restaurant review: May 2008 Archives
"Overall, we had a blast. This was the best dinner we had in New York and a definite stop the next time we are in New York. I had an interesting seating position. I could see most of the dining room, and I could see in the kitchen. I could overhear what some of the other diners were saying, and watch as unsuspecting guests were startled by what they were given. There was this guy with his mother. I think she was shocked by everything they put in front of her. She'd poke the cubes of hollandaise, take tiny bites of the food to see if she was going to like it. It was a fun experience. I could see Chef Wylie and his staff poke their heads out of the kitchen and scan the tables, taking a mental inventory of what was going on."
When we were going up to get our bag, I asked the lady who ran the front if it would be possible to take a few 'fly on the wall' pictures in the kitchen. The chef's in action. This mortified Jen :D Well, the lady disappeared and grabbed the floor manager, he asked me a few questions about why I wanted to take pictures, and all three of them disappeared. We could see them in the back talking to Wylie and pointing at us. I think Jen wanted to grab me and run.
The manager came back and escorted us to the kitchen! On the way there he asked us how we liked our dinner, and he told me a little story about a waitress he used to work with that had to carry an epi-pen with her because she was allergic to shellfish. Then he asked if we liked our replacements on the menu :D I was impressed that he remembered I was allergic, especially since I didn't tell him.
When we got to the kitchen, he placed us in a central spot and started explaining everything about the kitchen. Wylie had the kitchen custom built for him and his staff, he went over some of the tools, told us about the restaurant, and explained what each of the kitchen staff was doing. When Wylie was not busy, he flagged him over and he introduced us to him. This was so cool -- I seriously only wanted to take a few pictures, I wasn't expecting to meet the chef or get a tour. This made my week! I think it made Jen's week too. Wylie asked where we were from, after we said Richmond, a guy in the back of the kitchen yelled 'wooo! Richmond Rocks!'
When we were getting ready to leave, the manager asked if we would like to have our picture taken with Wylie.
OK -- This post is broken down into two parts. One, the review, and two, what happened afterwards.
Our final dining experience in New York was at WD~50. This was also our favorite night of eating. I've wanted to try molecular gastronomy for a few years, but we don't have anything like it in Richmond. I've seen Wylie Dufrense, the chef of WD~50, on multiple TV shows (The Next Iron Chef, Top Chef, and a special on Molecular Gastronomy). I am fascinated by the concept, and the actual preparation of the food.
The place is casual, which was nice. Well, the dress was casual. There was an attentive team of service staff, and the Floor Manager flowed around the floor. I cannot remember all the details of how the dishes were constructed, but I will do my best to explain how they were made, along with the disclaimer that I could be totally wrong!
We did the 12 course tasting menu. Before we started I informed our waiter that I was allergic to all shellfish but crab. He informed us that we could do the tasting menu, and they would sub out what they needed to (remember this for later). Our drinks were brought out, along with sesame crackers, described as "flat bread." They were so thin, you could see through them.
Our first dish was a substitution. We got sweetbreads, rhubarb, roobibos, and hazelnut. This was good, and a great way to start off the meal.
The second course was Pizza Pebbles, pepperoni, and shiitake. This was a fascinating dish. Some people love the dish, others hate it. I thought it was great. The pepperoni was an emulsion of pepperoni, the shiitake mushrooms were little flat crisps, and the pebbles were the pizza. The general review is that they taste like Combos.
We both noticed that for something so small, they seem to take a really long time to eat. It feels like it doubles in size as you eat it. The pizza was lyophilized (freeze dried), this might explain the expanding feeling.
Third, we had the Hamachi tartare, sea bean, sake lees tahini, and a grapefruit-shallot Jam. The hamachi was diced and bound together enzymatically. The fish was formed and seared. This added a light touch of smoke. The dish had some Asian pears as a garnish. When you ate the pears with the seabeans, you almost got a shellfish type flavor. This dish was amazing.
Next we had a lighthearted dish - Knot Foie. It was interesting to look at, fun to eat, and fun trying to figure out how they made the knot. This dish consisted of a hydrocolloid of foie gras. A hydrocolloid is a way to create a gel from water and a substance (foie gras). The final product was tied in a knot. The knot was perched on a tiny bed of kim-chee. There were drops of wasabi and fruit compote on the plate. And the entire rope was dotted with little crunchy bits of puffed rice pebbles. This was such a fun dish. I think they form the knot underwater, but I could be way off. we both loved the dish, and jen hated the foie she had a few nights before.
