tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166251392024-03-07T22:56:18.540-06:00Veal CheeksGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-19087969108816119942015-07-10T18:26:00.002-05:002015-07-12T12:49:57.525-05:00The Gastronomy of TrustThe Gastronomy of Trust – Damon Baehrel – Earlton, NY
As diners, we often forget the trust that we place in those who prepare and serve us sustenance. But on occasion this rises to the surface when we choose to dine in an especially “authentic” (read: dirty) ethnic restaurant. On other occasions this may be linked to the servers, a notable concern (if now inconsequential) in the days of the AIDS epidemic. Sometimes the kitchen workers are the source of our fears, as when frightening accounts of raging hepatitis are spread. Lettuce has e.coli and ice cream, listeria. In truth, many food-borne illnesses are spread in restaurants (and, of course, at homes as well).
This recognition of the centrality of trust in the culinary arts brings me to the case of Damon Baehrel. Damon Baehrel must surely be among the world’s most astonishing restaurants – if indeed restaurant is the proper label (there are reservations, diners, and a bill). The restaurant is run by one man, Damon Baehrel. He gathers the food, prepares it, serves it, and does the dishes. It is as if Domenico DeMarco of DiFara Pizza channeled Per Se. And did so with humanity, botany, and artistry. Damon was literally alone with us in the restaurant. Literally. Alone. This is a one-man show: a man on a tightrope.
Many things separate Damon Baehrel from the other great American restaurants. First, to get it out of the way is the five-year wait for reservations. The restaurant has stopped taking reservations because of the waiting list. I received a reservation after about eighteen months because I pleaded (truthfully – no fibbing, please) that moving back to Chicago from New Jersey would make a visit prohibitive, but some on the list travel much further than I did.
Second, Baehrel’s commitment to foraging and locavore cuisine puts Noma to shame. Almost all of the ingredients (with the exception of seafood which shows up on Damon’s doorstep each morning from a supplier) is gathered from his several acre property in New York’s Hudson Valley (near Coxsackie) or from his farm nearby. This includes beef and pork and duck. It also includes tree sap from a forest of species and flour from an astonishing array of plants. We were served berries, nuts, mushrooms, and many weeds. These ingredients, many of which were new (and disconcerting) to me, allowed for techniques of cooking that are not found in most (all?) restaurants. Damon Baehrel does not cook with butter, cream, and sugar: the holy trinity of cuisine. He uses natural sweeteners (such as stevia and tree saps) and thickeners. He is aware of how ingredients change in their flavor (such as lichens) over the course of the year and uses them when ripe.
My ignorance led me to wonder about the effects of these ingredients. I confess to speculating if I would wake on the morrow. Might some plant be toxic or might I have some severe, but unknown, allergy. I arose smiling, able to write this review, but I did rely on faith, and I hope that Damon is well-insured. There were so many plants and fruits that I had never previously eaten that I could not help but think that this was a form of culinary roulette.
Although as server, Damon insisted (perhaps somewhat too often) that he was a better cook, he did just fine. He was very attentive and is a compelling and lively field guide. He spends much time talking about and showing off his ingredients and his process. He has a puppy dog demeanor, and at times comes across as excessively modest, but his desire to please is genuine. Add to this, Damon is largely self-taught, raised in Massapequa, inspired by a mother who was an avid gardener and forager. His professional gastronomic background is thin. He lacks formal gastronomic credentials and stands outside the “culinary world.” He is truly and startlingly an autodidact. Yet, his dishes connect well in structure with those found at elite restaurants, except with different ingredients and techniques of preparation. Focusing on hyper-local ingredients (what is available on his twelve-acre property), he labels his style as “Native Harvest Cuisine.”
The evening was exceedingly (perhaps uniquely) pleasant and ended with a gift of bread and a bottle of wine (take that, Gordon Ramsay). Damon’s generosity in wine pairing stands apart from any other restaurant. We were served seven bottles of wine and were encouraged to drink as much as we wished, ending with a 1998 Chateau d’Yquem. Had he been located on a subway line, rather than on a curvy country road, that wine would have disappeared. The cost of the evening is significant ($450 before gratuity – should we tip the cook, the server, the forager, the expediter, or the dishwasher?). Lasting memories are priceless.
The meal itself consisted of 23 courses, served over six hours. In contrast to so much about the restaurant, the courses were structured in a traditional format (opening bites, vegetable courses, seafood, meat protein, and dessert with palate cleansers in-between sections). The plates revealed a modernist aesthetic, and several were beautiful, but perhaps not so different than other high-end restaurants, and restrained because there was no corps of kitchen workers to provide “the touches.” We were asked not to take photos, but a large-format book will soon be available picturing Damon’s cuisine.
We began with a series of small bites. First was an exceptional modest, though subtle, piece of bark, made of cedar flour and hickory nut flour on which was lain a “nubbin” of cured chicken. A bit of poultry on a cracker is not such a big deal, but in this case what made it startling was the unusual flavors brought out by the flour and the curing. It tasted more flavorful, more nutty and herbal, that what its structure predicted.
This was followed by a piece of Scottish salmon brined in sycamore syrup, served on another bark chip with black burdock paste, unripened green strawberries, pickerel plant, and sorrel vinegar. As was often the case Damon sprinkles powder on the plate for color and to remind us of the commitment to native plants. Here the dust was from dried marsh marigolds. Even more than the simple opening dish, this was a delicate symphony of flavors. The strawberries were evocative but never overwhelmed the syrupy salmon. It was the first of the dishes that suggested the complexity of the dishes to follow.
The third course was another cracker, this made of pine flour from the inner bark of the tree. To moderate its tannic bite, Damon cured and soaked it for over a year, and served it with duck egg white and a composite of chopped Hen of the Woods and Grey Oyster mushrooms, both picked that morning on the property. It was lovely in its understated quality. A noble bite.
Then followed a palate cleanser: sugarless carrot ice made with stevia tea syrup. This ice was served with two powders: pink (from maple leaves) and green (from green onions and lichen). Damon’s ices and slushes are incredibly deep and flavorful and the expression of carrot reverberated throughout the meal.
The fifth course was the first of the triumphant courses of the evening, revealing the range and power of Damon’s craft. It was a bread, cheese, and sausage plate, arranged as Alinea-inspired contemporary art, but with each of these tastes created by Damon himself. He may be one of America’s greatest cheesemakers, and a respectable bread maker and provider of encased meats. Breads included those made from cattails, clover, flax, and acorns. Although Damon does not cook with butter, we were served two butters: cow butter with wild Angelina and sheep milk butter with Lamb’s Quarters. Sausages included guinea fowl, goose, duck, venison, lamb, and Berkshire pork, cured with spruce and pine. If there was one dish that I wished that I could have captured digitally, this was the one.
The next course raised the stakes. Visually it was modestly plated on a plank of wood, but it packed flavor and texture in its small cube. Imagine a lasagna (or a Napoleon) in which the multiple stacked layers alternated between mushroom and daylily tubers. The sauce was composed of milkweed shoots, birch stock, and rutabaga root. Who knew? Bite for bite, this might have been my very favorite of the night.
I was not as taken with course seven, which seemed to be a play on the kind of gag-inspired dining often found at restaurants that specialized in molecular cuisine. Damon’s “Phony Egg” had a Fat Duck vibe. The phony white was cattail shoots in maple sap, the yolk was a pickled gold tomato with parsnip juice, the home fries came from the inner bark of the willow tree, and the bacon was snipped from a heritage turkey leg. It wasn’t a bad dish, but it seemed designed for fun than for taste.
Course eight was a pre-Keller cone. Although Damon did not emphasize how his dishes related to other modernist culinary creations, he explained that he began making these savory cones in 1986, before Thomas Keller (who had cooked in the Hudson Valley) made them iconic. In Damon’s version, the cone, set in a decorative bed of dried peas, was made with acorn flour. The filling was nightshade (not deadly!) beans with birch sap, eggplant powder, and hickory nuts. It was more a tribute to the wild than brilliant in its own right.
Course nine was another palate cleanser. In this case, a very deep wild grape and wild clover. It was a taste that revealed the grape essence.
We finally spied the sea, treated to the bounty of Nova Scotia. First was an excellent clam bathed in hemlock (!) oil. I began to think Socratic thoughts, but so far, so good. This lovely lithe dish was served with ostrich fern heads and golden thistle root chips. Here was a dish that seemed both light and substantial. A bite with great power.
The following dish was another high point of the evening. Nova Scotia peekytoe crab, steeped in sap (Damon prefers not to boil or steam, believing that food loses its flavor through such techniques, but roasted the crab on cedar wood). Acorn butter served to give the crab a richness that matched animal fat. Added was lovage juice, garlic scape juice, and turnip water. Although I could not otherwise guess the sauce, it consisted of wild chicory roots in ironwood liquor, creating an intense herbal broth that brought out the meaty aroma of the crab.
Course twelve featured a star turn of Nova Scotia lobster, steeped in birch sap, roasted on hot stone. (Roasting is a favorite technique at the Bistro). The merry crustacean was served with sweet goldenrod and a cured yellow fin tuna salami with birch leaf ashes. Again, with Damon as guide, we had a combination of beautiful but expected seafood set in the uncounted bounty of the forest.
Thirteen moves from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland to present salt prawn served in cherry tree sap (again with the sap) with lemon cucumber and spicy cured swordfish. I didn’t find this dish as compelling as the other seafood treats, but certainly it was a treat, even if the swordfish missed the mark.
The next palate cleanser was another slushie: combining unripened grape juice and sumac berry. It was a sweet and sour delight, the most compelling and original ice of the night.
We slid into animal protein, all from Damon’s nearby farm (no roadkill). Course fifteen was the most outstanding of the meat dishes. This was pine-needle cured pork from the neck, shank, and shoulder blade, cooked for nine hours in hickory sap, and presented compressed in a squash blossom with pea shoots and bull thistle sauce. (Damon uses very little in the way of traditional grains). Not only was this a beautiful plating, but it was also so intense as to be hard to imagine that pork is often dry and tasteless. This was an astonishing dish. Dazzling.
Heritage goat starred in course sixteen: goat leg roasted on a hot stone, served with goat and wild pear sausage and what Damon described as “rotten potatoes” (potatoes that had been stored, fermenting in vinegar. The sauce was made from Adirondack blue potatoes. As challenging as rotten potatoes are to think, the goat leg was that delicious.
Teal duck, a mild canard, did not impress me very much. It was well-cooked, but not as flavorful as I had expected, even when coated with sumac powder and cooked in soil. The high point of this dish was the tender toddler asparagus shoots that had only emerged this morning.
Our beef dish, course eighteen, was Red Angus beef, dry aged for seventy days, then heated under glass. The tender eye round was served with birch polypore mushrooms that had been steamed for fifty hours. The dish was impressively napped with wood nettles, sage salt, and wild turnip sauce. Again, a traditional protein was combined with tastes that were novel and a bit edgy.
Our first two desserts, plated together, were a lovely wild elderberry slushie and a “creme brulee” (without creme). The creme consisted of duck eggs, stevia, and squash seeds with a crystalized walnut sap syrup and serviceberries. It was a stirringly rich dessert in which any thought of sugar or cream had been properly banished. The grandest dessert of the night.
Course 21 was “Earlton Chocolate,” made without cocoa, but with fermented acorn butter and hickory nut butter edged with a puddle of mulberry juice. I was astonished at the extent to which the combination tasted like a dark chocolate. Perhaps it didn’t taste much more than chocolate, but chocolate from acorns grow.
