Docsconz- The Blog

Redfish #3 - Stella!

I first ate at Stella! last fall shortly after I met Chef Scott Boswell at the  StarChefs ICC in NYC. We had an incredible meal and subsequently Chef Boswell and I became good friends, a friendship cemented through Twitter of all things. When it came to visiting our son again at Tulane, I also looked forward to spending some time with Chef Boswell and his lovely wife Tanya. Scott and I had talked about fishing for redfish from the time we first met and as the trip grew close we firmed our plans. Scott, my son Andrew and I would fish with a guide with whom Scott had had good luck, Captain Corey. Our experience is documented here and here.

Wild caught redfish are not commercial items. They cannot be sold legally. While it was a lot of fun and a real treat fishing for redfish  in the morning, it was an even bigger treat sitting down at Stella! and receiving a specially prepared tasting menu based on those very same redfish, cooked personally by Chef Boswell.

Unfortunately due to school obligations my son, Andrew, couldn't make the dinner, so it was my wife, our youngest son, Michael and myself who sat down at the far left rear corner table in Stella! We were greeted by John Mitchell, the elegant, enthusiastic and knowledgeable sommelier and Nathan Walker and Jenny Trisko, members of Stella's polished service staff, who looked after us for the evening.

Before we started our culinary exploration of redfish, Chef Boswell sent out a couple of amuses. The first, a large oyster with pickled ginger granita and wasabi infused tobiko was sensational. The flavors blended beautifully with the briny oyster's slurpy texture contrasted with the grainy coldness of the granita. I can't say that I have ever had a better prepared oyster dish. It was magnificently paired with the brilliantly balanced 2008 Monchhoff Reisling from Alsace. We were off to a flying start.

The second amuse, Roasted Potato and Parmesan Gnocchi with Iberico Bellota Ham, Morel Mushrooms, Fava Beans and Local Scallions brought heaven to earth. Paired with a Pinot Gris, this was pure, unadulterated decadence, perhaps the single most delicious and perfect dish I have enjoyed so far this year.

Moving on to the redfish dishes, Chef Boswell didn't slacken the pace. The first redfish dish he sent was something neither he nor I had ever had before. Really more of a ceviche due to the presence of mirin, Chef Boswell served us " Redfish sashimi salad, pickled melon and smoked Brittany sea salt" brought together great balance, texture and flavor. The dish was a winner. The redfish was sliced into thin strips and marinated in a yuzu-rich mirin. It also contained some crisped lotus root. Paired with the sashimi was a lovely Hinomaru Jozo "Manabito" Kimoto Junmai Daiginjo sake from Akita, Japan. I don't know as much about sake and the distinctions between them as I would like, but I'm glad John Mitchell does.

The next dish, Spicy tomato curry puree with cumin grilled redfish, crisp pappadam and cucumber, mint and yogurt salad, provided a real challenge to the gnocchi as the best thing I've eaten all year. The flavors were perfect and satisfying. It is difficult enough for any chef to master the flavors and techniques of any single cuisine, but with this dish as well as the Japanese, Italian, French, Korean, Creole and Cajun inflected dishes I've had in this meal and others from Chef Boswell, he has shown an uncanny ability to incorporate some of the very best elements of those cuisines into his own. This is probably the element of his cooking that I find most impressive. It marks his cooking as unique and worldly while also adding touches of the familiar to tie it together and bring it home. Mitchell's choice of Adelaida, "Version" 2007 from Paso Robles worked very well with this dish providing balance to the dish's spiciness.

"Fish and Chips" with Tempura Beer Battered Louisiana redfish with sweet potato puree, curried taro root chips and spicy red chili caramel provided great flavor and texture. It was a lovely dish. The only thing keeping it from perfection was the balance was just a tad too far to the sweet for me. When it comes to savory dishes or even desserts, my preference is to minimize sweetness so that the sugar is not overt. The Kirin Ichiban beer served with it helped mitigate that aspect for me bringing additional harmony.

