#64 – TRIPE at LYON

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

It’s been a long time since I’ve been apprehensive about eating tripe. While stomach lining hasn’t gotten much attention on this blog, I’ve enjoyed it on several occasions. Tasting the best versions of these adventurous dishes are one of the perks of many years of waiting tables at French restaurants.

And while I’ve had tripe in Chinese joints and refined Italian restaurants, the one at Lyon is unmistakably French and reminded me of my first experience with the offal.

I almost thought we weren’t going to get to sample the tripe here. We waited until the weather changed (not on purpose) and discovered that Lyon, the hip and very quaint bouchon (a café that serves Lyonnaise cuisine) in the West Village, had taken the heartier dish off the menu. I understand changing menus with the season, but isn’t tripe a traditional Lyonnaise dish all year long?

Then I noticed the menu changed again and the tripe had been re-introduced. This happened just about the time that it was announced that Francois Latape, one of the owners had left the restaurant. I hate to see internal conflicts, but I was sure glad to to have the tripe back on the menu!

The chef Chris Leahy is still around so I don’t think any quality suffered in terms of food. The tripe entree was presented in a cask iron skillet topped with some green bread crumb and herbs. The braised pieces of tripe were quite large, but miraculously tender and soft. The flavors were clean with richness from white beans and a muted heat from large logs of merguez sausage. Added notes of brightness came from what I believe to be mustard seeds and white wine. My only complaint was that I wish the bread crumbs here added a greater crunchy texture to the top.

This is still a great introduction to tripe with delicious flavors and pleasant textures. It has re-ignited my excitement for the delicacy so don’t be surprised if the next journey I do is the Best Tripe in NYC. But also, don’t hold your breath.

Would Lyon’s Tripe make my Top 100 of the year? It gets an 8 out of 10 for making a potentially unappealing (for some) ingredient almost impossible to resist.