Docsconz- The Blog

My Top 25 Restaurant Meals of 2009

So much for 2009 being a culinary waste land. With the Recession in full swing and even very good restaurants seemingly dropping like flies, the year was supposed to be a total disaster on the food-scape. Instead, this may have been the greatest year of dining in my life, even without having dined at two of my all-time favorites elBulli and Alinea. The recession was clearly in evidence with much more casual dining, but quality, fortunately stayed high. Part of the reason, actually a good part of the reason for such a high quality dining year for me, was that it was a milestone year for me personally and with the advent of my blog, I endeavored to do more because of it. In addition, the opportunity to attend The Bocuse D'Or in Lyon was one that I couldn't pass up and I'm glad I didn't. It was unforgettable both as an event and for its dining opportunities. Madrid Fusión and Starchefs once again provided great opportunities for dining as well as blog material. Typically, I have some local restaurants in my top 25. They were no less wonderful this year than in the past (in some instances they may have even been better), but the meals above them were simply too many and too special to top.

Though I might have eaten more than one exceptional meal at a given restaurant, I have only listed it once at its highest position. Many things go into play when compiling a list as personal and subjective as this, including the food, the decor, the occasion and my dining partners, with all contributing to the ultimate magic of the meal.

1. Senzone
2. Aldea
3. The Four Seasons
4. Ideas (in Food) in the Studio Kitchen
5. Corton
6. Per Se
7. Le Bernardin
8. Stella!
9. Eleven Madison Park
10. Kabuki Wellington
11. La Mere Brazier
12. Principe de Viana
13. Soto
14. Cafe Boulud
15. Momofuku Ssam Bar
16. Noca
17. Paul Bocuse
18. Los Asturianos
19. Toro by Ken Oringer
20. Taranta
21. Bayona
22. Falai
23. Gramercy Tavern
24. Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napolitana
25. Keste

What were some of your top meals of 2009? How, if at all, did the Recession effect your dining experience for the year?

Fabio Trabocchi Shows Me the Future of The Four Seasons: Part Two

I had originally hoped to dine at The Four Seasons with a friend but my friend ultimately couldn't make it and I failed to attract a last minute replacement. While I would have loved my friend's company, dining alone has some advantages, especially when really wanting to look at a restaurant closely. I can fuss with photographing my food all I want and I can observe. The Four Seasons is a restaurant, in which one should definitely observe.

Fine dining is about so much more than just the food, though the food is, of course, central to the experience. Fine dining is also about the ambiance, the surroundings and the company. It is about the service and being made to feel relaxed and special. Those are all essential components if the fine dining experience is to have been considered a complete success.

Because I had already enjoyed a significant lunch earlier in the day, I walked from where I was staying in The upper West Side to the restaurant on 51st St and Park Avenue taking a quick stop to peer into the dining room of the restaurant Marea on the way. I arrived at The Four Seasons promptly at my reserved time of 8PM, entering through The Grill Room where I introduced myself to the Maitre d'. From this point on, with the assistance of the restaurant and its staff, I began to feel relaxed and special as the Maitre' d' greeted me and went to check on my table. He returned quickly and led me into The Pool Room and to my table.

While the space in the Pool Room is large and can be somewhat imposing, it is also quite beautiful and serene. Seated in a spacious banquette facing the pool just off the entrance into the room and the large windows behind it, I had a magnificent post for keeping an eye on the grand theater around me. Though the average age in the room was not young, the room was sprinkled with a variety of ages, the common element amongst everyone that I could see being apparent ease and a sense of comfort and control. Like the Cafe Boulud earlier in the day, the clientele here generally represented a different world, a world comfortable with money, with power, with decisions and with the other people sitting in the room. Mostly though, they appeared comfortable with themselves, from the elderly couple sitting to my right totally unconcerned with the finished plates in front of them to the beautifully roasted duck being carved table side in front of me to my left to the couple that was seated to my left, visiting one of their old favorites while back in the City from Boca Raton and with whom a friendly and enjoyable conversation was struck throughout my meal.

When asked if I would like a cocktail, I asked if there was a cocktail menu. The response was that they would make whatever I desired, so I requested on of my pre-dinner routines, a Negroni. What arrived was the best Negroni I have had since a year prior at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare in Las Vegas, joining the latter as my Negroni standard. Though I was initially disappointed at the lack of an opportunity to sample a signature creation, the pleasure of encountering a cocktail that defines its genre such as Bartalotta's Negroni, a Gin-Gin Mule from the hands of Audrey Saunders or a Sazerac from Chris McMillan quickly supplanted any lingering sense of annoyance.

I looked over the menu, which wasn't quite as staid as I had expected. "A Celebration fo 1959", a three course menu of mostly classics was available for $75 and there was a choice of four courses for $85. The a la carte menu also beckoned, boasting "traditional and new classics." Sure, there were "Classic Crab Cakes" with poached organic egg and black truffles for $38 and "Classic Farmhouse Duck" with orange and pepper sauce for $48pp for two people as well as "Cote du Boeuf with Chanterelles and Bordelaise for $45pp, again for two people, but this is The Four Seasons. There was also Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Sea Urchin, crab and spicy chilis for $28, that did not sound like a dish I remembered from previous visits. Since the waiter was expecting me to make a choice, I opted for the four course tasting, but said that I would have Chef Trabocchi choose for me.

Bread service came quickly. I did not want to fill up on bread, but a cheesy, buttery, crescent roll was simply too attractive to ignore. Paying attention to it was a wise choice. It was delicious.

A salad with buratta and heirloom beets soon graced my table. The buratta was rich and the beets were beautiful and sweet. There were also balancing mildly bitter greens. Which ingredient was enhancing the other more was a legitimate question with both being supported by a calibrated sprinkling of salt and invigorated by subnotes of menthol and citrus despite the obvious presence of either. It was a delicious and lovely start to the meal, albeit a little surprising to have started with a salad.

