Cafe Alsace

I've long been interested in going to Cafe Alsace (cafealsace.net), nestled on the street in downtown Decatur. I don't know much about Alsatian food, but I like French food and I've heard great things about this place for a long time.

We headed over there with Tim and Lisa last night for an 8.15 reservation. The restaurant was full with a couple empty tables. It's a pretty small space, but cozy and inviting. I enjoyed the atmosphere.

We started off with the pate du chef which, as advertised, was simply delicious. You get two good sized slices of pate (chicken liver, bacon, shallot, and port) with sliced crusty baguette. And delicious cornichons. Not as crusty as if you were in Paris, but still good.

We also got the brie fondu a la figue which was a 4 oz brie round cut in half and then baked with fig jam in the middle. Good, not great. And with that tasty baguette.

We also got a bottle of white wine. The style here reminds me very much of what I can remember from Paris, that is that the wine is poured pretty high up in the glass.

Each of the mains comes with a salad. I got mine with the fig and honey dressing which was a little sweet, as advertised, but I thought it went wonderfully with the salad -- lettuce, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and grated carrots. Josh got the herbs de provence dressing which he didn't care for and I wasn't impressed with when I tasted it. But I had already had some of the fig n honey at that point.

For my main, I got the choucroute garnie which comes with three types of sausages, some gypsy ham, and potatoes. Oh, and a mound of absolutely delicious sauerkraut and very delicious mustard. All of the sausages were good. This was a very hearty meal. Everyone seemed to agree that I had the best dish.

Josh had the special, the blanquette de veau. I thought it was good, though not great. The veal was a little chewy and Josh mentioned the gnocchi were overdone. Tim had the trout special. I don't know if Alsace is known for trout. While I didn't think that the trout was anything special, it was cooked well. Lisa ordered the spaetzle special with chanterelles. It showed up with shrimp, though she didn't want it, so she had to wait as we started in our food while it was made. Normally she gets the spinach and mushroom spaetzle, which she thought was better. What I had of the spaetzle was tasty, but I thought it was a little overly cheesy. It could have been because the kitchen was rushing it.

I thought Cafe Alsace was good, but I'm really interested to go back when it gets colder. I have also heard they do a wonderful cassoulet when it gets colder.