Docsconz- The Blog

Dinner with Friends - Alex and Aki Come to Visit

TV shows like Iron Chef America, Top Chef and Chopped all riff on a theme of spontaneous cooking to varying degrees. Iron Chef America specifies a specific ingredient that must be showcased, Top Chef offers surprise scenarios that must be adhered to and Chopped supplies baskets of disparate ingredients that must all be utilized in a single dish. All of the shows incorporate time limits in their challenges as well. These elements often lead to some fun television, but what is really compelling is the opportunity to take part when true professionals create a delicious meal spontaneously based on what is available.

 

Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa of Ideas in Food have, over the years become very good friends of my wife and I. With a presentation and signing of their new book, Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work at Red Fox Books, Alex & Aki along with their daughter and pup paid us an all-too-brief visit, a highlight of which was an informal dinner they cooked for us and a few friends on Friday night.

Twenty-One

Our eldest son just turned twenty one. When he was still a toddler, my wife and I bought a case of Chateau Lafite Rothschild  1989 to put away for this occasion. It is now officially his. Last night for dinner at home to celebrate that birthday, he opened his first bottle.

...made the first pour... 

and had the first sip...

...before decanting it and drinking it with his birthday meal.

The wine was magnificent. Still young, dark and purple, it opened up with power and force, holding a lot of complexity and finesse within, promise for future special occasions.

Happy 21st, L.J.!

May you have many, many more healthy and happy ones!

Pastry Chefs Cook Savory at Aldea

Johnny Iuzzini, Alex Stupak, George Mendes, Brooks Headley & Michael Laiskonis

Aldea is a special restaurant to me in so many ways. I love George Mendes' cooking. I love George Mendes - in addition to being a superb chef, he is just a really great guy. I love the space. I love Heather Laiskonis. I love the coziness and ambiance of the restaurant. Frankly, I just love everything about the restaurant. I even love Aldea when it is being something that is not quite Aldea, such as when they bring in guest chefs for special dinners. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the dinners with Charleston S.C. chefs Mike Lata and Sean Brock, but I was lucky enough to make the incredible Sam Mason retrospective as well as the most recent special dinner, "Pastry Chefs Cook Savory" featuring four of New York's (and the world's) finest pastry chefs, the kicker being that they would not be doing what they are most well known for, but instead would be switching roles and cooking savory. The roster included Alex Stupak of WD-50, Johnny Iuzzini of Jean-Georges, Brooks Headley of Del Posto and Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin. To complete the reversal, George Mendes would do the dessert. As an added attraction, Johnny Iuzzini would be doing cocktails along with Jamie Gordon of Pernod Richard. Wines were supplied by Nate Archibald of Bayfield, while George and the Aldea staff also supplied the canapes to start the evening.

Ah, the canapes, they would have been a satisfying meal in and of themselves. As much as I wanted to gorge on them,  I restrained myself from eating too many juicy Kusshi oysters on the half-shell with pickled ramp vinaigrette, foie gras with figs on toast, beet meringues, gougeres,and spoons of Anson Mills polenta with truffles, all washed down with plenty of Duval Leroy Brut NV Champagne.

One of the conceits of the evening was that the chefs cooking the savory courses would each do a plate inspired by the food of Aldea. Leading off was WD-50's Alex Stupak. Known as a brilliant, creative pastry chef, who enjoys incorporating savory elements in his cutting edge desserts, Chef Stupak started his career as a savory chef before becoming the first pastry chef at Boston's Clio. He was also the pastry chef at Alinea for the first two years of that restaurant's existence before moving on to WD-50 in New York. One of my favorite dishes at Aldea is the "Sea Urchin Toast, cauliflower cream, sea lettuce, lime." Chef Stupak used that as the inspiration for his dish. Titled "Sea Urchin, Mustard & Cauliflower," the dish consisted of beautiful Santa Barbara sea urchin on a bed of toasted bread crumbs, cauliflower streusel, mustard, whipped wasabi and sea urchin ice cream. The streusel and bread crumbs added the requisite textural contrast to the creaminess of the rest of the dish. The flavors of the wasabi, mustard and urchin blended together perfectly to provide a marvelous sensation of hot and cold flavors in the same bite. While incorporating the ice cream into the dish may have been "cheating" on Stupak's part, it was the kind of cheating that can only be welcomed. Besides, it's not as if full-time savory chefs haven't been using ice cream in savory dishes for some time now. Pulling a page from Ricky Henderson, the greatest lead-off hitter of all-time, Stupak started fast and hit a home run.

It was at this point of the dinner that I discovered that the diner sitting directly to my left, was someone who I had wanted to meet and break bread with since the halcyon days of eGullet, none other than the esteemed "Sneakeater." It is a small world! With my guest, the ever affable Joe Bavuso, sitting across the table and the lovely, Troy born, Lee Ann Wong to my right and Sneakeater's and Lee Ann's dining companions, we would be in for an evening as enjoyable socially as it would be delicious!

