Fresh Cream Restaurant, Carmel

Fresh Cream Restuarant is a charming French restaurant in Carmel, California.  The setting is intimate and warm, the menu varied and detailed.  We started with glasses of Louis Roederer Brut Champagne with the
Housemade lobster mousse raviolis, lobster sauce, Riesling beurre blanc, and caviar and the Burrata mozzarella with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic syrup, basil & parsley salad and sourdough crostini.  Both were excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the crostini.  Balsamic syrup brings me back to my dining experiences in Italy earlier this year. 



For entrees we ordered the Premium Angus Beef Filet Mignon, pan seared and sliced, with roasted cippolini onions, potatoes au gratin, sautéed mushrooms, garden vegetables, and sauce béarnaise and Whole Holland Dover sole sautéed, deboned at table, brown butter, lemon, parsley and toasted almonds.  I have always wanted to order the whole sole ever since I read about Julia Child's culinary awakening when she had the dish at a restaurant in France.  The sole was brought on  a cart and the waiter deboned it.  The brown buttery sole with fresh lemon was very nice.  I sampled a few bites of the filet and thought it was a bit heavy.  I prefer the steak to be whole so I can cut it myself.  With the bottle of Opus One, 2003, anything would have tasted good.  The wine, brought to the restaurant from Yo's wine collection, was truly amazing.

  


Dessert was the Grand Marnier Souffle and the Carmel Lava Cake.  The Carmel Lava cake was a chocolate cake with a molten caramel flow, Hawaiian black lava salt, and housemade vanilla ice cream.  This was my favorite dessert so far.  I've had molten chocolate cake many times, but never molten caramel cake.  The souflle was light and airy but I am much fonder of chocolate and caramel desserts.