Blue Ribbon Indeed - Blue Ribbon Sushi Review

So, you have to be pretty self assured to do something like give yourself a blue ribbon in your own restaurants name. But, I totally forgive the Bromberg Brothers better known as the owners of the Blue Ribbon restaurants b/c well they deserve a blue ribbon on this one. Karen and I began our meal as most, by opening the menu. Now, its a difficult situation to find oneself in when you are in option overload. This menu has a multitude of beautiful choices but its a tad bit overwhelming (quite frankly it was one of those situations where I had only about 2 dishes I could officially rule out as choices). After a good deal of time consulting with our waiter, we began with the blue ribbon's own 3 sake flight and amberjack thinly sliced with pepper and a light sauce. This was very nice and the pepper paired well with it and the first sake. Our other appetizer far outshone this one. It was clams in a miso butter. These clams were basically what I always wanted clams casino to taste like. Such a great buttery flavor with a crisp bread crumb texture. We moved on to sushi and had a fried oyster roll that had a nice crunchy iceberg lettuce piece in each that gave it the absolute perfect texture. Then there was a spicy tuna roll that was probably the best I have ever had b/c the tuna portion far outweighed the spicy mayonaisse that usually dominates these rolls (and don't get me wrong I love a good spicy mayo but I also love a nice piece of fresh tuna). Then we moved on to the spicy lobster piece that was wrapped in an egg wrapper. This was fantastic it was like the stuffing of a lobster roll on a little bit of rice with the hint of the flavor of egg salad thrown in. It actually made me wonder why chefs everywhere haven't tried to add a tiny bit of egg into their lobster salad rolls like they sometimes do with potato salad b/c this is surely a winning combination. Next we moved onto the smoked yellowtail sushi. Oh my heavens. I took one bite of this delectable sushi piece and knew we had to order a second round. This piece of sushi was smoky and melted in your mouth. I believe this was umame. But then we split our last piece of sushi, the blue fin belly special, and I realized as that melted in my mouth that THAT WAS UMAME. So, we ordered more. Another piece of smoked yellowtail, a piece of fluke each, and a blue crab roll. All of these were delicious. Trully a fantastic sushi spot. The sake flight was wonderfully paired with each roll we had and I was sad when it was over. We ordered the ginger bread pudding and a plum wine each for dessert. These were okay but didn't come close to the caliber of the appetizers and sushi.

Definitely a place to return to time and time again for some of the best sushi I have had in NYC.

Look out Goliath, theres a new shorty in town - Review of Shortys.32

Karen, Mo, and I had dinner this past Wednesday at Shortys.32. At the end of the meal, Mo gave his highest review "that’s the stuff that'll put you to sleep". The food was excellent and the early bird special made it even better - 3 courses for $25! Heres the summary of our dinner at Chef Josh Eden's 32 seat restaurant. Chef Eden stands at 5'4 hence the nickname shorty. He worked for years in JG's restaurants.

The Matt Pinfield look alike host was a jolly fellow that was perhaps the restaurant's biggest fan telling customers how eating here was like going home. Karen and I arrived before Mo and ordered a drink and two appetizers. I had a Brooklyn Pennant Ale and Karen had a special cocktail of white rum, grapefruit juice and some other odds and and ends in the mix which was delightful. We chose the tuna tartare and crabstick with basil remolade as appetizers. The tuna tartare managed to get all the flavors of an actual sushi roll into a tartare. The beautifully fresh tuna came with radishes, crystallized ginger, and nori chips and was incredibily refreshing on a humid summer's evening. The crabstick was composed primarily of sweet chunks of crab (which is saying it was fabulous as I hate nothing more than a crab cake that is mostly filler and tiny strings of crab meat) and the exterior was crispy and salty. The basil dipping sauce added a nice flavor to this app. Mo arrived as we finished our appetizers and ordered the beet salad with goat cheese. The beets were fork tender with a hint of a red wine and mustard vinaigrette with the perfect sized pieces of goat cheese strewn throughout.