No redfish dinner would be complete without a course of blackened redfish, the dish made famous by Paul Prudhomme at his K-Paul back in the 1980's. The dish became so popular that it almost wiped out the species. Fortunately, the fish have stocks have recovered sufficiently to allow for fishing as we had just done. I can't imagine a version of blackened redfish better than what Chef Boswell sent out to us. The fish was moist, well spiced, but not overwhelming. Served with jambalaya risotto and lemon tabasco honey butter and paired with 1999 "Viña Gravonia", a unique dry white whine from the Rioja made by R. Lopez de Heredia, this dish was a totally satisfying end to our redfish degustation.

The meal shifted to a Boswell classic, his Delice de Bourgogne Grilled Cheese Sandwich with candied macadamias, powdered pistachio and Captain Crunch Nutella Explosion served with Carlo Boffa Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbaresco from 2007. This dish was playful, fun and delicious, a deserved classic.

 

Our last course, bananas Foster French Toast with Tahitian Vanilla bean ice cream, spicy candied walnuts and crisp plaintains put the exclamation point on a uniquely New Orleans meal.With it, Mitchell paired what may be the most delicious rum I have ever had, Zaya "Gran Reserva" 12 year old rum from Trinidad. It's vanilla notes worked perfectly with the dessert and on its own. The meal closed with some lovely mignardises.

This was truly a unique, one of a kind meal - one of the more memorable ones of my life. First, catching the fish (fish otherwise commercially unobtainable) on a beautiful day, second having my friend, the chef and co-fisherman cook the fish beautifully and deliciously and third sharing it with my wife and youngest son all contributed to making it extra-special. Indeed, watching our ten year old enjoy every aspect of the meal as much as he did was as much fun as anything. I was proud of the way that he hung in and tried and enjoyed everything. His favorite dish was the grilled redfish in the tomato Curry Puree, something I wouldn't have predicted beforehand. I suspect that this will be a seminal meal in his life as well.

Full disclosure: We were not charged for the meal. I did, however, leave a significant gratuity for the superb service received.

Taste of the Week - February 28th-March 6th: 677 Prime's Crispy Egg and Pork

When is a steak house not just a steakhouse? I had never gone to Angelo's 677 Prime in Albany because I always figured that it was just a steakhouse, albeit a very good one. I have nothing against steak or steakhouses. A good steak can be an extremely satisfying meal, but I can and do make a pretty decent steak at home (thanks to my CVap and great local grass-fed beef from Mack Brook, Lewis-Wait and Brookside Farms), so I don't typically go out for steak.

This past Wednesday evening, I attended a fascinating and useful forum on Media 2010: How blogs shape the new conversation sponsored by the Albany Times-Union and The College of Saint Rose. The event was over early enough to get dinner afterward and panel moderator and T-U senior writer and food blogger, Steve Barnes, and I decided to go out for a bite. I have very little experience with Albany restaurants, so Steve suggested sitting at the bar at Angelo's 677 Prime. Trusting his judgment, I said sure.

Angelo's 677 Prime is definitely a steakhouse, but owner Angelo Mazzone has given Executive Chef Jaime Ortiz and Chef de Cuisine Steven Kerzner license to be creative. Dinner overall was excellent, but one dish stood out as being particularly extraordinary - "Crispy Egg with Pork Gelatine." A perfectly poached egg covered with crispy chiffonaded strips fuille de brick and laying in a deeply flavorful pork broth, the dish rocked from every angle. The flavors were complementary and the textures of the soft egg, the liquid stock and the crispy strips contrasted marvelously. The dish was just outstanding and is clearly my taste of the week!

Since dinner was a spontaneous event, I did not have my camera with me. Chefs Ortiz and Kerzner were kind enough to send me a photo and the recipe for this great dish. I need to get back and see what else these two fine chefs have up their sleeves!

