Le Bernardin - Chef "Ripert" the Menu

This was another one that I was really looking forward to and I was so upset that it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The standout of the night was the wine. Every glass was an absolute delight. We started the evening with a cocktail in the lounge before we went to our table. The cocktails were artful and delicious, and the little trio of bar snacks (popcorn, cheese twists, and candied nuts) were downright addictive. Once we sat down for dinner, we had the sommelier pair each of our courses with wine. All of the glasses we each had were amazing and paired with the food expertly. It was certainly one of those cases in which it was the right move to leave it up to the in-house expert.

The overall feel of the restaurant is a bit on the stuffy side. You walk into the bar/lounge area and the dining room is just on the other side of the hostess stand. The dining room is elegant without being overly grand. But there is still a staid feel to it that doesn’t feel all that comfortable.

The menu choice is between a four course menu, a 7 course tasting menu, or a chef’s tasting menu of 8 courses. We had the four course menu, which allows you choose two appetizers from the almost raw and barely cooked sections, one from the lightly cooked, and then a dessert. The amuse bouche the evening we dined at Le Bernardin was a trio: a little dome of tuna tartare with soy, sea urchin with a soy citrus sauce, and a cup of lobster bisque. The lobster bisque was amazingly delicious and just an absolute standout in this trio. All three of us savored every drop of the rich tomato and lobster flavors. The bread basket was a choice of olive rosemary stick, raisin bread, parker house roll, or sourdough roll. These turned out to all be superb choices, with beautiful texture and flavor.

The appetizers continued what had started as a fabulous dinner. For appetizers, my friends both had the yellowfin tuna, which was thin layers of tuna with foie gras atop a toasted baguette with chives and olive oil. The plating of this was a bit strange and sort of lacked the beauty I would expect. The tuna was wonderfully fresh and the flavors simple and delicious but nothing mind altering. I had the Fluke "Sashimi" with avocado topped with jalapeño-lime broth. The clear winner was the fluke, which melted in your mouth, and the sauce was an awesome tart and hot combination. I loved it and was very happy with my choice.

For our next course, two of us opted to have the butter poached lobster tail with spiced celeriac, earl grey-citrus sauce. The lobster was splendid, but the best part was the heavenly citrus tea sauce, of which I was literally spooning up every last drop. Our other friend had the calamari with fermented black bean sauce, which was a really nice combination of flavors but nowhere near the caliber of the lobster. Sadly, the dishes from these two courses all stood out much more as hits than our entrees did.

For the last savory course, things just didn’t go as well as any of us expected. Each of the entrees was only okay. I had the best of the main courses, which was roasted monkfish with brussels sprouts and pata negra emulsion with a cup of mushroom custard to spoon on top. First off, to say it came with brussels sprouts is a mammoth overstatement since there were only two little leaves on the plate. The fish was cooked to perfection and very flavorful but the flavor was a bit cliqued…nothing earthshattering or worthy of a return trip and frankly spooning the mushroom custard on top was strange despite it adding flavor. One of my friends had the lobster with caramelized endive-pear terrine with whiskey peppercorn sauce. The lobster was not as good as the butter poached lobster appetizer and again was just a bit one dimensional in taste. Our third companion had steamed halibut with a beet sauce and horseradish crème fraiche. This just was so bland and the fish texture just felt over-cooked. Truthfully, there was no excuse for this dish even being on the menu.

For dessert, one friend had the panna cotta with caramelized fig puree and pear quince syrup, which was only okay. My other friend had the salted peanut caramel with milk chocolate and malted milk crunch, which was better but not amazing. I had the winning dessert, banana praline pate feuilletee with caramelized banana and hazelnut praline cream. This was a perfect example of how banana and praline should be combined and lifted my spirits after our disappointing entrees.

The petit fours before we left were a passion fruit macaroon, a caramel chocolate and a little butter cake. The butter cake was really moist and buttery but the other two petit fours were only okay.

Overall, the meal felt a little bit old school, and I suppose that’s exactly what a lot of people go to Le Bernardin and hope to find. The flavors just all felt a little bit been there done that and as if the chef hasn’t thought about updating the flavors or trying to make them better. All three of us agreed that we’d go back for the wine before we returned for the food.