There were too many delicious sounding choices for the entrees, which always makes me happy that I have more than one dinning companion. I opted for the burger because if a comfort food place can't do a burger than well it shouldn't be a comfort food joint. Karen in a step outside the norm ordered the Pork Milanese with Pea Shoot & Radish Salad, and Passion Fruit Beurre Noisette, and Mo had the red snapper with a side of Mac and Cheese (another comfort food must). Matt Pinfield informed us that the burger was composed of short ribs, chuck, and some other choice meats. I ordered it medium and was pleased to find that this instruction was followed with a pink centered burger on a brioche bun. I could've done with a different bun as I find that brioche tends not to take in the juices of the burger as well as other options do. The burger was very good but I felt like it needed a little more in the way of juices (perhaps it was a wee bit too lean). But nonetheless it was a very good burger and the side of fries was nicely salted and crisped. Mo's snapper was quickly cleaned off the plate as was the quinoa salad side. The Mac and Cheese was okay but I think there was too much in the way of breadcrumbs and not enough in the way of cheese. The flavor was very nice though. The clear winner (and sleeper hit) was Karen's pork milanese. WOW. Its rare that you try a dish (especially in manhattan and in this day and age) that contains so many new flavor combinations that truly win. The brown butter passion fruit sauce reclaimed my love of passion fruit as a winning flavor after WD-50 made me question it. The expertly breaded thin piece of pork sat upon a pool of this sauce (that none of us could get enough of b/c we just couldn't believe how good and different it was) and was topped with radish, pea shoot, and asian pear. Just such an amazing dish that shocked me into the knowledge that passion fruit in all its sweetness can be used so nicely in a savory dish.

We were all very full but our 3 part experience had one more round…my favorite time of the meal, dessert. We opted for the warm chocolate cake with passion fruit sorbet, coconut tapioca with fresh berries, and apple crumble. The chocolate cake was okay but not the gushing lava that I love but the passion fruit sorbet was excellent. The coconut tapioca was okay and the berries were beautiful and fresh. The apple crumble was the clear dessert winner with a lovely cinnamony flavor and crispy crumble topping.

As I often say, the sign of a good restaurant is one that makes you want to go back for a dish. Well, I definitely want to try the pork again but I also want to try the roast chicken that we didn't order. So, Shorty, we'll be seeing you again.

Restaurant Magic - Gramercy Tavern Review

Both times I have eaten at Gramercy Tavern I have left in a state of euphoria. The only thing I can think while I'm eating there and once I've left is that THIS is the best restaurant I have ever been to in New York City. An evening at Gramercy is magical. The waitstaff always feels more like friends then servers and the ambiance of the place is beyond compare. Its one of those places that makes you feel like you're celebrating or that you're on vacation. The rustic charm of the barn-like decor is beyond compare. Last night, we ate in the more affordable tavern portion of the restaurant which is most certainly not to be overlooked. It was a feast indeed and made me think that I should eat there more frequently. Here is a summary of our wonderful evening...what better way to spend your 30th bday?!

Our waiter began telling us about the evening's specials and the first word out of his mouth was bacon and the second was cheddar so Karen and I were obviously instantly sold. The other special of the evening was fresh english peas. We choose to start with the bacon cheddar biscuits, the english peas, and the sunchoke salad. The bacon cheddar biscuits were the most delightful little bites. These buttery, flaky biscuits melted in your mouth with the perfect balance of cheddar and flecks of salty bacon. Karen and I both agreed that we would like these every week and that we have to find a recipe (which Susan has already obligingly done for me). The peas were fabulous as well. There was a hint of curry powder in these fresh peas that popped in your mouth. As soon as I saw Karen's fervor for these peas, I insisted she draw a line on the plate for even splitting as I feared there would be none left for me. The sunchoke salad was okay but forgettable, but the other two starters more than made up for it. We each started out with cocktails, Karen had the pineapple painkiller which tasted like vacation and I had the spring fling which was rhubarby-tart with lime and prosecco.