Crispy Egg with Pork Gelatine

 

1          qt         water

2          tsp        salt

2          tbl         white vinegar

2                      eggs fresh as possible

4          sheets  fuille de brick or thin spring roll wrappers

2          eggs     beaten

1          cup       flour

½         c          gelatinized pork jus

¼         c          veal demi glaze

1          pinch    chopped parsley

Tt         tt          salt pepper

1          qt         canola oil in a 3 qt tail pot heated to 375 degrees

 

-                      in a 2qt tail pot heat water, vinegar and salt to barely a simmer

-                      crack eggs into small ramekins to ease the sliding of eggs into water

-                      gently slide eggs into water

-                      poach for 4-5 minutes

-                      using a slotted spoon carefully remove egg from water and submerge in cold ice water

-                      remove from ice water when cooled and pat dry gently

-                      roll up the fuille the brick into one long log

-                      using a chefs knife cut thin ¼ inch strands crosswise so that when they unroll you have long strands

-                      season flour with salt and pepper and gently roll the poached egg in the flour

-                      shake off excess flour and dip egg into the beaten egg

-                      unroll the strands of fuille de brick and lay them out on a work surface in small flat clusters

-                      place the egg that has been dipped in beaten egg onto one of the clusters and wrap the egg in the shreds

-                      quickly and carefully place into the fryer oil tailpot and fry until the shreds stop fizzling or barely fizzle

-                      remove from oil onto paper towels to drain

-                      season with salt pepper

-                      heat demiglaze

-                      spoon pork gelatine into center of a bowl

-                      top with the warm egg (the heat from the egg with melt the gelatine)

-                      drizzle with demiglaze and sprinkle parsley onto the egg before serving

 

 

for pork gelatine

 

8          ea         pigs feet

3          lbs        pork bones roasted until dark

12         cloves   garlic whole

1          tbl         cumin seeds

2          tsp        dry oregano leaves

1          ea         bayleaf

1          ea         onion sliced

1          tbl         black peppercorns

                        Water to barely cover

 

-                      combine all ingredients in a stock pot

-                      bring to a boil

-                      simmer for 4 hours

-                      strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinois

-                      season with salt

-                      chill until gelatinized

-                      skim off the top layer of fat that will set at the top and discard

 

 

for the veal demiglaze

 

1          qt         veal stock

1          tsp        tomato paste

½         c          small diced white onion

¼         c          small diced celery

¼         c          small diced carrot

1          sprig     thyme

1          tsp        butter

 

-                      heat butter in a small 2 qt tail pot

-                      add onions, celery and carrot and cook medium heat until very caramelized

-                      add tomato paste and cook until the paste begins to caramelize

-                      add thyme and stock and cook until reduced to 3/4 cup

-                      strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinois and reserve

-                      when ready to use, heat in a sautee pan and reduce to desired consistency

Bonne Bouche

Another gem from The Vermont Butter & Cheese Company, this ash-ripened aged goat's milk cheese was creamy and ever so slightly piquant. These hand batched cheeses aren't ubiquitous, but well worth buying when found. I have yet to try any of their products that I haven't enjoyed. This was purchased at The Upper Valley Food Co-op in West Lebanon, N.H.

 

Taste of the Week - January 31st - February 6th: Maple Loch

In a week of incredible dining, that a cocktail should be my taste of the week, has even me shaking my head and asking, "What?!?" I have certainly become a big fan of the cocktail revolution that has slammed the United States over the past five to ten years, but this cocktail was particularly impressive. Created by Mattias Hagglund, wunderkïnd bartender of Elements Restaurant in Princeton, N.J., the drink was original, creative,elegant, perfectly balanced and most of all, delicious. Consisting of Ardbeg 10 year old Islay single malt Scotch, Bliss Maple Syrup, Nux Alpina walnut liqueur, fresh lemon juice and house-made hops bitters. Extremely food friendly, the cocktail was slightly smoky, slightly sweet and slightly bitter. In short it was damn near perfect. Hagglund's other cocktails weren't too shabby either. He is a bartender/mixologist to watch!

I will be writing much more on this extraordinary meal as well as my other meals from last week shortly. Please stay tuned.

Taste of the Week - January 24th-30th: Rocky's Lasagna

Sometimes I think it is a lot easier for non Italian-Americans to appreciate lasagna. For Italian-Americans lasagna is very, very personal, perhaps more so than for any other Italian-American dish. While I can like a lasagna other than that from the Sconzo family recipe, I find few to be exciting. This past week, however, I ate one that, though it was quite different to what I am used to, was delicious and proof that different can be good too, even for something as personally ingrained as lasagna.