 

The next two dishes were somewhat familiar to me from my previous dinner at Fiamma. If the Buratta and Beet Salad was not clearly Trabocchi, these two dishes were. The first was Ahi Tuna Sashimi topped with Kumamoto oysters and tuna tartar, both served with a Sorrel sauce. The dish also incorporated fish roe, a nasturtium leaf and a little Balsamic vinegar. One small difference between the dish here at The Four Seasons and the one I had at Fiamma was that in this case the oysters were Kumamotos, while at Fiamma they were Glidden Points. This dish with a few variations has become a bit of a Trabocci signature. The textures, flavor balances and sheer conception are brilliant and represent a perfect marriage of Italian and Asian ingredients and concepts, now presented in a most definitively New York restaurant.

The second familiar dish was described as Angus Beef Carpaccio Wrapped around Tofu with Quail egg and white truffle along with an angus beef tartar in the center of the plate with a mushroom duxelle on top.

Exceptfor the addition of the truffle shavings here, this dish was nearly identical to that at Fiamma, though at Fiamma the beef was wagyu rather than Angus. After the Fiamma meal, I wrote about this dish on eGullet, "Carpaccio and tartare are classic Italian dishes. These have been tweaked with the use of tofu and a japanese breed of beef rather than the Italian Chianina for example. Do those things make this any less Italian? The tartare preparation was basically classic served with shaved parmiggiano and a quail egg. The carpaccio was more inventive, but still "Italian" in terms of derivation, conception and flavor despite the Asian influence of beef breed and tofu. The duxelle of mushrooms on top added earthy notes, but did not make the dish any less "Italian" either." On both occasions the dish was simply delicious.

The look of the following dish reminded me of Paul Liebrandt's preparation of foie gras coated with a beet gelee. This looked to be coated in a similar fashion though it was darker and browner with more of a hint of chocolate in the coating and none of beet. This cold preparation was impeccably balanced hitting just the right notes as it was served with the green salad.

This next dish made my knees wobble, it was that good. While eating The Dungeness Crab wrapped in Leaf Spinach and served with salmon roe amidst a sea of crab consomme, I had a Ratatouille moment of being transported not only to my childhood, but to elBulli and the miraculous crab dish I had there on my first visit in 2005 on the day Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans. The dish was filled with pure, perfect Dungeness crab underneath the leaf spinach and perfectly picked leg meat segments atop it. The added pop of the caviar amidst the soft and delicious splendor of the crab awoke my palate much like the first time I had Oriol Balaguer's chocolate bon bons with pop rocks. This dish which absolutely captured the essence of crab, was absolutely one of the two or three best dishes I had all year and Dungeness isn't even generally my favorite crab.

When this dish was brought to the table, my first inclination was to think it was a swordfish steak, but it turned out to be more foie gras, this time, a seared lobe served atop a bed of beans. So stunned was I to be receiving a second foie gras dish that I failed to recall the details of the preparation. Suffice it to say that the dish was again delicious and totally savory, not in the least sweet. I was, at this time (by now 10PM and the restaurant was beginning to yield some empty tables), starting to get a bit full. I asked the waiter to have Chef Trabocchi start slowing things down as it was apparent that I was getting more than the four courses that I had ordered.

Nantucket bay scallops on a celery root puree with sea beans and black truffle - I believe that I had tears coming down my face as I looked at this dish and felt my rapidly filling stomach. The scallops were sweet with the celeriac providing just enough underlying support and the truffles adding the notes of a duet. The dish was another winner despite the presence of a foam that visually shielded the scallops, leaving them to surprise on the palate.

By the next dish, I had to make like Roberto Duran and say, "No mas." Conceding defeat at the hands of a champion, I could not finish a spectacular Risotto with Black Truffles and Parmigiano. The texture of the rice was perfectly toothsome, but the dish was simply too rich and decadent.

My pitiful entreaties notwithstanding, the kitchen endeavored to send out another dish too far along in the pipeline, Filet of Turbot with fingerling potatoes and parsley in a red wine sauce. What could I do, but continue to eat. Despite my panting palate and broken belly, the dish intrigued with perfectly cooked fish and a deep, rich flavor. Ordinarily, I would have devoured this with gusto, but at this point, all I could do was take a few bites, chew, savor and swallow.

I thought I was done, but there was still to be one more savory plate and this one was delivered personally by Chef Trabocchi.  A large covered clay pot was brought to the table and revealed to me. Within was a lamb roast laying on a bed of pine boughs, the roast large enough to make me faint if I was a fainting sort of man.  The chef returned to the kitchen with the pot for plating. I took a few more deep breaths.

What returned from the kitchen was, even in my leaden state, one of the most beautiful, tender and delicious pieces of lamb I ever ate and eat it I did. It's very aroma provided me with a second wind and its bite fortified me further such that once finished, I could actually have eaten more. The lamb was presented as a large Frenched chop. It turned out, that the meat was not actually attached to the bone which simply pulled free. This was another truly extraordinary dish and one of the very best that I have eaten all year.

That my palate had been somewhat re-invigorated by the lamb was not a bad thing as I was now able to sample some dessert. The first dish brought out was a roasted pear with a honeycomb, honeycomb ice cream and the roasting liquid from the pear, a sublime combination that worked well as a palate cleanser and meal finisher.

My final taste was Chocolate caramel with mint chocolate cream and caramel sorbet, another superb dish. Petit fours were brought, but I could neither lift my camera nor a finger to taste them. For the dessert portion of my meal I had the honor and pleasure of being joined by Chef Trabocchi as service was finishing and there were no more orders to fire.

