Plein Sud. Plain Fantastic.
I love France and I love French: the language, the people, the food, the wine. You name it, I love it.
That now includes Plein Sud, the French brasserie located within the saucy walls of the Smyth Hotel (a Thompson boutique hotel with more swagger than the number of rooms it has) on West Broadway in Tribeca.
I had the pleasure of a Sunday brunch with the company of two gorgeous gals who love food (and France!) as much as I. All three of us have been in France together and it was time to fill a culinary craving. We decided to share-and-taste, and the state of our table within a matter of thirty minutes was overwhelmingly mouthwatering.
(Photo courtesy of Eileen Reynoso)
Being only two days in to the New Year, I was not yet ready to face champagne, nor any hairs on any dog. But my girlfriends each enjoyed a yummy (-looking) Mimosa. It was brunch afterall. The Bloody Mary’s that passed us by also looked delightful, though it was not exclusively champagne I was avoiding, but rather the entire category of “Alcoholic Beverages.” I happily stuck to a delicious glass of cranberry juice and a coffee.
We began with a sampler of their charcuterie and pates, served with toast and preserves. Each bite melted and the combination of the pate with the preserves, and the crunch of the toast was awesome. Not a traditional brunch starter, but we were aiming for a “Taste of Plein Sud.”
Quickly segueing into our main courses, the table was overflowing. We shared a Croque Madame (of course we could not resist this traditional French grilled ham and cheese-topped with an egg-sandwich, bonjooour!?), a Ham, Egg and Cheese Flatbread and the Brioche French Toast with sauteed bananas and maple syrup.
The Croque Madame was salty, sweet, soft and crispy: a pile up of tasty contradictions served with a side of french fries that had to be taken away in order to stop eating them.
The French Toast was a sweet tooth’s dream, and the sauteed bananas added a unique touch and bit of extra sweetness that took the brioche next-level.
The oven baked flatbread, a Plein Sud specialty, was unique and satisfied my personal brunch requirements- salty and involving an egg- and then some. It was thin and crispy, and the melted gruyere and parisien ham screamed out “hey, you’re in France!” reminiscent of the ole “jambon-fromage” sandwich. Two sunny side up eggs topped it all off, literally and figuratively.
So much more on the menu looked phenomenal, including the burgers, the omelettes and some of the entrees, but we could go no further.
Dessert? No-could-do.
We were full. But not “plein.” The difference between the two? Ask the French.
A la prochaine, Plein Sud!