Johnny Iuzzini, pulling double duty as mixologist and savory chef, put up a dish that would have been equally at home as an outstanding breakfast as it was at this dinner. Paired with a 2007 Meursault 1er Genevrieres from Latour Giraud, the "Poached Egg & Smoked Bacon Biscuit, peas, lardons, chanterelle mushroom" was a riff on Mendes' "Slow-Poached Egg, Sweet Peas, Smoked Bacon green garlic broth, truffle."  Missing in my photo, but not the plate from which I ate, the chanterelle ice cream was lovely, subtly capturing the essence of the noble fungus and proving along with the chanterelles on the plate a worthy substitute for the truffle of Mendes' original dish. The egg, cooked at 65º was delicious on top of the bacony biscuit. I was surprised that Iuzzini chose that temperature to cook the egg, leaving a firmer yolk, but it worked never-the-less. The peas were done two ways, as a foam and also as frozen and shattered. Together with the chanterelles, they added a wonderful, earthy element to the dish.

Brooks Headley was the only chef that evening whose work I had not previously tried in any form. I have never formally dined at Del Posto, but after his incredible savory dish, I have to make a point to experience his desserts and the rest of the food there! Goat has been a popular meat at Aldea, though it is not a mainstay of the restaurant. Headley's interpretation was "Baby Goat Agnolotti, sweet carrot and spicy paprika." Perfectly paired with a rapturous 2006 Barbaresco from Nada, the agnolotti, filled with slow cooked kid, sang and hit all the high notes. Simply, but beautifully presented, the dish showed the epitome of balance and restraint.

Duck and rice - Mendes' most well known dish at Aldea is likely his "Arroz De Pato duck confit, chorizo, olive, duck cracklings" - Michael Laiskonis brought home the savory portion of the meal with his take on duck and rice. "Liberty Farms Duck, parsnip, hazelnut, vanilla, brown butter, black rice" proved a fabulous and perfect ending to the pastry chef driven savories. Though a nod to Mendes' dish, it was not a simple re-working. The rice was not rice as one might expect. It was pureed black rice, which was used as a base upon a cylinder of parsnip and the beautifully cooked duck breast lay along with hazelnut, brussel sprout leaves and hazelnut. A duck jus enriched with butter, chocolate, gingerbread spice and a port reduction was poured over the top to finish the dish. Once again, the pairing was spot on, this time with a 2006 Vosne Romanée from Hudelot-Noellat. The parsnip added just enough sweetness to balance the rich dish, while the vanilla provided depth and a lick your lips finish.

The savory courses from each of these outstanding pastry chefs were simply stunning and absolutely delicious. Knowing that most if not all of these pastry chefs had savory backgrounds, I was not in the least surprised. The precision and discipline of their craft really shined brightly in each of the dishes. That some of the tricks and ingredients from the pastry kitchen should also find their way int these savory offerings was also no surprise as the traditional barriers between the two disciplines have all but evaporated in recent years.

George Mendes showed himself to be no slouch either when it came to doing dessert. With such pastry talent inhabiting his kitchen, it must have been even more intimidating to do the desserts for their dinner. Fortunately, Mendes was more than up to the task. Starting with a palate cleanser of lime gelée in an eggshell, riffing off one of Laiskonis' desserts, Mendes and Aldea's Pastry Chef, Shelly Acuna hit their mark.

They hit it again with the principle dessert, "Butternut Squash Parfait, maple sponge, olive oil ice cream, caramelized pumpkin seeds" - delicious! It paired very well with a white port from Quinta de Santa Eufemia. To keep the boundaries suitably blurred, the dessert incorporated a number of traditionally savory items, putting them to very good use. The evening came to a wonderful end for at least one couple, as one of the desserts was served to a lady bearing an additional ingredient, a lovely diamond necklace!

Of course that was not quite the end of the evening. To complement a delicious "palate opener" cocktail served at the beginning of the meal (I never actually caught the name of the drink) that consisted of Absolut 100, Aperol, citrus, fino sherry, lavender and cinnamon, Iuzzini and Gordon provided a nightcap of a "Twentieth Century Foxy," Cacao infused Absolut 100, honey & vanilla syrup, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc and a touch of salt. The delicious cocktails made great bookends on a totally fun and delicious meal! Is it any wonder I love Aldea so much?