 

I asked for the check, which was declined. This was an extraordinary meal in every respect, one beyond money, though I left a gratuity based on what I valued as a $300 meal. Clearly I was a VIP in this instance and treated fully as such, to the point that my entire meal had been cooked personally by Chef Trabocchi and one other chef, as Chef Trabocchi wanted me to get a sense of what he and The Four Seasons are fully capable of. If this meal is any indication, what they are capable of is true culinary greatness. This was one of the finest meals of my life. One given is the sheer spectacle and beauty of the room. Whether Chef Trabocchi can succeed in conveying his vision and teaching the necessary skills to his kitchen staff so that they can knock out dishes like I had regularly and consistently and whether the front of the house can gain the intimate knowledge of his food and convey that with precision, class and consistent grace are significant questions. If both the back and the front of the house can accomplish those things and do so day in and day out, there is no doubt that Fabio Trabocchi's The Four Seasons will be worthy of and earn Three Michelin Stars and Four New York Times Stars. If they can't do it consistently, it will still be a very good restaurant capable of greatness on any given day and they will still have their power lunches. Hopefully they can, because The Four Seasons deserves a chef like Fabio Trabocchi and Fabio Trabocchi deserves a venue like The Four Seasons.

Fabio Trabocchi Shows Me the Future of The Four Seasons: Part One

"It is like retuning a classic, beautiful car and bringing it back to mint condition." - Chef Fabio Trabocchi on working at The Four Seasons Restaurant in Manhattan.

Global warming is not the only force of nature likely to effect what happens to  The Four Seasons. While Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall appear to be changing before our very eyes due to the on-going effects of global climate change, a more creative, welcome and constructive force is at work in the kitchen of the legendary, 50 year-old, Philip Johnson designed, Park Avenue, New York City restaurant, known as The Four Seasons. Chef Fabio Trabocchi, formerly of Fiamma in NYC and Maestro in McClean, VA just outside of Washington, D.C., took over the kitchen of this venerable institution this past October, as the restaurant moved to fill the position vacated in June by the untimely passing of Chef Christian Albin. In Chef Trabocchi they secured an experienced, but still young chef with skill, creativity, vision and a respect for tradition. His approach at Maestro and Fiamma was to use Italian traditions as a base, influenced and colored by global perspective.

Like with global warming, the climate shift at The Four Seasons is likely to be gradual. The restaurant is most well known for being the center of the Universe for the so-called "Power Lunch" as was recently highlighted in The New York Times. As such, it has many rich and powerful clients, "60-70%" of whom, according to Trabocchi, already have their minds set on what to order, when they sit down for lunch. That is not necessarily a bad thing when they are doing 250 or so covers in an hour. On the other hand, many repeat clients just look to order the special of the day, rather than choosing repetitively from the regular menu. To "test" things, Trabocchi has begun introducing "specials" based on his own dishes and has so far received "a good response" from those clients. When he started, Trabocchi was most concerned about resistance to change from the restaurant's regular clients, but based upon the response to his specials that hasn't been a problem.

In addition to working with the restaurant's generally conservative client base, Trabocchi also has to work with the large kitchen staff, many of whom have been on the line there for years cooking a certain way. While they do what they do very well, many of the longer termed cooks haven't been exposed to much else or to newer techniques, something which has to be taught step by step. According to Trabocchi, "there are 26 people (in the kitchen) to train and it is going to take a while" considering that they all have to continue to perform their usual routine on a daily basis. The chef anticipates that it will be a year or so before he is comfortable instituting his full culinary vision at the restaurant. He is not in a hurry and wants to make sure that it gets done right. The last piece of the puzzle involves training the front of the house to know the details of his cooking intimately. That may be even more important at a restaurant like The Four Seasons with so many empowered regulars as it is elsewhere, as they are likely to be less tolerant of a menu that is not very well known by the waiter.

I came to The Four Seasons when I did, because it was the first chance I had to visit since Chef Trabocchi took over the kitchen. My wife and I used to attend wine dinners such as their annual Fete du Bordeaux back in the 1990's, but for a variety of reasons our interest and ability to attend those events waned. I was thrilled, however, when last spring, we were invited to attend The Four Seasons 50th Birthday Party. I had forgotten just how wonderful the room and the restaurant could be. The place has an aura that is magic and rare. Even though we drove down  and back three hours each way just to be there for the evening, the event had a can't miss feel to it and we were exhausted, but glad that we didn't miss it. Then, just days later, Four Seasons Chef Christian Albin sadly died, creating the void that would ultimately be filled by Chef Trabocchi.

Albin had run the restaurant traditionally and though it no longer had the cachet that it had once had amongst serious food enthusiasts, the food was still very well prepared and delicious. Trabocchi meanwhile earned the favor and enthusiasm of many a food aficionado through his daring Italian based cooking, first at Maestro and then most recently at Fiamma in NYC, where just 8 months prior to his taking the job at The Four Seasons, he was the City's first high profile casualty of the new Recession as the elaborate, but wonderful Fiamma was closed. Having first met Chef Trabocchi at the 2007 Starchefs Congress and then having had an amazing meal at Fiamma, I was dismayed at Fiamma's closing, but confidant that Chef Trabocchi would resurface, hopefully somewhere within striking distance. When it turned out to be The Four Seasons, I was both ecstatic and slightly nervous. I was ecstatic, because, unlike the room at Fiamma, Trabocchi would now be in a space commensurate with his food and nervous, because of a concern with how he and his food would conform to the restaurant. Was this to be a job or the seizing of a great stage? Hoping for the latter, I aimed to find out.