Our cheese and fruit plate was remarkable because each cheese – ten of them – was hand-created by our friendly chef/cheesemaker/dishwasher. By this time in the evening, I felt a certain lassitude, but the range of cheese from a powerful blue to a watery curd were remarkable. Here was a fromagerie disguised as a restaurant.
Finally a last slushie: grape and maple sap. A lovely end to a staggering, enveloping, and glittering evening.
We arrived at 4 p.m. and left after 10 p.m., and our host never slowed down, and was never less than delighted and willing to share. Dinner at Damon Baehrel is a meal like no other. A bucket list experience. Perhaps these dishes, taken together were not as beautifully packaged as some of the restaurants with a culinary brigade and every so often one might miss a pat of butter, but in terms of sheer pleasure in the chef’s company and in the shared wisdom of eating off the land, nothing could compare to this night. No chef has ever received a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award, but there is always a first. My money is on Damon Baehrel. If it takes five years to dine with him, you will swiftly forget the delay.
Damon Baehrel
776 County Highway 45
Earlton, NY 12058
Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-4321920335831907492014-06-28T22:52:00.000-05:002014-06-28T22:52:47.757-05:00Top Chef/Tough Chef – Elizabeth – Chicago - June 2014
One of the challenges of progressive cuisine as artistic endeavor is that dishes demand to be loved. They snuggle up to diners, rarely stare them in the face or kick them in the shins. In contrast, contemporary art has a well-deserved reputation for such affronts. Provoking one’s clients has a long and respected history from Marcel Duchamp’s urinal to Andreas Serrano’s Piss Christ to Richard Serra’s brutal steel plates. These are objects that are important precisely because they insist on being unloved.
Chefs do not have that luxury. A dish that doesn’t taste good does not have many takers, even Grant Achatz knows that. Perhaps this is because, unlike when we visit museums, we pay for the privilege of consuming our choices. One rarely hears, “Ugly, slimy, and bitter, but essential.”
Chef Iliana Regan, the wunderkind behind Elizabeth, has established what is surely one of Chicago’s half-dozen most essential restaurants; yet even Chef Regan does not create dishes that are “ugly, slimy, and bitter.” However, in her rare series of personally gathered compositions (served on occasional Tuesdays) she explores the boundaries of taste and texture. The dishes on Elizabeth daily menu are diner-friendly, despite their gathered ingredients. During this summer Chef Regan plans to visit important sites of gathered cuisine, such as Noma and Willows Inn (and Nathan Myhrvold’s molecular workstation in Seattle), and surely her vision will be shaped as a result.
The dishes on Tuesday – at least the Tuesday that I attended – are more edgy than those on Saturday night, but more vital for creating a cuisine that doesn’t depend on diner-love. They are not unctuous or coarse, but neither are they syrupy comfort food.
Dinner on Tuesday began with a composed dish of wild strawberries, baby radishes, allium flowers, hyssop, and hay pudding, placed atop malted barley soil. Malt soil is a common base for salads at Elizabeth, ground fine as a condiment. Tonight, however, the soil was rocky. We were served barley pebbles, emphasizing the texture of the dish. Our attention was directed to the plate. One could not eat the salad thoughtlessly, and whether one wished an easy mix, one received a rocky outgrowth on which radishes, allium, and wild strawberries survived.
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This starter was followed by a paean to skin: crispy salmon skin sous-vide, served with sunchokes, late-season ramps, and wild carrot pesto. Again one’s attention was focused on the ingredient: the animal as lived and killed.
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Perhaps the most important dish was the main salad: a bouquet of wild greens that lacked the buttery geniality of bibb: yarrow, chickweed, bok choy blossoms, and other peppery and bitter roughage. The plate was centered by a calm house-made whey sorbet, which provided a honeyed warmth to the unforgiving greens. It was a salad that demanded a new perspective on what greens can teach.
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This salad was followed by a dish that provoked in its blazing minimalist simplicity. Chef Regan served a small piece of bluegill, blanketed in tempura batter, perched on a puddle of creamy potato: beige on beige. With the attempts by other chefs to create a blow-your-horn dramatic cuisine, this dish hid in plain sight. But each half was so delicately perfect that a diner was reminded that all that mattered was taste and texture. In its lack of glamour the bluegill was most profound. It was pure sensory delight: no sound and fury.
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I was less impressed by the asparagus, Hollandaise and 64 degree (Celsius) egg (and wood sorrel), which traded in current cliché. Even the plating seemed conventional. Nothing wrong with the combination, but little that one wouldn’t find in common boites throughout the metropolis. Ordinary brunch.
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The deer loin, on the next plate, was gloriously veiled by a bouquet of crow’s garlic, clover flower, and powder of red vinegar. While the protein is typically the main player, Iliana’s loin was hidden in a forest glade. The deer was bloody delightful: undercooked and kicking, but it was the gathered tastes of the wild that made this Noma-esque dish inspiring.
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Course seven is another gathered scene: a wooded pool. Chef Regan served wild onion, braised daylily, and electric green sassafras leaf (providing a gelatinous and startling texture). Daylily bulbs provide a unique and sweet crunch. This dish, more than most others had a New Nordic quality: Gastrinavia. Bright colors, dramatic vegetal flavors, and unexplored textures abound.
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Lake trout in a salad of watercress, cattails, and milkweed was introduced by the chef, challenging us, “It tastes like Lake Michigan smells, which is not necessarily are bad thing.” Not at all. Here was her inverted parallel to the fried bluegill. Another simple dish, but with starch replaced by greens, and frying oil, but light heat. Excellent.
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The ninth course was a transparent, transcendent “pasta”, and perhaps the best construction of the night. This pasta was sited in an overgrown garden: salvia, hyssop, cicely, pokeweed in a pheasant broth with house-made ricotta. This dish underlined the trust that we give our chefs. What might cicely, much less pokeweed, do to my innards? Carrots have a long history, but hyssop? Some weeds are “bad actors.” Do salvias save? As naïve diners we hope that chefs, like medicine men, do no harm with their physics.
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Plate ten was our major protein: Canadian goose breast with morels in butter, pickled elm leaves (elm leaves?), fried maple leaves (maple leaves?). One is shaken by eating the forest floor. The maple leaves prove that everything is delicious if it is fried. This is another dish that demonstrates just how thoughtful and how poetic gathered cuisine can be, and why Chef Regan is among the leaders of this movement.
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Iliana is known for her libations: typically mushroom tea. Tonight we were served a shot of chamomile, German thyme, and pepper along with a dollop of spruce ice cream. The shot was not entirely diner-friendly, but distinctive as refresher, and the ice cream kept us in the forest depths.
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The sweet spoon was a reprise of previous ingredients, daylily shoot, cattails, and chamomile pudding. Short and vegetally sweet. A minor, if carefully plotted, taste.
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The main dessert revealed was both perfumed and untamed: cicely ice cream, lamb quarters, milkweed, and sassafras root. Eschewing the traditional frostings and sugars, this dessert demonstrated that a wild meal can be honeyed.
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A mint marshmallow smuggled onto a driftwood centerpiece ended the night with peace and pleasure.
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As Elizabeth is becoming more proficient as a restaurant, it requires a laboratory in which experiments can be tested on willing white mice. As much as I appreciate what is served on Saturday night, Tuesday evening may be the more important. Yes, some of the flavors and textures require tolerance, but this was the most influential meal I have had in Chicago since the early, glory, molecular months of Alinea and Avenues and moto. A new culinary day is upon us: a dawn appreciated in a dappled dell.
Elizabeth
4835 N. Western Avenue, Chicago
773-681-0651
https://www.elizabeth-restaurant.com/Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-74192565003863304412012-09-15T22:51:00.001-05:002012-09-15T22:51:34.280-05:00Noma: Going to Ground
The grazing maw of food snobs has over the past several years reached pastoral Denmark. Those who treasure lists note that the “we’re number one” restaurant has been Noma, even prior to the closure of perennial favorite, El Bulli. And number 49 is Noma’s cross-town rival Geranium. The two restaurants stand in contrast with Bulli, recognizing commonalities.
Within the restaurant biz there are three components of greatness: technique, ingredients, and vision. All astonishing restaurants do well on these three dimensions, of course, and vision is primary. But beyond creativity some styles of cuisine emphasize technique and others emphasize ingredients. Not short in its technique, Noma treasures ingredients. The more humble the plant, the better Rene Redzepi likes it. Weeds are us.
But those who live by ingredients, especially novel ones, can also die by them. I am not referring to toxic plants, although – god knows! – these foodstuffs do not have a long-track record. Noma customers have not been known to keel over, but who can say what we will face in twenty years. But the more relevant issue for gourmets is whether the taste of the ingredient can equal the idea of having gathered it. The danger with farm-to-table restaurants is that the food from a treasured family or boutique farm may taste no better than an industrial product if a critic was forced to taste while blindfolded. Often precisely the same ingredients are served – chicken, potatoes, carrots, lettuce. Close one’s eyes and can one tell what is what? But food in New Nordic Cuisine – gatherer’s cuisine – does not have the safety net of being no worse; it can be worse. Bleech!
Noma with its food lab and guiding vision of Chef-Proprietor Redzepi and his Head Chef Matt Orlando have only rare missteps, but one can only fear for when other, less insightful visionaries follow in their footsteps. As with the followers of chefs devoted to technique, such as El Bulli’s Ferran Adria, there is much that can go wrong.
The great restaurants – and however we rank restaurants – Noma is a grand one, are able to combine ingredients, technique, and vision, and they have the customer support to permit them to do so. As I was chowing down on sorrel, wild berries, beach herbs, snails, and Danish ants, I mused about food costs. The restaurant employs a troupe of gatherers. Yes, they are paid, but do their finds suggest that there is such a thing as a free lunch?
But enough theory. How was the food?
It was about as delicious as it could possibly be, considering. In this essay I do not provide a dish by dish rundown (the pictures provide a part of the story), however, the food was very green, very herbal. The flavors were subtle, often surprising, even as they often lacked the savory punch found in more standard ingredients. Despite the sense that a gatherer’s cuisine has the whole world from which to select, it also gives up on a variety of more conventional flavors. Still, this limited register provides surprises and pleasures. No beef (only sweetbreads), no pork (only skin), no duck (only liver). Proteins are pushed to the side in a grazing diet. Still a smart chef can accomplish much with knives and roasting pans hidden from view.
Dried carrots, verbena, egg yolks, rocket, caramelized milk can be inspiring. Of the dishes, my favorites, the ones that I remember with the greatest fondness were the moss with mushroom powder; the cheese biscuit with rocket and parsley stems; the berries and cucumber; the brown crab with egg yolk and herbs; and the pike perch with cabbage, verbena and dill. Culinary modesty becomes Noma.
But what was most impressive was the vision thing. I truly could not say that any of these dishes were the greatest dish of the year, even if the meal was as impressive as any that I have had in many harvests. Like the food at Blaine Wetzel’s Willows Inn on Lummi Island (a modified gatherer’s cuisine, a step closer to traditional canons and two steps closer to farm-to-table dining), there is a sensibility: the recognition that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Here was one of the greatest meals I have had which lacked a dish that I thought was among the greatest. And this is Noma’s triumph and its limitation. Rene Redzepi’s cuisine is so thoughtful, so engaged, so environmentally noble that it is in the experience of seeing the ground through the plate that one learns about the possibilities of dining.