Oceana

From the outside of Oceana and its name, I wouldn’t guess that it was a Michelin star restaurant. Rather, I’d think it a businessman or tourist trap that would put out clichéd and perhaps a bit overpriced seafood. So, I was pleasantly surprised when on my visit the other night it did neither.

I was on my way to a show and knew Oceana was down the block. So, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to stop in and cross a Michelin star that I wasn’t expecting much from off the list. I was happy to find that I should’ve expected much more. There is no doubt that I want like to return and sit down in the dining room for a full meal rather than just grabbing a quick bite at the bar like I did on this trip.

The space is bright and gorgeous with two levels of bar, one when you walk in and one to the right and down a few steps. This second bar is just in front of the dining room. Both bars are clean, white marble with dark wood and great places to have a drink, some appetizers, or a full meal. The open kitchen is in the back of the restaurant and visible from the bars and the dining room.

Oceana has a good wine and beer list, including Kelso a brewery I’m fond of. The chef of Oceana is Ben Pollinger, and, as would be expected, the menu focuses on seafood. As I said, my friend and I opted to have a quick meal at the bar before our show. I was very happy to find that despite the fact that we were dining at the bar they still brought us amuse bouches, bread, and petit fours. The amuse bouche was chestnut mushroom broth with lobster. It was a really nice earthy broth with a slight hint of seafood and a small little crunch of chestnut. The bread was two mini baguettes and one roll served cold with butter and salt.

For an appetizer, we had oysters Rockefeller that were extremely good. I liked these because they had a nice crunchy, buttery topping that did not overwhelm the flavor of the extremely fresh oysters which is too often the case with this dish.

For one of our main courses we had the Taro wrapped Pompano with baby bok choy, long beans, peanuts and coconut cilantro curry. This was so delicious. The fish was nice and flaky and the taro made a really nice crust on it. The sauce was also remarkably tasty and I was dipping my bread in it every opportunity I had. The other main course we had was the shrimp and grits. The shrimp were exceptionally good. I especially enjoyed the sauce on the shrimp and paid a fair amount of attention to the grit cake as well. My one complaint is that the shrimp had its head on and I would prefer if it hadn’t, because I just don’t like my food looking back at me.

I had the opportunity to walk past the kitchen on my way to the ladies room. I was happy to get a closer look into the open kitchen, which was immaculate and huge.

At the end of our meal, they brought over two mini pops for each of us, one was a chocolate pop and the other was a sweet potato pop with chocolate. These were awesome and a nice sendoff as we ran out the door to our show.

Frankly, as we left I realized that I wanted to rewind and have a proper meal that was less rushed in the dining room. The food at Oceana was incredibly flavorful and definitely worthy of a return trip.

I'm Sho Sure Sho Shaun Hergatt is Worthy of Two Stars

Sho Shaun Hergatt is located just down the street from the NY Stock Exchange in the Setai Hotel. You take an elevator from the lobby up to the second floor and when you exit you have this awkward walk down to the hostess stand as you both stare at one another until you’re at the right distance to say something. The space is beautifully designed with a bar at the entry and tables to the left. The night we went it was practically empty and every bite we had made me more and more confused as to how this could possibly be the case. Chef Shaun Hergatt’s style is Asian inspired French cuisine with a focus on local ingredients and interesting techniques. In this venture, Chef Hergatt managed to present some of the most interesting and spot on flavor combinations I have had in a while. So much so that my sister and I left our dinner here saying that it deserved two stars on the 2012 list that had yet to be released at the time we ate there. So when the new list was released a few weeks later, neither of us was surprised that it had been upgraded to two.

The night we went was the debut night of the new five course tasting menu. The chef came out after our third course to ask us about portion size and whether we thought it was too much, too little, or just perfect and whether we were enjoying the food. It’s nice when you have that special touch of a restaurant caring what people think about their food. The service at Sho was very good and seamless.

The amuse bouche was two parts. The first was a pea puree with this fabulous coconut foam on top. The fresh pea flavor just popped with the coconut and tasted like spring. The second part was these fried potato balls rolled in black truffle and stuffed with a tiny bit of foie gras. These balls were amazing, which shocked me because I’m typically not a huge fan of foie gras.