The occasion was a pot-luck business meeting for the Slow Food Saratoga Region Executive committee that was held at my home. Everyone brought delicious and remarkable dishes, while I supplied wine and my wife made home-made pumpkin pie entirely from scratch. For me, Rocky's lasagna, which he calls "Two-Day Lasagna," stood out not just because it was so good, but because it was an alternative lasagna that I really, really enjoyed and which opened my mind!

Maybe it was the ground veal from Brookside Farm or the fresh Italian sweet sausage and pancetta from Roma in Saratoga Springs. Maybe it was the combination of cheeses including cow's milk ricotta, feta, mascarpone and Parmesan. Maybe it was his home-made tomato sauce. Maybe it was the home-made hand-rolled, hand-cut pasta made with DP flour, semolina and faro flours. Maybe it was all of the above.  Though Rocky (current SFSR President and occasional DStB contributor Rocco Verrigni) didn't mention any, I could swear that I tasted some roasted red peppers in there too. Perhaps, that is just a chef holding back on his secret ingredient? Whatever the reason, the lasagna was remarkable and quite delicious, possessing deep, rich flavor with plenty of zing and zest.Though this one was freshly made, Rocky generally recommends making it one day and serving it the next reheated, so that the ingredients hold together better, thus his "Two-Day Lasagna" moniker.

Maybe I was able to appreciate this lasagna because it was very different from the Sconzo lasagna. This lasagna was quite compact without an overabundance of any particular ingredient. The Sconzo lasagna uses more ricotta and mozzarella compared to pasta and the sauce has more of a fennel component from either sausage or added fennel seeds. In addition, we generally prefer the lasagna fresh from the oven and appreciate its creamy, runny gooieness. As with so many things that go with personal preference, there is no right nor wrong, nor even an absolute "best" way. It is always good though to be able to expand and appreciate something for its own sake, no matter what name it goes by or what personal associations it may hold.

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.

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.

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.

Taste of the Week - November 1st - 7th

Fresh peanuts from Mississippi, purchased in New Orleans at the Crescent City Farmers Market and brought home to New York, were fried in olive oil and salted per a recipe in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. These wonderful peanuts, unlike anything in a can or a jar, were a revelation. They made an otherwise very good, home-cooked Pad Thai into an outstanding one and were quite delicious on their own.

Marina di Chioggia

This is an Italian heirloom pumpkin from Chioggia, the same place that produced the famous beets of that name. This pumpkin came from Sheldon Farms in Salem, N.Y. and was the one I photographed roasted for my "Taste of the Week."

Batter's Up at Willie Mae's

Frying chicken in a special recipe batter at Willie Mae's Scotch House in New Orleans the same way that it has been done for years. Delicious!

Top Three Restaurant Meals - October 2009 - NOLA!

As September was all about NYC when it came to restaurants for me, October was all about New Orleans. The Crescent City is a marvelous food destination with plenty of great Creole and Cajun cuisine as well as cooking representative of other areas. We ate extremely well in that fine city, making it very difficult to choose a top three. I had outstanding dishes at The Acme Oyster House, Herbsaint, Coquette, Cochon & MiLa, but the meals were not as fully wonderful from top to bottom as the ones I chose for my top three. The one dish I had at Stanley - Eggs Stella!, which are a version of Eggs Benedict that also included a beautifully fried, generously sized and delicious soft-shell crab, was great and worthy of adulation but fell short because I had only that one dish. The same is true for the always wonderful beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde. At Cochon Butcher I had one great sandwich - the Cubano - and one mediocre - shrimp salad (the raw onion left me with a terrible, long-lasting after-taste). Domenica, John Besh's New Orleans Italian restaurant in the Roosevelt Hotel was solid throughout, but never spectacular. That leaves these as my top three meals:

