Choucroute Garnie is seldom on menus where I now l...

Choucroute Garnie is seldom on menus where I now live, and I have a kind of sentimental attachment to the dish - in my teens, I lived in France for a couple of years, and worked for some time as a garcon de cuisine at the Chateau de Louche in Anet sur Marne. I saw it on the web menu, so I decided to try L'Albatros when visiting Cleveland. Being on a low-carbohydrate diet, I ordered two appetisers and the choucroute. The leeks were good, although the serving was small. The rillettes were nothing of the sort; more like a pink potted pork product. As for the choucroute... The kraut for choucroute should be rinsed, then poached in white wine. The kraut here was never rinsed, much less wine poached. Of the meats, only the pork belly was acceptable. There was a piece of ham, but it was dry, and salted beyond all civilized limits. The other meats were a peppery Mexican chorizo, and German weisswurst. A very bad joke...