The bread was this extremely nice rustic country bread that they made in-house. It has that crisp, crunchy crust and soft airy interior that rustic breads should. This came with a choice between plain butter and a sage butter. I wanted to love the sage butter, but it was not as flavorful or stunning as it looked and sounded.

Karen’s first course was a beet roulade with a horseradish “marshmallow” that was really more the consistency of a crème fraiche and had this wonderful tangy/spicy horseradish bite. The beet roulade was a puree covered in a dehydrated beet and served with baby roasted beets. I love beets and this was such a new and refreshing twist on beet preparation. My first course was the salt pressed ocean trout with pear. This was a very nice presentation of raw fish with very nice flavors. Definitely something I would order again.

For her second course, Karen had the celeriac espuma with crispy potato, black truffle powder, and truffle cream. I had the coxcomb, which was veal tongue ribbons, chicken skin, and mushrooms. Both dishes arrived with the garnishes in a bowl and then waiters ceremoniously spooned a foam atop each. The celeriac was very good but it was very rich. The mushrooms on the coxcomb plate were unremarkable. But the veal tongue ribbons were so tender, deliciously salty, and rich that I was totally blown away and didn’t even pay any attention to anything else.
For the third course, Karen had the nova scotia lobster with garlic chives and a chili coconut sauce. The lobster was cooked earth-shatteringly perfect, but the component that really won on the plate was the coconut chili sauce. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the best coconut curry sauce I’ve ever had, managing to find the ideal balance between heat and sweet. I had the sous vide amadai with baby clams and turnips. The amadai was a beautiful piece of white fish that was simply prepared and wonderful. But, there was no question that Karen’s dish won this round.

For the fourth course, Karen had the beef cheek wrapped in ham with leeks. I couldn’t believe how meaty, rich, and fabulous this was. It tasted like the most perfectly braised piece of meat ever. My fourth course was cracked soba risotto with an egg yolk, parmesan, and these delightful crumbs sprinkled over it. The egg yolk oozed all over the perfect risotto. I can’t remember ever having such delicious risotto.

For the firth course, Karen had the caramelia custard with dark chocolate and buttermilk sorbet. This was extremely good but it couldn’t come close to my strawberry dessert with fresh strawberries and strawberry meringue. My dessert was no where near big enough but the flavor was so amazing I couldn’t complain. The meringues dissolve on your tongue with a slight snap when you bite into them and the strawberries were perfectly sweet.

After our meal, they brought carrot cake French macaroons with a cream cheese center and warm donuts covered in cardamom sugar. These absolutely sealed Karen’s and my vote for this restaurant to have 2 Michelin stars. The carrot cake macaroon was spicy, tangy, and just AMAZING. The cardamom donuts, which tasted like fall, were extremely good.

I’m sure you couldn’t fail to notice that there were a lot of “bests” in this meal. It was truly amazing and well worth a trip. I think I’ll try to go for the three course prix fixe lunch sometime. I was happy to see that in the 2012 guide Sho Shaun received 2 Michelin stars. There is no doubt in my mind that it completely deserves these.

Weird Wallse

Wallse is Viennese cuisine by Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner located in the far western reaches of the West Village. The space has a definite European feel to it and is bright and bustling. There was something about the evening that made me want to start off the night with one of the delicious sounding cocktails. Most likely it’s my inability to resist Pimms that did it. The Charlie Chaplin with Gin, Vermouth, Pimms and bitters was a fabulous little cocktail that I would definitely order again.

The bread was unremarkable, which as a cardo addict is a huge disappointment for me. Luckily, the appetizer we ordered, Pan seared scallops with bacon and Mache sauce, was ridiculously good. The sauce is a green sauce made from Mache lettuce and it has this almost nutty flavor to it, sort of like a more interesting and richer spinach. The scallops were melt in your mouth tender and the perfect example of exactly how a scallop should be cooked. The only complaint I have was that there wasn’t quite enough bacon but I suppose there will never be enough bacon in the world for me!