1. Stella! - I have already written about it fairly extensively. I can't say that I have ever had a better meal in New Orleans. This would have been a great meal anywhere and Stella! would be a great restaurant anywhere, even if it was slightly different depending on its location. The fact that Chef Scott Boswell's food has such a strong New Orleans base, yet manages to be a truly global (in a good sense) yet personal restaurant is what makes it so special. Stella! has become, on one visit, one of my favorite restaurants in the country.
2. Bayona - Susan Spicer was in the kitchen the night we were there just as she was 15 or so years ago when my wife and I first dined there. The cooking is not particularly trendy, but it doesn't have to be. The food is just delicious and served in a lovely French Quarter setting. I particularly enjoyed the sweetbreads, which were as good as any I have ever had. The andouille stuffed rabbit roulade with fried leg was also stupendous. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera that evening.
3. Willie Mae's Scotch House - open just for lunch, the fried chicken deservedly gets top billing, but the chicken fried pork chop is no slouch either and the sides of butter beans and red beans are just wonderfully tasty and the definition of comfort food. This New Orleans institution was devastated by Hurricane Katrina just like much of the rest of New Orleans. A lot of the area around the restaurant has yet to recover, though the restaurant made it back relatively quickly largely thanks to the assistance of The Southern Foodways Alliance.

Taste of the Week - October 25th-31st

Roasted Pumpkin

In a technique I learned from Alex & Aki of Ideas in Food, this week I roasted two heirloom pumpkins from Sheldon Farms and used the pulp in a variety of dishes and I am not done yet. One of the dishes was a roasted pumpkin soup with roasted Belle de Boskoop apple, cream, chicken broth, lemongrass (from the Crescent City Farmers Market), garlic and toasted pine nuts. I really liked the blend of flavors, especially the pumpkin and lemongrass. In another dish, I mixed some of the pumpkin with some fresh sheep's milk ricotta from Dancing Ewe Farm and some caramelized pumpkin juice from the roasting process. The pumpkin flesh, just by itself, right out of the freshly roasted pumpkin was delicious too.

As for the technique, it couldn't be easier. Take a fresh, clean pumpkin, place it in an oven-safe pan with sides to support the pumpkin, poke holes in the top and roast for two hours at 350ºF. Once it cools enough to handle, simply take of the stem and peel back the skin, take a spoon and scoop out the flesh. Of course, the seeds can be used as well or saved. Using the seeds may require additional roasting to crisp them.

Taste of the Week - October 18-24th

Soft shell crabs - check. Soft shell lobsters- check. Soft shell shrimp - what? I had never even heard of soft-shell shrimp before this past Wednesday evening, my last in New Orleans for this trip. I mean, I am not surprised that there is such an entity as like other crustaceans they grow by shedding their shells and growing into new ones that they secrete around themselves. For a period of time, these shells are quite soft. The phenomenon is most prominently known (at least in the US and in culinary circles) with soft shell blue crabs, a major spring and summer delicacy. I had never before seen soft shell shrimp even discussed as a culinary item, let alone found them on a menu. When I saw them as an appetizer on the menu of the newish Garden District restaurant, Coquette, I had to order them. I was quite glad I did as they were simply sensational.

Eating a shrimp shells not new to me. I have eaten many and in parts of Europe it is even custom to do so. I have also learned to enjoy shrimp heads, the well of great shrimp flavor obtained in most cases by sucking out the juices of said heads. With regular shell on shrimp the heads are difficult to eat as they contain sharp and difficult to eat parts along with said tasty juices. With the soft-shells, however, there are no drawbacks to eating the whole, beautifully delicious shrimp - head and all.

This was a new product for the restaurant, having received them for the first time that day. To their credit, they did not try to do too much with them. They pan-fried them to achieve a little crispness and served them with a not-too sweet bbq sauce and braised pork belly. The combination worked beautifully with the soft and sultry belly providing depth, earthiness and textural contrast to go with the divine shrimp.

I suspect the reason these are not seen more often on menus is that they most likely don't keep or transport too well and deteriorate quickly making absolute freshness a priority. It might also be quite difficult separating them from regular shrimp. I'm not sure how the chef at Coquette came by these, but I'm glad he did. For $10 an order, these were quite a happy discovery and my taste of the week.

Taste of the Week - October 4th-10th

In my house, I use the oven to roast. My wife is the baker in the family. That is something that she has always been good at and I have been quite content to leave to her. This week we had some plums from the farmers market hanging around in the refrigerator. She combined them on the stove with butter, Sicilian pistachio paste and some spices. She filled her pie crust dough and folded them to make little plum-pistachio tarts. They were incredible -tart, sweet and savory all at the same time and some of the best things she has ever baked (that is no small statement). There can be no question that this is my taste of the week.