Now, as Karen and I often do at such restaurants when undecided (which is inevitable as Karen and I pretty much always want to order the entire menu), we deferred to the waiter for which entree to have. I was sure about my choice of the meatballs, but Karen was torn between the seafood stew and the smoked kielbasa with potatoes and sauerkraut. The waiter was very passionate about the kielbasa so Karen went with that. However, when the dishes arrived there was a small bowl of the seafood stew as he wanted us to taste this as well. The seafood stew was fabulous with a base of what tasted like some sort of squash and again there was a hint of some indian spices. The fish, scallops, mussels, and shrimp were all cooked perfectly in this stew. Regardless, one bite of the kielbasa dish and Karen knew she made the right choice. The kielbasa was fantastic...just the right balance of smoke and crispy outside. The sauerkraut was also the exact correct amount of sour without being overpowering and the potatoes tasted like grandmas. My meatballs were some of the best I have ever had. There were two giant meatballs on the plate each cut in half with a thin layer of perfectly melted fontina and parmesan on each. The plate had red onions lightly pickled in red wine vinegar and a cheese tomato/red wine sauce that was to die for. I am happy to say I was a member of the clean plate club. We both elected to have a beer with our main courses, as these seemed better suited for beer and any complement to the Tavern's beer menu would be an understatement. I chose a Unibroue Trois Pistols, and Karen had the Ommegang Hennepin. Excellent...If you know anything of my beer obsession, you know that these are my two favorite breweries.

Now a birthday (and well lets face it a dinner out) is not complete without dessert. We again deferred to the waiter and he said the strawberry pie with ginger ice cream. To accompany this we each had a glass of an aged port which was a delicious mushroomy flavored dessert wine that went perfectly with the strawberries. When the dessert arrived, the waiter had once again gone above and beyond. The strawberry pie had a candle in it and said happy birthday brownie and the waiter brought out a complimentary chocolate pudding with salted caramel and brioche croutons stating that you have to have chocolate on your birthday. The strawberries on the pie just popped with flavor in your mouth and the ginger ice cream was the perfect compliment to the strawberries without being too strong, as ginger ice cream often is. The chocolate pudding was rich and caramelly and the brioche croutons were surprisingly a winning combo. All in all, an amazing dinner that I hope to re-create soon.

50 Ways in which I will never go back to WD-50: Review of WD-50

Last night I partook in the wierdest meal I think I will ever ingest in my life. And bear in mind, I have eaten cow tongue and I fully intend to travel to Africa and Asia and eat some of their odd foods; however, all of those will be weird based on the ingredient not on the way the ingredient will be used. But I digress…back to the bizarro eats and the trio of Karen, Susan, and myself.
We all knew the hype behind Wylie Dufresne and his strange cooking style…I mean how can a man with such an odd lambchop haircut cook normal american food? So, we were expecting strange and I for one was not disappointed. I had however expected that the tastes of some of these foods would WOW me. Unfortunatly, in this respect both my dining companions and I were disappointed.

When we sat down, sesame flat bread was brought to our table and we all relaxed a bit as we tasted the delicious salty sesame flavor (anywhere that can make such delicate flatbread can't be all that bad). We elected to do the tasting menu and wine pairing. Our dinner theatre began with a flourish upon our announcement that this was the route we were to embark on. It was almost as if they knew before us and all 5 of our waiters sped into action. Like every good tasting menu I have ever had, it started with a delicious sparkling wine, Selim. This was paired with a Poached oyster on a bed of bulghur with cinnamon dashi and fried sweet potato strings. Karen and I really liked this but Susan thought it too fishy and was unsure about the cinnamon. The next course was also paired with the Selim (which got its name from Miles Davis whom the maker is a huge fan of). For me this course was one of the strangest. It was smoked salmon threads, crisp cream cheese, pickled red onions, and everything bagel ice cream. The bagel ice cream was very bizarre but the red onion made this dish…without it I think the salmon, which was even more potent in the thread form, would have overpowered the dish's flavor.

The next dish was everyones absolute least favorite and made me never ever want foie gras ever again. It was foie gras congealed (and I hope the word congealed really gets across how offensive the texture of this was…like pate gone horribly wrong) in a tubular form and stuffed with a passion fruit syrup that overpowered everything and some chinese celery. The wine paired with this was quickly consummed by each of us to get the horrid flavor out of our mouths. It was Chardonnay 'Etima Harlafti' Domaine Harlaftis that smelt to Sue like stinky feet but tasted delicious but perhaps that was only because it tasted better then the dish.
The next dish I adored. It was scallops cooked sous vide for hours with melted beef tendon on top and crisped dried beef tendon crackers, endive, and a parsley hazelnut oil sauce. I thought the scallops were delicious tender and rich from the beef melted on top and the parsley puree cut through the heaviness of these flavors with a nice refreshing note. This was paired with a County Line Rose from California that was sweet and smooth. Susan disagreed with my feelings on this dish and really disliked the texture and taste of the scallops.