And now here are the photos:
Noma Entrance
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910513386/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7910513386_09c20e562d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012"></a>
Noma Interior
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910536364/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8319/7910536364_6a59b5e797.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012"></a>
Noma Interior
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910537262/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/7910537262_9dd6b58b90.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012"></a>
Flatbred with Malt Flour and Juniper (in vase)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910538300/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Flatbred with Malt Flour and Juniper (in vase) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7910538300_0225c3bb2f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Flatbred with Malt Flour and Juniper (in vase)"></a>
Sauteed Raindeer Moss with Mushroom Powder
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910540444/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sauteed Raindeer Moss with Mushroom Powder by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8172/7910540444_793ee49af8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sauteed Raindeer Moss with Mushroom Powder"></a>
Blue Mussel and Celery (one edible mussel)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910543120/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Blue Mussel and Celery (one edible mussel) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7910543120_7560a68b8a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Blue Mussel and Celery (one edible mussel)"></a>
Crispy Pork Skin and Black Currant (I think)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910545230/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Crispy Pork Skin and Black Currant (I think) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7910545230_83d913b6e6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Crispy Pork Skin and Black Currant (I think)"></a>
Apple, Smoked and Dried Cucumber
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910551376/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Apple, Smoked and Dried Cucumber by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/7910551376_447d25cd1d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Apple, Smoked and Dried Cucumber"></a>
Cheese Biscuit, Rocket and Herb Stems
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910553760/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Cheese Biscuit, Rocket and Herb Stems by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8041/7910553760_066dc1a8b1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Cheese Biscuit, Rocket and Herb Stems"></a>
Potato Sandwich with Duck Liver Mousse and Black Trumpet Mushrooms
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910557728/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Potato Sandwich with Duck Liver Mousse and Black Trumpet Mushrooms by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8437/7910557728_543a160c4e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Potato Sandwich with Duck Liver Mousse and Black Trumpet Mushrooms"></a>
Grilled Dried Carrot on Ash and Sorrel Emulsion
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910559454/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Grilled Dried Carrot on Ash and Sorrell Emulsion by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8033/7910559454_59fcc3da78.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Grilled Dried Carrot on Ash and Sorrell Emulsion"></a>
Caramelized Milk and Shaved Cod Liver
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910560900/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Caramelized Milk and Shaved Cod Liver by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/7910560900_d7e6aec418.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Caramelized Milk and Shaved Cod Liver"></a>
Pickled and Smoked Quail Egg
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910563782/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Pickled and Smoked Quail Egg by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/7910563782_768c22ddbd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Pickled and Smoked Quail Egg"></a>
Radish, Soil, and Grass
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910565256/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Radish, "Soil" and "Grass" by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/7910565256_d4fa62931b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Radish, "Soil" and "Grass""></a>
Aebleskiver and Muikku (Finnish Fermented Fish)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910567308/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Aebleskiver and Muikku (Finnish Fermented Fish) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/7910567308_4fe63c055a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Aebleskiver and Muikku (Finnish Fermented Fish)"></a>
Sorrel Leaf and Cricket Paste (inside the leaf) with Nasturium
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910569434/" title="Sorrel Leaf and Cricket Paste (inside the leaf) with Nasturium by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/7910569434_f40711b12c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Sorrel Leaf and Cricket Paste (inside the leaf) with Nasturium"></a>
Glazed Snails with Parsley and Watercress
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910572692/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Glazed Snails with Parsley and Watercress by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/7910572692_4e56a9137e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Glazed Snails with Parsley and Watercress"></a>
Danish Potato with Butter Sauce with Peashoots and Sorrel Leaves
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910574128/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Danish Potato with Butter Sauce with Peashoots and Sorrel Leaves by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8315/7910574128_a88a3591a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Danish Potato with Butter Sauce with Peashoots and Sorrel Leaves"></a>
Sous Vide Fava Beans and Beach Herbs
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910575042/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sous Vide Fava Beans and Beach Herbs by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8447/7910575042_0d8891a643.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sous Vide Fava Beans and Beach Herbs"></a>
Wild Berries and Cucumber Salad
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910578650/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Wild Berries and Cucumber Salad by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8321/7910578650_9b43df2eee.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Wild Berries and Cucumber Salad"></a>
Stone Crab with Parsley Puree, Verbena and Seaweed Broth and Egg Yolk
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910580046/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Stone Crab with Parsley Puree, Verbena and Seaweed Broth and Egg Yolk by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/7910580046_ae1659a764.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Stone Crab with Parsley Puree, Verbena and Seaweed Broth and Egg Yolk"></a>
Pike Perch with Butter Foam and Cabbage, Verbena and Dill
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910581816/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Pike Perch with Butter Foam and Cabbage, Verbena and Dill by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/7910581816_5b418ab7fc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Pike Perch with Butter Foam and Cabbage, Verbena and Dill"></a>
The Hen and the Egg, cooked with Hay Oil, Spinach, Nasturium, Oxalis, and Parsley Sauce
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910582952/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - The Hen and the Egg, cooked with Hay Oil, Spinach, Nasturium, Oxalis, and Parsley Sauce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8440/7910582952_d92271bd09.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - The Hen and the Egg, cooked with Hay Oil, Spinach, Nasturium, Oxalis, and Parsley Sauce"></a>
Sweetbreads and Bitter Greens, Celeriac and Chantrelles, Juniper Root
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910590170/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sweetbreads and Bitter Greens, Celeriac and Chantrelles, Juniper Root by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/7910590170_a36e825060.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Sweetbreads and Bitter Greens, Celeriac and Chantrelles, Juniper Root"></a>
Open Ice Cream Sandwich with Ant Puree
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910592836/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Open Ice Cream Sandwich with Ant Puree by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8038/7910592836_9f1fec92cd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Open Ice Cream Sandwich with Ant Puree"></a>
Ice Cream Sandwich with Blueberry Sorbet and Ant Puree with Nasturium Leaves
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910599220/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Ice Cream Sandwich with Blueberry Sorbet and Ant Puree with Nasturium Leaves by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/7910599220_4587e58894.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 - Ice Cream Sandwich with Blueberry Sorbet and Ant Puree with Nasturium Leaves"></a>
Gammel Dansk (Bitter Danish Liquor) with Sorrel and Dried Milk
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/7910606018/" title="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 Gammel Dansk (Bitter Danish Liquor) with Sorrel and Dried Milk by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/7910606018_2de9393989.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Noma - Copenhagen - August 2012 Gammel Dansk (Bitter Danish Liquor) with Sorrel and Dried Milk"></a>
Noma
Strandgade 93
1401 Kobenhavn K, Denmark
3296-3297
http://noma.dkGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-18455057567761711382012-02-18T22:07:00.002-06:002012-02-18T22:22:25.345-06:00Next/El Bulli MenuThe Next New Things – Next/El Bulli – Chicago<br /><br /> There can be no doubt that the El Bulli meal, currently being prepared to the lucky few at Grant Achatz’s (and David Beran’s) stylish restaurant Next is an event. Perhaps too much of one, as museum retrospectives often are.<br /><br /> A word of background. A year ago – February 2011 – I was fortunate to dine at El Bulli itself, outside the Catalan tourist town of Roses, situated by a curving shoreline road in what seemed in the Spanish dark the middle of nowhere. Next is, in contrast, in the middle of everywhere: ground zero of culinary Chicago.<br /><br /> After 42 courses and six hours I left astonished, astounded, and amazed. Chef Ferran Adria, a gracious and warm host, had created a menu of themes – prawn courses, Mexican plates, black truffles galore, a tribute to woodcock. The meal was a magnificent collection of gastro-symphonic riffs. In the final months of El Bulli, Chef Adria had managed to combine modernist techniques, incredibly sourced ingredients, and a style that reflected a recognition of the continuing importance of classical cuisine. The meal was an essay on the passions and theories of a chef in action. The courses represented a conversation with the diner as well as with the land. When I die the memory of that meal will be on my lips: my last exhalation. <br /><br /> And so we find Chicago’s Next – and Chicago’s Alinea. Dining at Alinea, one has a sense that is perhaps as close to dining at El Bulli as anywhere else on these shores. Through his cuisine Chef Achatz works through a set of themes. As in Catalonia, the meal in Lincoln Park is a conversation: techniques, ingredients, and theories of food. Dishes whisper amongst themselves in profound, harmonious, and sometimes jarring fashion.<br /><br /> Next is different: a museum, not an atelier. At $485 (tax and tip, added), 29 courses, and five-and-half hours (330 minutes), the meal is a rousing success. I do not regret being one of those internet groupies who purchased season tickets (I was assigned number 1049, only a very few after me were privileged to allow Nick Kokonas to hold their cash interest-free for the year). <br /><br /> Unlike meals at Alinea or at El Bulli itself, Next is a commemorative celebration. The twenty-nine dishes cribbed from the El Bulli playbook are selected from recipes stretching from 1987 to 2010. One score and four years. As each course was presented, the server meticulously noted its year of birth. Had the meal been organized differently this could have permitted diners to gain a sense of the development of Chef Adria’s cuisine, and it did develop creatively over a quarter-century. The early dishes were recognizably 1980s haute cuisine. It is easy to imagine the 1988 Suquet of Prawns (shrimp stew) being served – and being loved – at the opening of Charlie Trotter’s. Later shapes and colors explode, food architecture enters, and then modernist (molecular) techniques are common. One expects a genius to develop in a quarter-century of practice, and Ferran Adria is a genius.<br /><br /> The problem is one of balancing the type of dish against its historical moment. The dishes were presented in a higgly-piggly chronology: 2003, 1997, 1992, 2001, 2000, 1988. Logic was evident in ingredients and in size (snacks before appetizers, fish before meat, palate cleansers before dessert), but the discussion among the dishes was muted. In an early menu at Alinea, Chef Achatz brilliantly doubled the progression: savory to sweet, and then a reprise, savory to sweet again. It was as stunning intellectually as it was in gustatory terms. But here at Next one lacked this sense because the dishes were ripped from time. And the diner was left with a parade of courses: magnificent, fine, odd, and off. The grand thematic linkages – the compelling connections among the platters – that were so compelling at El Bulli were less evident on Fulton Market.<br /><br /> Although the food is, deservedly, front and center, it is the service that shaped the evening both as exhilaration and as frustration. The frustration first. We were informed that the meal was planned to last 3-1/2 hours. But by 11:30 (with an 8:00 reservation) we were nowhere close. Enough already. It wasn’t that we were slow eaters, but the gaps between courses were notable. Admittedly this was only the second week of public service and Next is known as a work in progress, but by the time that we staggered onto Fulton Market at 1:30, we truly staggered. This was compounded by the servers’ generosity with wine. A lot of vino spilled upon our shores as our cups ran over (the wines were well-chosen, mostly from southwest France or Catalonia). Three-and-a-half hours seem an unlikely goal, but four hours is a target. If El Bulli can pull off 42 courses in six hours, 29 in four should not be impossible.