For the entrees, my friend had the boiled kavalierspitz (beef shoulder) with root vegetables and apple horseradish and I had the weiner schnitzel with potato-cucumber salad and lingonberries. My friend’s entrée was okay but nothing special. The beef was nice and tender but the flavor had something missing and the horseradish sauce needed somthing as well. The weiner schnitzel was very good and I really liked the potato cucumber salad. The breading was perfect. Funny enough, these dishes were the same orders that my sister and I had placed when we ate at Seasonal Weinbar & Kitchen. So I couldn't help but compare the execution of the dishes between these two places. Hands down, Seasonal won on both.

The post dinner petit fours were probably among my least favorite I’ve ever had. The flavors of both were just not the sort of sweet I like to end my meal.

I’m not so sure that Wallse is worthy of a Michelin star. The service the night we went was very bizarre. Our waitress was incredibly awkward and each time she came to our table it was weird. Also, the food was good but it didn’t have anything that made it extraordinary or worth a return trip. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would maybe go again. But I would not find the need to travel out of my way to go back. I do have to say though that the mache sauce on the scallops was the most memorable part of the meal.

Hopefully this will be the last restaurant on the Michelin list that falls short of my expectations of what a Michelin restaurant should be.

Marc Forgione - Menu as Fiction

Sometimes the descriptions of dishes on menus are more beautiful than the execution in a sort of menu as fiction or embellishment of the truth way. Unfortunately, Marc Forgione is one of those places. I read the menu before I went and fell for the story only to be let down when I went and found out what the true story is. Of all the spots on the Michelin list, this is one that I was whole-heartedly looking forward to and had such high expectations for. So maybe the fact that I didn’t adore it is partly my fault because I had anticipated it becoming one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Here’s the thing…I didn’t hate it and saw enough promise that I would be willing to go back and give it another shot. I’m not going to run and do it immediately, but I do think at some point I may try again. There wasn’t anything we had that wasn’t good, but there wasn’t anything we had that was transcendental and the menu makes the food sound as if it will be.

The space is very cool with cedar wood and brick walls with hanging candles lighting the rather dim dining room. It’s sort of oddly barnyard or cottage cozy in a way. The restaurant has a very fun cocktail list and a great wine list. We picked a nice white wine.

One half of the two piece amuse bouche of the evening was possibly the best bite of the night. The fresh tomato gazpacho was tomato pepper heaven in a way that made me sad it was only one bite. The other half was a stone fruit crumble that tasted rather like a yogurt granola parfait in an unremarkable you feel like you’re eating healthy food way.

The bread rolls arrived and they looked awesome. Warm rolls with herb butter and tops brushed with butter and sprinkled with kosher salt. These were very good but not quite soft and delicious enough to be the best warm dinner rolls I’ve ever had.

We ordered two appetizers to start a Crab, Watermelon, and jalapeno salad and an Eggplant Parmesan with burrata, eggplant, crispy fried bits, and tomato. All the flavorings of the crab salad complemented one another very nicely, but there was something missing from the dish that my friend and I couldn’t pinpoint. The Eggplant parmesan was disappointing. It was decomposed eggplant parmesan with cubes of eggplant that were rather boring and delicious bites of tomato and fun little crunchy fried pieces on the plate and “burrata” that was really mozzarella. And if you know me, you know that telling me I’m going to get burrata but then serving me mozzarella is a big no-no.

I ordered the Buddhist Duck Breast with LeBak Farms Corn Emulsion, Bacon, and Smoked Sea Salt and my friend had the Halibut with Lobster emulsion. The duck was perfectly cooked with a nice crispy skin and the dish overall had very nice components to it. But it felt as if it was sort of any easy throw together weeknight meal that I could’ve easily made at home. The Halibut was also perfectly cooked and the lobster sauce was very good, but it was almost exactly the same as a sauce that we learned to make in our second semester of culinary school. So again, it seemed a bit elementary. There’s nothing wrong with elementary food, but the menu reads at a higher level than the delivered food.

We ordered one dessert to split, the Banana Cream Pie Sundae with Salted Caramel. This was very delicious and a nice little way to finish the evening.

Like I said, the meal was good, but I expected amazing.

