Wow, Wow, Wallse!

Hello Foodies,

We went to a fabulous restaurant last night - Wallse - Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's elegant West Village restaurant. It was the calm in the middle of this holiday storm that has taken over our lives and our city! (FYI - I know that the "e" in Wallse is supposed to have an accent but I do not have access to one with this program - please forgive me.)

The occasion for gathering at this restaurant was a celebration for our dear friend, Karin Lundell, who just made partner at Morrison Cohen LLP. The evening was hosted by her marvelous partner, Frances Cassidy. Karin handles trusts and estates and the perfect person to help you get your affairs in order.

Now back to the food - it is amazing. To see photos of everything that I am about to mention - click on http://www.wallse.com. This is what we all ate for appetizers and highly recommend each: Spatzle with braised rabbit, Brussels sprouts, corn and mushrooms (signature appetizer), Chilled Maine lobster with potato rosti, fennel and lemon vinaigrette, and the Hamachi, avocado and sweet tomatoes with spicy marinade.

For Entrees, two of us had the Crispy cod strudel with braised baby carrots, tarragon and carrot juice (but more like a foam, yummy), and two had the Wiener Schnitzel with potato-cucumber salad and lingonberries. I was never wild about Wiener Schnitzel but now I know that I have been eating it in the wrong places - this WS is perfection.

All of the above was matched with celebratory champagne - a Louis Roederer and followed by a medium-bodied red, a G. Heinrich 2004 St. Laurent.

Then we finished with desserts - three of us shared the Chocolate Sorbet with blood orange Granite and crispy pumpernickel and one of us had a Sheep's milk blue cheese. We highly recommend the herbel teas - peppermint and lemon myrtle, and the melange.

If you go, let us know what you eat at Wallse!

Enjoy,

the Forks