<br /><br /> Now the exhilaration. Perhaps it was still early in a long run that may become routine, but the servers were positively joyous, and helped to create a communal, convivial atmosphere (even sharing that Chef Achatz was sitting nearby: he arrived later, left earlier, but perhaps he chose the children’s menu). We were served by a team that seemed highly professional, but also congenial in a Midwestern way. With the exception of one dish that was not explained properly (more on this later), we felt warmly enveloped throughout the night.<br /><br /> As is true in Roses, one begins with a set of snacks, presented in rapid order, and which, taken together, revealed some of the techniques for which El Bulli has become esteemed. First was Nitro Caipirinha with Tarragon Concentrate (2004, Ferran in his chemistry days), a frozen (with liquid nitrogen) play on the Brazilian cocktail of cachaca, sugar, and lime with the addition of a small, but potent bit of emerald green tarragon concentrate. The drink, otherwise perhaps not so different than a frozen daiquiri, is transformed by the power of deep herb. It is an impressive reminder of how a powerful morsel matters.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900096725/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Nitro Caipirinha with Tarragon Concentrate by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6900096725_1680b18e5a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Nitro Caipirinha with Tarragon Concentrate"></a><br /><br /> Immediately after, we were treated to Hot/Cold Trout Roe Tempura (2000) a dish elevated by the light tempura batter blanketing the salty, cool trout roe. The combination was worthy of a fine restaurant, even if the snack seemed more a blind date than an integration of tastes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900096943/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Hot/Cold Trout Roe Tempura by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/6900096943_81fa37edfe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Hot/Cold Trout Roe Tempura"></a><br /><br /> Third was a nifty little coca of avocado pear, white sardine, and green onion (1991). This was early Ferran, where the wise combination of ingredients was central to gustatory pleasure. At most restaurants this would be a very successful amuse, tonight it was a very pleasurable throwback.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900097377/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Coca of Avocado Pear, Anchovies, and Green Onion by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/6900097377_3a81fc2412.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Coca of Avocado Pear, Anchovies, and Green Onion"></a><br /><br /> The fourth dish, iberico sandwich (2003), was a bit of a disappointment. A fine slice of iberico ham was draped over a cracker. The ham was a taste of Catalonia, but the dish was a moment to catch one’s breadth in the hopes of greater excitement ahead.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900097637/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Iberico Sandwich by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7176/6900097637_c9968ed92b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Iberico Sandwich"></a><br /><br /> The next snack provided that excitement: El Bulli’s canonical spherical olive (2005). The label is perhaps startling: aren’t all olives spherical. Yes, but not all spheres are fully liquid, contained within a thin bladder of alginate, another innovation from Ferran’s molecular moment. The juicy olives are liquefied and placed in an alginate bath, and – boom! – reverse spherification. Here is the discovery of a quark, and culinary inspiration marches on. Granted that this is (necessarily) a liquid one-bite wonder, and it tastes, after all, like very potent olive liquor, but it is the zenith of molecularity.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900097905/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spherical Olives by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6900097905_3d90bde189.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spherical Olives"></a><br /><br /> The Golden Egg (2001) is a quail egg yolk in a caramelized shell. Here the texture was the star of the dish which otherwise was slightly sweet and slightly unctuous. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900098121/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Golden Egg by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7193/6900098121_dc61b32634.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Golden Egg"></a><br /><br /> Lucky Seven. The star snack was surely Liquid Chicken Croquettes (1998) from a moment at which Chef Adria was playing with the possibility of textures. These tiny croquettes were filled with potent liquid chicken: not chicken soup, but intense chicken syrup. To this point, this small dish was the heroic moment of the evening.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900098547/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chicken Liquid Croquettes by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7059/6900098547_4973de8b65.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chicken Liquid Croquettes"></a><br /><br /> Liquid chicken was paired with Black Sesame Spongecake and Miso (2007). Black sesame has a powerful, nutty flavor, and this flavor was nicely matched with the airy texture of the floataway cake. Only a bite or two, but a very beautiful, rich combination.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900099057/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Black Sesame Spongecake and Miso by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/6900099057_16bddb3e49.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Black Sesame Spongecake and Miso"></a><br /><br /> We moved into more substantial dishes, including Smoke Foam (1997), a dish that our server described as a provocation, incorporating leaves, twigs, and bark: gelatin and water, flavored with wood smoke. Chef Achatz has also embraced smoke as provocation (as in several dishes at Alinea and in the Childhood menu at Next). The goal is not to create a dish that is easy to like, but that is important to think. Perhaps it is a paean to toast or to marshmallows, but the glass was more successful as idea than as a beaker for a pleasure potion.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900099433/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Smoke Foam by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6900099433_6d15f73786.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Smoke Foam"></a><br /><br /> Ten was textured stunner. Carrot Air with Coconut Milk Curry. With today’s foamy overuse, this concoction reveals the power of the foam form. The flavor of carrot and coconut was intense, the orange color was luminous, and the pleasure of slurping air was palpable. This was one of the most exciting and memorable presentations of the evening, revealing that even what has subsequently become a somewhat dull technique can be brilliant in the mind of a master.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900099891/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Carrot Air with Coconut Milk by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7204/6900099891_b14969bc70.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Carrot Air with Coconut Milk"></a><br /><br /> The 1997 Cuttlefish and Coconut Ravioli with Soy, Ginger and Mint was one of those moments in which dishes spoke to each other. The coconut reprised the soupy air of the previous dish and also had an Asian inflection. The texture was powerfully distinct, chewy and smooth, rather than evanescent. The pairing of the dishes echoed in the gullet.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900100305/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Cuttlefish and Coconut Ravioli with Soy, Ginger and Mint by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7194/6900100305_9664548ca1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Cuttlefish and Coconut Ravioli with Soy, Ginger and Mint"></a><br /><br /> Dish 12 could have been 13 for all the luck it brought. Tonight the colder the dish, the less successful. I reject Savory Tomato Ice with Oregano and Almond Milk Pudding (1992). Too salty, too icy, and too bland (the milk pudding). A trifecta failure with a set of textures than lay uneasily in the same martini glass. Perhaps 1992 was an off-year in Roses.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900100747/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Savory Tomato Ice with Oregano and Almond Milk Pudding by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7055/6900100747_55f62dbf0d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Savory Tomato Ice with Oregano and Almond Milk Pudding"></a><br /><br /> The real dish 13 was far more successful. Hot Crab Aspic with Mini Corn Cous-Cous. The corn cous-cous was rather plain, but the crab aspic was heroic, the gelatin had just the right textural give as visually the crab provided a dark intrigue.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900101221/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Hot Crab Aspic with Mini Corn Cous-Cous by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7037/6900101221_2942796bca.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Hot Crab Aspic with Mini Corn Cous-Cous"></a><br /><br /> The next dish, reconceptualizing the idea of cous-cous to better effect, creating vegetable pearls surrounded by a garden ring, was the most inspirational dish of the night: Cauliflower Cous-Cous with a Solid Aromatic Herb Sauce (2000). Perhaps this was the moment that Ferran Adria became a genius. Not having it in Barcelona, I can’t assess whether Next’s version was identical, but the Next kitchen deserves warm regard in creating or recreating a dish that was simultaneously savory and sweet with enough lamb jus to give it a meaty aspect. Its complexity was astonishing: creating a dish that must have drawn from every domain of aroma and texture, creating a plate in which to eat was to engage with a wealth of choice. Adria reconsidered the relationship between liquid and solid, sweet and savory, and meat, vegetable, and grain. This wreath is a moment of breath-taking circularity in culinary history.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900101733/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Cauliflower Cous-Cous with Solid Aromatic Herb Sauce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6900101733_1f888201d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Cauliflower Cous-Cous with Solid Aromatic Herb Sauce"></a><br /><br /> The fifteenth dish was our halfway point: Suquet of prawns (Spanish shrimp stew) (1988) was an early and elegant dish, one that might have been served at Trotters or other grand restaurants from a quarter-century ago. It was beautifully designed and conceptualized with a powerful oceanic taste matched with dancing herbal and vegetable textures.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900102241/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Suquet of Prawns by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7200/6900102241_22a36d8ed6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Suquet of Prawns"></a><br /><br /> Potato Tortilla by Marc Singla (1998) reflected Adria’s borrowing of the idea of hot foam in what was essentially a potato soup. I found this more of a pause in the progression than an occasion for merriment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900102679/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Potato Tortilla by Marc Singla by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7184/6900102679_ceb4b8b3cf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Potato Tortilla by Marc Singla"></a><br /><br /> Trumpet Carpaccio (1989) is another early dish, a tribute to fungus. Its elegance is stirring and, so long as one enjoys mushrooms (as I do), this carpaccio is a memorable construction. This was an earthy preparation of the very best sort.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900103127/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Trumpet Carpaccio by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6900103127_52a504f558.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Trumpet Carpaccio"></a><br /><br /> Unfortunately I seemed not to have taken a picture of the prettiest of all of the dishes. It was late, I was tired. Red Mullet Gaudi (1987) was the earliest dish recreated and was a tribute to Ferran’s fellow Barcelonan, the visionary architect Antoni Gaudi, creating a dish that was reminiscent of his lizard-like mosaics in the breathtaking Parc Guell in Barcelona. Here mullet was covered by tiny mosaics of tomato, shallots, red peppers, and other delightful vegetal nubbins. The taste was impressive, and the decoration was remarkable. The fish was placed on a warm bag of watery shells adding to its visual and tactile complexity.<br /><br /> The next plate (again no photo) combined land and sea, flower and meat: Nasturtium with Eel, Bone Marrow, and Cucumber (2007): a triptych. Certainly a sturdy dish, but not a show stopper.<br /><br /> Dish 20 was the big protein: Civet of Rabbit with Hot Apple Jelly (2000). The grand combination of fruit and game proved successful, and the style of presentation reminded us that before the molecular style hit these shores there was Ferran working his magic. The dish typified what we have come to know as modernist presentation, full of lines and dashes, smears and dust.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900103629/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Civet of Rabbit with Hot Apple Jelly by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7208/6900103629_a1b9e9dcfa.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Civet of Rabbit with Hot Apple Jelly"></a><br /><br /> We moved toward dessert, but with a hiccup. Chef Adria is known for his “balloons” – icy, hollow spheres capturing some savory or sweet flavor. Tonight’s sphere was a “gorgonzola balloon” (2009): a little blue cheese goes a very long way. After a nibble or two, it was time to move on. Another balloon might have hit the spot, not tonight.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900104157/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Gorgonzola Balloon by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6900104157_c23e9df0bb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Gorgonzola Balloon"></a><br /><br /> The next step toward dessert was the foie gras caramel custard (1999), which fortunately Next can now serve in Chicago: no airfare necessary. The dish was pleasant, but tasted as its name revealed.<br /><br /> Dish 23 revealed the chef at play: Spice Plate (1996). We were served a ramekin with a thin green apple gel and with a dozen bits at the points of the clock around the edge. And we were presented a card that listed the hour and the ingredient. Unfortunately – and here is the staff gaffe – we weren’t told that we were supposed to figure out which ingredient belonged where, and we were puzzled that the listings were wrong or that we were so exhausted that we couldn’t tell mint from curry. Eventually we were presented with a key, and all was well, even if the dish itself was more of a jest than a classic. <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900104573/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spice Plate by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6900104573_602ff67c01.