 

noma at Corton: Redzepi Meets Liebrandt

We arrived at Corton for our 9:30PM reservation to find a festive atmosphere. When Mario Batali arises from his seat at the next table to pull out the chair for one of my dining partners and intones, "Welcome to Corton," you know it is bound to be a wonderful evening! Indeed, scanning the room to see Drew Nieporent (of course), Jeffrey Steingarten, Daniel Humm, Anya Von Bremzen, Christina Tosi, Jon Bignelli (WD-50 Chef de Cuisine), Batali and others, I was awed by the company we were in. But then scanning my own table, I was awed by the company I had there. Along with my wife and two eldest sons, I was joined by Alex Talbot and Linda Anctil, two good friends of mine and a couple of the absolute finest bloggers and culinarians out there. It was a social crowd too, as people took the time to chat from table to table as well as amongst themselves. It turned out that I was sitting directly behind one of the world's great bon vivant's, the admirable FoodSnob, to whom I was introduced by none other than Rene Redzepi himself.Food Snob had come from London for this dinner and was sitting with a number of gentlemen who had traveled even further - from Australia. His account of two recent meals at noma is amongst the most salivatory meal accounts I've ever read. The fun and revelry continued as I got to meet and taste some of the personal wines of the generous Eddie Milstein. Adding to the scheduled wines of the evening, I got to enjoy 1981, 1985 and 1989 Krug Champagnes in addition to the wines served with the meal.

 

While the camaraderie was fun and helped make the evening even more special, the center of the evening remained the food. While my son, L.J. had eaten at noma, none of the rest of us at the table had. We all had high expectations. Often that can be a signal for a let down. Fortunately, on this evening it was not.

 

The meal opened with terracotta pot with Cru de Te's, Small vegetables," a new noma classic. The dish consisted of a whole radish "planted" in herbed yogurt with crunchy "dirt" that was comprised of roasted malt. This was a clever, fun and tasty start to the evening. It was paired a "Blanc Souverain Champagne from Henriot (NV). Had I not just been spoiled by the Krugs, this would have been a very attractive champagne.

A sensible conceit was that the plates were served by staff from the restaurant of origin. Redzepi's dishes were served by his staff and Liebrandt's by the Corton staff. Not only were the respective staff members better able to present the dishes, the practice also provided a clue to the dish's creator, which may not have been otherwise evident to the uninitiated, such as my son Andrew, who had previously never been to either noma or Corton. For those who had been to either, the styles and ingredients were give-aways as the the styles of the chefs are distinct. While they may be different in terms of how and what they put on the plate, Redzepi's and Liebrandt's cooking is not at all uncomplimentary to each other.

 

The next dish, Tar-tar of Beef and Wood Sorrel, was distinctly unlike anything I have ever eaten in a fine dining restaurant. Other than the unusual request that we scoop up the beef and sorrel with our fingers and mix it with the green sauce and ground juniper, the flavor profile highlighted a deliriously wonderful sour element from the sorrel and yogurt based sauce. This element of sour was much stronger in Redzepi's food than I have encountered anywhere else so far in fine dining, but while present and strong it wasn't overpowering or off-putting. I loved it. It was well balanced with the rich beef and the forest-evoking elements of the juniper and wood greens. While the radish was clever and tasty, this was brilliant in its sheer power, taste and audaciousness. The dish was well-paired with Domaine Weinbach Sylvaner 2008 from the Alsace, which also carried over to the next course.

Continuing with some wonderfully muted sour notes, this dish, Cooked Grains and Watercress, Dried Scallops, was also a textural tour-de-force.  The scallops had been sliced razor thin and slowly dried, maintaining their inherent sweetness. Combined with the hardy texture and depth of flavor of the grains and the spicy sharpness of the watercress, this was another sensational offering from this spring's noma menu.

Corton's waitstaff brought the next plate, Foie Gras, Cherries, Fresh Chamomile.  Paul Liebrandt has made his foie gras encased in beetroot gelee into a signature dish and a very worthy one. It has been fun to watch (and taste) its evolution since I first saw it at the initial Starchef's ICC in 2006. Its most recent iteration has been as a sort of culinary trompe l'oiel, playing off bing cherries. It's a dish that works very well, especially when the cherries are the quality of those on the plate, which came from Frog Hollow Farm in California. The addition of chamomile in the cherries to the dish's palette made for a brilliant twist to the the sweet cherries, while the slightly acidic apple orb in the center of the plate provided a tart counterpoint. The course came with a side plate of brioche with morel butter. My son, L.J., found the dish to be perhaps the best he had ever had.

The next course was the last savory course from Redzepi. The Slow Roasted carrot with Sorrel Stems and Truffle Sauce used a rare heirloom Scandinavian "blue" carrot. Much like the parsnip, I had earlier this year at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a typically humble root vegetable was elevated to something truly special. While difficult to photograph, the dish was not at all difficult to eat - rich, savory, green and ultimately sublime. It paired nicely with a deep, bitter Mikkeller India Pale Ale "Cascade Single Hop" from Denmark/Belgium, a unique microbrew using European technique and Washington State hops brought by the noma crew for this purpose.