In Part Two of this report, I will detail the meal that was served to me. In full disclosure, I went to the restaurant not knowing what to expect food wise, but fully expecting to pay my full bill. In the end, I received a meal more indicative of what Chef Trabocchi is hoping to serve a year from now, a meal cooked personally by him and another chef, one not currently available to the general public and one for which my credit card was turned away, though a rather sizable cash gratuity was not.

Wish List 2010

Below are the ten restaurants that I have not yet been to that I most want to try in 2010. Whether I will get to any or all of them is yet to be determined. Hopefully, I will at least get to a few.

1. Mugaritz
2. Noma
3. The Fat Duck
4. Restaurante Ferrero
5. McCrady's
6. Elements
7. Marea
8. Town House
9. Etxebarri
10. Ubuntu

Yours?

Taste of the Week - December 20th-26th

Ah, Christmas week! Is there a better week for riotous, extravagant eating? Sure, Thanksgiving is wonderful, but that is all about the bird and its fixings and is really centered on that one day. While there may be some latitude with tradition, by and large, tradition keeps that week pretty fixed culinarily.  Meanwhile, for someone such as myself, who enjoys spending time with my family and friends  as much as great eating, Christmas Week, during which tradition is prominent, but ultimately anything goes, is the epitome – at least it usually is.

This week started out promisingly enough with a wonderful Greek dinner party held by that fabulous Greek Goddess herself, Pat Sheldon and her wonderful husband, Albert that featured a succulent Greek style leg of lamb and a number of different “kopitas” amongst other delights. By a certain view, that lamb should probably have been my taste of the week, as it turned out to be the tastiest meal that I actually ate over the course of the week.

You see, by Wednesday, I began to get sick, very sick, with a nasty GI bug. I was supposed to be at work, on-call that night, but though I tried, I couldn't physically do it and had to rely on a generous colleague to cover me. By the next morning, Christmas Eve, I thought I was doing a little better and rather than stay home alone for Christmas (I'm no McCauley Culkin), I made the decision to go with my family to drive to New Jersey, where we would spend Christmas Eve with my family and their Italian based goodies (it was for there that I had ordered cheese, but that is a story for another time – if we are friends on facebook or you follow me on Twitter, you already likely have an idea about this), and Christmas Day with my wife's family, where another fine meal was planned. It was going to be especially convenient this year since both celebrations were in the same town with the homes literally no more than 5 minutes from each other.

When I arrived at my niece's house on Christmas Eve, mistaking the feeling in my tummy for hunger, I started sampling some of the delights including crab, lobster and shrimp cocktails, fresh mozzarella and baked clams. I didn't actually have much of any of them though, as it turned out that my taste was way off. Of the various things I tried, only my brother's shrimp cocktail tasted "right" to me (I don't know if that meant it was good or bad). In addition, I was no longer feeling better, but returning to chills and fever and frequent visits to my namesake. I had no energy and plenty of abdominal cramps as well. It was no fun and I was no fun, so ultimately, I slunk away and rested in a guest bedroom with an adjacent bathroom for the bulk of the evening.

With the help of ES Tylenol and Immodium, I made it through the night with only a few disturbances and I spent the bulk of Christmas Day in bed sleeping, while my family was out at my wife's brother's house for brunch. I managed to join the land of the living for dinner, but while they enjoyed beautiful beef tenderloin, I feasted with orange gatorade. That orange gatorade was my staple all that day and for a good part of Saturday as well. For a long time, it appeared that it would actually be my taste of the week.

Fotunately though, it didn't have to be as I was well enough Saturday night when we arrived home to take nourishment in the form of a goose-stock enriched chicken soup. I like a good chicken soup, but it has been some tiome since a relatively plain broth tasted so good to me or was appreciated so much by me. For that reason, my wife's home-made goose-chicken soup is clearly my Christmas Week Taste of the Week!

As with many things associated with Christmas, the most appreciated items don't always come in the prettiest packages.

Merry Christmas!

Better late than never. I hope that you and yours had a merry one!

Guest Post: Greg Kuzia-Carmel

(ed. note: Greg Kuzia-Carmel is a talented young cook from Albany, who is following a dream to be the best  chef that he can be. He is currently a stagiere at the restaurant Mugaritz in San Sebastien, Spain under the highly acclaimed chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. Mugaritz was ranked as the fourth best restaurant in the world in the most recent compilation of Restaurant Magazine. While I think it is silly giving a numerical ranking at that level of restaurant, it does serve to indicate its general level of quality and respect. Working in the kitchen of a restaurant like that is bound to leave indelible effects. I asked Greg, if he would be interested in writing an occasional piece on his experiences as he has the time and interest. This is his first submission. It isn't easy to make me blush, but he did. -JMS)

John Sconzo is a person of incredible and particular interest to me in both what I do professionally and who I am as a person (though, as I get older I find that these two areas vex over each other more and more).

You see, Doc’s passion for gastronomy on all levels and in all disciplines is unprecedented. In this day and age when it’s easy enough to pick up a copy of any of the mass distributed garbage tabloids, snatch some of the food world headline garbage, and call yourself a foodie, its wonderful to come across those few people who really know that there is more to this. Years of training, long hours, demanding clientele, cry-baby employees, fish guys who get stuck in traffic, etc., not all of us are trying to put together the best appetizer using potato chips to be a long shot for a $100k. We are interpreters of history, craftsmen, artists (per se), business people, interior designers, architects, mathematicians, scientists, athletes, and more and more it now seems, psychiatrists. It’s wonderful to follow Doc’s chronicles of the diverse human offerings in this categorically small but interesting world.

