afford to do at CC), but I noticed a guy in khakis who seemed out of place, standing with a big ol' Speedo swim bag draped over his shoulder. Swimster is always punctual. I, on the other hand, am not so much. I think it's genetic. The big blue bag had all my duds in it from his apartment. It was my sign this was really it. We hugged and hopped on the escalator, not really knowing what floor we were headed to. As it turns out, we walked right past Bouchon Bakery and kept going up. I noticed a closed off section on one level that had tables and people eating, but thought it couldn't be Bouchon Bakery. It almost looked like a makeshift restaurant, like there had been a fire at Per Se or Masa and they set up a temporary dining area. So up we went. When we started getting weird looks from security guards on the top level, and when we realized we were the only people on that level, we turned around and headed back down. Swimster asked a lady where we could find Bouchon Bakery and she said, "You're lookin' at it."

We took our seats on the edge of the balcony that looked out over the lower levels of the shops and onto the massive Time Warner Center windows that let you see all the way down Central Park South. There's nothing wrong with seats with a view. Despite our spot hovering over the midtown mecca, I wasn't crazy about the set up. I know it's not as important as the quality of the food, but I care a lot about atmosphere and it's hard to create that in the middle of what really is a mall, albeit a fancy, urban one.

In less than two minutes I went against my original plan of avoiding alcohol and ordered a glass of Sancerre. I saw the couple sitting next to us sipping theirs and I gave in. I have no willpower. After looking at the rather small menu, Swimster and I decided to start with the chef's selection of three cheeses served with honeycomb, candied walnuts and cranberry currant and walnut bread. The coolest thing on this plate was the honeycomb. You had to use your knife to dig out the honey oozing from the combs - a definite first for both of us. And our waitress was nice enough to offer us more bread when the bread ran out before the cheese.

For our main plates Swimster ordered rillettes aux deux saumons, or fresh and smoked salmon rillettes with toasted croutons. This was another adventure. Rillettes, which I didn't know, is the term for meat prepared in a particular way. It's slowly cooked in seasoned fat and then pounded into a paste. The mixture is then packed in small ramekins and covered with a thin layer of fat. Swimster had a choice if he wanted the butter on top or not and we both said, "Bring on the butter." I would definitely go here again and order this as an appetizer to share with someone. Forget my sandwich. All I wanted to do was reach across the table and eat all of Swimster's salmon. I loved how it was sliced and diced and served ice cold. I ordered the roast turkey on Palladin with honey mustard, mayonnaise, whipped brie cheese and Bibb lettuce. Did you get all that? It was quite a mouthful. The turkey tasted like it was sliced right off the bird, a la Thanksgiving leftovers. The bread was the highlight of the sandwich. The slices were extra thick and buttery. I must say I would have liked more of the whipped brie on the sandwich.

Swimster and I were stuffed from our lunch feast, though somehow when we walked over to the take out and bakery counter, we found some extra space to split a big chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate bouffon. The cookie was nothing spectacular but the bouffon is a definite must. It looks like a small circular brownie, but tastes a thousand times better. It was soft and almost raw in the middle and they douse it with powdered sugar. Winette told me she ordered lunch from Bouchon one day at work, and when I returned to my desk from a quick break, I found a warm bouchon resting on a napkin next to my keyboard. It may as well have had a sign on it that said "devour me." It was a special treat and a special reminder of my last meal with Swimster.

10 Columbus Circle, near 59th St., 3rd Fl
212-823-9366