Saint Jacques, take two

I gave this restaurant a rave review a while back, but a single meal can often be deceiving. So, both to get a second take on the place and because it was so good, a group of us headed back there last night. I'd talked with the owner beforehand, so he had made a special menu for us--not a tasting menu, but a new, one-night-only menu from which we could order.

We tried almost everything on that menu.

It was all great.

Amazingly, this meal was even better than the first one we'd eaten there. Not a single dish any of us had was less than excellent. I started with sweetbreads with a truffled potato, and they were the best sweetbreads I've ever tasted. The truffled potato croquettes were exquisite. My second course, a foie gras pasta with two perfectly prepared scallops atop the thin and wide noodles, contained possibly the best pasta sauce I've ever had. It was amazing. I hope no one noticed me wiping the bowl with my finger. The main course was a beef tenderloin done in a classic French sauce and with bacon, and again the sauce was wonderful, the meat perfectly prepared, and the accompanying potato delicious.

I've eaten at Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy in Las Vegas, two of the best French restaurants in America, and I would rank this guy's sauces alongside theirs.

We will definitely eat there again. If you live in Raleigh, do not miss this place.