Doc interests me as well because he calls home some of the great land that I was brought up on, Upstate New York, an area I am intensely proud of and loyal to. The preface to Michel Bras’ Essential Cuisine says in short that the one of the greatest ways to show ones love of their land is through gastronomy. This is certainly a feeling that I have come to embrace, and judging by Doc’s work with the slowfood movement in Saratoga and relentless support of his surrounding markets, I’m willing to bet he’s drinking this metaphorical koolaid too…

When Doc offered to let me write a guest blog for him, I couldn’t have affirmed quick enough. It has taken me a few weeks to figure out what I want to write here, and most importantly, deliver something with substance that I think would be interesting to Doc’s substantial following. So here’s what I got, a short tale of one young man who pretty much got dropped into a High School Culinary Votech class merely to fill an empty period in his sophomore year schedule and is now the only American cooking at the fourth best restaurant in the world, and what that transformation has become.

East Side Elegance - Cafe Boulud

Walking in to Cafe Boulud, for me, is like walking in to another city. When I am in NYC, I rarely venture into the Upper East Side, generally staying in the Upper West Side and most often shooting down to lower Manhattan to dine. In Cafe Boulud, the clientele appear to be quite comfortable with their wealth and with each other. On this day, the restaurant was packed, filled with lunching ladies sharing holiday gifts, museum goers and people simply out for an enjoyable and relaxing holiday season lunch. Without a reservation, I managed to snare the last open table. While it was not a "desirable" table, as it was located next to the kitchen entrance, it worked well for me.

I enjoyed observing the people and interactions and felt quite relaxed in the lovely, revamped room. It had been some time since I had last been to Cafe Boulud, back when Andrew Carmellini was the chef. It was superb then and now with my friend from the Bocuse D'Or, Chef Gavin Kaysen running the kitchen, my desire to return was stoked so I decided to hoof it across the park for lunch.

I had dinner plans for the evening so I wanted to keep the lunch relatively light. I did not have a cocktail and ordered the two course prix fixe lunch for $28 along with a glass of grand cru Corton Burgundy from the excellent 2000 vintage.

Several amuses were brought out including a Beau Soleil oyster from New Brunswick, served simply without adornment, two small truffled arrancini and the House Cured Atlantic Salmon with Rye-Guiness Purée, pickled red onions, dill fingerling potatoes and lemon zest. Each of these was a delight with the arrancini particularly decadent and lusciously sinful.

 

Although I wanted to eat "light" I chose two meat courses, the first being Beef Tartar with cornichons, grilled sourdough bread, quail egg yolk and frisee. This classic presentation was impeccably pepared and absolutely delicious. The level of mustard was spot on - just enough to assert itself, but not so much to overwhelm the beef. Eating this beef spread on the toast was pure pleasure. The flavors mingled while the textures of the tartar and the toast provided welcome contrast. I can't say that I have enjoyed a beef tartar presentation more than I enjoyed this one. The Corton was a wonderful match for it as well.

My next course was a delicious and perfectly Grilled Leg of Lamb with Navy White Beans, Eggplant, Tarragon and Natural Jus. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it was simply delicious.

I was comped dessert, hazelnut gateaux with gianduja chocolate mousse, caramel fondant,praline feuilletine and vanilla hojicha tea ice cream and also wonderful fresh madeleines and petits fours. Once again, I wound up eating more than I had intended, but it was all so good!

My over-riding impression of Cafe Boulud is one of class and elegance. The food was beautiful and delicious, but restrained and not over the top. The ambiance was refined, but still comfortable and not in the least stuffy. Being a friend of Chef Kaysen, I was certainly treated very, very well. Being a solo diner, I had the ability to observe the rest of the room. While I received some extra courses and was greeted by the chef, it appeared that the rest of the diners were enjoying their meals as well with much laughter and plenty of smiles brightening the room. When the meal concluded, I definitely needed to walk back across the park.

Eleven Madison Park Four One

I had been to Eleven Madison Park once before, the February after 9/11 when I returned to NYC with my family because the City needed all the help it could get. Those days were well before the arrival of Chef Daniel Humm, who came to the restaurant from Switzerland via San Francisco. I recall that meal as having been nothing special.

Even before Frank Bruni awarded Eleven Madison Park four stars, the restaurant had been on my short list. It had already received raves from people whose opinions I value. I finally had my opportunity this past Monday, when I had some time open up for lunch. By myself without a reservation, I expected to dine at the bar, but I was pleasantly surprised to get a table along the back wall with excellent lighting for photography.

Generally I prefer company when I dine. It is more fun to share an experience with an interesting companion, however, on this day, I didn't mind dining by myself. It was nice to relax to my thoughts and there was plenty to observe around the beautiful Art Deco room. In addition, the staff did a wonderful job of engaging me just enough without intruding. They erased any hint of discomfort in dining solo.

While perusing the menu, I ordered a cocktail. I chose a Widow's Kiss from amongst a very enticing cocktail list, a number of which were based on classic 19th Century cocktails. The Widow's Kiss was based on a creation by the legendary "Professor" Jerry Thomas as written in his "The Bartender's Guide." The cocktail dates from around 1862 and includes Calvados, Benedictine, Yellow Chartreuse and Angostura Bitters. Distinctly on the savory side, it was perfect for a chilly afternoon. I look forward to exploring the list a bit further at another time.

I ordered a three course lunch tasting menu for $42, pricing actually slightly less than at Jean-George, the place that created good-value lunch prix-fixe menus. The major difference is that it appears more straight-forward to add courses at J-G. Of course when one orders a menu at a restaurant like EMP or J-G, one doesn't just get what was ordered.

The first amuse included two small bites. One was Salmon Tartare with Fennel. The other was Black Pepper Sable with Celery Root and Black Truffle. Both provided a pleasant start to the meal.

The second amuse was my first real indication that this was going to be a special meal. Sunchoke Veloute with Bosc Pear and Hazelnuts erupted with intense, but perfectly balanced and smooth sunchoke flavor, with a brunoise of bosc pear with-in the soup to add brightness and a hint of sweetness. The combination presented marvelous flavor and textural contrasts. The hazelnut wafer was tasty, though I didn't feel that it added to the dish beyond its visual appeal.