The next dish was Jen's favorite - Eggs Benedict. This was another fun and imaginative dish. This was eggs benedict deconstructed. The egg yolk was slow poached in a tube mold. It was semi translucent, tasted like egg yolks, but had a pasty texture. By itself, it was not the best feeling food. The Canadian bacon was cut razor thin and fried. But the highlight of the dish was the hollandaise sauce. I think they made the emulsion, froze it, then cut out cubes, rolled the cubes in English muffin, and then flash fried the cubes. The inside of our cubes were near room temperature. When you bite down into the cubes, the sauce flows out. When you mixed these with the egg, the texture improved 100%. The goal was to get all three pieces in your mouth at the same time.
The next course was a crab tail ? yep, you heard me. It was crab prepared to look and feel like a lobster tail. It was accompanied by a soybean blanket (noodle) and cinnamon dashi (broth).
Next was my least favorite dish. Chicken Liver Spaetzle, pine needle, radish, and cacao nib. The taste of the dish was very good, the texture of the spaetzle left me uncomfortable. The chicken livers were pureed and extruded like normal spaetzle, then pan seared to add some color, cacao nibs were stuck to the side of the bowl in the pine needle paste (I think). Radishes were sliced thinly and topped the bowl. The texture of the chicken liver was too much for me, I kept chewing and chewing. This is the only thing I didn't finish.
Next up was the Lamb belly, black chicpea, and cherried cucumber. This dish was good. When I explained it to my mom she gave me an 'eww gross' look - lamb belly? Pork belly, lamb belly. it all tastes like bacon. Well, this tasted like bacon, although a little different. It was more complex then bacon, almost earthy. The cucumbers looked like ginger. We were starting to get full at this point, so we were lucky that the desserts started to come out.
The first dessert was a wintergreen parfait with walnuts, avocado, and chartruse. The parfait had the strong flavor of gum, but it was soft and creamy. The Avocado was piped out into little dots, and the chartruse was a gell. The walnuts were crushed and candied. This was a good palate cleanser, especially coming after the lamb bacon.
Toasted coconut cake, carob, smoked cashews, and a brown butter sorbet was the next dessert. The cake looked like a large rectangular toasted marshmallow, but it was a toasty warm coconut cake. The ice cream was really good, and you got a very interesting flavor when you mixed the smoked nuts with the sweet butter. There were a few dollops of coconut foam on the plate, along with (I think) a hydrocolloid of coconut juice, they looked, and felt, like diced egg whites.
Next, Soft white chocolate, potato, malt, and white beer ice cream. The malt vinegar caramel was brushed on the plate, a hydrocolloid of white chocolate was squiggled across the plate, the ice cream sat in a bed of crunchy potato chip crumbs (I think), small potato chips were placed in the white chocolate, there were drops of wheat beer gel, and a little pile of malt powder. This dessert was interesting. I liked it, Jen didn't.
After this we were happily full. When the waiter brought us our check, he was accompanied by a pair of treats. One was a chicory ice cream-coffee, and the other was a chocolate pouch. The chocolate purse was fun. It was like a fruit roll up, only razor thin. It looked like leather, inside was a mixture of something like a light chocolate mousse and corn flakes (possibly crushed waffle cones?).
Overall, we had a blast. This was the best dinner we had in New York and a definite stop the next time we are in New York. I had an interesting seating position. I could see most of the dining room, and I could see in the kitchen. I could overhear what some of the other diners were saying, and watch as unsuspecting guests were startled by what they were given. There was this guy with his mother. I think she was shocked by everything they put in front of her. She'd poke the cubes of hollandaise, take tiny bites of the food to see if she was going to like it. It was a fun experience. I could see Chef Wylie and the chefs poke their heads out of the kitchen and scan the tables, taking a mental inventory of what was going on.
We had high expectations for this one -- I've read tons of good reviews about Jean Georges restaurants. I called to make reservations and I was given two options. I asked the reservation lady -- she told em that there was a formal dining room, and a casual dining room. Formal means you have to have a suit/jacket combination, the "casual" dining room required nice clothing, but no jackets. I was told that all the food was prepared in the same kitchen by the same staff. The two restaurants are literally next to each-other. So, I said the casual dining room. Prices are comparable, same chef, same cook staff, excellent reviews in NY Mag and Zagat, critics pick from the NY Times. Well.. lets just say that our evening at the cuban place with the one hour wait was better.