 

Liebrandt was not going to be outdone. He served the principle protein of the evening, Elysian Fields Farm Lamb, Yogurt Gnocchi, Spiced Mole that also came with a lime foam and a side plate of a hot sweetbread served with arugula and a "Mint Ice." a disc of frozen peppermint cream, that melted atop the sweetbread. The lamb was extraordinary. It had a bone marrow cap on it. Shown to us at the table prior to portioning, the lamb was tender and deeply flavorful. The molé added a little bite, while the yogurt gnocchi added a diverse flavor element while also cooling the palate.

Redzepi's dessert, Dried Berries and Walnut also contained an ice cream. Sweet, but not too sweet, the walnut flavor was in perfect harmony with its surroundings. Not ordinarily a nut favored by me, this dessert shone it in a new and stunning light.

 

Robert Truitt's Gold Bar with chocolate, Pedro Jimenez and smoked caramel ice cream completed the menu. Truitt is one of the most talented pastry chefs out there and this delicious and beautiful dessert showed it.

 

Another piece of evidence of Truitt's outstanding pastry talent is the amazing petit-fours that come from the Corton kitchen including the gelees, macarons and chocolate bon-bons. I had to taste each despite being quite full.  The most amazing ones though (and I don't know if these were from noma or Corton) were "marrow" bones filled with smoked caramel. The bones were quite real, but the caramels were unreal - heavy smoked balanced the sweetness beautifully. These were a revelation and a fantastic way to finish a fantastic evening.

Corton has been one of my favorite restaurants anywhere since I first dined there shortly after it first opened. It has provided me with some of the finest meals I've had over the past few years. This was no different. While my interest in dining at noma was high before, it is raging now. I can't wait to get there!

ed. note: Corton's usual no photos policy was waived for this event. Even Drew Nieporent was walking around with a small hand-held video camera!

A Saturday Night Dinner at Home

I like to go out for dinner on Saturday evenings, but I like to eat and relax at home too. After a busy week, sometimes it is just easier and more satisfying to do the latter. It doesn't need to be fancy, but it might as well be good. This past Saturday night was just such a night.

With an afternoon little league game for my son, I kept it simple, cooking some Lick Spring Farm beefalo tenderloin steaks in the CVap for several hours at 125ºF, finishing them on the cooktop in butter on high heat in a cast iron pan. I cooked shallots in butter and pan drippings and deglazed the pan with some red wine.

With asparagus being at their best right now, I made an asparagus and feta salad using asparagus from Saratoga Apple and feta from Long View Farm. The asparagus were peeled, microwaved for 3 minutes and cut into 1" sections. These were mixed with feta cubes and marinated with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little Minus 8 vinegar.

To accompany the meat and vegetables, what else but potatoes? Cumin scented roasted red potatoes never fail to charm. They are simply delicious. In this case I peeled Sheldon Farm red potatoes, added ground turmeric and whole cumin seeds along with salt and olive oil, mixing them thoroughly so that the potatoes were coated over their entire surface. They roasted in a convection oven at 325ºF for about 75 minutes, reaching a lovely crisp, golden brown surface and meltingly soft interior.

To wash all of this down, I opened a bottle of 1997 Phelps Insignia. This wine was down right delightful. It was deep, rich and full of fruit, but with a still strong tannic backbone and adequate acidity. It was a totally marvelous wine drinking superbly at that moment with no sign of fading.

Saturday night is alright

The Totality of Tocqueville

Though it recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, I had never made it to Tocqueville, the lovely Union Square area restaurant, until recently, when my wife and I were taken there by our good friends Joe & Donna Bavuso.

Tocqueville is not a large restaurant with a large number of tables. Though the ceilings are high and the room feels spacious, the restaurant is small, cozy and intimate feeling. The sense of intimacy does not come at the price of a loss of privacy, though, as the tables are set discreetly apart. With a mostly Brazilian music set list playing courtesy of Pandora, the space emitted a relaxed, tranquil vibe that belied the controlled busy-ness occurring around the beautifully appointed dining room as the waitstaff went about their business.

After a short wait for our table at the bar (where I had a very generously poured Brazilian Manhattan - Sagatiba Velha Aged Cachaça, Sweet vermouth and awesome House Brandied Cherries), we were led to our table, a plush demi-banquette in the back of the dining room in front of one of the tall, golden-hued drapes. It wasn't long before we were greeted by Jo-Ann Makovitsky, the co-owner of Tocqueville along with her husband and Executive Chef, Marco Moreira. Ms. Makovitsky was utterly charming and welcoming, setting a tone that was echoed by her wait-staff throughout the evening.