I was excited to see the selection of wines available by the glass. The list held real gems at relatively reasonable prices. As I was having a predominantly seafood lunch, I ordered one of my favorite whites, which happened to be on the list, Nicolas Joly, Clos de la Coulee de Serrant, Savenneres, 2005 for $24. It served beautifully through the meal.

The first of my ordered courses arrived. It was Chicken Velouté with veal sweetbreads and chanterelles. While it has become relatively common, I still love the beauty and theater of a soup being poured table-side atop artfully arranged solid ingredients as occurred here. Every aspect of this dish was simply marvelous,from the still crisp sweetbreads to the velvety chicken to the choice chanterelles to the dollop of cream to the rich and wonderful velouté itself.

For my second dish, I had a little difficulty choosing and enlisted my waiter's help. Ultimately because I was curious to see how pasta would be handled and presented here, I chose Linguini with Alaskan King Crab, black pepper and Meyer lemon. In many respects this dish was very Italian, primarily in that the pasta was the focus and everything else played supporting roles including the crab. It was very good pasta and the dish had good flavor, but at the end of the day, it was still pasta. Ultimately, I was a little disappointed as I expected a little bit more of a flavor bang rather than the subtlety presented by the kitchen. It was a lovely dish, but for me, on that day, it was not the best choice. When my waiter asked if I had made a good choice, I responded as I wrote above. It was a good choice, but not the right choice. In retrospect, I thought the diver scallop that I had passed over, would likely have been a more special dish.

I discussed my opinion because I was asked and I believe that a restaurant ought to be told the truth. I did not expect anything else, but one of the managers, with whom I was having an on-going occasional conversation asked me again about the dish and I repeated my response. A short while later, she personally returned with the Diver Scallop that had been seared with celery, meyer lemon and black truffles. I had been correct - this dish was more special. In fact, it was one of the most delicious and special scallop dishes that I have ever had and as good a scallop dish as I have had since I first tasted Rocco Dispirito's Taylor Bay scallops at Union Pacific a decade or so ago. The lemon was perfectly honed to accent the dish, adding just enough acidity to balance the richness of the truffles, the aromatics of the celery and the sublime sweetness of the perfectly seared scallop. This was a wonderful surprise, presented with grace and hospitality, and since it had not been asked for by me, given complimentary.

 

The scallop was a difficult dish to top. While my final savory dish, Bouillabaisse with striped bass, mussels, manila clams and chorizo, didn't quite top the sheer pleasure of the scallop, it came awfully close to matching it. The fish was immaculate, despite the day being a Monday and the depth of flavor of the bouillabaisse was intense. It was, however, the presence of the chorizo that really put this dish over the top for me.

Most of the desserts were presented via a dessert cart. While they all looked lovely, I wasn't really tempted until my waiter asked if I would be interested in the dessert from the grand tasting menu, the Chocolate Peanut Butter Palette with caramel popcorn and popcorn ice cream. Per his recommendation and given the quality of the meal that preceded it, I followed his recommendation. I was not disappointed. 

I came to Eleven Madison Park expecting quality, but I hadn't planned to eat a particularly big lunch. I certainly received quality - the meal was outstanding. I ate a bit more than I originally intended, but it was so good, how could I not? This meal, in fact, the entire dining experience, truly resonated with me, from the moment I walked through the doors to the moment I left. The service was as good as I have ever experienced in the American style with just enough warmth and familiarity to make one comfortable, while never forgetting the details that get done seemlessly and in the background to make for a flawless service experience. Danny Meyer's restaurants have a reputation for great service, but this was the epitome. I have never been made to feel more relaxed and welcome in a restaurant.

As for the food, it was outstanding. Even the one dish that somewhat disappointed me, the linguini, was a good dish. I simply ordered out of curiosity and discovered that it wasn't what I had been really hoping for. Ironically my disappointment lay in the fact that the dish didn't really "sing" to me. It was the one  dish from Chef Humm's kitchen that didn't fully resonate with me. All of the other dishes had very bright flavors, while the pasta was muted. Earlier I compared the lunch prices at EMP with those from J-G. After tasting his cooking, price is not my only point of comparison between the two restaurants. I would say that in my experience, the food at EMP stylistically most reminds me of that at J-G, with both relying on bold, bright acidic flavors. That is not to say that Chef Humm's cooking is a clone of Chef Vongerichten's. Chef Humm's cooking is clearly original both in form and conception, but to my palate, his taste aesthetic is reminiscent of Chef Vongerichten's. I would gladly eat the food of either chef any day.

Falai High

Iacopo Falai's food is beautiful. Take my word for it. Unfortunately, that is all that I can offer visually, because the lighting was such in this small, funkily elegant Lower East Side restaurant that I did not even bother to take photos.

I arrived at Falai early for a 6:30PM Sunday dinner reservation, coming inside from a heavy rain. At that time, there were only a few other people present. I began to wonder if this was going to be another place that would feel the recession's wrath. I sat down to peruse the menu and wait for the rest of the party to arrive.

Slowly, the restaurant started to fill as did my table. We opted for the "Menu Tradizionale" for $50pp, one of several tasting menus available in addition to an ala carte menu. I also ordered a bottle of 2004 Fuedo Montoni Nero D'Avola. The wine list is small, but interesting and reasonably priced.

Dinner started beautifully with Polenta Bianca with chicken liver, dried dates and wild mushroom "vellutata." Artfully arranged the flavors did not so much as blend together into one coherent whole, as they contrasted and supported each other harmoniously with each element retaining its distinctive personality. The chicken liver, a relatively modest ingredient, shone through as the star singing above the melody played by the polenta and the bass line of the mushrooms.

