The Gill Tavern (French Night)

Tonight my friend Lara and I attended French Night at The Gill Tavern, Gill, Ma. The menu was prepared by an authentic french chef.

The meal commenced with a Soupe de Châtaignes (Chestnut soup) followed by a Salade Verte avec Chèvre (Fresh green salad with goat cheese and toast points). Our entrée Tournedos de Bouef avec sauce Périgueux (Grilled Filet Mignon with a Black Truffle sauce served with sauteed Potatoes), and for dessert Philippe baked a Tarte aux Noix (Walnut Tart).

When we were seated at our table we started with a french regional wine from Cahors, from a vineyard personally selected by Chef Fargal. Below is some information about this wine.

The vineyards around Chateau Pineraie have produced the famous “black wine” of Cahors since as early as 1456; at present the fifth and sixth generations of the Burc family combine their experience and knowledge to continue the tradition of creating top quality Cahors wine.

The vineyards boast all the types of soil that make Cahors the perfect place for producing award winning Malbec or Cot as it is called locally. On the terraces, the subsoil is composed of old alluvium while on the limestone plateau it is clay and marl.

All of the estates vines are composed of 85% Malbec and 15% Merlot, with the vine stocks of the Pineraie sited on the 2nd and 3rd terraces and on the limestone plateau. A dozen hectares are located in the commune of Lacapelle Cabannac. The lower parts of the vineyard are clay while the higher parts are clay, limestone and hard flint. The yield for each wine is determined depending on where the vines are set in the vineyard.

Next we were presented with the chestnut soup, I did not expect to like it as much as I did. It was creamy with flavors of bacon, heavy cream and chestnut. I plan to try to make this soon. The salad consisted of lettuce and two crustini's with goat cheese on top of toasted chiabbata bread. Chef Fargal and Alden used a torch on the cheese which brought out the sugars in the cheese. "Lara described it as a cloud of heaven on bread." For the entree we had Fillet Mignon topped with a truffle sauce that the chef reduced three times in a eight hour period. The sauce was so light yet full of flavor. I tend to be a bit of a freak when it comes to red meat and will not eat rare or medium cooked meat. I did try Lara's which felt like I was cutting butter and just melted in my mouth. Damn I should have gone with medium, but mine was still delicious, with every bite, my palette was dancing with delight. For dessert we had a walnut tart that was very good. I cant wait till the next night that The Gill Tavern has a special meal. I did not have to much wine I just can't figure out how to make this picture up right. LOL I give the "Gill Tavern" 4 1/2 forks. Great food, service and atmosphere.