Perhaps, if anyone is interested, she might add a comment with more detail about her ingredients and technique.

Gravlax

This beautiful and delicious piece of cured salmon was prepared by Chef Chris Tanner this past summer. I am just now getting around to posting this photo.

Three Pizzerias

I grew up with NY pizza and have always been a fan, not just of one style, but of many. I grew to adore la vera pizza Napolitana over several visits to that beautiful Italian city. I love a good crust, good tomato sauce and good cheese above all, but less traditional pizzas also beguile me, especially if done well. Pepe's clam pizzas in New Haven, CT. certainly fit that mold. With artisanal pizza undergoing a bit of a renaissance in NYC of late, I had to try a few while I was there. Though there were others I would have liked to try like Motorino, I was only able to get to three - Jim Lahey's Co., The Grandaisy and Keste.

While Keste and Co. are related stylistically, Co. and The Grandaisy are related through business and history as the owner of Co., Jim Lahey and the owner of The Grandaisy, Monica Von Thun Calderón, were once business partners in The Sullivan Street Bakery. When their partnership split, Lahey retained the Sullivan St. Bakery name, moving to W.47th St. and Von Thun Calderón kept the original bakery re-naming it in honor of her grandmother. Both retained the recipes and still produce similar products including Roman style pizzas.

Co. (pronounced "Company") was the first of the three that I visited along with my friend, Joe. We arrived late in the lunch service. The restaurant was moderately busy, but with plenty of tables available, we sat right down. The pizza oven is visible through a window, but only if one goes up to it. Once there, one can witness the baking action unfold. We ordered a couple of salads to start, including an Artichoke Salad and an Insalata di Bresaola. The artichoke salad was as wonderful as the Bresaola salad was mediocre. Containing a number of the same ingredients including shaved parmesan, arugula, olive oil and lemon, the artichoke salad, which also contained olive oil poached baby artichokes and capers meshed perfectly in texture and flavor creating one of the most sublime salads I have eaten in some time. The Insalata di bresaola essentially substituted bresaola for the artichokes and omitted the capers. Why it wasn't every bit as good as the artichoke salad has everything to do with balance and the fact that the bresaola just didn't work with its team the way the artichokes did. It lacked balance and finesse. However good or bad they may have been, this post really isn't about salads, so I will go no further with them.

 

We ordered two pizzas at Co. The first was a classic Margherita with tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil. This was well prepared - crisp and well charred around the edges and as might be expected somewhat soft and drooping at the center. The pizza was tasty, but both Joe and I felt that it was a bit too "bready." Now if the bread happens to come from Jim Lahey, that is not necessarily a bad thing and if one really wants to concentrate on the flavor of the crust, this may very well be a favorite. Over all, though we felt that the flavor of the crust was somewhat overwhelming to the rest of the pizza.

The same could be said for the second pizza, a pizza bianca with cauliflower, chilis, bread crumbs, bechamel and a couple of different cheeses. While this pizza was supposed to have "a bite" from the chili, I didn't get any and Joe only tasted it in one bite of his. Overall the topping was surprisingly lacking in flavor and once again was dominated by the flavor of the crust. 

Despite my criticisms, the pizzas at Co. are in fact, quite good. However, they are not, in my opinion, quite good enough to justify the rather substantial price tags accompanying them. They are, in fact quite small, each pizza occupying a regular sized dinner plate. The Margherita was $13 and the "special" pie was $17. The subtotal for the two of us without drinks and before tax and tip was $48. Any reader of this site will know that I don't mind spending money for good food. While this was generally good food, I'm not sure the value is really there compared to its competitors.

