Dinner at...Can Can.

Can Can Brasserie en Carytown

Two nights ago I enjoyed probably one of the best dining experiences I've had in recent months in Richmond.   It was at Can Can Brasserie in Richmond's "chic" Carytown.  Can Can, you say?  Yes, Can Can.   Tuesday evening was begging to be enjoyed, as so many nights in the month of May do.  Warm, moist, smelling verdant.  The full moon was rising.      So S and I slid into a front table by the open window and embarked on a culinary experience that will go down in the books.   After a harrowing work day, I was in need of reprieve, and, celebration!

Advice:  When dining after 8pm in Richmond, call ahead before showing up to any place reputable, unless you have a reservation.  It's just the right thing to do.  Even if it's a busy place, you want the assurance that you're expected.  Richmond is a town that bizarrely doesn't eat late.  9pm or even 10pm dining - especially during the week - is an oddity.  To Richmonders:   that's weird and wrong.  But, let's continue to be sleepy and boring.  And, while we're at it, let's pass another noise law.  Late night enjoyment for the palate?  Gasp!

The bar at the Can



Back to Can Can -  A place near and dear to me, so it seems.    But even so, it is hit or miss.  You don't go to Can Can for consistently good food or good service.  But who cares about all of that at une brasserie? I've long ago dropped the fine dining expectation there.   Though I'm thoroughly dissapointed sometimes, I'm also sometimes thoroughly pleased.  Because they care so much, a little compassion can be shown even when the sloppy slip-ups happens.  It's a big place, miscommunication happens, and you can only grin and bear.  Perhaps this is an instance where life is too short.  Why am I so kind?   Hmmm..  Who cares if they don't clear the first course before immediately dumping the main course onto you?  Well, I do, but we can deal;  It's Can Can!   No side of mayonnaise even though I ordered it and have asked a million times?  Who cares, it's Can Can!    You call that burger medium rare?  Really?   Stupid lazy chef (or dumb server!).  But, who cares, c'est Can Can!   Wait, did the server really just ask me how to make a Gin Fizz?   How should I know?   But c'est la vie, Can Can!    Your joie de vivre can truly be fulfilled at the Can and mine has on several occasions.   It's a lively place with incredible atmosphere and charming people.  Occasionally - no, frequently, the tacky loose-jean-clad tourists will wander in wide-eyed and gaping, ambling with their fanny packs, glad for the ac after the long walk up from their Byrd Theatre tour and rampage through Carytown's "boutiques"; but that's half the fun of the Can Can experience.   People watching is always fun.     It's beyond chic; Can Can is perfect.  It encapsulates everything you need it to, especially in a town so starved of restaurants with atmosphere and solid consistent mantra.  Can Can, overall, gets it. 

And the cocktails at Can Can?  Those I will blog about on a later date.   Please bring back the Blanc and Blue!  Please?

On Tuesday night at 8:30pm, our server's name was Eleanor.  She was absolutely perfect in all respects.  I don't say that much, but really - from the moment I called in (and she picked up my call) to the solid service throughout, it was refreshing.   Eleanor you have a fan. 

We began with drinks -  I ordered a Hendricks martini with cucumber, and S ordered a ginger champagne drink.  Eleanor, brought back my Hendricks with cucumber finely muddled within.  Bold, I thought, but really quite OK  - Was there vermouth added?  Yes, I think.  And I'm glad.  Hendricks isn't that special. I ultimately appreciated the effort and thought from the bar as pertains to the muddling decision.  May ask for it that way next time! 

START:   Two small individuals hors d'oeuvres were offered to us by the head maitre d' that night, a girl I shall not name, but shall ever be held in my greatest admiration.  She's level-headed, calming, quite gorgeous, and just, so sweet and nice! Every time.     Thank you Miss S for the Smoked Fried Oysters with the thick honey gastrique (really love that word), and crispy leeks; as well as the Early Summer Cherry Tomatoes!  The cherry tomatoes of different color came with a tart conserva paste and a hot olive oil. It really was a shock in the mouth, but in the end, I think I liked it.  