It all started off well. They took our bags, sat us down, asked if we would like to see the drink menu. All was going well. We placed our drink order and placed our dinner order (they only had 12 options to choose from). While we did this, I informed the waiter that I was allergic to shellfish, he said he would inform the kitchen. A few minutes later our drinks came back, and the waiter brought us an amuse bouche. This is the same waiter I told I was allergic to shellfish. Well, it was a shrimp, topped with pomegranate Israeli couscous and a little cup of carrot soup. This is when I started noticing everything. One -- our table was TINY. ALL the tables were tiny. When we sat down, there was silverware, 4 glasses, napkins, and small plates. When they brought our drinks, they had to rearrange almost everything at the table. When the bread came out, then the appetizers -- there was no room on the table. I had to fish my drink out from under a plate edge. Another problem -- I was up next to a wall. My right hand side was up against a partition wall that came up over my head. We looked around and 50% of the tables were built with one of these partition walls.
Well -- they made room for the appetizers, after a very long wait. I got the Tuna Tartare, with avocado, spicy radish, and ginger marinade. My wife got the Foie Gras Brule with pineapple-myer lemon jam. Mine started off very well. Then slowly, I noticed that it was really salty. I think my drink hid the first notes of saltiness, but it was defiantly there. The ginger marinade was excellent, and the radishes were refreshing, but the tuna started to become overpowering. It was very salty. My wife had never tried foie gras before, and she deemed it yucky. though she liked the way it tasted with the jam. But overall, she did not enjoy the dish.
Once we finished out appetizers, we started the waiting game. After they cleared out plates, we waited 18 minutes for our main courses. No sign of the waiter. when we finally get our main courses, they have to rearrange the table again. Plates are hanging over the edge of the table. I got the steamed red snapper with zucchini noodles and lemongrass broth. Well, the zucchini noodles were mandolined zucchini on a bed of (I think ) cream fraiche. The plate was sauced at the table (broth was poured around the central mound of food. The first thinking I noticed -- the fish was a little salty. I like to try each element alone when we eat out. I managed to grab a 'noodle' before they were brothed. They were a little salty. I say to myself -- how to you over salt steamed vegetables?
I tried the broth. It was salty. Everything was salty. I tried the noodles with the cream and the broth. It had a pleasant taste, but would have tasted much better if they cut out 50% of the sodium content. I know lemongrass has some acid in it, but I think they might have added some actual lemon juice to the broth. Well, when the broth mixed with the cream, all hell broke loose on my plate. My appetite started to go south when the cream started to curdle on my plate, but that was ok, I'd had enough of the salt. I showed down on bread and the unsalted butter.
Jen ordered the Grilled dry aged sirloin, tempura potatoes, and creamed spinach. Her steak was a little overcooked, but not enough to send it back. The creamed spinach was unimpressive, and the potatoes tasted like potato chips (IE: very salty). Neither of us were very happy with our main courses. But the drinks were good!
We both ordered dessert, I got a battlebot, and Jen got something.
After our dessert plates were cleared, we started waiting again. It took over 20 minutes for us to get our checks. Someone offered to take our dessert order, I had to inform them that we already finished dessert . 20 to 25 minutes of just sitting there, looking for our waiter. Before we even left and could compare notes, we both determined that we were really disappointed with this dining experience. I don't know if we had a bad day at the kitchen, but the person sitting next to us had an identical event. He was very unhappy with his food.
Would I recommend this to anyone -- no. And based on the cooking -- I would not recommend Jean Georges (the fancy dining room, either. They are the same kitchen, the same cooks, the same wait staff. About halfway through dinner, we could smell burning, burning coming from the kitchen. Not the greatest thing you want to smell when eating.
Gramercy Tavern!
I have one word to say about this meal: Muffins!
OK... more then one word....
Gramercy Tavern was our second evening out in New York, and it made our return list. The service was excellent, the drinks were great, and the food was incredible. Each dish was put together well and was pleasing to look at.
We started with drinks, I had a Turf Race - this was excellent. Hendricks Gin, Absinthe, Maraschino, and Orange Bitters. My second was a Mortoni - Campari, Ketel One, Q Tonic, and citrus. Both drinks were very good.
About the food. We started with Kampachi with grapefruit and coriander. Every drop was good.
Second - Smoked trout with sunchoke puree and pickeled onion vinegrette. I think this was my favorite. The onions were so good with the trout.
Third was Grilled Sturgeon with ramps, potatoes, and american caviar. This was another good dish.
Fourth was Duck Confit with potato gnocchi, a quail egg, adorable little honshimejii mushrooms.
Fifth was the only 'disappointment' - Rack of Veal with morels, asparagus, and ramps. If I recall correctly, this was overly heavy. It wasn't bad, but after a few dishes, it seemed out of place.
