Minetta Tavern

Minetta definitely made the Michelin list with a big “sceney” vote. Minetta is one of Keith McNally’s restaurant empire and the kitchen is led by Executive Chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr who both worked at Daniel. It’s a redo of a Tavern from the 1930s and it’s designed to carry that old tavern feel and a bit a speakeasy charm with no windows. When you walk in, there’s a long bar with a mirror behind it and big red stools lining it. The floor is black and white checkered and the walls are dark wood paneling with a sepia haze atop that makes you feel like the restaurant has been around for years. The menu is very much classic French Brasserie, which you’ll never hear me complain about. The cocktail list is well conceived with classic cocktails redone with modern twists. They’re a bit on the pricey side at $15 a pop, but at least the ones we had carried a potent mix of booze that gives you a sense that you’re getting a bit more bang for your buck.


I arrived before my friend and found the bar to be a bit more bustling and crowded than I would like. I fought through the crowds though and ordered a Rhubarb Sophie. After my first sip, the crowd simply melted away. This absolutely delightful cocktail of cucumber, vodka, rhubarb bitters, agave syrup and lime was pure refreshment that reminded me of a hot summer day sipping limeade.


When my friend arrived and we were led back to our table in the main dining room, we realized that the tables were packed ridiculously tight. So tightly in fact that there was someone whose job it was to pull the table completely out of the lineup of two tops and let one guest in to the booth side and then push the table back in. So not only is one of you pretty much stuck for the whole meal, but you both can hear the conversations on either side of you. Sometimes the eavesdropping in these situations makes the evening much more entertaining but on this night the couple next to us were on an anniversary dinner and the wife complained about EVERYTHING which was not entertaining in the least.


The waitress came by and offered an impressive list of delicious sounding specials. However, my heart was set on the summery sounding crab salad appetizer on the main menu. So we started our meal by splitting this as an appetizer. The crab salad was awesome – beautifully fresh crab with slices of avocado, wedges of grapefruit and hearts of palm. The flavors and textures were just wonderful with the citrus, crab, and avocado. A fabulous summer salad.


For my main, there was no way I could order anything other than the infamous custom blended black label burger from the meat purveyor La Frieda. The burger is a blend of dry-aged beef (supposedly a mix of dry aged ribeye, skirt steak, and brisket) with caramelized onions on top of a brioche bun. They apparently cook it over relatively low heat until it develops a crust and drizzle it with some clarified butter while it cooks. As the burger rests, the onions are cooked in the burger juices left on the griddle. The waitress delivered the burger with a “the chef recommends you try the burger without any condiments first”. I’m a huge ketchup fan so this was quite a request. But since I love chefs just as much, I heeded their advice. The aged beef gives it this really cool funky, rich flavor and the sweetness of the light smear of caramelized onions contrasts really nicely. The burger had a nice crust on it and was the perfect juiciness that oozed into the bun that captured all the delicious drippings. It wasn’t the best burger or bun I’ve ever had but it scored some serious points for the interesting flavor. And if it’s any sign of how much I enjoyed it, I finished it completely condiment free. Now, one thing you must be aware of that I almost missed…About halfway through my burger, I paused and looked down at my plate only to notice a pickle I hadn’t seen before. I will passionately urge all of you to eat this pickle. It is definitely homemade with a hint of spiciness that you get at the tail end and delicious dill and fennel flavors. Just awesome. And the thin cut fries were crispy for the entire time my plate was on the table.


My friend ordered the beef tartare for her dinner which came with thin, waffle cut fried potatoes. The beef tartare was fabulous. The fresh beef was perfectly seasoned and had the right balance of capers and lovely egg that oozed over the tartare.


I enjoyed the food at Minetta. There truly were only good bites and the food deserves the accolades it receives. The scene was perhaps a bit too bustling and the dining area a bit too tight for me. But I suppose some people really enjoy this type of atmosphere. Is it worthy of a Michelin? I'm not completely convinced. But it is worthy of a visit.

Soto Is Sorta Michelin

Some girls like to collect diamonds, but I prefer to collect Michelin stars. The benefit of having a mission of collecting all the Michelin stars NYC has to offer is that friends really embrace and support the goal. In fact, many friends have taken my birthday as an opportunity to contribute to the mission and I truly can't think of a better gift!

The birthday stars began with a trip to Soto a few weeks ago. Soto is a rather intimidating restaurant. The exterior is unmarked, with only a number and a window of odd white cutouts to assure you that you're at the right spot. When you enter, the dining room is austere and you partly feel like you just barged in on someone's private affair. On the left side, there's a sushi bar and on the right there are a series of tables. My friend and I were seated at one of the tables, but if I return, I'll likely aim to sit at the bar.