Now, there were a few things that I wanted to bottle up and take home from this meal and well this next dish had one of them. The cold fried chicken served with buttermilk ricotta, cavier that leant the perfect hint of saltiness to the dish, and a honey tabasco sauce was the clear entrée winner. The honey tabasco sauce was spicy hot sweet and fabulous but I wanted more of it on my plate and I wanted some to keep in my fridge at all times. The chicken was very tasty, moist (although Karen and I both insisted it was ham we were informed by the waiter that it was a terrine of chicken legs). This was paired with Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs which I can't recall at this time…so either the chicken and honey tabasco distracted me or I was drunk. This wine was also paired with our next dish that I was expecting to like a lot more than I did. Every cruise I go on, I enjoy trying one of the deliciously garlic butter drenched escargot. So when I saw snails with red lentils, juniper, and orange was next on our adventure I thought bingo. But the snails were somehow too earthy tasting which was probably increased by the nutty lentils that were served with them. The lentils were fantastic and included a combination of the cooked red lentils and the crunchy yellow dried lentils. Yum. But the dish was not a winner due to the snails.

The next two courses were paired with a Syrah from California that was deeper and tasted very full and spicy for a Syrah (If I didn't know better I would have thought I was drinking a cabernet). The first was a thinly sliced terrine of duck with popcorn pudding and lovage tucked in underneath. I thought that this was deliciously rich and would go fabulous in any big crusty roll with some mayo but my dining companions felt it was just too rich and fatty. The final of the entrée courses was lamb loin with a delicious black garlic smear pickled ramps and crunchy dried soybeans. Personally, I am not a huge fan of how gamey lamb tastes and this piece was no different.

To sum up all the savory dishes, they were interesting but somehow something was missed in the execution. Inventive yes, but the sign of a good dish is that I want to order it again and I think about it when I'm hungry (okay and sometimes when I'm not). But,I will not crave any of these conctions. As Susan said, each of the dehydrated crumbles on our plate had a chemical undertone to them that was just plain odd.

The saving grace of the evening was definitely the desserts. There was only one of 4 that we didn't like. The desserts started with a vanilla ice cream stuffed with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with raspberry flakes that I also want for my pantry. I would put those raspberry flakes on just about anything. The next dessert came with a Banyuls Domaine La Tour Vieille 2006 that was a lighter dessert wine but a perfect rich counterpart to its dessert which was a chocolate hazelnut tart of fantastic flavor and texture with chicory foam that made the dessert even richer.

I think we would all like to forget the next dessert which consisted of the eggiest brioche ever stuffed with apricot puree. Just a terrible texture that I didn't want to have more than a bite of. This was paired with 30 Year Pedro Ximenez 'Venerable' Pedro Domecq which was an ironic age. Karen and I loved this syrupy port-like sherry but Susan found it too thick and porty.
The final dessert was vanilla ice cream balls covered in a fabulous chocolate shortbread that was the perfect balance of flavor and a great last bite. These came with what appeared to be chocolate ketchup packets that were made of chocolate in a fruit rope type texture stuffed with hazelnut dust. Just too weird to be good.

All in all, the dinner at WD-50 was one of those experiences that you cross off your list and say I don't need to go back. That is absolutely not to say that the experience wasn't worthwhile. Dinner there is certainly something that I will not forget. How often do you get to eat an ice cream everything bagel after all?!

My Love/Hate Letter to David Chang: Review of Momofuku Ko

Dearest David

Let me start out with the obvious. I hate you...no thats not right. I detest you. The mere mention of your name makes me cringe in the most elementary school of ways. Yes, thats right. I "hate" you like that first boy with cooties that I ever had a crush on. I want no one else to know about you or my obsession with you. The sad truth is, I want your mystical dinner theatre to be my own (okay and that hot sous chef you have can stay too).