Keste has a reputation for being somewhat inconsistent, but I can only report on my one experience. With prices marginally less expensive than Co., Keste has a different vibe from the get go. The restaurant is long and narrow with the pizza oven open and clearly visible in the rear. One of the fun things (to me, at least) about going to a special pizzeria, is the ability to interact and watch. Roberto Caporuscio and his skilled assistants are right out there in the open for any to watch. Unlike some other pizzerias, they are also quite affable and happy to interact with their customers, including customers with cameras. Caporuscio's skills as a master pizzaiolo are perfectly evident as he shapes and manipulates his dough before putting on the toppings and placing the pizzas in the wood-fired oven. From that point his two assistants manage the pies with one handling the oven and the other finishing the pies with grated cheese, olive oil or other non-baked in toppings like arugula and prosciutto.

At Keste, we did not order anything but a couple of pizzas. Instead of a basic Margherita, we had the Regina with fresh grape tomatoes in addition to the usual Margherita triumvirate for $3 more. we also ordered another tomato based pizza, the Keste, which in addition to the buffalo mozzarella and tomato sauce, included arugula, prosciutto di parma and something called "gran cru", which I have no idea what it is. Both pizzas were superb. The crusts were well cooked, thin and did not overpower the toppings, though it was able to stand up to them. These may have been the best Neapolitan style pizzas I have had in the US.

The pizzas at The Grandaisy are altogether different from those at Co. and Keste, which at least bear a stylistic similarity. They are not, however, different than Jim Lahey's Roman style pizzas at Sullivan Street Bakery. That similarity is because the have the same provenance. Though Lahey does not make the pizzas at The Grandaisy, he developed them at Sullivan Street and still makes them there. Though I have never had them from Sullivan St., I would expect that they are very similar to their cousins at The Grandaisy. If so, they would share in their utter deliciousness. These rectangular, thin cruste pizzas are topped across their surface with a thin, but flavorful layer of topping. Both varieties that I tried, the "Funghi" or mushroom pizza and the "Cavolfiore" or cauliflower pizza, were full flavored and simply delicious with great balanced flavor to go along with textural contrasts of a crisp crust and soft toppings. While the mushroom with cremini mushrooms, onions, thyme, olive oil and sea salt was excellent, the cauliflower was extraordinary, something I could eat anywhere at any time. There are a number of other varieties, including seasonal ones, that I would love to try.

Co. and Keste are both full featured restaurants, something The Grandaisy is not. In fact, the Grandaisy, or at least the one on W. 72nd St, that I went to, tends to sell their pizzas by the slice at around $3.50/slice and is primarily designed for takeout. Hot or cold, the pizzas are delicious. Ultimately, if one concedes an equivalent 4 Grandaisy slices to a pizza from Keste or Co., the price is slightly less at The Grandaisy. 

All three places make excellent pizza as well as other things. The bottom line comes down to what style one might prefer. If a good bread driven crust is one's highest priority then Co. would likely be the favorite. For a classic Neapolitan style pizza, it would be Keste. For something more unusual, cheaper and perhaps more convenient, The Grandaisy (or Sullivan St.)would be the choice. I'm happy that all of these exist and that there is a choice. I am even happier that every day there seems to be even more choices for great pizza in NYC.

Taste of the Week - September 20-26

With so many great restaurants and tastes experienced over the past week, it has been nearly impossible to choose a single Taste of the Week. However, there was one taste that was so seminal and unusual (not to mention very, very good) and so unlikely to ever have again, that it must get my nod. That would be the tuna vertebral disk jelly prepared and served by Dave Arnold and Nils Noren during their demonstration at the Starchefs ICC this past Tuesday. The flavor was distinctly of the sea and fresh, though it wasn't particularly salty or fishy. It was unlike anything I had ever had before. A close runner up would be the black sea bass sashimi served by Arnold, Noren and finished by Asbel Reyes from the same presentation. The texture of that fish, firm and actually somewhat crunchy was unlike any other fish I had ever had. The only thing that put the disk jelly was that the likelihood of having something similar again is significantly higher for the sashimi than for the jelly. What allowed for the sashimi texture was the absolutely stressless way the fish was dispatched and dissected. Arnold used a food-safe fish anesthetic derived from clove oil and poured into a large seawater filled holding tank, to make the fish senseless, then quickly killed it with the relatively stress-free Japanese technique of Ika Jime, essentially eliminating a stress response and delaying the start of decomposition. The result was truly remarkable.