New Favorite Restaurant

Ghyslain (pronouced jeesleigh) recently opened on East Market Street in an old carriage house behind what was once a funeral home and is now home to Creation Gardens corporate offices.

This is a simple establishment, where you order at the counter and they bring your food to the table when it is ready. They also make "Beaux Arts" Chocolates and have fabulous desserts and gelato. The decor is spartan but classy - marble top tables and a fantastic dessert display case.

I have been there 3 times and enjoyed every visit tremendously. First, I took David Perellis to lunch for his birthday and we shared a French dip and he had French Onion soup and I had chicken gumbo. Both soups were fantastic and the sandwich was huge and I am glad we split it.

The second was for Mother's Day. Taylor and Alex, David, Debbie and Ethan, Mimi and myself enjoyed sitting outside on a gorgeous day and had a wonderful brunch. We sampled; waffles with Cream Anglais, Croque Monseiur, Norweigean salmon on French bread, granola with yogurt and fruit, oatmeal and a Cobb salad. The side dish of Lyonnaise potatoes that accompanied the Crouque Monseiur was one of the highlights, just the right amount of cream, cheese and thinly sliced potatoes.

The final trip, I was with Phyllis Green and we ran into Jeff and Amy Norton, and Hank Goldbeck, whom we joined for dinner and lovely conversation. I had the Pan Bagna Nicoise II sandwich, which was dry. This is the only dish I have had that disappointed, I would have used fresh tuna susimi instead of shredded can tuna and add some kind of dressing, however the French bread that it was on was perfect. I also ordered a beautifully presented Caprese salad with a very high quality mozzarella and a light balsamic vinegriatte on it. Jeff Norton had a Cajun wrap, Phyllis had the Greek quiche with wonderful black bean soup, and Amy had the California salad. The Norton, each had the chocolate mousse for dessert! Wish I had taken a photo of them, they were works of art, cyclinders of mousse surrounded by white and chocolate strips, tied with a ribbon and top with shaved chocolate. Very yummy. We finished with French pot dark coffee.

They are open everyday from 7 am to 9 pm and serve lunch and breakfast all day! The chocolate, gelato and fancy dessert make this a great place to go after the show, or even after dinner at another restaurant to have dessert and coffee.

Like I said this is my new favorite restaurant.