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spice Plate"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900106555/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spice Plate Key by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6900106555_5ca1d195a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Spice Plate Key"></a><br /><br /> Mint Pond (2009)(not pictured) was peppermint powder, green matcha tea, cocao powder, muscovado sugar over ice. No photo. This was another failure. A bowl of ice was presented with a thin layer of ice on top on which powders of mint, tea, cacao, and sugar sprinkled. It was supposed to be a palate cleanser, but on this Chicago winter night, it seemed like just more ice.<br /><br /> Much more impressive was the Chocolate in Textures (1997), a complex architecture of cacao. The presentation was deep and dark, and surely the finest dessert of the night. Here was architectural food, never forgetting that dessert must build on the foundation of the sweet and smooth.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900105033/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chocolate in Textures by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7193/6900105033_b7792ca108.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chocolate in Textures"></a><br /><br /> Three quick desserts were served together – and as one a.m. had passed, we were grateful indeed: liquid filled chocolate donuts (2010, a dish that I was served in Roses), a crème flute (1993), and a beautiful and complex puff pastry web (1989), revealing a true sensitivity to pastry as a form of construction. They were a nice way to edge toward closure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900105495/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chocolate Donuts, Creme Flute, Puff Pastry Web by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/6900105495_cdd29ef1fe.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Chocolate Donuts, Creme Flute, Puff Pastry Web"></a><br /><br /> Finally – 29 – the mignardises – luscious passion fruit marshmallows with latex hands to wish us b’bye.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6900106055/" title="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Passionfruit Marshmallow - the Farewell by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6900106055_23706c60e8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Next/El Bulli - Chicago - February 2012 - Passionfruit Marshmallow - the Farewell"></a><br /><br /> It has taken me almost as long to compose this essay as it took Next to serve the meal on which it is based. True enough. But I could have been more efficient as well. The clock is a tough master.<br /><br /> But ultimately time spent slides into forgetting, and the food remains. And how was it? Worthwhile without doubt. For me Next’s El Bulli dinner did not match El Bulli’s El Bulli dinner. The focus was more respectful retrospective than startling immediacy, but there were astonishingly great dishes and many excellent ones as well. Excluding the icy claptraps, I was grateful and delighted and impressed with Chef Beran’s mastery and Chef Achatz’s inspiration and Chef Adria’s genius. There is, however, a danger with a survey; often it is the surrounding dishes that spotlight the acts of brilliance.<br /><br /> For those who have not had the fortune to reach El Bulli, Next is a very excellent Next-best-thing. For those who have, Next’s showy creation captures much of what was remarkable about that now-shuttered bulldog of a place. At Next flaws, yes, but also an abundance of astonishing vistas of texture, vision, and, always, taste.<br /><br />Next Restaurant<br />953 W Fulton Market<br />Chicago, IL 60607<br />http://www.nextrestaurant.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-49007761298193056122011-12-24T22:04:00.002-06:002011-12-24T22:13:44.081-06:00Remembrance of a Meal PastRemembrance of a Meal Past - Town House - Chilhowie, Virginia<br /><br /> Although I had committed myself to keeping up with my dining experiences, that resolution did not come to pass. So much to eat, so little time to write. In a year such as the one that is about to conclude, such is unfortunate. I have had splendid meals each month. I can hardly imagine a more exciting year of cuisine. This was a year in which the playful, silliness of molecular cuisine morphed into a firm and committed modernist cuisine, and in which even “old-fashioned” chefs shined. So, before describing one of these meals, I pay tribute to honor roll of chefs who are learning from the past, combining technique and ingredients, foraging when necessary, farming when possible, and otherwise selecting well. In 2011 I was based in San Francisco and Chicago, and managed to travel to Barcelona, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Asheville, Washington, and New York. This was the year I finally made it to El Bulli, just before the wire with additional meals at Celler de Can Roca, El Quim, and Cal Pep. In the Bay Area I ate at Coi, Atelier Crenn, Saison, Aziza, Manresa, Benu, Commis, Meadowood, and Manresa, and many others. And returning to Chicago there was Next, El Ideas, One Sister, Blackbird, and L20. And I cannot forget Blaine Wetzel’s breathtaking Noma-inspired cuisine at Willows Inn on Lummi Island off Bellingham, Washington and in the Northwest Canlis, Herbfarm, Castagna, and Le Pigeon. In New York, 11 Madison Park, Jean-Georges, and Marea. Add to this Guy Savoy, Lotus of Siam, Red Medicine, Curate, Kai, and Rhodes (Gary Rhodes restaurant on the Caribbean island of Granada), and it was quite a year.<br /><br /> But a blogger must focus. Excluding the forever memory of Ferran Adria in his now-shuttered redoubt in Roses, the meal that I will most treasure was at Town House in tiny, rural Chilhowie, Virginia. I ate at John and Karen Shields hideaway in 2010 and I was impressed. Many of the dishes represented the highest order of deconstructive cuisine, a lot of small bits on a plate: a busy cuisine. A few of the dishes were truly distinguished, indeed some of the best food of that year. <br /><br /> The meal was of such an order that I traveled four hours back to Chilhowie from my mountain eyrie in Western North Carolina this last August. I expected a fine meal, but nothing as remarkable as what I received. Something clicked in John Shield’s cuisine. It was as if he had figured out how to create dishes with culinary centers. Rather than a lot of happenings, each dish was composed as a dish. The meal in 2010 was among the best meals of the year; the meal in 2011 was among the best meals of my now lengthening life. Here was a chef who was in tune with the techniques of molecular cuisine and the ingredient-focused style of farm-to-table and foraged cuisine, but more than that he owned a personal vision (Karen Shields, his pastry chef and spouse, was on maternity leave, but clearly she had been working as hard in designing desserts: in 2010 the sweets were very fine in a deconstructive way, but this year they were stellar).<br /><br /> The amuse demonstrated how the current focus on foraging has affected cuisine. Chef Shields served rocks with seaweed glaze, adorned with adorable oyster leaves. The dish was sculptural and the flavor oceanic. I had never heard of oyster leaves, and until I tasted the creation I would have been labeled a skeptic. But the dish made clear how many wonders the Creator created. It was amazing amuse, an amusing amaze.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225112090/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Oyster leaves, Seaweed glaze on rocks by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6051/6225112090_cf0a4145e8.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Oyster leaves, Seaweed glaze on rocks"></a><br /><br /> Dinner began by what I consider to be Chef Shields’ signature dish: Minestrone, although it is a signature that has been removed from his regular rotation. In this quiet, almost minimalist, soup, the chef prepares little strips of root vegetables, each separately poached and rolled into gentle cylinders. These jewels are served in a cool herbal broth. Words can not do this dish justice. And if a picture is worth 1000 words, a taste must be worth 1000 pictures. It is as brilliant a dish as I can imagine: not rich, not fatty, but infused with flavor.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224592685/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Minestrone by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6215/6224592685_1a965c733c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Minestrone"></a><br /><br /> The next plate is another triumph of the foraging mind: “flowers,” served with artichoke and a leek emulsion. Clearly Chef Shields has been influenced by the Noma crew but relies upon local ingredients. The colors and textures elevate what is a grounded salad.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224593507/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Flowers" with Artichoke, Leek Emulsion by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6098/6224593507_7fec2f3a79.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Flowers" with Artichoke, Leek Emulsion"></a><br /><br /> We returned to a soup/salad: a “gazpacho” of summer foliage with shiso, green tomato, green bean leaves, pickled coriander, and zucchini. I confess a weakness for shiso; my leg goes all tingly when these leaves appear. This again reminds us of the many flavors we can select if we only took the effort. This was a salad with a bit of liquid: delight on the fork and in the spoon.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225113586/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Gazpacho" of Summer's Foliage by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6240/6225113586_8ef155310f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Gazpacho" of Summer's Foliage"></a><br /><br /> Barbequed eggplant with lemon, basil, black garlic and ashes of smoked mussels was the highlight of the meal. It tasted so much better than it reads (barbequed eggplant, ashes of mussels?). It was a triumph of technique, a triumph of the theory of taste. In contrast to most dishes, this plate didn’t appeal to the eye, but fully, dramatically, to the tongue. The idea that eggplant and lemon, garlic and mussel ash might mix was an insight that I would have missed, and I bow to Chef Shields’ vision.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224594133/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Barbequed Eggplant, Lemon, Basil, Black Garlic, and "Ashes" of Smoked Mussels by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6112/6224594133_d3179d7c74.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Barbequed Eggplant, Lemon, Basil, Black Garlic, and "Ashes" of Smoked Mussels"></a><br /><br /> Sweet corn, chicken, and lovage moved us toward protein. Here was a focused, textured, sweet dish, and called for more. It was a dish of the Southern summer. It was a pleasure throughout.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224595579/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Sweet Corn, Chicken, Lovage by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6229/6224595579_00deb776c5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Sweet Corn, Chicken, Lovage"></a><br /><br /> I recall peekytoe crab in brown butter and butter whey with onions, shellfish cream, lime, crisp scallop and pork stock mostly for the textures and the construction. Perhaps the crab could have been more dominant, but the dish was so beautifully composed and so touched with enchantment in each bite that complaints seemed irrelevant. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224596131/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Peekytoe Crab in Brown Butter and Butter Whey, Onions, Shellfish Cream, Lime, Crisp Scallop, Port Stock by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6043/6224596131_21b589e02a.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Peekytoe Crab in Brown Butter and Butter Whey, Onions, Shellfish Cream, Lime, Crisp Scallop, Port Stock"></a><br /><br /> Turbot with fresh pine and anchovy cream reminds one that some chefs can work with all four culinary senses (sound to the side): vision, texture, smell, and taste. This fish dish scored on each. Perfectly cooked fish with a crispy skin, startlingly arranged with a powerful twist from pine and anchovy. By this time we understood that the meal was so glorious that no quibbling was possible.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225116434/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Turbot with Fresh Pine and Anchovy Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6153/6225116434_ba2356264f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Turbot with Fresh Pine and Anchovy Cream"></a><br /><br /> Chef Shields is entitled to his little jest: Squid Risotto. Imagine squid cut as Arborio grains, served with the traditional rich cream sauce. It was not my favorite dish last year, but it is now a tradition. Perhaps it plays tribute to the jests of Grant Achatz or Hugh Blumenthal. Aside from the humor, it is ever-so-tender squid served with lots of cream.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224597255/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Squid Risotto by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6044/6224597255_c50b5ef33d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Squid Risotto"></a><br /><br /> Beef cheek (and tongue) . . . Pastoral is served with skim milk, toasted garlic, horseradish, grasses, and hay. A gastronomic tribute to the cow at both ends. Again this is a heroic vision of foraged food, a gorgeous and delicious plate. It is as good a big, land protein as any of the year. Stunning.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225117452/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Beef Cheek and Tongue . . . Pastoral (Cow's milk, Toasted Garlic, Horseradish, Grasses and Hay by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6211/6225117452_3279f737ce.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - "Beef Cheek and Tongue . . . Pastoral (Cow's milk, Toasted Garlic, Horseradish, Grasses and Hay"></a><br /><br /> I am a sucker for lamb, for beets, and for licorice, and this dish hit the trifecta. Chef Shields served lamb shoulder with beets smoked and dried, licorice, and beet Bolognese. The flavors were so remarkably well matched that I wish that the serving might have been multiplied. Licorice and beets have a certain mystical power that bring out the flavor of all that they touch, and, added to this, here was a dish of technique, so much work to create this little masterpiece.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225117922/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Border Springs Farm Lamb Shoulder, Beets Smoked and Dried, Licorice, Beet Bolognese by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6159/6225117922_9813c2fe39.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Border Springs Farm Lamb Shoulder, Beets Smoked and Dried, Licorice, Beet Bolognese"></a><br /><br /> For our first dessert we were served a liquid chocolate bar with an ice cream of burnt embers, sour yogurt cotton candy, tomato and sugar, I admired how the embers reprised the mussel ashes of the early evening. And unlike the desserts of 2010 this was a more highly focused dessert: a triumph of technique.