We opted for the 5 course Tasting Menu valued at $95pp along with wine pairings for an additional $60pp.We were started with a couple of amuses including beet root canneloni stuffed with goat cheese and luscious truffle-scented croquetas. The amuses were paired with a nice bubbly from the Loire, NV Cremant de Loire Brut from Chateau l'Aulee. At this point, we learned something about the quality of the service at Tocqueville. I dropped something on the floor to my left. I bent to pick it up and leaned on the end of the table to raise myself up. In one of those slow motion cinematic moments in which one oh-so-slowly shouts "nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooo!", the table tipped and the champagne glasses (fortunately mostly, but unfortunately not completely, empty) teetered, tottered and ultimately toppled with the remaining sparkling white spreading itself over the table. The waitstaff reacted with speed, aplomb and best of all, pleasant humor, quickly cleaning up the spill and setting everything to right almost as quickly as it happened in the first place. While embarrassed, I and my dining companions were mightily impressed. For the remainder of the meal, we never encountered anything to lesson our impression of the service.

The menu started with a bang, but of a better kind. Japanese yellowtail crudo was served three ways: with grapefruit mostarda, with jicama and with lychee. Paired with a lovely rose from Provence, the 2009 Côtes de Provence from Chateau de Rouet, the totality of this course was refreshing. Each component hit the right notes, leaving a satisfied smile on our lips and a sense of anticipation for the next course.

Hudson Valley Duck Foie Gras with green gage plum, watermelon radish and prune gelee followed, paired with a luscious 1989 Riesling Spatlese from Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck in Erhard, Rheingau, Germany. The foie gras was not groundbreaking in any sense, but it was tasty and satisfying. The wine, not found on their on-line wine list, was, for me, the real star and the real treat of this course. It did what wine is supposed to do: it elevated the dish to a level beyond what it would have been on its own and made the course stand out.

Local Fluke a la Plancha with kohrabi confit, puree of black trumpets and caviar gribiche was my favorite course of the evening. In addition to the seductively creamy puree of black trumpets, the dish also contained enoki mushrooms that were paired with the kohrabi confit. That latter pairing made the kohlrabi into a worthy companion for the rest of the dish. On its own, it was somehwat bland, but it meshed beautifully with the enokis. The fluke was perfectly cooked and delicious. Once again, the wine pairing was a stroke of mastery. This time, we were served another German wine not on the online list, but it was not a wine typical of Germany. It was a pinot noir, but it wasn't the kind of pinot noir I typically think of when I think of the grape. It was a blanc de noir from Hahnmul in Nahe, Germany from the 2007 vintage and it too was delicious with exquisite balance.

The final savory course was good, but for a meat that I ordinarily adore, I found it to be surprisingly "ok." Spiced California Squab Breast and Leg Terrine with rhubarb, charred escarole cream and baby turnips lacked conviction. While I enjoyed the leg terrine, the breast, normally one of my favorite things to eat in the world was rather tame without any distinguishing elements. Even the wine, another well-selected beauty, the 2003 Finca Elez "Escena" from Manuel Manzaneque, couldn't elevate the dish beyond mediocre.

We were treated to a lovely cheese course, an earthy, delicious blue, whose name escaped me and a 2003 Vintage Port from Quinta Portal that quickly put the meal back on track. Accompanying the cheese were toasted candied walnuts.

Each of us was served a different dessert. Given that we are all good friends, we passed them around to share. I received the Coconut Pannacotta with spiced pineapple and Thai curry ice cream, which turned out to be my favorite of the four. It was a knock-out combination of flavors with great acid balance. The other desserts were also excellent. The others included a combination of chocolate, banana and truffle, a Sicilian blood orange cheesecake and a Vanilla-Caramel Roasted Bosc Pear with pear and cranberry charlotte and ginger ice cream - all excellent as were the mignonettes at the end.

We had a thoroughly wonderful time at Tocqueville. The food was indeed very good. It wasn't the star of the evening, but it was more than good enough in conjunction with outstanding service and hospitality, a beautiful, relaxing room and a truly interesting and delicious wine pairing. The totality of the experience at Tocqueville was such to make me want to return. I could see, if I lived in NYC, being a regular here.

A Birthday Dinner - 51

I turned 51 this week. It wasn't a milestone, but I figure it is better to celebrate it than not have it. The last few years, I have been able to celebrate my birthday with dinners at well known restaurants. Three years ago, I had on my 48th birthday one of the most memorable meals of my life - my second visit to elBulli. It was a dream! Two years ago, for my 49th, I had another wonderful meal at Alinea, with whom I share a birthday. Last year for my 50th, I ate at home (it was a Monday night), but the weekend prior I enjoyed two incredible meals - one at Studio Kitchen for the first collaboration between Alex Talbot and Shola Olunloyo and the other at Aldea, a restaurant that anyone who reads this blog with any regularity will know is one of my absolute favorites. Though some good friends took my wife and I out for a lovely dinner this past weekend, the dining wasn't quite up to my recent high standards, but then very little is.

