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Chicken Le Mirage

Chicken Le Mirage from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

Chicken Le Mirage from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

Worcester has its share of “genre restaurants”; if you want Italian, there are eighteen readily available. Pizza? More than twenty. Japanese? A dozen. But if you are looking for Middle Eastern or Mediterranean there is a small handful and even less if you are also looking for BYOB. Le Mirage is one of them. Located at the corner of Chandler Street and June Street, the only thing that might be considered small about Le Mirage is it’s physical space—and that’s a good thing.

I always find that if there is a dish that shares the name of the restaurant, it’s usually its signature. With the Chicken Le Mirage, they couldn’t have chosen a better representative. Modestly described as, “sautéed chicken with walnuts in a gorgonzola cream sauce,” they couldn’t undersell the dish any more.

An oversized portion of penne doppia rigatura pasta is served with moist, plump chicken medallions that are perfect both in size and flavor—seasoned with a light Italian seasoning that introduces a familiarity with the pasta. The Gorgonzola cream sauce had the optimal viscosity with a rich, bold, deep flavor without being too intense. The walnuts added a complexity and sweetness to the dish that offsets any bite that the Gorgonzola brings to the cream sauce. Topped with crumbles of Gorgonzola that melt into the sauce, there couldn’t have been a better way that completes both the appearance and depth of flavors.

The flavors and textures of this dish were addictive and define gluttony: although my stomach said to stop, my five senses would not allow me to leave anything behind, even though half of this dish would have easily satisfied my appetite.

I have a general rule of thumb with restaurants: try something different each time. Sadly, I will break my own rule during my next visit to Le Mirage. –LV

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Veal Piccata

Veal Piccata from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

Veal Piccata from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

The menu at Le Mirage presented me with a dilemma. It divides fairly evenly between Middle Eastern and Italian items, and I love them both. Most at my table, however, chose the Middle Eastern route. So I, to paraphrase Robert Frost, took the road less traveled by.  I chose Italian, the Veal Piccata. My $19 entrée featured two sautéed veal filets in a lemon butter wine sauce, served over a generous bed of penne pasta. The veal was melt-in-your-mouth tender; the pasta was perfectly al dente, and the sauce was a delicate complement to both. The portion was ample, but I ate every bite. Le Mirage is BYOB, so you might want to check the menu on-line in advance of buying your wine or beer.  The comments from my fellow dining companions were as enthusiastic as my own.  So, unlike Robert Frost, I do not doubt if I should ever come back to this particular culinary fork in the road again.  The Italian path was too good not to go back to Le Mirage and try the Middle Eastern. -JD