But, I digress. Lets start at the beginning. Course one. I arrived on scene with my very nervous (what if he feeds us something we don't want to try) best friend (who I have seen eat tripe so I felt no concern for). We opted for the mid range drink pairing. The amuse bouche was a trifecta of flavors. The first was a pea soup with a bite of crab and some delicious crunchy pieces. This was followed by a chicaron that tasted as if it could have come from a bag in a spanish supermarket (and believe me this is not to say it didn't taste good but just to say it was unnoteworthy). The final contingent of this "mouth amuser" was the crowning glory and prompted Susan to say "I could eat this all day". The beautiful sweet, savory, yet caramel-tinged black pepper biscuit (which i dare say borrowed from the best of the asian sweet buns and americas favorite southern biscuit) left us wanting a basket full of these left by us to soak up all the remaining flavors we had yet to indulge (though these nearby would have left little room for anything else). This was paired with a delicate sweet sparkling rose. Yum.

Step 2 to wooing me to your evil ways began with a fluke, a long island fluke that is on a puree of buttermilk, something with a hint of spice, and a sea of poppy seeds (do you ever look in a mirror david?). This was paired with a sake that was slightly sweet but not overpowering. So, okay you're not all bad. They say the third times a charm and well you proved "them" wrong. The third dish was a strange mis-mash of flavors that I didn't entirely follow. You put an oyster, pork belly, and sticky rice together and then threw broth on top(albeit some of the most delicious broth i've ever had). The rice was great, the oyster okay, and the pork belly lacked something in a way that pork belly never should (and I watched your dinner theatre mr chang and this pork belly was fried in advance - perhaps some slow roasting and a slightly crispier texture would have added more to the dish...i'm just saying). This was paired with I believe a new zealand pinot noir that was chilled.

Fourth came perhaps my future breakfast of choice. This was the dish that Susan claimed she feared the most from the onset. The egg. This wasn't just any egg. There was a "bed" of slightly caramelized sweet onions with a splash of red wine vinegar that laughed in the face of all other onions i have ever had in my life, the egg itself that was smoked and served in a fashion that was not unlike a slightly overpoached egg, and then the fantastic bite finishers of cavier and fingerling potato chips. I have never tasted anything like this and will likely crave this as a hangover breakfast until my final days. This was paired with a wine that i believe was a sweet white chardonay.

Now here is where my brain goes slightly foggy with the order of things (and truth be told if your brain doesn't turn foggy after the fourth course that includes wine pairing there is something wrong with the pairing and you should request a refund). I do believe the next course was the one that first let me down. It was a pasta with snail sausage, chicken skin and parmesan. This dish was missing something and david we weren't the only ones who thought so. The snail sausage was good but the chicken skin lacked any of the delicious flavor that i expect from even the simplest of roasted chicken. The pasta was experently made texture-wise but again was flavorless...susan's claim was that all this dish needed was garlic and salt. Personally, I would scrap this idea altogether until I learned how to make chicken skin taste good and then I would put it into the pasta dough itself and add something sweet to the pasta sauce. The saving grace of this course was the red wine it was paired with.

Course numero seis brought back the promise of good flavors, although again it lacked the insane wow factor that the meal began with. This was a halibut that was half encrusted with bread crumbs on steroids and then partially plated on an artichoke puree and then the other half on pickled califlower. Personally, I could have eaten a bowl of the cauliflower and been happy with the dish. The fish was perfectly cooked but was not a dish I would order at a restaurant again. Paired with another white wine

The seventh course was more sweet in nature. It was paired with a strangely flavorless sake. The dish consisted of lychees, peanut brittle, shaved foie gras, and cheese. This was not to my taste bud's liking but many of those around me enjoyed this thoroughly. I couldn't get over the wierd lychee texture with foie gras.

Course number eight was beyond great. This is where I was glad I still had plenty of room. This was a 14 day aged sirloin cooked sous vide. The steak was plated with a puree of the most delicious spicy sweet grilled jalepanos this world has ever created (without the heat of the peppers this dish would be nothing). The beef was cooked perfectly medium rare and served with caramelized brussel sprouts that I would gladly take as my daily vegetable serving and lets not forget the pickled onions that were surreptiously slipped onto the plate. Now this was a dish. And throw some red wine in the mix from the south of france and well there was a party in my tummy. I would run 10 miles a day if I it meant I could have this meal even weekly.