Sake lovers will appreciate Soto's impressive sake list. But personally, when I have sushi, I prefer to stick with beer. The menu is four sections of different styles of preparation. The first is a series of small, mostly raw fish preparations. Then there are the items from the sushi bar, from the kitchen dishes, and finally the sushi, sashimi, and sushi rolls. Soto offers two omakase options, one that spans the entire menu and the other that focuses on sashimi. Typically at a sushi restaurant, I would opt for the omakases; however, Soto has an endless supply of dishes that highlight the chef's love of uni (sea urchin). I don't share this love in the slightest. In fact, sea urchin is on my list of top three things I never want to eat EVER again. Since neither my friend nor I felt comfortable with the idea of leaving our meal selection completely in the hands of an uni lover, we decided to order off the menu a la carte. We selected two items from each of the four sections and awaited the beginning of our star acquisition.

After we ordered, complimentary edamame was brought to the table. I love edamame, but often it's unremarkable from place to place. This was some of the best edamame I've ever had. It was coated in almost a syrupy salt flavor and cooked perfectly. For the small bites, we chose a lightly grilled salmon with a mustard sauce and thinly sliced fluke with lime and yuzu. The salmon was thin squares that had a beautiful texture and flavor. And I loved the yuzu on the fluke. The small bites were definitely a nice lead-in to the meal. I would order both when I return to Soto.

For the next options, we had the wild snapper carpaccio, salmon citrus, and aji tataki. The aji tataki was chopped mackerel with ginger shoots, chives, scallions, and shiso leaves. Really just a delicious raw fish salad with a nice, light ginger flavor, slight oniony kick, and herbal shiso finish. The wild snapper carpaccio was served with chopped ginger and it was very good, but nothing special. What totally stole the show from this course and the whole meal was the salmon citrus. My friend took one bite and declared she could eat it every day and would if given the option. The salmon was beautifully fresh and slightly cured with a very soft citrus sauce. Absolutely fantastic.

For our items from the kitchen, we had a platter of tempura and langoustine with shiitake sauce. The tempura was really nicely fried and the dipping sauce was delicious. But it was simply a well executed tempura that was nothing I would feel inclined to order again. The langoustine itself was the perfect texture, but it was covered in this creamy mushroom mixture that was reminiscient of campbell's cream of mushroom soup. The mushroom flavor overpowered the whole dish and I just didn't love it.

We ordered a few pieces of sushi and sashimi as well and each was melt in your mouth fresh. When I return, I'd definitely order more off the sushi menu.

The one problem I had with Soto was how quickly the dishes arrived. As soon as we put down our chopsticks, the dishes were cleared and the next ones arrived. I prefer a much more leisurely meal and tend to believe a Michelin restaurant should be the type of place in which you don't feel rushed.

Soto has two michelin stars and the quality of food definitely is deserving of at least one. I'm not certain if it merits two stars. Perhaps if I was into uni, it would be two stars. Regardless of whether it is one or two stars, with all the delicious, fresh sushi bar preparations, Soto is certainly a place to return. Especially to have that salmon citrus again!

Aldea - Chef Mendes's Perfect Little Village

Aldea means village in Spanish and its cuisine, by Chef George Mendes, is inspired by the Iberian Peninsula. The restaurant space is long and narrow, with the bar area in the front and the kitchen in the back of the first floor. The decor is that vibrant mix of blues and whites that evokes the feeling of being on the coast somewhere. I instantly fell for it, as I love anything that feels like you're on vacation. The bar area is certainly one fit for bar dining, although the large white chairs are packed a bit tighter than I would like.

We were seated on the first floor, allowing me to peer down the hallway to the kitchen and get glimpses of Chef Mendes in action. I'm sure you all appreciate the actual Chef of a restaurant being in the kitchen, and seeing this Top Chef Masters contestant at work was a pleasant surprise (NB - he is far more handsome and younger looking in person than on tv).

As seems to be the trend at these Michelin restaurants, the bread basket offered three options. If available, I try to choose the bread that is the most unlike ones I've had at other places. So you can imagine that I jumped all over the bacon cornbread, while my more conservative friend opted for the plainer looking roll. I was saddened to find that the cornbread didn't actually have any bacon in it, but rather, it tasted as if it was bathed in cold bacon grease. This resulted in a wierd textured cornbread that was chewy and nothing like the crunchy, soft, and buttery cornbread that I crave. I presume my friend's roll was far better, as she devoured it and praised how delightful it was.