A blurry image I took of the Summer Tomatoes and Smoked Fried Oysters we were given.

THEN THE APPETIZER:  we ordered Tuna Tartare.   Our small plates were removed and out came the Tuna Tartare.  Smooth transition.   Lovingly engulfed by an avocado and cucumber purée with watermelon, micro basil and spicy pistacho praline.   It was beautful, particularly with the thick dusting of the pistacho praline.  The taste?  Totally bland to the point where I had to ask for salt and pepper. That's always tough and a process i hate going through.   Just get me some damn salt and pepper because this tastes so.. blah!   But, the redeeming factor on this appetizer was the quenching flavor of the watermelon interspersed amidst the tartare..  Watermelon and Tuna; nice color, yummy summer burst.    But, even if the Tuna Tartare looked fun, it wasn't fun eating as the flavor totally begged improvement.  Bland just never works, even if its "intended."  Do chefs at Can Can actually taste before sending it out?  No, but really, boldness is needed! 

Tuesday's Can Can Plat du Jour:
Truffled Chicken

The main courses:   Per Eleanor's suggestion, I ordered Tuesday's plat du jour, the Truffled Chicken.  A wise choice.  The enticing description offered by her was fully matched by the kitchen's execution.  (Anything with truffle usually begs an experience.  I don't know what it is about the smell and taste of truffle, but it sends me to a plane of ethereal joy.  Those cute hard-working truffle-hunting pigs; how sweet you are to find such a treasure.  Definitely need to witness in France some day.)   S ordered the Grilled Hanger Steak; a Can Can staple that never seems to be wrong, at least in my experiences - mainly because I'm a nut for the sauce that comes with it called bourdelaise.  S enjoyed the steak; it was perfectly medium rare (what a nice shock), sliced correctly and thinly, and the accompanying potatoes gratinée were crispy and subtly infused with garlic.   But the contrasting color?  Dark greens are needed peut-etre?  Oui.    My Truffled Chicken was beyond truffled:  it was bedecked with sweet english peas that almost "popped" in my mouth with only that green garden flavor peas seem to so happily provide.   Even better were the medley of wild mushrooms hidden and playful throughout the plate, beneath and around the Chicken - almost cuddling with the chicken, and for me it was a fun game of hide and seek with some of the best mushrooms I've eaten in a while.   I don't know what kind exactly, nor did I ask; i need to study my mushrooms.   Finally, the herbed "bread salad" soaking up the spring garlic jus was just enough to not overwhelm the dish, but provided the starch that was needed, and really, honestly, "melted" in my mouth.    Bravo to the Truffled Chicken at Can Can. 

For wine, Eleanor suggested pairing our entrees with a 2009 Corbières called Cols des Vents by Castelmaure.  Brilliant suggestion.  I originally asked for a Pinot Noir, but Eleanor wisely guided us to the  Corbières.  We ordered a half-carafe, and I found it both full bodied, plummy, and just down right pleasing.  Corbières is a huge appelation in France from the Languedoc region.  I loved it because it was both a little spicy, yet very fruity, and really cut through my chicken with a great ease.  It had a perfect finish.  I'm not a wino, but I love it when little affordable wines please you for whatever reason - and especially when thought goes into the pairing.  

The dessert, I will not write about...much.  It involved Johnny Walker, granache and praline.    Need I say more.  Desserts at Can Can always seems to be anti-climactic..  There's a lack of transferrance from menu description to actual execution.  Tuesday night was a big exception.  It's a new addition to their menu.  Perfect.  Hopefully they won't change a thing.  I'm not giving the actual name of it, because a) I forget, and b) I hope it remains a secret to be discovered by the lucky ones.

Thanks Can Can for a great May weeknight dinner.  Your seasonal menu is looking nice and I'm grateful for an experience that satisfied me.   See you again soon.

Can Can Brasserie can be visited at 3120 West Cary Street, and can be contacted for reservation at 804.237.7795.   Don't know where else to dine or drink on a boring Richmond night with your friend or out-of-town guest, or biz partner? Just go to Can Can; it's always worth it.

bon apetit,

Austin