A special at The Clam the night I visited was a ceviche made with razor clams, so a light dish of thinly sliced clams, radish and shallots “cooked” by mixing with mild citrus juice for a few minutes. Here the challenge to the Chablis was to stand up to the acidity of the ceviche, and it did so without flinching – as the theory tells us to expect, the acidity in the ceviche balanced that of the Chablis, making the wine appear fruitier without detracting from its lovely minerality.
Finally, I couldn’t help myself – I had to test the Chablis with salt so I ordered some of The Clam’s exceptionally good French fries – thin, crisp, a little bit of fat clinging to them and doused with a salty seasoning. That may have actually been my favorite pairing because the fries tasted fresher thanks to the cleansing acidity of the wine, and the salt help keep the wine from seeming overly acidic.
All in all, it was a triumphant experiment. I’ll tell you another time what I did with the red wine!
If you want to go, here are the restaurant’s details (you can book a table on their website or, in the US and Canada, on the Open Table app):
The Clam
420 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.theclamnyc.com