This was to be a quiet birthday, one to cook at home for. While my meal, again, was not quite of the caliber of those previous birthday meals, it was a meal I enjoyed very much nevertheless. We started with some pan-seared merguez sausages from Dancing Ewe Farm. They were reminiscent of a good chorizo, though made of lamb rather than pork. The sausages were extremely tasty, as one would expect of sausages made from a recipe personally given to the farm by Daniel Boulud himself.

My next course was pappardelle with fresh shiitakes and Sheldon Farm ramps in a Parmesan cream sauce. While any number of mushroom varieties would work well here (morels would have been particularly seasonal), the shiitakes were outstanding. Zehr & Sons Farm grow terrific mushrooms that they sell at the Saratoga Farmers Market. I had originally wanted their beautiful oyster mushrooms, but they had already sold out by the time I got there. Regardless the dish was a delicious and a big hit.

I followed with a CVap ostrich fan roast (via D'Artagnan) that had marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary and Parmiggiano and was finished on a natural hardwood charcoal grill. I cooked the ostrich for about 4 hours in the CVap at 125ºF before searing it on the grill. The CVap cooked the meat to uniform perfection and was one of the most umami rich and delicious pieces of meat I have had in some time - probably since Fabio Trabocchi's lamb at The Four Seasons. The ostrich was served with Parmiggiano dusted roasted Saratoga Apple asparagus - the first of the season for me.

The nice thing about having a dinner like this at home is that I can break out some outstanding bottles of wine and not worry about breaking the bank as that bank had already been broken! On this night I opened a 1982 BV George de la Tour Private Reserve Cab to accompany the merguez and the pasta. The color was a classic brick red, but the wine was still drinking beautifully with soft tannins and a remarkable retention of fruit. For the ostrich, I opened a 1997 Gaja Barbaresco, a wine that was nothing short of brilliant. Full of black cherry and other red fruits it held just a touch of wood, great acidity and perfect balance. This proved a perfect bottle for the evening.

A birthday dinner is not complete without a birthday cake. My wife made a wonderful one for me - Julia Child's Queen of Sheba cake - a complex chocolate cake made with pulverized almonds, unsweetened Bonnat chocolate and a few other ingredients. Having to work the next day, we refrained from a dessert wine (hey, I'm not getting any younger!).

Even though I didn't dine in one of my favorite restaurants, this was still one of my better birthdays. It was nice to relax and to cook and I was quite pleased that the dinner came out as well as it did. Fifty-one wasn't so bad after all.

Recent Wines

These are the left-over bottles of some recent wines we've had at home. The Angelus has already been commented on. The Blanc de Lynch-Bages 1994 was starting to lose its fruit, but remained elegant with light seafood. The Brothers-in-Arms 2000 Shiraz had the fruit the Lynch-Bages lost and then some. It was a lovely match for lamb tenderloin with a curry rub. The Ravenswood Monte Rosso 1998 zin was rich enough still to stand up to chipotle rubbed grilled beef flat-iron steak with roasted poblanos, potatoes, cipollini and tomatillos. Another wine, 2000 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay was unfortunately well past its prime, a problem I have had with a number of other high-priced California chardonnays that simply haven't aged well. We did not keep the bottle. These wines, my particular experience has been primarily with Kistler chards, are delicious young, but unlike many of their French brethren, which they have sat alongside in my cellar, they simply have not aged with grace. Every once in a while I will still pull a bottle that satisfies, but I no longer pull them with confidence. Unfortunately, back in the 90's I amassed quite a few to take advantage of the good mail order allotments that I enjoyed. The good news is that the pinots still rock!

 

Good Juice - Chateau Angelus 1995

This inky purple wine held its tannins tight when first poured, but they melted away in the decanter leaving a supple, rich, fruit laced and complex wine. Delicious! 

Happy Easter!

A Fine Wine - Tignanello 1997

I first tasted Tignanello from Antinori on my first trip to Italy back in 1998. It is a smooth wine with soft tannins, but plenty of depth and complexity. The 1997 has aged well retaining its softness and fruit of the cherry/berry persuasion. Decanted for over an hour before service, it lacked any harshness, but retained a nice, long finish. with a reasonable alcohol content of 13.5%, this  wine stood up well to a variety of foods including a zesty lasagna, brussels sprouts with pancetta and an acidic cannelini bean and tomato salad. It was also lovely to sip on its own.

Tignanello is a single-vineyard wine from the large Italian wine company Antinori. From the Santa Cristina Estate in the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany, Tignanello created the category of "Super-Tuscan."  Previously conforming to the rules designating it a "Chianti Classico  Riserva," Tignanello first deviated from those rules in 1971 losing the designation"Chianti Classico" and being "demoted" to the category of "Vino di Tavola." It wasn't until the 1975 vintage that white wine grapes were kept entirely out of Tignanello. The blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc has been the same since the 1982 vintage. Many wines have since followed the lead of this true maverick, but it still remains one of the best of its genre.

