Month: November 2008

Some photos of Girl’s team. They placed in their final tournament!

Volleyball snack for the team. Banana muffins, cheese and grapes. I love these little boxes (available at Michael’s or any cake-decorating store) and they were a HUGE hit with the girls.

David Burke and Donatella. This was a magical experience. The food was wonderful, but our waiter, Sammy, elevated the meal to a much higher level than it would have been otherwise. If you have an opportunity to eat here, ask to be seated in Sammy’s section. You won’t regret it.

We went for Sunday brunch. The restaurant is very compact, with the tables very close together, but it manages to not feel crowded or cramped, even though, particularly at the banquettes, you are practically sharing a table with your next-door neighbors.

The fixtures and art in the room are very colorful and whimsical, with lots of bright reds. It is not a terribly formal restaurant, although the food is definitely upscale. The butter that comes out with the bread basket is sculpted into a piece of miniature modern art and sprinkled with pink Australian Murray River salt flakes.

The amuse bouche was probably the best that I’ve ever had in any restaurant, EVER. It was a concoction of foie gras, served in a miniature French canning jar and topped with a skewered, Cognac-soaked, deep fried grape. It was positively transcendent.

I started with the pretzel-crusted crabcake; Mom started with the salmon and tuna tartare. I forgot to take photos of either of these, but they were both delicious (we shared). Mom’s fish was served on a huge, rough slab of Murray River salt about 12 inches by 8 inches and about 2 inches thick. They apparently clean the slabs off between uses with a boiling hot towel to minimize melt, but kill any germs. Each slab must be worth hundreds of dollars. The crabcake was very unusual, but wonderful. The inside was the purest, most luscious crab salad that you’ve ever had, surrounded by a layer of crisp pretzel sticks and sprinkled with tiny Chinese rice puffs. I found a photo that someone else has taken here.

For the next course, Mom had the lobster scramble (very rich and earthy) and I had the “Rueben” Benedict. It was like Eggs Benedict, only not. Instead of Canadian bacon, there was pastrami-cured salmon. Instead of cabbage kraut, there was zucchini kraut. Instead of Hollandaise, there was Russian dressing. It was all served with an overflowing heap of crisp, shoestring potatoes. Absolutely delicious. The salmon was very interesting, but wonderful.

For dessert, we just asked Sammy to surprise us, to bring us his favorite desserts. He chose wisely, with a warm apple tart for me and a coconut layer cake for Mom, plus an other-worldly,obscenely-sized cheesecake lollipop tree for us to share.

We were so full by the end of this meal that we were physically uncomfortable, but it was SO good. The lollipop tree was very fun, but so over-the-top and excessive that it was humorous. It was served with a separate dish of bubble gum-flavored whipped cream for dipping into. It towered over the table and created a HUGE spectacle when it was brought out to us, but it was very festive and I’m actually thinking of trying to re-create it for Thanksgiving. I found a display stand that might work here. I think that I’ll just need to make a thick cheesecake (I’m planning pumpkin) and then use a melon baller or small scoop to make balls out of the (very cold) cheesecake and then roll them in melted chocolate (I’ll probably make some with dark chocolate and some with white chocolate) and then decorate with sprinkles or chopped toasted nuts or maybe even crushed toasted pumpkin seeds. I’ll post an update if I actually manage to pull that off!

Adour Restaurant, in the St. Regis hotel is Alain Ducasse’s newest venture. It occupies the space that formerly housed L’Espinasse. Check out The New Yorker’s review here. The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. It is apparent that no expense has been spared, from the custom-fitted, curved glass floor-to-ceiling glass panels that line the room to the little pull-out “minaudiere trays” that are fitted into the side of each chair.

The service is lovely and very attentive. Descriptions of the food are clear and helpful and the staff gently guided us to wines that matched our selections (I don’t remember talking to a separate sommelier, which, now that I think of it, is actually a little surprising, but our waiter was very helpful).

We did have two slightly misbehaved tables near us: one with a whiny toddler and one with a woman that spent pretty much the entire evening on her cellphone. I must admit, though, that I wasn’t too much bothered (they really weren’t that loud, in the absolute) by them. They provided me just the excuse that I needed to not feel guilty about “disturbing the atmosphere” by taking photos. If they had not been there, I would NOT have taken photos. The dining room is small and quiet and tables are close together. The room is dark romantically lit, at least at dinnertime, so, normally, flashes going off would be very disruptive.

The food was elegantly executed and absolutely delicious. The desserts were maybe the “weakest linK” and weren’t as strong as the actual meal, but it could just be that we were so full of lovely dinner, that we didn’t have as much room for dessert and weren’t hungry enough to properly enjoy it.

We started with the Glazed Multicolor Vegetable Composition, which was divine. The vegetables (from what we could identify: potatoes, leeks, turnips, parsnips, carrots, onions, and green beans) were fresh and tender and the glaze was savory, with just the right amount of salt.

I had the scallops and my mom had the duck (see the menu here for descriptions). They were both wonderful. So wonderful that I forgot to take a photo, but they were GREAT!.

For dessert, my mother had a pineapple parfait-type dessert (I don’t remember the exact name of it and Adour doesn’t have their dessert menu online) that was REALLY good, but HUGE. It had some mango and coconut elements in it, too.

My dessert was a chocolate composition that had a hard chocolate shell on top with some cold ice-creamy stuff underneath. You had to break through the chocolate to eat the dessert. It was topped with gold leaf and caramelized brioche croutons. It was quite yummy, but also very rich. I didn’t come CLOSE to eating it all.