Gnudi are popular on a number of NYC menus at the moment, if my recent excursion is accurate.I did not try them elsewhere, but the gnudi with ricotta cheese, baby spinach, brown butter, crema di latte and sage here were divine. If other renditions around the city are only half as good as these, I can understand their popularity. Unlike the polenta, this dish was more an example of individual ingredients being subservient to the dish as a whole.

Buckwheat ravioli stuffed with braised cabbage and fontina cheese and served with chickpea and red onion salad and speck consomme was assertively flavored and wonderful for a cold, wet evening.

Pan roasted lamb loin with fregola, chanterelle mushrooms, tomato compote, goat milk and cumin bread crumbs, though all over the place in terms of ingredients, was simply beautiful to look at and to eat. The lamb was perfectly cooked and seasoned and melted in my mouth. This proved to be one of the most delicious lamb dishes I've had in recent memory, only to be eclipsed a couple of days later, by another, even more amazing preparation of lamb.

Passion fruit souffle for dessert was perfectly executed, tart and sweet with intense passion fruit flavor. It was quite satisfying.

I expected Falai to be good, or I wouldn't have chosen it, but I have not seen it get much play or media attention. It turned out that Falai was very good and probably one of the best values in the city for fine dining, being markedly less expensive and better than many restaurants charging considerably more and with bigger reputations. I believe that there are a number of reasons for this. The most important is that Falai does a lot with a little. The restaurant itself is little bigger than a closet, yet they fit a reasonable number of tables, all in one straight line to make it work. The decor is nothing fancy, but it is tastefully done and comfortable in a relaxed way. The food is beautifully prepared, interesting and most importantly, delicious. What it isn't is focused on luxe ingredients. It appears that Iacopo Falai has taken Ferran Adria's admonition that "a very good sardine is better than a not so good lobster" to heart. The chicken liver in my first dish serves as a prime example. The Momos get all the press, but my experience at Falai was more reminiscent of the best European "bistronomic" restaurants that use ordinary ingredients in extraordinary ways, serve in modest environments and pass the savings on to the diner. NYC has a reputation of not being kind to vanguardist restaurants, with many saying that WD-50, just down the street, has been the only successful one. Falai somehow gets overlooked in these discussions despite the fact that it has been around for at least a few years and uses a modern aesthetic to great effect. This restaurant clearly belongs in the discussion.

I am happy to say that the place was packed by the time we finished and that the rain had stopped. Now if they would only do something about the lighting!

Taste of the Week - December 13th-19th

The past week was one of outstanding dining for me. Anytime I visit New York City, I dine very well. That was certainly the case for this last visit. The food at The Four Seasons, Eleven Madison Park, Cafe Boulud and Falai was all extraordinary plus I enjoyed the home cooking of Joe Bavuso and my own crab sauce and roast goose. There were so many amazing dishes, it is impossible to choose from amongst them. I did, however, have one wine that stood head and shoulders above others and it was served by the glass!

The wine, Domaine Chandon de Brialles, Corton Grand Cru Clos de Roi 2000 was served from a magnum bottle at Cafe Boulud. While not inexpensive at $35/glass, it was a wonderful way to enjoy a great glass of wine with a lovely lunch while not breaking the bank. 

I noticed on at least one other occasion, great wines being served by the glass. For example, I had a glass of Nicolas Joly Coulée de Serrant 2005 at Eleven Madison Park. The Joly Chenin Blanc is one of my favorite white wines and I was thrilled to find it available by the glass for a relatively reasonable $24.

If this is a trend, it is one that I welcome!

My Mother's Crab Sauce

My mother would have been 93 years old today, but she passed away 17 years ago. As she was a wonderful cook, I could think of no better tribute than to make the dish she made that I loved most - buccatini with blue crab sauce, especially since I managed to come across some nice live blue crabs this past Thursday at the new Asian Market just outside of Albany, N.Y. Did I mention that this happens to be my all-time favorite dish? Unfortunately, this dish really relies on using live crabs, something I have generally been unable to find up here until now. Since the crabs must be used live, I made the sauce on Thursday evening with the help of my two eldest sons. Half the fun was teaching them how to handle and clean the crabs and make the sauce.

Blue Crab

Soto Voce

I don't understand why the restaurant Soto doesn't get more buzz than it appears to get. Combining stunningly creative sushi using top-notch ingredients and beautifully composed and delicious hot dishes all at a very reasonable price for a Japanese restaurant would seem to be a recipe for having one's doors smashed in by waiting crowds. Add to that an extensive sake list and a world-renowned chef, one would think a reservation would be impossible. Fortunately for me, it isn't, as I was able to get a reservation for four this past Saturday night at the bar overlooking Chef Kosugi Soto and his two assistants at 8PM via Open Table. That is not to say that the restaurant wasn't busy - it was full.

Native Foods

I follow a number of outstanding blogs, but none are better than playing with fire and water. If you haven't already, check out Linda's latest series of posts on working with native American ingredients. In addition to her usual outstanding creativity and beautiful photography, she has provided a treatise on native ingredients - simply stunning!

Luke's Lobster

Luke's Lobster, literally a hole-in-a-wall in the East Village, specializes in New England style chowders and seafood sandwiches, being particularly known for their lobster roll. Their reputation is also one of being a good value, which appears to be enabled by two things: existing as a hole-in-a-wall in a relatively inexpensive part of the city and the owner's having a father who owns a lobster processing plant in Maine. Being an avid lobster and seafood enthusiast, I and a friend ventured down from mid-town to check it out.