A Voce Columbus

I love good Italian food. But, there seem to be a high number of “okay” Italian places and very few amazing ones. In other words, an Italian restaurant really has to wow me to receive anything close to a rave review. Frankly, there are far too many Italian restaurants around to be okay with dining at a mediocre one. In my pre-dining research on A Voce, I heard very mixed reviews about various people’s experience dining there. Some people told me that they had a fabulous dish there, while others said they were underwhelmed. Nevertheless, I went in with an open mind and hopes that I would find a “wow”-worthy Italian restaurant.

A Voce Columbus is in the Time Warner Center, which lays claim to three restaurants with Michelin stars. The restaurant overlooks Central Park and as such most tables offer beautiful park views. The kitchen has windows that are a bit higher than eye level when you’re seated, but on your way to your seat these windows offer nice views into the pristine kitchen. Honestly, I have no idea how any of the chefs get anything done as they also have windows overlooking the park.

The space is very sleek and the weeknight we were there it was populated with a large number of couples with their teenage kids and a few tables of businessmen that matched the sleek design. We were seated by the big window in a booth overlooking the park. The view alone makes a trip to the restaurant worthwhile (did I say that already? Sorry, but we went there on a gorgeous summer evening just as the sun was setting and it was an “I love New York” type view).

The housemade cocktails were quite interesting sounding so my friend opted for one of those, while I went with a delightful glass of Nebbiolo. After we placed our order, a plate of focaccia with ricotta with mint, olive oil and fresh cracked black pepper arrived. The focaccia had a gorgeous texture and the ricotta and mint was lovely smeared on top of it.

We had two appetizers, Cassoncini and Pancetta. The Cassoncini are listed on the menu as swiss chard and crescenza cheese filled fried dough, prosciutto de parma. I thought the prosciutto would be in the pockets and warm but it was actually cold and layered on top. I would have preferred that the prosciutto be inside the pockets because the way they were made the overall flavor of the dish was overwhelmed by the swiss chard. Basically, these were just a disappointment in a way that fried dough pockets should never be. The pancetta was a long strip of pork belly with figs, balsamic vinegar, and pistachios. This was okay but also a bit underwhelming. The pork flavor was mild and it just didn’t have the salty smoke flavor of pork belly that I adore nor did it have the texture that I prefer in pork belly.

For her entrée, my friend decided on the special ravioli with goat cheese and pistachios. I had the trofie with clams, ramps, lemon, and taggiasca olives. Both of these were good pasta dishes but neither of them knocked my socks off. The ravioli had a mild goat cheese flavor and was in a nice butter sauce. The texture was very good, and the dish won best entrée of the table. The trofie looked like little devils and the clams in them were cooked perfectly, but there weren’t enough clams or ramps and the lemon flavor was far too mild. It tasted more of butter than anything else. In other words, I agreed with my friends that had only okay experiences with A Voce. This experience made me wonder whether the other A Voce would disappoint me equally or whether it is superior to this location. I’m willing to give it a chance and have hopes it will win a “wow”.

My friend had a number of raviolis left, so she decided to take them to go. The waiter cleared our plates away and then instead of returning with the doggie bag, he returned with a coat check ticket and told her she could pick up her leftovers at the coat check on the way out. This was definitely one of the classiest ways to handle doggie bags that I’ve ever seen. I kind of loved it…maybe even more then the food I had that night.

For dessert, it’s difficult to resist doughnuts with bittersweet chocolate dipping sauce so we didn’t even try. These were pretty good, but sadly not the best doughnuts I’ve ever had. The bittersweet chocolate was awesome though.

All in all, I think A Voce has scene/atmosphere going for it. Sadly, the food just doesn’t live up to the view.

Sushi Azabu

Sushi Azabu is located in the basement of Greenwich Grill and boasts a modest eight seat counter sushi bar with a few banquettes lining the opposite wall. You enter through the Greenwich Grill’s main entrance and when you inform the hostess you’re there for the sushi bar she radios down to find out if they’re ready for you. You’re led down the stairs to the basement and through a series of curtains to arrive at Sushi Azabu and you’re welcomed with the typical sushi bar greeting from the itamaes behind the bar. The small space is modestly decorated and there are three itamaes behind the counter.