Overall, this was a lovely meal. I also had a lovely pre-prandial apple cocktail that had icewine in it. I don’t remember the other ingredients or what it was called, but it was quite good.

My mom and I recently went to NYC for a much-anticipated food and theatre trip. While I was there, I was also able to coordinate a visit with some friends from Virginia that I hadn’t seen in ages.

Having a cocktail with the “Shady Ladies”, my buddies from Virginia, at a HUGE diner across the street from the Marriott Marquis in Times Square that I can’t remember the name of. Drat.

It was a great, whirlwind trip. We covered a LOT of ground and ate some phenomenal food. I also made a quick visit to the 47th street diamond district (where the merchants are so desperate, due to the current economy, that they are practically GIVING jewelry away). I had my engagement diamond re-set into a more updated design (my old setting had broken and wasn’t really reparable).

I agree with my friend, Trish, that it is VERY hard to take photos of rings.

We saw a great (if a little bit “dated”) show called “Enter Laughing”, with Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker (from L.A. Law) and were able to meet them afterwards. I have always been fans of their acting (Jill Eikenberry is also known for being in “Arthur”, among other things and Michael Tucker was HILARIOUS as “Harry Rosenthal” on Tracey Ullman’s show “Tracey Takes On”.), but was impressed with their singing and dancing abilities, as well. Michael Tucker is quite a “foodie” and has written some great books, as well. I am reading his book “Living in a Foreign Language” right now. We saw another comedy show called “Celebrity Autobiography”, where a rotating cast of actors, with various levels of celebrity themselves, read and act out scenes from real celebrity autobiographies. There was one scene that superimposed bits from the autobiographies of Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, which each of them taking turns speaking. Priceless. Sherri Shepherd (from The View) was Elizabeth Taylor and she was hilarious. I’m not a huge fan of The View, but she was purringly brilliant. We also saw “Irena’s Vow”, which was more moving than I could possibly do justice with words. I was quite literally sobbing as the final curtain came down, and I was not the only one.

We had wonderful meals at Adour, David Burke and Donatella, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market, Eleven Madison Park, Craft, Le Bernardin and Amarone. Some of the most inspired, refined, sumptuous and artful food that I’ve had in a VERY long time.

Below are some photos. I was able to snap a few at Eleven Madison Park and Adour, but the atmosphere at Le Bernardin and Craft was not conducive to doing so (although I was VERY tempted to break out the camera when I saw gorgeous Chef Eric Ripert, strolling through the dining room). Alas, we did NOT see hunky Chef Tom Colicchio at Craft. The food at Eleven Madison Park is very refined, but the atmosphere is not quite as formal (we saw folks there in jeans, although we were there for lunch, not dinner) and we were not near any other tables that might have been disturbed by my snapping. The atmosphere (and food) at Adour is VERY formal, but since there was already another table with a whiny 3 year old nearby and another table next to us with a woman chatting busily on her cellphone (and sadly ignoring both her daughter and husband AND the delicious food that was being presented to her), I figured that my sly photo-snapping might not be too obtrusive.

I have so much to say about all of the food, that I’ll have to break it down into multiple posts. I’ll start with one of my favorites, Eleven Madison Park:

We ordered the “Gourmand” tasting menu, with wine pairings. All of the wines were wonderful, but I can’t remember the names of any of them. The service at this place was absolutely flawless.

Pear-Parsnip Amuse Bouche, brought to the table in a small, lidded dish. As the waiter set the plates down before us, he whisked away the lid, allowing the wonderful aromas to envelop us. This was very warm and creamy, with just a little bit of sweetness.

Variations on Garden Potatoes with Balik Salmon and Watercress
This was perfect. Just simple and elegant; the potatoes were cooked perfectly (fork-tender, without being mushy or mealy); the seasonings were absolutely in balance; the salmon was astoundingly fresh and the roe was briny and sweet.

Foie Gras Terrine with Golden Pineapple, Pickled Pearl Onions and Rum-Raisin Brioche
Absolutely wonderful. Delicate, sweet and rich, with flavors that were very unexpected, but complemented each other perfectly.

Maine Diver Scallops, Seared with Hawaiian Prawns, Cauliflower and Crustacean Jus
Very nice. The scallops were crustily seared and the cauliflower “pate” was delicious.

Vermont Suckling Pig Confit with Cipollini Onions, Plum Chutney and Five Spice Jus
This was SO savory and flavorful! The little “brick” of pulled pork was perfectly crisped on top (I’d LOVE to know how they did that!). The cipollini puree was onion, only distilled to its purest essence. My mouth is watering now, remembering it.

Milk Chocolate Palette with Bosc Pears and Chestnut Ice Cream
SO rich that I couldn’t come close to finishing it, but wonderful anyway. The ripe pears were thinly sliced inside their chocolate shroud and resisted slightly as you cut into it.
The little chocolate shaving sticks were surprisingly crispy. The chocolate ganache was like velvet. The chestnut ice cream was sublime with a VERY strong and authentic chestnut flavor.

Assorted Mignardises: Raspberry Mini Macarons, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Rosettes, Lemon Cookies and Pistachios Pyramids

Although I did taste one or two of these and they were lovely, I brought the bulk of them home for the kids. Seeing the cuteness of these little mini post-dessert treats, however, has me lusting for some Flexipan molds so that I can replicate them at home to serve with coffee when we have folks over.

This was a GREAT game, as opposed to Saturday’s game against Texas Tech, which was just AWFUL.