Sixth was the tasting dessert. Well.. kinda sixth. They kept brining out amuse boshe's to tease us. They were almost worth the trip itself :D
The desserts were good, but when they brought out the check we had more little treats, and black cherry - dark chocolate muffins for the next morning.
It was really good american food, really good drinks, and really attentive service. This is in our lists to go back to next time we are in New York.
My wife and I spent the last week in New York. This was our first trip without our son - he's 2 1/2 now. We went to New York last year, but since he was with us, we didn't even attempt eating at nice restaurants. He spent the week with his grandparents, and we spent the week hoofing it around Manhattan. I made reservations for all of our dinners a month in advance, and even fought the concierge services to get in at Babbo.
Babbo was our first service. We both had high expectations for this service. We both watch Mario Batali on Food Network - Molto Mario, Mario Eats Italy, and Iron Chef America. He has multiple restaurants in New York, but Babbo is considered to be the pinnacle of his ventures, and ranked as the best Italian in New York City.
We'll start with the ambiance. It was nicely laid out, we ate upstairs, but we were put at a terrible table. If they weren't 100% full, we would have moved. During the service, my chair was bumped by the serving staff over 10 times, the back part of my chair was hit with a serving tray when I was leaning forward - if I was leaning back, it would have hit me in the arm. And the noise. Wow it was noisy. The music was a loud, so everyone SPOKE REALLY LOUD to be heard over it.
As for the food - we started with Babbo Culatello with Ramps and Pecorino. The Culatello is a cured pork that is imported for the restaurant. Culatello is mostly unknown here in the States - it is similar to proscuitto, but different. The cut comes from the same part of the pig. The cut that is used for Culatello is the 'heart' of the proscuitto. From there - everything else is different. The pork is cured differently, massaged, and formed into a pear shape. The end product is stronger in flavor, but creamier, and more refined. My only complaint with this dish - there should have been more. I love cured meats, and this was like butter. very very good.
The second course was pappardelle with Morels and Thyme. We could have ended the tasting menu here. This was spectacular. The aroma from the dish was incredible, the morels were even better. This was by far the highlight of the evening. Everything about this dish was good. I cleaned the plate and wanted more.
It was hit or miss for the rest of the evening. The next dish was Duck Tortelli with "Sugo Finto." For us, this was a spectacular miss. The pasta was undercooked, and the meatless meat sauce tasted like something you get out of a Stouffer's TV Dinner. It was just bad - tasting of tomato paste, and not much else.
Next was Pork Tender with Barlotto Verde and Caper Vinaigrette. The pork was perfectly seasoned, and the vinaigrette went very well with the pork. As for the green sauce - I've been doing some research. Barlotto Verde is supposed to be a green salsa type dish. We ended up with mashed lima beans. It did not go well together. A spicy middle would have blended quite well with the vinaigrette.
Next was the wife's least favorite dish. Coach Farm's finest with Fennel Honey. This is what my wife likes to call the Stinky Cheese course. I liked the cheese, and I liked the taste of the honey. They went well together, but the honey seemed poorly executed. There were whole fennel seeds in the honey, along with the fennel pollen. When the seeds were eaten - you could tell they were raw. They were incredibly hard to chew and unpleasant. When I eat a cheese course, I don't want to have to grind my teeth to get it down. I think powdered fennel, or strained honey would have mad this dish much better.
Now we started the dessert tastings. The first out was a "Ciambella de Mandorle con Frutta Corretta." This was very good. Light and fruity. The almond cake was excellent, and the fruit was light and cool. It was quite refreshing, and our favorite dessert.
Next was the Chocolate "Tartufino" - I cannot even remember this one.
Our service was beginning to get spotty at this point. We had been waiting five minutes between courses at the beginning, as the evening went on, the wait extended and extended. When the final dish came out we were a little surprised. I guess that could explain why it took them 20 minutes to come out with a dessert. They ran out. I got the Bananna, Walnut, and Olive oil Cake with Olive Oil Gelato, and my wife got something else. It looked like they piped out a mound of stuff and gave it to her. I've checked the menu, and it's not on there. Mine was good, she hated hers, the thought it might have turned.
We would have returned it, but we were both tired and wanted to get back to the hotel. This is when the waiting game started. The entire service we watched the little army of serving an support staff fly all over the room. We were in no imagination the last table there, but I think the table got overlooked because of it's proximity to the prep area. We waited a long time for our check, that was a little disappointing. I wonder how the bevy of tables fared after we left. The staff was ready to go home at 12:00, but they were seating people up to 11:00 at night.
Overall, I enjoyed the meal, but I honestly think I enjoyed Sensi more. If we go to New York again, Babbo will not be on my must list, but I would like to try another of his restaurants.
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