The gimmick worked on me and I was immediately in love. I honestly don’t know if it’s feeling like I know something that others don’t or basement hideouts that appeal to me more. We ordered the omakase that they’re willing to alter the content and price of according to your needs. We decided to go with the recommended $100 price point and a side of Sapporo. I personally far prefer beer over sake with sushi, but if you’re into sake they have quite a list.

Our first bite was octopus and daikon radish in a miso and soy glaze. I loved the daikon in this and parts of the octopus were delightful while others were a tad too chewy. This bite was followed by the largest oysters I have ever seen in my entire life. A series of 3 giant Japanese oysters were arranged on this mammoth oyster shell with a minced, slightly hot pepper and Japanese sauce atop it. The oysters were a delight and unexpectedly were oddly creamier then their smaller, US brethren.

At the start, the food was arriving at a much faster pace then I prefer. It’s a very delicate science as to the right speed for food to arrive. I don’t like when you start looking around wondering why you haven’t gotten anything, but I despise when one plate is removed and another immediately placed in front of you. I’m not a competitive eater and I like to slowly enjoy my food otherwise I don’t have room for my dessert! I really wish they had been a bit slower with the food.

Next up was the sashimi plate, which had two or three pieces of four different types of fish. My favorite was this white fish that was buttery heaven. My next favorite was the fatty tuna. I didn’t love either the clam or the mackerel, the latter of which tasted a tad bit fishy to me and had the skin still on.

The theme throughout the night was without a doubt Fatty Tuna. We had many different preparations of it and most had different levels of fattiness. I loved each piece of fatty tuna we tried, but I would’ve liked a bit more variety in the fish because it seemed like they had a good selection on the regular menu. I couldn’t help but wonder whether they were putting forth their best fish or trying to get rid of something they had in large supply.

After our sashimi, a piping hot ramekin of egg custard was placed in front of us. It was so steaming that we had to wait a good 5 minutes before it was cool enough to try. This was an interesting little dish with mushrooms and egg. It was tasty, but nothing special.

The next dish was a cold crab and cucumber salad in vinaigrette. This was very good fresh crab in a really nice rice wine vinaigrette with crisp cucumber. But again, it was nothing that blew me out of the water. The following dish was fatty tuna marinated in sweet miso sauce. To me there is absolutely nothing as delightful as fish in miso. It’s just a match made in flavor heaven. So it was no surprise that I loved this, but I will say I prefer black cod miso.

Then the main event and my absolute favorite part began. The itamae made us single sushi pieces and placed them ceremoniously on the board in front of each of us. I loved watching him mold the rice for each piece and delicately place the fish atop it. Each piece contained the proper balance of flavor on the rice (we were not given soy sauce to dip the pieces in but rather the chef included the proper flavorings on each individual piece whether that be soy and wasabi or something else). We began with a fatty tuna piece that was fabulous. Our next sushi was scallop. I’ve never had scallop sushi, and I’m sad I haven’t because this was really delightful. The thinly sliced scallop was layered over the rice, and the bite just melted in your mouth. The next was salmon roe roll, which was okay but a bit too much roe flavor that to me should have been offset by something else being in the roll. Then there was a piece of mackerel that was far better than the sashimi mackerel. And then our itamae pulled out a blow torch and seared a piece of fatty tuna that had been brushed with a soy-miso glaze atop rice. Holy cow…it was awesome. Next was my favorite, the horse mackerel (Aji) that was just buttery goodness. Then, he passed us a cone of fatty tuna that was excellent. Our final role was a miso black cod roll that was fish candy heaven on rice. After we had digested for a few minutes, he came over and said I am going to make you each one more of whatever was your favorite roll. I picked the Aji and Susan opted for the miso black cod. This entire portion of the night sold me on this place.

After our sushi board was cleared, our waitress brought us shrimp head miso. This was far too strong of a shrimp taste for either of us and we were forced to feign complete and utter fullness to avoid any awkward we don’t like this at all conversations.

All in all, a wonderful experience at the sushi bar. I would have definitely enjoyed seeing a greater variety of fish, but adored the majority of what they served us. It hasn’t stolen my heart as my favorite sushi bar in the city, but it is a cool place that serves excellent quality sushi.