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225119368/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Liquid Chocolate Bar, Ice Cream of Burnt Embers, Sour Yougurt, Cotton Candy, Tomato and Sugar by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6117/6225119368_dbca22d997.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Liquid Chocolate Bar, Ice Cream of Burnt Embers, Sour Yougurt, Cotton Candy, Tomato and Sugar"></a><br /><br /> My favorite dessert (Of the year? Of my life? Of eternity?) was cantaloupe and toasted faro with wild sassafras and ginger, carrots, turmeric root, and Tonka bean. When one speaks of a dish as a symphony, this dish is what is meant. With the luscious, sensual, sweet late summer melon, Karen Shields’ dish was thoroughly indulgent and passionate. To my pleasure I had an opportunity in October to reprise the dish at a special supper sponsored by the James Beard House in Chicago. It was the best dish of that evening.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6224600253/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Cantaloupe and Toasted Farro, Wild Sassafras and Ginger, Carrots, Turmeric Root, and Tonka Bean by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6092/6224600253_8da68cd4f7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Cantaloupe and Toasted Farro, Wild Sassafras and Ginger, Carrots, Turmeric Root, and Tonka Bean"></a><br /><br /> Finally there was Broken Marshmallows: cucumber, softly whipped cream, green strawberries and geranium. Like so many dishes before, it was a tribute to the land: farmed and found. An unexpected and wise mixture of tastes and textures.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6225120920/" title="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Broken Marshmellows, Cucumber, Softly Whipped Cream, Green Strawberries by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6102/6225120920_d966609aa4.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Town House - Chilhowie, VA - August 2011 - Broken Marshmellows, Cucumber, Softly Whipped Cream, Green Strawberries"></a><br /><br /> And so this concluded a profound dinner of a profoundly culinary year. John and Karen Shields are creating a cuisine that builds on that of Trotter, Achatz, and Redzepi, but is transformed through their own vision. This meal was as close to perfection as any that I have eaten in quite a while, and is certainly more than could ever be expected from an exit off Interstate 81 rolling through the verdant hills of southwestern Virginia. But plants are everywhere and genius is to be found in unexpected burgs.<br /><br />Town House<br />132 East Main Street<br />Chilhowie, VA 24319<br />276-646-8787<br />http://www.townhouseva.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-79979074221252460072011-09-10T23:46:00.002-05:002011-09-10T23:51:53.806-05:00Guy Savoy - Modern French in Las VegasI wanted to share some photos from a (mostly) excellent dinner at Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace. I ordered the six course tasting menu (Menu Elegance), exchanging a Grapefruit Terrine for the Jasmine and Chocolate. Of the dishes four of them were really quite distinguished, revealing that some French chefs (i.e. Guy Savoy) have embraced the modernist chef's love of all things vegetable. <br /><br />Lobster in Cold Steam, served in a cool steam bath, was superb, the high point of the night. The sweetness of the lobster was echoed in the sweet, crackly, sugary accompaniments. It could have been dessert and a perfect one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6134723029/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Lobster in Cold Steam by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6159/6134723029_7b7df69922.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Lobster in Cold Steam"></a><br /><br />The Roasted John Dory in Basil Crust was, in contrast, a huge disappointment. Although well-cooked, the dish lacked any excitement. The basil "crust" was not much to look at or to taste.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6135271228/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Roasted John Dory in Basil Crust by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6153/6135271228_e47ceaf031.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Roasted John Dory in Basil Crust"></a><br /><br />The third course, Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup with squares of parmesan and truffle was intensely, insanely rich. A glorious soup.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6135271412/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup, Toasted Mushroom Brioche, Parmesan Squares, and Black Truffle Butter by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6077/6135271412_386f857158.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup, Toasted Mushroom Brioche, Parmesan Squares, and Black Truffle Butter"></a><br /><br />Roasted duck with raw and cooked vegetables and spinach puree was a modernist take on duck, avoiding the usual sticky sweet, fruity sauce that is usually paired. Chef Savoy breaks through the stereotype of duck to great effect.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6135271596/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Roasted Duck, Raw and Cooked Vegetables and Spinach Puree by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6168/6135271596_c145324528.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Roasted Duck, Raw and Cooked Vegetables and Spinach Puree"></a><br /><br />Cantaloupe and cucumber was powerful with its combination of textures and herbaceous flavors. It was more of a palate cleanser than a dessert and gains credit for its awakenings.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6135271742/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Cantaloupe and Cucumber by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6188/6135271742_fd26052134.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 - Cantaloupe and Cucumber"></a><br /><br />The grapefruit terrine was nicely made, but was somewhat dull. It was not a visionary dessert, although it was served with a witty cookie.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/6134723887/" title="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 Grapefruit Terrine with Gingerbread Cookie by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6077/6134723887_0e58a9d81e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Guy Savoy - Las Vegas - August 2011 Grapefruit Terrine with Gingerbread Cookie"></a><br /><br />While Guy Savoy misses being the best meal of the year, it was, despite its location, a serious restaurant and the most accomplished meal of my four nights in Las Vegas. The restaurant is more sedate than jazzy, and that, too, is to GS's credit.<br /><br />Restaurant Guy Savoy<br />Caesars Palace<br />3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South<br />Las Vegas, Nevada 89109<br />702-731-SAVOY<br />http://caesarspalace.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-29025622060607994912011-06-25T22:36:00.002-05:002011-06-25T22:44:24.033-05:00Manresa: Six Degrees of InspirationSome pictures from my latest dinner at Manresa: my most recent, this week. There is a grace and lightness to David Kinch, a love of the garden and an elegance. The meals sometimes substantial in length are never heavy. The star of this line of dishes was the Spring Lamb, Pickled Tongue, Smoked Date with Cumin Seed, Roasted Carrots, and Braised Letter. Also a wonderful Black Bass and Octopus with Clam Juice perfumed with Coriander and Leek. It is hard to classify David Kinch who brings together all of the streams that influence contemporary cuisine: modern French (a la Michel Bras), Catalan, Japanese, Garden to Table, and Tail to Snout. But the dishes never seem forced, but inspired. And, best of all, every time I have eaten at Manresa, Chef David Kinch has been in the kitchen cooking. Let us hope that Las Vegas never comes calling. <br /><br />Manresa has expanded its dining room, and in the process have become more distinctive and architecturally interesting. Even my photos look better. They have a most creative cocktail menu. <br /><br />An amuse from Manresa's Love Apple Farm:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871649362/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 Vegetable Beignet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/5871649362_03c7523631.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 Vegetable Beignet"></a><br /><br />Manresa's iconic elemental poached oyster: all of the flavor, none of the slime:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871650016/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Elemental (Poached) Oyster by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5272/5871650016_a923dd04d8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Elemental (Poached) Oyster"></a><br /><br />A reprise of the Abalone and Raw Milk Panna Cotta from an early meal:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871650682/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Abalone Panna Cotta by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/5871650682_98704e62f6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Abalone Panna Cotta "></a><br /><br />A vegetarian dish of spring: Pea and Strawberry medley:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871094099/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Medley of Peas and Strawberries by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/5871094099_d67bf58e2f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Medley of Peas and Strawberries"></a><br /><br />The late spring version of "Into the Vegetable Garden," now with nasturtium. Sweeter than the winter version:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871651978/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Inter the vegetable garden: June version by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5112/5871651978_c17fc41fc9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Inter the vegetable garden: June version"></a><br /><br />A splendid and elegant aquatic dish: Black bass with octopus, clam juice, perfumed with coriander and leek and young squash shoots:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871652746/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Black Bass with Octopus, Clam Juice Perfumed with Coriander and Leek, Young Squash Shoots by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/5871652746_d6695a1302.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Black Bass with Octopus, Clam Juice Perfumed with Coriander and Leek, Young Squash Shoots"></a><br /><br />The best dish of the evening was spring lamb, its pickled tongue, smoked date with cumin seed, roasted carrots, and braised lettuce. One of Chef Kinch's most creative creations. An inspiring composition:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871653700/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Spring Lamb, Pickled tongue, Smoked date with cumin seed, roasted carrots, braised lettuce, nasturiums by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5871653700_4c4a5e4013.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Spring Lamb, Pickled tongue, Smoked date with cumin seed, roasted carrots, braised lettuce, nasturiums"></a><br /><br />Our intermezzo was Acai granita, Lemon Cream Soup, and Yogurt sorbet. Cool and sweet:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871654220/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Intermezzo - Acai granita, Lemon cream soup, Yogurt sorbet and Berries by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5026/5871654220_85ce451454.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Intermezzo - Acai granita, Lemon cream soup, Yogurt sorbet and Berries"></a><br /><br />Finally dessert, a continuation of the intermezzo: Yogurt mousse and passion fruit curd, poached rhubarb with strawberry sorbet: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5871654894/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Yogurt Mousse and Passion Fruit Curd, Poached Rhubarb with Strawberry Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/5871654894_f4c6ddbf18.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - June 2011 - Yogurt Mousse and Passion Fruit Curd, Poached Rhubarb with Strawberry Sorbet"></a>Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-41735139160923340932011-06-19T20:38:00.002-05:002011-06-19T20:47:02.108-05:00The Challenge of DiningThe Challenge – Restaurant at Meadowood – St. Helena, CA<br /><br /> The most memorable mignardise that I shall ever taste was served on June 15, 2011 by Chef Christopher Kostow, the inspired and mischievous chef of the Michelin Three Star restaurant at the ultra-luxe Meadowood resort in St. Helena, California. One does not image that a chef cooking at a resort that might easily get away with a Cal-Ital version of Surf’n’Turf would serve a “sweet” that might as easily been a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. This tiny bite was a slight Oreo-like cookie (so slight that I didn’t even think to take a photo) with a mint filling. But what a mint-filling! In most instances a mint filling is little more than a sugar delivery system. But suppose one excised all sugar. The innocent, dream cookie was a mouthful of Scope. Pure, unabridged mintiness. <br /><br /> I have often wondered, even speculated in print, whether dishes, like sculptures, need to be welcoming to be artistic. Today I realize that even at the highest of the high-end resorts, at least one chef will utter uh-uh. Admittedly of the fourteen dishes served only two (an amuse and a mignardise) were challenging. But still the gesture reflected the subtle rebalancing of the relationship between chef and diner. And I was proud to have been a victim. <br /><br /> Both the décor – a high-ceiling, open space – and the service – very cheery, slightly nervy - was as one expected at a top Left Coast restaurant. Everything polished, wooden, white and light. <br /><br /> The first amuse was as precious as could be: a small crackly pillow filled with liquid goat cheese, garnished with a tiny flower from the restaurant’s garden. This latter was to be a theme of the evening; we almost ate a bouquet. The bite was luxuriant, because of its jewel-like quality, and it was surely a mouth opener.<br /><br /> Amuse followed amuse. The second dish, equally memorable, contained a few micro-carrots and radishes hidden in a snow drift of fromage blanc ice. I have never seen a dish to compare, and had the vegetables been any smaller they would have had to been served with a magnifying glass. The dish, only a few bites, was quite ingenious. It was a creation unlike any other. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847338782/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Frozen appetizer with tiny carrots and radish and fromage blanc by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/5847338782_a6d3d943a6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Frozen appetizer with tiny carrots and radish and fromage blanc"></a><br /><br /> Geoduck clams in beer batter, wrapped in lettuce with lemon zest and served on bread crumbs, was Amuse 3.0. Less showy than the ice, it was simple and delicious. