Stephen Starr’s Le Coucou had been on my “Want to Go” list since it opened earlier this year to rave reviews. I read nary a negative word about it. In fact according to myriad food writers, chef Daniel 
Rose offers spectacular food.
How could I rest?
I headed downtown to the 11 Howard hotel in Soho with a friend to experience what all the fuss was about. The hard part was choosing from all the interesting offerings. 
We opted to each get one from each section and share.
Our first appetizer resembled a crustless apple tart ($14) as thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples covered a pile of shredded celery root in remoulade sauce and candied walnuts blanketed by smoked salmon. Castmo salmon, according to the captian. The other was a country-style veal pate ($19) studded with chicken liver chunks served with pickled chanterelles. We ate the entire portions forgetting how much other food we had ordered.
Next the quenelle ($33) — the dish that I 
read most about. It didn’t disappoint. The brown-butter cooked pike fish mousse came with a poached lobster claw all in a rich foamy crustacean sauce. And the flavorful seared and oven-roasted ground chicken patty filled with foie gras topped with a warm plum.
Although our server pushed to have us order the pricey ($51) dover sole with peeled grapes and mushroom, we followed our instincts and selected the bourride ($38), a seafood stew with a garlicky aioli. (Actually when we saw the people at the table next to us savoring every bite of it, we got into a discussion — and sample 
tasting — of it.) The black bass came with mussels, clams and one tender prawn with the aioli with crunchy bits of garlic. Heavenly.
I can’t believe we again ate the whole thing!
Next the perfectly seasoned and cooked duck served with more foie gras and a fig.
Although by this time, we were stuffed and couldn’t finish our entrees, we did want to try a dessert. The chocolate mousse ($13) topped with curls of dark chocolate was fine; a better choice is the poached pear with vanilla ice cream and candied almonds ($13).
Head to LeCoucou when you can get a reservation, for an amazing meal with service that could use some tweaks.
– bonnie
Le Coucou
138 Lafayette St,
New York, NY 10013
(212) 271-4252
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