Mon Vieil Ami: Just Killing Dreams with Bad Sides

Last night I had a great meal in Paris. My absence on the blog front for the last 3 days can be explained by the presence of my girlfriend's parents here in town. They are the nicest people and they always treat me well, which now includes me crashing on their couch on the Ile de Saint Louis in the middle of Paris. Needless to say, I don't want to be a drag on the social vibe by blogging during happy hour. I woke up this morning and started writing this post because last night's dinner warranted some thoughts.

We had a fantastic dinner hier soir at a restaurant called Mon Vieil Ami. You could classify this place under a category of restaurants that are commonly referred to as "Neo-Bistros." Basically, these places serve the same traditional plates as classic bistros but with a little different culinary flair and a more "hiply" decorated dining room. I really like these places, and I really liked Mon Vieil Ami if it weren't for one seriously amateur after-thought: Farfalle pasta with wild mushrooms as a side dish for pintade (Guinea Hen). Ok, I'm not pulling a hypocritical move and ranting like a typical blogger about pretentious food preferences... here's my point: DON'T RUIN A GREAT MEAL BY FORGETTING OR HALF-ASSING YOUR SIDE DISH. All the best meals I have EVER eaten have had incredible sides to accompany the main course. What it seemed like Mon Vieil Ami did was rid their pantry of some over-bought inventory of pasta by throwing it on the plate with their very delicious pintade. But it ruined everything. I looked back on the website after dinner because I don't remember seeing pasta ANYWHERE on the online menu, and sure enough, what normally came with the pintade was a wild mushroom risotto... which makes sense with a white meat plate. French people don't typically eat pasta, and it showed in this side dish of Farfalle. Boo you Mon Vieil Ami. Boooooooooooo.

So now I'm going to leave you on a higher note with some ideas for side dishes to match great meals. I remember the first time I was really impressed by a side dish was when I ate a Locke Ober steakhouse in Boston. I ordered an unbelievably prepared piece of filet mignon, and the creamed spinach that came with it blew my socks off. The steak was charred and rare in the middle, and the spinach melted in my mouth just like the steak did. My point is... if I had eaten a side of canned corn with the steak, it wouldn't have been the same experience. For some guidance, here is a short list of great side items that I make pretty often:

1. With steak...

- Sauteed new or Yukon gold potatoes... boil them whole for about 10-12 minutes... in a separate pot, bring olive oil, butter, and fresh thyme up to a medium heat slowly. Cut the potatoes in half and brown them up a bit in the butter/oil/thyme mixture (about 2 minutes).

- Creamed Spinach

- Lightly fried plantains

- Caesar Salad with FRESHLY made Caesar dressing... with real anchovies... not hard to make... google it... stop being lazy... instead... be awesome... you can also settle for anchovy paste... do it.

2. With chicken...

- Risotto

- Mixed wild rice

- Oven-roasted green beans... bacon or proscuitto...

3. With fish...

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