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5846779739/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Beer batter geoduck, lemon, wrapped in lettuce on bread crumbs by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5272/5846779739_50c3c17de3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Beer batter geoduck, lemon, wrapped in lettuce on bread crumbs"></a><br /><br /> The final amuse was another poke in the eye: Goat yogurt custard with salty pickled plum (Japanese umeboshi) with nut rocks and shiso. When I tasted it I was convinced that some poor ill-starred stage on her final day in the industry had dropped a shaker of salt in the mix. The dish was on the edge of inedibility, and for several hours I felt great compassion for Chef Kostow. He was the star chef at a RESORT for chrissake! The plating was so perfect that it was a crime that the dish tasted so. Finally after several delightful dishes I inquired about the misbegotten plums, only to be assured – and assured several times! – that the taste was quite intentional. It was, our server asserted, designed to awaken our tongue. No salt had been added, it was all the salted plum. But for me, as with the later mint cookie, it raised the issue of whether food needed to be delicious to be worth serving. Richard Serra’s sculptures on the plate. The umeboshi certainly made me sit up, take notice, and beg for relief. It revealed that Kostow is nothing if not brave, but I’m grateful that it was only in the freebies – the amuse and the mignardises - that he tested us.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5846780297/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Goat Yogurt Custard, Pickled Plum by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/5846780297_53014c834a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Goat Yogurt Custard, Pickled Plum"></a><br /><br /> The first dish of the nine-course tasting menu was an artistically displayed Geoduck Clam Grilled over Grape Wood with Avocado, Osetra Caviar, and Shaved Almond. Served on a slab of wood taken from a wine carton, it was a smooth and elegant presentation. While the dish had the modernist foible of lacking a true center, the components were beautifully prepared, especially the geoduck reprise.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847340390/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Geoduck Clam Grilled Over Grape Wood by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/5847340390_48094a87da.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Geoduck Clam Grilled Over Grape Wood"></a><br /><br /> The second offering was the flavorful star of the night: Foie Gras Enrobed in Licorice with Wild Fennel, Glazed Pickled Cherries and Black Walnuts. I have lost some enthusiasm for foie gras, often used to demonstrate that the meal was worth its price, but thanks to the licorice this was a superb use of the duck’s liver, reminiscent of a salmon and licorice dish once served at the Fat Duck. The slightly bitter licorice cut through the unctuousness of the foie gras. It was a truly distinguished dish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847341414/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Foie Gras Enrobed in Licorice, Wild Fennel, Glazed Cherries, Black Walnut by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5153/5847341414_bcee9e9387.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Foie Gras Enrobed in Licorice, Wild Fennel, Glazed Cherries, Black Walnut"></a><br /><br /> The third plate was a composition of Cucumbers of Sea and Land with Borage, Sorrels, and Frozen Herbs. Given the dangers of cooking with sea cucumbers, the texture was spot on, and, as I prepare to leave California, it reminds me of how much I will miss the bounty of Bay Area farms.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847342070/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Cucumbers of Sea and Land, Borage, Sorrels, and Frozen Herbs by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5032/5847342070_28f9f759b7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Cucumbers of Sea and Land, Borage, Sorrels, and Frozen Herbs"></a><br /><br /> Live Scallop Roasted in its Shell with Caraway, Seaweed, and Cauliflower was brought to table covered by the top shell, removed with a dramatic flourish. The scallop and accompaniments were matched to excellent effect. Kostow has a gift for understanding which flavors, colors, and shapes match. The caraway was a wry addition.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5846783377/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Live Scallop Roasted in its Shell by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/5846783377_7253e3cb35.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Live Scallop Roasted in its Shell"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847343374/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Live Scallop Roasted in its Shell, Caraway, Seaweed, Cauliflower by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/5847343374_6089b7bb1f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Live Scallop Roasted in its Shell, Caraway, Seaweed, Cauliflower"></a><br /><br /> I have recently noticed that California chefs often select duck for their big protein. It is not that they have used the liver and do not wish the rest of the bird to go to waste. But duck has a gaminess that chicken lacks and a lightness of being that one doesn’t find in cow. Chef Kostow served his duck (breast and confit) rubbed with Chermoula spices (a North African spice marinate, often including lemon, pepper, cumin, and garlic) with Raw Rhubarb, Mustard Seeds, and Celery Leaf. The dish was beautifully presented and tasty, although I felt that it was less distinctive than some of his other creations.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847343810/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Chermoula Rubbed Duck (Five North African spices), Raw Rhubard, Mustard Seeds, Celery Leaf by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/5847343810_b143843b43.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Chermoula Rubbed Duck (Five North African spices), Raw Rhubard, Mustard Seeds, Celery Leaf"></a><br /><br /> Tête de Porc was quite a surprise, given that it was served on a tasting menu at a prime resort. Chef Kostow should be grateful that he has all of those Michelin stars to protect him. Not many chefs are willing to serve pig’s ear, head cheese, brined tongue, and pork cheek to well-heeled diners (along with peas, smoked potato and horseradish). Still fewer would get away with it. But it truly was a brilliant modernist dish with each component adding the proper texture. What was chewy was never too chewy. The display, reminiscent of the geoduck clams – a horizontal culinary poem – was a display of robust genius.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847344540/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Tete de Porc, Peas, Smoked Potato "Gnocchi," Horseradish by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3064/5847344540_8963f9fb42.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Tete de Porc, Peas, Smoked Potato "Gnocchi," Horseradish"></a><br /><br /> Our cheese course (Le Jeune Austise, a Verbena ash cheese from the Loire) was served with textures of Apricot and dashes of Sassafras Honey. As a break, it was very pleasurable.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847345162/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Le Jeune Austise, Textures of Apricot, Verbena Ash, Sassafas Honey by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5115/5847345162_b59c92d892.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Le Jeune Austise, Textures of Apricot, Verbena Ash, Sassafas Honey"></a><br /><br /> As a palate cleanser we were served Rose Sorbet with fresh botanicals and an elderflower veil. The mixture of rose and elderflower was inspired, and again it was beautifully composed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847345670/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Rose Sorbet, Fresh Botanicals, Elderflower Veil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5077/5847345670_95a5bdddd7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - Rose Sorbet, Fresh Botanicals, Elderflower Veil"></a><br /><br /> With some brio (and Chef Kostow is filled with brio), dessert was named “To Quicken the Heart”: flavors of umami, red cedar, and butter popcorn, and brown butter dacquoise. While the cedar might have been more pronounced, it was an impressive sweet that edged toward a very high-end modernist pudding.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5847346242/" title="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - "To Quicken the Heart," Flavors of Umami, Red Cedar, Buttered Popcorn by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/5847346242_b8dce9d9d3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Restaurant at Meadowood - St. Helena, CA - June 2011 - "To Quicken the Heart," Flavors of Umami, Red Cedar, Buttered Popcorn"></a><br /><br /> And then among the mignardises was the mint cookie.<br /><br /> Meadowood is one of the most illustrious American restaurants. Of the Bay Area restaurants it holds it own with French Laundry, Coi, and Manresa: each a renowned culinary treasure. To think that I almost missed Meadowood, imagining that it might be resort dining at its best, but Chef Kostow is up to something else: creating a distinctively Californian, distinctively modern, and distinctively challenging cuisine. It is a triumph.<br /><br />The Restaurant at Meadowood<br />900 Meadowood Lane<br />St. Helena, CA 94574<br />800-458-8080<br />http://www.meadowood.com/wine-and-cuisine/the-restaurant/Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-20448003593714681932011-06-04T21:34:00.002-05:002011-06-05T16:04:44.068-05:00Mlle. Proust in Cow Hollow - Atelier Crenn – San Francisco<br /><br /> Often young chefs find a horsey-style and ride it, but not so Dominique Crenn who is working with flair to harness her own vision. She has been in the industry for some 23 years, and perhaps “young” is a matter less of chronology than the fact that she only reached wide gastronomic notice in 2008 when she became chef at San Francisco’s Luce, received a Michelin star, and was named Esquire’s chef of the year. She has since triumphed on Iron Chef, which might or might not testify to her vision, but certainly to her culinary chops.<br /><br />Although she had worked with Jeremiah Tower at Stars according to her bio, she does not have the golden resume of some colleagues. Perhaps she is not self-taught, but she is not a sponge of others’ visions. This past year, Crenn branched out on her own, opening Atelier Crenn, a workshop for her own “Poetic Culinaria.” For those who hope that their chef is not only a creator of the idea of dishes, but also an overseer. She is a working chef, working the kitchen and the dining room both. Perhaps in a few years, this will not be so, but it is clear that neither she nor her food is set in amber. Having a chef visit one’s table is, perhaps, worth a third of a star alone. <br /><br /> Even if her culinary history does not reveal many mentors, she is a public figure with a biography. Crenn is apparently the adopted daughter of a prominent French politician, although I have been unable to discover which one (one hopes not the other Dominique: the ill-starred Strauss-Kahn). She was raised in Versailles, and after her mother took ill when she was nine, she determined to cook for the family. She and her papa and his friend, a prominent food critic, would visit the high-end boîtes of Paris. Much of her professional cooking has been in California, particularly in the Bay Area. She is edging ever closer to becoming a celebrity chef, and one of the relatively few female chefs who are in serious and sustained dialogue with modernist cuisine.<br /><br /> The menu includes a moving (and somewhat ambiguous) letter to her father, talking about pain and sun, surf and sweat. As with so much poetry, readers have much to read in, but one can hardly imagine a male chef making the claim that his cuisine is such a personal and private expression, a way of reliving the past, whether troubled or happy. <br /><br /> Ultimately reviews are about the food. Critics are often asked, reasonably, how good was it? Asking that of Crenn is a bit like asking that of, say, Eva Hesse or Robert Rauschenberg: they don’t easily fit on a 30-point scale. They are important artists with a vision that might or might not appeal and techniques that might or might not be proficient. The most obvious limitation of Crenn (and for that matter Rauschenberg) is that her dishes are not noted for their precision. If you admire Thomas Keller’s perfection on a plate, this falls short of that standard. Perhaps Crenn doesn’t have the staff, but I think she doesn’t have the desire. Memory doesn’t work like that. She is attempting to produce remembrance and reverie. Whether she succeeds is as much a function of the diner as of the cook.<br /><br /> We four diners ordered all eight of the dishes on the savory menu (all the photos are to be found on my Flickr account page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/with/5796811013/. But I realized that having a bite didn’t do justice to a plate that was designed to be savored and to be considered. So I focus on the dishes that I ordered. <br /><br /> We began with a quite lovely and evocative amuse: a spoonful of freeze-dried split pea soup, a bloody-dried beet “kiss,” an intense bit of fungal broth, and an non-edible boulder. It was quite a stunning composition: possibly Freudian, but perhaps freeze-dried split pea soup is simply freeze-dried split pea soup. The consommé was properly intense, the beet was deeply flavored – a root with a zing. The bright freeze dried pea soup didn’t wow my tongue. The crumbly texture added little to the enjoyment of the flavor, but distracted a bit.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5797364004/" title="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Amuse - Frozen Split Pea Soup, Dried Beet, Mushroom Consomme by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/5797364004_62713931c4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Amuse - Frozen Split Pea Soup, Dried Beet, Mushroom Consomme"></a><br /><br /> My opening course (diners can choose any three dishes from the savory portion of the menu) was a “Walk in the Forest,” a composition of textures and aromas of the wild. I imagined that it was going to be similar to David Kinch’s iconic “Into the Vegetable Garden” salad, a bowl of local surprises. It wasn’t quite. The plate was coated with a pine paste (a surprisingly sticky and sweet paste, more keeping with dessert), covered with various forms of mushrooms, the raw and the cooked and the pickled: a delicious black trumpet mushroom paper, picked and pickled morels, champignons, added were hazelnuts, chestnuts, tiny lettuces, toasted pumpernickel, and sorrel oil. I was glad to have selected the dish and I surely will remember it, but I don’t quite know what to make of it. As a culinary matter, it was somewhat too sweet and too pickled (Crenn seems to enjoy the tang of pickling). The plate was remarkably creative as an idea, and just a bit off as culinary practice.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5797364314/" title="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - "Walk in the Forest," Textures and Aromas of the Wild by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5192/5797364314_476a257738.