Aldea has a nightly 5-course tasting menu. The evening my friend and I went there was only one item on the tasting, the soft shell crab, that held my interest. Since we couldn't rationalize ordering a tasting menu that was batting only 20%, we ordered off the main menu. The regular menu is divided into the sections little bites, charcuterie, appetizers, entrees and sides. There was something about the menu that lead us both to focus on seafood appetizers and meat entrees. We ordered one "little bite", the bonita tuna rillette with caper and tomato on charred bread. Fact is, just writing the name of this wonderful little bite, makes me contemplate when I can fit going back to Aldea in my schedule just to have it again. The thin slice of perfectly toasted bread with a coating of olive oil was topped with the most tender flaked tuna. The flavor just popped with the salty capers and a mild tomato essense. Little bite also doesn't quite do it justice. It was a thankfully generous serving.

For appetizers, my friend ordered the shrimp alhinho with garlic, coriander, pimento and pressed jus and I had the warm maine lobster with artichoke, vadouvan butter, and vanilla pineapple. The shrimp had a bold spiced flavor and was very well cooked, but in the battle of the crustacean appetizers, the lobster just blew the shrimp clear out of the water. The tender lobster just melted in your mouth and the pineapple and vanilla made a very interesting addition to the plate that really worked well. Vandouvan is a french curry spice that is typically a combination of onions, shallots, and garlic with indian spices like cardamom, curry leaves, and fenugreek. In other words, it results in a hint of indian-spiced flavor with sweet and smoky notes. Yes, the vandouvan butter on the lobster was just perfect. And with the sweetness of the vanilla and pineapple the whole dish really burst with flavor. The lobster is absolutely another dish to add to the list of return visit musts!

I know I always order the pork dish on every menu. But after Public's disappointing pork performance the week before, I was a bit put-off and I was made more skeptical by Aldea's inclusion of clams on its pork dish. Luckily, my friend decided she wanted the pork, which made me feel more comfortable ordering the hanger steak. The hanger steak was served with smoked eggplant puree, garlic broccoli rabe and maitake mushrooms. The steak was nicely charred on the outside and tender and pink inside. I loved the smoked eggplant puree that leant such a rich, smoky flavor to every bite of steak. The broccoli rabe was sort of an afterthought to me. As it is, I'm not a huge fan of this bitter green, but I thought it was pretty generic in character. And for a restaurant that puts forth a lot of inventive garnishes, this seemed too obvious a side. Then, I tried the hertigage breed pork chop with manila clams, vinho verde, and caramelized turnip. With one bite, I realized that I would go back to ordering the pork almost everywhere I dine. This pork chop is not for those who are afraid of a little pink on their pork. Its cooked medium and is juicy and tender. Simply put, the flavor borders on the insane.

Towards the end of our meal, we found that we over-ordered on the savory front, which is much to the contrary of my normally dessert-focused mindset. In all honesty, at that point I felt like I made the ultimate rookie mistake, because all the desserts sounded marvelous. Well that and I didn't order the pork! But as I recapped all the food in my mind, I couldn't imagine cutting any of it from the evening's line-up. It truly is a restaurant deserving of a Michelin star.

I can't wait to return to Aldea and try out the dessert! And of course have the tuna rillette and pork chop! Seriously...I've been thinking about it All-dea.

With food like this, I wouldn't go Public

It's not that I didn't expect some disappointments on this Michelin journey. It's just that I was truly hoping to be only mildly disappointed. Perhaps its best that I got one disappointment out of the way. After all, Susan smartly brought up the fact that I probably should save a restaurant that I was really looking forward to for last so that finishing up doesn't feel anticlimactic. Like ending the mission at Kajitsu, the all vegetarian buddhist restaurant, might just be an ill-conceived plan. Anyway, that's besides the point. Let me tell you about my first and hopefully only disappointment on this michelin mission of mine.

Like all the restaurants designed by the AvroKo Restaurant Group (to name a few Stanton Social, Quality Meats, Park Avenue and Double Crown), the design of Public is a very detailed, well thought out concept. The concept is supposed to remind you of public institutions, but think much hipper library that you'd want to hang out at because it has adult beverages and good food. I didn't get that public institution feel from the design, but I did really think the space was beautiful. And, as the night I dined at Public was one of those gorgeous spring nights, I adored the garage-like sliding doors that are open on such lovely nights.

Public has some interesting sounding cocktails and I was really excited to try the one with Ribena. But, after I ordered it, the waitress told me they were no longer making that cocktail. I was too disappointed to pick another one, so I settled for a very nice glass of cava. The bread basket had some interesting choices. My culinary school friend that I went with opted for the dried cherry and aleppo pepper roll and I had focaccia. Both of the breads were the sort that made you thankful that bread was ever created and we both quickly finished our pieces. The cherry aleppo bread didn't have a strong flavor of either pepper or cherries but still had a nice texture. It was a very nice way to start off the meal, but sadly these were one of the most memorable parts of our meal.


