I'm in the dark ages....

...because I can not get the internet to work in my apartment. Zack can do it (which is frustrating) but my computer refuses to acknowledge the ethernet cord that I plug into it and then curse at because it's not doing anything. Someday, we will unpack more boxes and find our airport, but until then, I am stuck posting at work, where the internet works fine - most of the time.

Last week, Rita and I were on our way to Chennai Gardens (New York's finest vegetarian kosher Indian food) for lunch when we passed Les Halles. For those of you who don't know, Les Halles entered my conciousness when I became obsessed with Anthony Bourdain - see here). However, I had never actually been inside. "Why don't we just eat here?" Rita asked. "Hmmmm..." I thought. "Why don't we?" And so we did.


It was fairly late for lunch, about 2pm, so there was no wait at all. We poured over the menu, trying to decide what to order. French Onion soup? A classic, but it was pretty hot. Steak frites? Might be too heavy for lunch. We ultimately decided to split grilled calamari over fennel salad and then move on to the Hamburger Rossini (me) and Moroccan Sausages (her).

I enjoyed the calamari way more than I thought I was going to. In the past, my favorite thing about calamari is how it's breaded and deep fried. Whenever I've had it non-fried, it's always seemed a little limp and/or overly rubbery. But this calamari was very well done - it had a meaty consistency that I wasn't expecting - not rubbery at all. I'm always a huge fan of fennel, so this was a big crowd pleaser.

Rita's Moroccan Sausages were very good as well. Served with some spicy hummus, salad and fries, it made a nice little meal. Ground lamb has an intense flavor, but the hummus balanced it out nicely.

My Hamburger Rossini? Possibly the craziest hamburger I've ever ordered. Topped with a slice of foie gras (seriously) and served with a red wine and black truffle sauce, it easily wins the prize for most decadent hamburger ever. It was really good - maybe the richest thing I've eaten in some time. I could only make my way through about half. The sauce was especially tasty with the grilled onion that came with my burger. Oh grilled onions. Why are you so tasty? The world may never know.

We finished with a chocolate banana tart. It was more like a brownie with bananas than a tart, but that's not really something to complain about. Brownies? Good. Bananas? Good. Everyone was happy.

I'd love to go back for some French Onion soup and Steak Frites....perhaps during a time that is not my non-existent lunch break. Who's with me?