Bordeaux and Burgundy

Without a doubt Bordeaux and Burgundy are the two most famous wine regions of the world and for good reason. These regions have been making wonderful wines for many, many years and top wines from these regions remain world benchmarks for their varietals. I recently had some bottles from Bordeaux and Burgundy, that while certainly not fully representative of the regions, are illustrative of some traits that have become associated with them as well as some ways in which the regions contrast. While both regions make superb white wines, for the moment I am just discussing reds.

 

I am only including on Burgundy, but it was a good one, with traits common to many good Burgundies. The 2001 Veilles Vignes Gevrey-Chambertin from Domaine Denis Bachelet is a village wine, not even a 1º Cru, but at just over 8 years from harvest, it was showing quite nicely with a lot of finesse for a village wine. The tannins were soft and well integrated, while the fruit was forward, but not over the top jam. Predominant fruit notes to me were cherry and red berry, both of which are pretty classic for Burgundian pinots. At 13% alcohol, it is not a behemoth and a very food-friendly wine with a strong acid backbone, that paired very well with the wild duck I prepared earlier this month. While not overly fancy, the wine possessed the characteristics I was hoping for and represented the refined nature of Burgundy with aplomb.

I have always found Bordeaux to be easier to get a handle on and generally less finicky or hit or miss than Burgundy, though I find a top-notch Burgundy to be hard to beat and more versatile when it comes to pairing with food. While both regions match well with red meat, I tend to turn to Burgundy, red or white, when it comes to fish (but not shellfish unless it is a Chablis with oysters). For one recent dinner featuring porterhouse steaks from Mack Brook Farm, I opted to try my first bottle of Chateau Yon Figeac. At 13.5% alcohol, the Yon Figeac was still light enough to last through a meal without dragging, the way some higher alcohol wines can do. Fruit forward featuring dark berry notes, this wine was well balanced with noticeable, but controlled tannins without overt oak. As with most wines from St. Emilion, this wine was presumably comprised mostly of merlot and cabernet franc though I could not find confirmation either online or on the bottle.

We drank my one bottle of 1990 Chateau Lynch Bages - from the Cabernet Sauvignon rich Pauillac area of Boreaux- the other night, paired with seared lamb loin mushroom soup and roasted potatoes. My initial tasting was very heavy on oak, but fortunately that settled down with further aeration. The tannins remain strong though they weren't overpowering. The flavor profile was complex and deep without any particular fruit jumping out. I actually enjoyed this 12.5% alcohol wine more with food than without. At nearly twenty years of age, the wine remains strong and supple. I'm sorry that I don't have more of the 1990 to try further down the line.

 

Of all these recent wines, the Bordeaux I enjoyed the most was the 2000 Gruaud Larose from the St. Julien appellation. With a reputation of being a late bloomer with a long life, I was surprised at the finesse and the softness that it showed. I expected stronger tannins. Though they were clearly present, they did not overpower and the deep, complex notes shone through without obstruction. Perhaps the wine was acting relatively precociously because it was from a 375ml bottle. I had opened several previously at various times, but this bottle was the most advanced and most pleasing.

Clearly the regions of Burgundy and Bordeaux contain many great wines, many of which can be quite, quite costly even with what seems to be a recent correction of prices, particularly in Bordeaux. However, they don't need to be expensive to be good and enjoyable, as all but the Lynch Bages above illustrate. The best of the wines from these regions express some of the character of their specific locations, i.e. "terroir." For this particular series of wines, that was clearly more apparent with the Bordeaux's since I only had one Burgundy, but that Burgundy was exactly what I was hoping it to be when I chose it - a wine of finesse and character, subtle and delicious. The Bordeaux's, with the exception of the initial oakiness of the Lynch Bages were also right on point. They were strong and powerful, but somehow still resisted the usual high alcohol "fruit-bomb" characteristic of many wines from that region that followed the lead of the preferences of Robert Parker and globalization. Of that, I was glad.

Taste of the Week - December 27th - January 2nd, 2010

Smooth, fruit-rich with plenty of soft tannins, this wonderful wine from Jaboulet was a great wine to welcome in the new year, served with roasted bone-in pork loin, roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts with pesto following a split pea soup. Having been sick towards the end of the year and on-call on NYE, I was particularly looking forward to a nice bottle of wine on New Year's Day. This did quite nicely.

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!

Waning Summer

With two sons off to college, we recently had the opportunity (our last of the summer) to get together with good friends for an evening picnic on one of Lake George's beautiful islands. The weather was beautiful with the air and the water still warm enough for a swim.