Now there is a certain sadness that surrounds the end of all things. I didn't want my dinner at Ko to end. I wanted more acts. The first of two dessert courses was a gauva sorbet coated in cream cheese paired with a wonderfully sweet muscat. Now, this sounds simple and forgetable, but I urge all those who have yet to taste the beautifully basic flavor love between cheese and gauva to take heed from the hoards of spanish speaking countries and take one bite. You'll never regret it. And David, you did this match made in flavor heaven the justice it deserved. I do however believe that one could have thrown some crisped puff pastry in the mix and rocketed this dessert into the outer echelons of this galaxy...but again I'm just saying.

Last but not least, we visited the Jersey shore. Now how do you end an 8 course meal one asks...why in the fry daddy you fool. The final course was a funnel cake with black sesame ice cream and lemon curd. This was paired with a dry sherry that Susan despised but despite her previous promise did not say she'd have a different drink when offered. Personally, I think the flavor toned down the sweetness of the funnel cake and deepened the flavor of the ice cream and lemon.

Now the true question is do I continue my daily attempts to attain a reservation at Ko or do I accept it as a once in a lifetime event and go on from there (recession be damned)? After all, there are many more restaurants in Manhattan that I have yet to eat at. Honestly, I hate you David Chang b/c I don't want to end up a slave to your ridiculous reservation system any longer, but i do want to have that egg again...oh and that steak...and can you throw some biscuits in there too. I mean it...I hate you. Ugh...I have to go its almost 10 am.

Love always

Left out in the Cold - Review of Jean Georges

My visit to the iconic namesake restaurant of Jean Georges Vonreitchen on New York's Central Park West began with the promise of dinning excellence. Sadly, this promise was broken quicker than the oath of most politicians. The entrance to the restaurant, which is located in the Trump Tower on Columbus Circle, is beautiful. On your way to the formal dining room, you walk through the bustling bar filled with a mixture of both old and young "see and be seen" types mixed in with tourists from the hotel. The dining room has a modern-ish decour that has a somewhat classic scheme built into it. The colours are black, white, and gray and the "spider" light is one of the coolest lights I have seen in a while. You never get a clear feeling of who your actual waiter is, as numerous people serve you, present dishes to you, and fill your water glass throughout the evening. The experience is meant to be made an evening of and as such you are never rushed to decide. Start to finish, we were there for over two hours.

We began with red wine. Karen had a Cabernet from Napa Valley that was big bold and slightly sweet. I had a Shiraz that was slightly sweet and excellent. The amuse bouche was a triangle of fun. There was a beautiful chicken stock with a hint of lemongrass flavor, which clearly demonstrated JG's love of asian tinged french cuisine, a wonderful seafood spring roll, and a salmon sashimi with kumquat. What a way to open the taste buds. To have a plate like this to start is perfect, not only because the flavors all vary but also because each has a very different texture component - the liquid slightly sweet broth, the crunchy spring roll, and the melt in your mouth fresh sushi all truly get the taste buds' attention.

We opted for the 4 course prixe fixe menu. I choose the Bluefin Tuna Ribbons with avocado, radish, and ginger marinade and Karen began with the peekytoe crab dumplings in a celeriac lemon meyer tea. Wow. Both were excellent. The Tuna ribbons melted in your mouth and the ginger marinade went marvelously with the fish while the radish and avocado added both flavor and texture. The Peekytoe crab dumplings were stuffed with beautifully soft and sweet crabmeat and the lemon tea broth stepped this dish up to another level.

For the second course, I had the Nishiki Risotto with porcini marmalade and five herb gremolata and Karen had the Seared Gulf Shrimp with silky pumpkin, ginger and basil. Well, these elicited another round of you have to try these from Karen and I. The risotto was silky smooth and the porcini added a rich flavor that was complemented nicely by the herb and olive oil mixture that rimmed the bowl. The shrimp were slightly spicy and paired deliciously with the sweet pumpkin-ginger puree and crunchy-spiced pumpkin seeds. This course left us excited for the third and final savory course of the evening. If this is what Jean Georges did with his starters we thought, then his main courses had to be amazing.