Public is a global fusion restaurant with a focus on New Zealand and Australian foods. To start, I ordered the special appetizer of lavender cured ham with a frisee salad, candied pecans, and truffle oil. Both my friend and I tried very hard to get any sort of lavender flavor from the ham but after many bites realized we weren't tasting it because it just wasn't there. The ham on its own was tasteless, and a bite of all the components together was only saved by the truffle oil. There was nothing remarkable about this plate. It wasn't bad but it wasn't something I would feel any pull to order again. My friend had the grilled kangaroo on a coriander falafel with lemon tahini sauce and green pepper relish. The kangaroo was cooked perfectly. It had a very tender texture and just melted in your mouth. But, the coriander falafel overwhelmed the flavor of everything on the plate. As my classmate said, it just tasted like she got a decent falafel from a cart for lunch. In other words, just another unremarkable appetizer.

For my main, I showed my true pork loving ways and followed my pork appetizer with a pork main consisting of confit pork belly and roasted pork tenderloin with salsify, apple puree, and a sage shortbread. The pork belly was a big disappointment. I like pork fat and all but my pork belly was almost entirely skin and fat with maybe only a thin slice of meat to speak of. The tenderloin was the perfect pink color and gorgeously tender but it lacked any significant flavor. I was really looking forward to the salsify, because I so rarely get to have this root that I love. The salsify had a really nice caramely sweet flavor to it, but I found it to be a bit undercooked for my tastes. When all hope was lost on my plate, I found the saving grace. Below my tenderloin, was this absolutely delightful sage shortbread that just popped with buttery sage goodness. It provided the tenderloin that missing flavor it needed. My classmate ordered the lamb with caper piquillo salsa and cauliflower puree and said it was good but not amazing. She offered me a bite with the warning that it was very lamby tasting. In other words, she knew I would try it, shrug my shoulders, and say the same thing I always do when I have a bite of lamb..."tastes like lamb and nope I still don't like lamb". I figured that I would save both of us from this deju vu and declined a taste of her dish knowing it would not be the one that would convert me to lamb lover.
For dessert we had the yuzu-lime tart with coconut meringue ice cream and lemongrass sauce. It was a refreshing fruit dessert that was very good but again failed to elicit a wow from either of us.

As we finised our meal, my classmate mentioned that she's had brunch at Public and it was much better than our dinner. I just don't know if I can get over the disappointment of the dinner to go back and try another meal here. The menu sounded so promising to me, with lots of different global flavors paired to make lovely sounding dishes, but the execution of the plates did not deliver what I believed was promised on the menu. Huh...perhaps the restaurant did remind me more of a public institution than I first realized.

Aureole - Angels in the kitchen...

Aureole means halo in French and after eating there the other night I'd be astonished if each and every one of the chefs in that kitchen wasn't an angel. It was the ideal first restaurant on the road to visiting all the New York City Michelin starred restaurants. It is sadly so rare these days to leave a restaurant and think over and over again that the dining experience you just had is exactly what eating out is meant to be.

Aureole is located in the Bank of America building diagonally across from Bryant Park. The front of the restaurant is a bright bar room with floor to ceiling windows and the main dining room is in a separate area in the back. The dining room at Aureole feels comfortable at the same time as instilling a sense that the evening is a special one in a very nice restaurant.

There are a few different tasting menu options in the dining room, including a very affordable early bird, three course pre-theatre special for $55. The other two options are a regular three course meal, which has more choices than the pre-theatre special, or the six course tasting menu. I insisted that Karen and I have the regular three course option, because the pork dish wasn't available on the pre-theatre menu. I am sure it comes as no shock to you that I was willing to pay a premium to have the pork chop.

The amuse bouche was a potato vichyssoise with a thin slice of roasted peasant in the bottom and a tiny corn panna cotta on top. This was a brilliant start to the meal. A rich soup with a silky texture. The corn garnish carried the promise of both the delicious meal and the summer soon to come. And like both a fabulous meal and summer, I wanted more.

Then, one of my favorite parts...the bread basket. There was a sourdough, a foccaccia and a cranberry and walnut roll. I chose the cranberry and walnut roll and loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I found a recipe on Epicurious for cranberry walnut rolls and made them this past weekend!