 

With a taste of wine, in this case 1995 Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl from Zind Humbrecht, and some good food prepared by ourselves and our friends, Amy and Tom, the evening could not have been sweeter.

 

The food was lovely throughout. Amongst the other delights, I enjoyed Tom's lobster salad sandwiches, my wife's Asian chicken salad and Amy's  beef with horseradish sauce. We had some chocolates from The Chocolate Mill, while watching The Lac du Saint Sacrement steam past.

 

With the sunset approaching we packed, cleaned up and left the island behind.

 

 

Amy and Tom

 

We had Lake George nearly to ourselves, sharing it with a few sailboats as the sun set...

 

...on the evening and the summer.

A Great Pairing - La Grande Dame and Rembrandt

We brought the wine. Alex and Aki had the cheese. Some of life's greatest pleasures occur purely by happenstance. This was one. The 1990 Grande Dame Champagne from Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin was wonderful on its own as was the exquisite 2 year aged Rembrandt Gouda from DiBruno Brothers, but together, they were pure magic! The yeastiness from the champagne picked up on the deep umami of the gouda and didn't let go. They melded seamlessly, a tremendous balance of intense flavor and texture.

A Fine Wine - Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Classico "TB" 1997

Stay away from this wine if you can't stand, big, bold, Parker favored fruit bombs, because this is one. Wines like this aren't always the most food friendly, but this delicious wine complemented my lamb with coffee, chocolate and cinnamon beautifully. The fruit provided a sweet balance to the sugarless rub. All the flavors meshed beautifully. The 1997 is a monster!

A Fine Wine - Zind-Humbrecht Gewurtztraminer Wintzenheim 1994

Full of fruit, flowers and finesse, this fifteen year old wine was a perfect foil for Asian inspired dishes at a recent picnic. Redolent of rose, jasmine, litchi and pepper, with a sweetness that somehow finished dry, the medium bodied light gold wine exceeded my already high expectations given that it had been some time since i had last tasted it.

TGRWT #18: Grilled Veal Chop with Blue Cheese/Plum Sauce

In my first look at the flavor combination of blue cheese and plums as suggested by Trig in his blog, Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef, I kept it very simple, as basic as it could be to see if I liked the combination. I did and decided to take it a step further, although as befits my modest culinary skills, I still kept it relatively simple. 

 

For a luncheon, I marinated 2 inch thick veal chops from Brookside Farm in a sauce of Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue Cheese and a skinned Japanese Redheart Plum that I had combined over low heat on the cook top and brushed onto the chops. I wrapped the coated chops in plastic wrap and cooked them for 3.5 hours at 130ºF in the CVap before finishing them on a charcoal grill to provide sear. To accompany the meat, I made a sauce with additional Rogue Smokey Blue and several more skinned plums, but this time I added the strained cooking juices from the meat and salt and pepper, combining them with a stick blender. The dish of sliced grilled, marinated veal chops and blue cheese plum sauce was well received by our guests. I could see this working quite well with pork or duck too. 

 

I paired the veal with a 1997 Chateaude de la Negly la Porte du Ciel by Chateau de la Negly from the Languedoc, a 100% Syrah, a combination that worked well with the fruit in the sauce. A German or Alsatian Reisling would have been another good choice. The meal was rounded out by fresh green beans with a mint and walnut oil vinaigrette and fresh grilled corn on the cob and my wife's amazing blueberry/gooseberry/sour cherry pie for dessert.

A Pair From 1991 - July 9th, 2009

Today is our son's 18th birthday, his last at home before he goes off to college. To celebrate, we opened a bottle of 1991 Dominus. The wine was beautiful, even though it was still big and bold with a lot of oak and fruit, a Parker special (yes, I'm talking to you, Gerry Dawes!) There are times I enjoy a big, bold, Parker wine and there are times I enjoy something else. After 18 years, this wine is drinking very, very nicely. The tannins are soft, the fruit is intact and the finish is long.

The wine went quite nicely with a dinner of Lewis-Waite Farm filet mignon with shiitake-parmesan cream sauce*, sautéed Sheldon Farms green beans with mint and chopped pine nuts and baked Sheldon Farm potatoes. For dessert, my wife baked a birthday cake.

*Recipe: 10oz. of shiitakes, destemmed and sliced, cook over a low heat without fat. Add one chopped scallion then a little butter before adding enough cream to provide liquid and body. Finish it with S&P and about 4oz of freshly grated Parmesan. Drape over the filet mignon, which has been topped with additional Parm and some balsamico tradizionale di Modena and broiled. I initially cooked the filets in a CVap to a temp of 118ºF then placed them in a hot pan with melted butter. The pan was placed under a broiler for about 4 minutes to sear the exterior and caramelize the parmesan. If cooking conventiomnally under a broiler turn once then apply the Parm to the top of the steaks.