Well, it turned out that line of thinking was wrong. I had the Duck Breast topped with cracked Jordan almonds and amaretto jus, which was ceremoniously sliced tableside by one of our many servers (thanks but I think I can cut my own dinner). And Karen had the Roasted Beef Tenderloin with crispy potato blintz and apple jalapeno puree. Okay, now both meats were cooked to the perfect color but where was the juice and the heat? Both meats seemed to have the lovely meat juices that come in perfectly cooked meat drained from them and were lukewarm at most. As if to tease us, the sauces on each and the crust on my duck were perfection as were the sides. But, how did they screw up the proteins themselves so badly? What a disappointment.

Both Karen and myself were excited for the dessert course. What delectable sweets would Johnny "the tatted bad boy of pastry" Iuzzini present us with? For those of you who don't know the Modus Operandi of Jean Georges' dessert, it consists of a quartet of desserts with a flavor theme served on a sectional plate (a "fourplay" if you will). I opted for the chocolate theme (such a surprise I know) and Karen chose the caramel adventure. The chocolate plate included a chocolate egg cream, the JG signature chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, aerated chocolate mousse sponge with blackberries and whiskey, and a warm chocolate gnocchi. The egg cream was not at all up my alley and neither was the chocolate sponge, which had a strange resemblance to the 80s astronaut food packs. The lava cake was a masterful execution of chocolate lava cake but was nonetheless a chocolate lava cake in a restaurant world oversatured with this particular dessert. The gnocchi was very good and left me wanting one more bite of it with its fruity sweet flavor. The Caramel Plate included a vanilla soda with a caramel bubble, a warm caramel tart with a crispy olive-hazelnut praline and caramelized bacon, caramel curd with dehydrated sponge and roasted pineapple sorbet, and a chocolate pop filled with coffee-cardamom ice cream. The caramel bubble in the delicious vanilla soda had a texturally unpleasing film that prevented Karen from even caring about the burst of caramel flavor in her mouth. The warm caramel tart was delicious and Karen really liked the praline but I thought it tasted too much of olive oil and not enough of hazelnut. The caramel curd was both Karen's and my favorite dessert, as it had a great texture and was a much better use of the dehydrated sponge. The pineapple sorbet went fabulously with the caramel and sponge. The chocolate pop was also very delicious, although the cardamom in the ice cream was a dash too much. The petit fours arrived at the table in time to end the meal on the right track. There were 3 plates of petit fours - a plate of three different flavors of homemade marshmallows, a plate of 3 different flavors of french macaroons, and a plate of chocolates. The homemade marshmallows were banana, which I really didn't like, cranberry, which had a nice tart flavor, and vanilla. These were perfect in texture and I would take all but the banana in a big cup of hot cocoa any day. The french macaroons were mocha (okay), gingerbread (out of this world), and pomegranate (very good). There were four chocolates and each was excellent. My favorite had a thin layer of marzipan. There was also a lemon ginger one that was refreshing. The other two were very good but must have been forgettable, because I can not recall what the flavors were.

All in all, a very nice evening. If it had not been for the third course, I would certainly return. But, with all the other restaurants in Manhattan, its doubtful I will make an effort to return to this one.

NYC Subway Cupcakes

A good friend recently made a long anticipated move to NYC. His girlfriend decided that this was the perfect opportunity for a surprise "Welcome to NYC...finally" party. She knew immediately that the theme was going to be all things New York. When I found this out, I instantly knew I wanted to make some sort of cupcakes that fit in this theme because hello...a party isn't a party until there are cupcakes! But, what can you take thats NYC themed that can be transformed from a circular canvas? After racking my brain for hours, I was riding the subway and looked up from the crossword puzzle only to realize the answer was staring me right in the face (literally I was looking right at the round 4 train logo that I see everyday). Aha! I frosted the cupcake surfaces as smoothly as I could and then used the flat part of a butter knife to smooth out and flatten the piped on number. I found that putting a little confectioner's sugar on the knife helped smooth it down without it sticking to the knife.