Karen started with the peekytoe crab with soy gelee, lime and pomegranate. I've never had crab paired with soy before and both Karen and I were amazed at how well these two paired. The crab was delicate and sweet leaving me insanely jealous of Karen's order. My first course was white asparagus with parmesan crumble, poached quail egg, ramp bearnaise, and iberico ham. Unfortunately, I have a few complaints about the dish...The quail egg was completely unnecessary and lacked flavor and I would have liked the asparagus to be a bit more tender. But the rest of the dish was a very good. I was literally vacuuming the salty parmesan crumble and the rich ramp bearnaise off the plate. There wasn't a speck of either left...all that was left was some of the useless quail egg. It was a bit of a shame that the asparagus wasn't a bit more tender, because had it been, the dish would have been a total wow.

For our second courses, Karen ordered the Alaskan Halibut with endive apple marmalade, parmesan, and vin jaune and I had the suckling pork with ramps and a mustard glaze. Both were absolutely amazing. The halibut was perfectly cooked and the tart apple flavor with the salty parmesan was genius on the fish. But to pig-obsessed me, it just couldn't come close to the heavenly pork dish. The pork dish consisted of two parts, pulled pork cheeks with a mustard sauce and crispy pork belly. The pork cheeks were melt in your mouth tender and the mustard sauce was insanely flavorful. The pork belly was the way pork belly should be, that is crispy and moist with a rich pork bacon flavor. All Aureole's sauces on its appetizer and main courses were stellar. If they bottled them up and sold them, I'd be first in line.

It was as if someone sent a note to Aureole on how to win my praise (hint it involves not only fabulous pork but marvelous desserts). Before we ordered dessert, a pre-dessert of fresh strawberry jam and creme fraiche was whisked to our table. The dessert choice of chocolate trio was an easy choice for me. After seeing how well the pastry kitchen treated fruit, Karen chose the muscat poached pineapple with coconut and passion fruit. First of all, the plating of the desserts, and every other course for that matter, was gorgeous. The chocolate trio was a milk chocolate mille-feuille, white chocolate mousse, and chocolate fondant. These were all very good, but the one that stood out as memorable to me was the mille-feuille. It was almost candy-bar like in its richness and crunch. Karen's pineapple was good, with the coconut sorbet being my absolute favorite part of the dish.

Then came the petit fours. The chocolate, pate de fruit, and macaroon on the plate were good but they didn't stand a chance against the caramel apple candy, which was by far one of the best candies I have had in a very long time.

Oh and it gets better. After we paid the bill, they brought each of us little chocolate and lemon loaves for breakfast the next day.

See...I told you they were angels.






Michelin Count - 15 down, 38 to go!

My Michelin Mission

Now that I'm done with culinary school and my externship, I've decided that I deserve a little time on the other side of a kitchen. And since its been awhile, I figure I'm going to make sure I do it right. So, I'm turning to the experts. I completed my externship at a restaurant with a Michelin star and I loved it. So maybe these Michelin folks know what they're talking about. I figured, why not find out what the other Michelin starred NYC restaurants have to offer?! On a whim, I checked out the 2011 list for NYC. I was pretty impressed that of the 54 on the list I've been to 14.

The thing is I'm in the mood for a good challenge what with all the free time I have on my hands now that I'm done school and the externship. Consequently, my new goal is to get to the remaining 40. In other words, I have a mission, a michelin mission. I'm going to do my best to tell you all about each of them!

You'll be happy to hear that I'm off to a good start with three on the calendar in the next three weeks. Aureole, Public, and Aldea. In June, I'm hoping to get to Marc Forgione and Blue Hill.

Shooting for the stars!

An Update Finally - Part III - Class Update

Class has been pretty good. I have to admit that, although I totally addicted to sugar and baking, the pastry module of school wass my least favorite semester we've had. I think perhaps its because I prefer the no frills baked goods to fancy pastries. The plating part of pastry was fun, but in general the pastry classes had a lot of down time and I wasn't wowed by most of the desserts we made. There were a lot of nights that we only made components of future dishes and no whole desserts. At the end of the module, we plated a series of desserts using some of the components we had made (including biscotti, sorbet, ice cream, puff pastry, and pie crusts). On the other nights, once we put what we were making in the oven, we'd all stand around looking at each other with an unspoken "now what?" look on our faces. In other words, everyone in the class was rather relieved when we finished with pastry late December. We did plate a series of very beautiful looking desserts:

Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta with a berry sauce, creme anglaise, whipped cream & biscotti

Banana Upside Down Cake with (melted) caramel ice cream and caramel decoration

Apple Tarte Tatin with cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce

Lemon Meringue Tart

Chocolate Pastry Cream in Puff Pastry with berry sauce and whipped cream