I originally intended to just get a lobster roll, but when I saw that the Maine shrimp season was underway and they also had crab rolls, my friend and I decided to split a “Noah's Ark” for $38, which consisted of 2 small lobster rolls, shrimp rolls and crab rolls as well as 4 Empress crab claws and 2 drinks and 2 bags of chips. We also ordered a small shrimp & corn chowder each.

The chowder came out first. Extremely hot, we needed to wait for them to cool down before we could physically eat them without burning ourselves. As they cooled to merely hot, the flavor improved from initially one note – cream flavor – to a bit more complex and enjoyable chowder flavor.

When the “ark” arrived, we each had 3 small sandwiches: shrimp, crab and lobster along with Empress crab claws. I tried the shrimp first. This was tasty and satisfying. For someone on a tight budget, this probably represents the best taste to price value ratio, as a full sandwich sells for $7 compared to $9 for the crab and $14 for the lobster roll. The crab roll, on the other hand, was quite bland and relatively tasteless despite a liberal application of Luke's proprietary spice powder. I would not order this again. The claws, however were tasty and satisfying. I finished with the lobster roll, which was good and a good value, especially considering that it was essentially all lobster. Unfortunately though, it was neither revelatory nor anywhere near the class of the best lobster rolls I have ever had.

Considering the sourcing connections of Luke's Lobster and their on-line claims, I expected more from the lobster roll than it delivered in terms of flavor. I repeat, it was a good value, but it did not make me swoon the way the very best lobster rolls have. Considering the close Maine connection, I had to wonder why, relatively inexpensive or not, the lobster roll at Luke's was not a swoon-inducer, as I expected it to be. Given the small size of the storefront and no lobster in sight as well as the rapidity of service, I asked where the lobsters had been cooked. It turned out that they had been fully cooked and processed in Maine at Luke's father's processing plant. Perhaps I shouldn't have been had I read their website more closely than I had, but this surprised me and raised a question in my mind: Would the flavor and depth of the lobster have been better had the lobsters been processed right out of the ocean as these apparently were and then shipped and prepare pre-cooked or would the lobster quality have been better cooked on-sight even if it meant that the lobsters would have been days or potentially even more from their ocean home? Clearly the latter, requiring more space and other considerations, would be more expensive for the business, directly impeding the restaurant's ability to sell the product as inexpensively as they do. Just as clearly, there is no question, in my mind at least, that the best quality lobsters come direct from the sea and are cooked and served as close to their harvest as possible. Once again, this method, while superior, would be inconsistent with the business model of selling an inexpensive lobster roll in NYC. As a result, my conclusion is that for their apparent goal of selling a lot of lobster (and other) rolls at very reasonable prices, their way of doing it probably represents the best way of doing so outside of doing it right on the lobster piers of Maine.

For the money, Luke's Lobster makes a worthwhile stop for a quick and reasonable seafood meal if in the East Village, however, it is not in my opinion worth making a special trip to from elsewhere in the city, unless one is seriously jonesing for lobster and can't afford to spend more for a better rendition.

TGRWT#20 Pumpkin & Cooked Chicken Round-Up

“Pues me dio calabazas” is an idiomatic expression that I learned in high school Spanish. It literally translates into “she gave me pumpkins,” which really means that she blew me off. Despite that rather negative association, I have always been fond of pumpkins either as ornaments or as food. Since I was very young, pumpkin pie has always been a favorite. It has only been relatively recently, however, that my interest in and experience with pumpkin as a savory component has blossomed. It is because of that interest and the association of pumpkin with autumn and holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, that I thought it would make an interesting essential ingredient for TGRWT#20, the latest cooking challenge in the series originated and administered by Martin Lersch of blog.Khymos. I added cooked chicken as it's partner to push the use of pumpkin in savory ways or to make particularly interesting pumpkin and chicken desserts.

Perhaps it is the business of the season or perhaps the ingredients were not inspirational enough, but the submissions were fewer than for some other couplings. I have, however, always been one to take quality over quantity. I appreciate the quality of the submissions that came in.

Taste of the Week - December 6th-12th

My friend Joe Bavuso never fails to amaze me with his cooking skills, whether he is making something simple or complex. I stayed with him and his family for part of the week and had the opportunity to enjoy his cooking. The Buccatini Carbonara was as good an example of this dish as I have ever had. Joe rendered about 3 ounces of Lewis-Waite Farm bacon and crumbled the cooked bacon, reserving it. He then fried and scrambled the whites of three eggs in the bacon fat. Ten ounces of buccatini were cooked traditionally and added to the egg whites on the stove along with a little pasta water. Once the pasta has finished cooking, he took it off the heat, added the crumbled bacon, 3 egg yolks and a cup of grated Parmiggiano-Reggiano, mixing well. The dish was finished with freshly grated pepper. Simply marvelous. Serves three - scale for more or fewer.

Shiitake

This beautiful mushroom along with others came from Zehr & Sons Mushroom Growers via the Saratoga Farmers Market. I used them the other night when my son came home from college. I sliced them, sautéed them with olive oil, garlic and butter, added wilted spinach and Strascinati pasta (orecchiette-like) that had been cold-soaked in saffron water for three hours and finished in the pan. The dish was topped with fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. It was simple and delicious.

The Grand Canyon

Make no mistake - the Grand Canyon is spectacular. The shapes, the colors, the sheer size is simply awesome in the truest sense of the word. We were there only a short time, having arrived in the dark, had dinner, and slept and only after that, did we actually see the Canyon, as we woke up early to catch the sunrise at Mather Point. The photos don't do it justice.

 

We spent the better part of the day visiting various areas of the Canyon, even including a short hike down off the rim on the South Kaibab Trail before driving out via the East Gate. The weather was chilly, but beautiful and crowds were sparse, making this a wonderful time to have visited.

For more photos, please watch the slide show.