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - "Walk in the Forest," Textures and Aromas of the Wild"></a><br /><br /> My second plate was poetically entitled, “The Sea, An Interpretation of Aquatic Flavors: Mussels, Oysters, and Arctic Char.” As I have previously suggested, the modernist style of dessert is to present the diner with a mix of preparations. The Sea, not so sweet as the previous dish, had this same decentered quality. Crenn prepared abalone, smoked oyster, char, mussels, squid ink meringue, and dehydrated lemon foam. It was quite charming in its ingredients and preparations and beautiful in its presentation. However, not having lived Crenn’s life, I wondered about the poetic imagery of the dehydrated foam. What might it signify? Still, it was a very worthy dish: a collection of satisfactions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5796810125/" title="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - The Sea, An Interpretation of Aquatic Flavors - Mussels, Oysters, and Artic Char by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/5796810125_d255586617.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - The Sea, An Interpretation of Aquatic Flavors - Mussels, Oysters, and Artic Char"></a><br /><br /> My main protein was more standard: Duck with crispy skin, spring garlic, strawberry, rhubarb and smoked buckwheat. I recently ate a magnificent duck entree at Coi; Crenn’s was more exuberant and less precise. Still, it was an excellent use of big protein. I particularly admired how she sprinkled toasted buckwheat on the plate as if buckwheat was salt. It stood in contrast to Patterson’s carefully composed accompaniment of radish and wheatberries. Crenn’s duck was a special preparation, well within the modernist canon.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5797366132/" title="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Duck, Spring Garlic, Strawberry, Rhubarb, Smoked Buckwheat by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5797366132_8aa4075e37.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Duck, Spring Garlic, Strawberry, Rhubarb, Smoked Buckwheat"></a><br /><br /> Finally dessert (from pastry chef Juan Contreras) was a witty trompe l’oeil: a carrot cake with spring pea cream. The joke was that the cake was within the hunky frosted “carrot” with tiny carrots and frozen peas as accompaniments. Perhaps the cake itself tasted no better than a routine carrot cake and the cream was more clever than wondrous, but still it was a pleasurable ending to a most distinctive meal. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5796811013/" title="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Carrot "Cake," Peas, Walnut by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2177/5796811013_315b042e23.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Atelier Crenn - San Francisco - June 2011 - Carrot "Cake," Peas, Walnut"></a><br /><br /> Michael Bauer, the lead critic at the San Francisco Chronicle, awarded Atelier Crenn a disappointing two-and-a-half stars in April, complaining not about ideas, but execution (and an average wine list). My meal (and those of my companions) in June deserved more credit, even if the cooking of ingredients is not quite at the level of the best of the San Francisco restaurants. Still, when a chef is still at work in the kitchen and the ideas are bubbling and bouncing, Atelier Crenn stands a good chance of being a better restaurant in December than it was in June. Even now, it is a restaurant that is always thought-provoking and vibrant. Chef Crenn, trying to capture her past and to share it, has a distinctive, potentially influential, gastronomic voice even if not all the songs are lullabies. <br /><br />Atelier Crenn<br />3127 Fillmore Street (at Filbert)<br />San Francisco<br />415-440-0460<br />http://www.ateliercrenn.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-44892738507385454682011-05-29T20:36:00.000-05:002011-05-29T20:44:33.301-05:00A Night of Sparkling Forage – Coi – San Francisco<br /><br /> I begin my sermon by reciting the eleven (plus two) course tasting menu at Coi in full, chef Daniel Patterson’s own record of a virtuoso meal: cracker, beet rose, clam, tart, crayfish, asparagus, allium, morel, duck, carrot/coffee, strawberry, unrefined sugar, chocolate paper. This is almost a haiku. Talk about letting your dishes do the talking!<br /><br /> In the fall I dined at Coi, and had a sterling meal. Some great courses, some just missing the mark. The evening made me wish to return, and I waited until shoots and leaves began to appear in the woods and fields and streams and tidal pools of Northern California. Along with Copenhagen’s Noma, Coi is labeled an outpost of the “New Naturalism” – the desire to create gastronomic wonders with found ingredients, foraged food. In practice it owes much to farm-to-table gastronomy. Chef Patterson likes to source his ingredients from within 300 miles. I don’t mind this conceit, which serves mostly to focus the mind of a chef who might otherwise have too many choices: placing limits on Culinary Future Shock. <br /><br /> We were informed that we would receive a list of dishes as we left (ahem!), and my notes were not as elaborate as they might have been, but I did jot here and there. But these dishes deserve perfection in description as well as perfection in composition. In the former case, the words will at times cry out for errata. I am abashed and you will be, at times, misguided. So it is.<br /><br /> The dinner was bookended with two crackers: a savory one and a chocolate one (described as chocolate paper). While neither was a remarkable contribution in itself, they did turn the evening into a gastronomic sandwich.<br /><br /> The first substantial course was deeply remarkable. One of the first garnishes that an aspiring cooking student is taught is to take a peeler and circle a tomato, skinning it. This slight slight-of-hand produces a tomato rose (even I can perform the task). Naïve diners are startled and impressed. Our first course, played on this naivety, as Chef Patterson created a beet rose with each petal separately carved. This floral sculpture was set upon a bit of yogurt, and surrounded by shaved/chopped ice infused with the delicate perfume of rose extract. The idea was cute, but had the flavors and textures and temperatures not matched, it would have been little more than a cook’s trick. But the marriage was for the years, and the dish one of the finest, most creative opening dishes I have had, an amalgam of root and petal.<br /> <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769949385/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Rose Beet, Rose Petal Ice, and Yogurt by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/5769949385_84dd63be81.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Rose Beet, Rose Petal Ice, and Yogurt"></a><br /><br /> The second course is titled “clam.” It might have been labeled “calm.” Coi’s label is true enough without doing full justice to the luscious take on pasta and clam sauce. With geoduck, Manila clams, and Squid Ink pasta, nudged to one side of a bowl (reprised subsequently with morels and popcorn), it provided a symphony of textures. The bivalves were lightly chewy without being gummi. Quick and fresh, it was Pacific found cuisine and excellent in all respects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769949965/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Pasta and Clams - Manila Clams, Geoduck, and Squid Ink Pasta by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5769949965_5254265554.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Pasta and Clams - Manila Clams, Geoduck, and Squid Ink Pasta"></a><br /><br /> Although plate three is described as “tart,” this four-letter word misses its grandeur. Here the sauce transcends: a lime green wheatgrass sauce that was devilishly overpowering. The aroma wafted from across the room. Yes, there was fennel, a buckwheat biscuit, a balsamic sauce (I think), and fromage blanc to create a modern Napoleon, but it was the take-no-prisoners sauce that conquered.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5770488792/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Buckwheat Biscuit, Wheatgrass sauce, Fennel, and Fromage Blanc by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/5770488792_482106e8c3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Buckwheat Biscuit, Wheatgrass sauce, Fennel, and Fromage Blanc"></a><br /><br /> Ah, how beautiful was bowl four with its foraged flowers and leaves. Chef Patterson insisted that we never forgot that the land – and then the sea – is magical. Here were crayfish, May peas, and seasonal Watsonville artichokes. Astonishment and delight. Beautifully composed, complex, and yet simple in its focus. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769951083/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Crayfish, Artichoke, Peas by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/5769951083_74533e52a8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Crayfish, Artichoke, Peas"></a><br /><br /> The next plate pays ironic tribute to those chefs now experimenting with paleo-cuisine. Ash as condiment. Two stalks of local spring asparagus, cooked in their own juice, were dusted with seaweed powder and fermented anchovy paste, and served on a bright, buttery, lemony sauce. If the dish was not brazen, its insight revealed a chef who was fully vegetating. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769951549/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 -Asparagus, Seaweed Powder, Fermented Anchovy Paste by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1391/5769951549_a901665062.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 -Asparagus, Seaweed Powder, Fermented Anchovy Paste"></a><br /><br /> And then arrived Allium soup: a dish that bowed to alliums everywhere: chive, garlic, onion, leek – the band of brothers – with a cheesy base. It was lush, and a reminder of how close we are and how far we have come from French onion soup. That classic is grand; this new classic reminds us of how much the frontier of cuisine has advanced.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769951995/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 0 Allium Soup (Ghive, Garlic, Onion, Leek), Cheese by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3400/5769951995_25206990ba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 0 Allium Soup (Ghive, Garlic, Onion, Leek), Cheese"></a><br /><br /> Morels and popcorn are not a typical match. Even I (whose book Morel Tales pays tribute to the cracked passions of fungal collectors) was startled. When we learned that the morels and popcorn were served in a popcorn reduction (!!!), what was there to say? Only that this dish, presented mirroring the placement of the clam dish, was poppin’ good and that a few surprises remain in a post-molecular age.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5770490698/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Morels, Popcorn and Popcorn Reduction by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5770490698_438ab31337.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Morels, Popcorn and Popcorn Reduction"></a><br /><br /> Our major protein was a duck consommé (not pictured), served with soft spring redwood shoots and followed closely by duck breast, redwood oil, duck leg confit, radish, and wheat berries. Many modernist chefs find big proteins challenging. Meat squats on a plate lumpishly. And this was a chuck o’ duck. But with the redwood oil (recapitulating the broth), the crispy top, and the pungent radish, the duck breathed life. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769953027/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Duck Breast with Redwood Oil, Radish, Wheat Berries, Duck Leg Confit (Duck Consomme Not Shown) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2471/5769953027_398c5594c1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Duck Breast with Redwood Oil, Radish, Wheat Berries, Duck Leg Confit (Duck Consomme Not Shown)"></a><br /><br /> Carrots with coffee beans might not seem the most traditional combination (and I must assume – although I didn’t ask – that the beans were imported from afar). The combination with crème fraiche was among the most stirring wake-up-calls and palate cleansers that I have encountered. Chef Patterson demanded that I reconsider these ingredients.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769953469/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Carrots, Coffee Beans, and Creme Fraiche by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2195/5769953469_8d381bd04c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Carrots, Coffee Beans, and Creme Fraiche"></a><br /><br /> Our first dessert was a lovely sorrel ice cream with ripe strawberries, nestled in foam (I neglected to note the foamy flavor). It was very fine in all regards, although perhaps less stunning than its predecessors. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5769954003/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Sorrell Ice Cream, Strawberry, Foam by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5028/5769954003_ec45ca0b6b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Sorrell Ice Cream, Strawberry, Foam"></a><br /><br /> Finally, a medley of unrefined sugar. The plate reflected the now-canonical modernist dessert – multiple movable parts - but tonight with a recognizable theme: molasses, sorghum, raw brown sugar, gingerbread. Each unrefined taste gave the dish a richness and suppleness that white sugar lacks. The sweet dessert was almost savory. Coi reasserted the philosophy of naturalism that had been thematic throughout the long and glorious evening.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5770492792/" title="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Unrefined Sugar Dessert, Molasses, Sorghum by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5770492792_76559413f7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Coi - San Francisco - May 2011 - Unrefined Sugar Dessert, Molasses, Sorghum"></a><br /><br /> This May dinner at Coi will be among my most treasured dinners. Nothing was wrong, everything was right; much was fantastic, some was staggering. When I first dined at Coi, I found an excellent restaurant; this night I discovered a shattering one.<br /><br />Coi<br />373 Broadway (North Beach)<br />San Francisco<br />(415) 393-9000<br />http://www.coirestaurant.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-67126310957909503872011-05-28T22:32:00.002-05:002011-05-28T22:43:38.736-05:00The Burden of Critique – Benu – San Francisco<br /><br />A dispiriting requirement for any food critic is the responsibility to write critical notices of restaurants that shoulda, coulda been better. Even with a looming deadline, these are painful to write. For those of us without deadlines perhaps another week might make things easier. Few critics enjoy a sad review. Our task is something other than writerly sadism. <br /><br />Very few restaurants are actively, in-your-face bad, and we need to treasure those. Often the failure is embodied in a few errors and fewer astonishments. When one writes about a restaurant based on a single evening, there must be much room for excuse. <br /><br />I pen this in prologue to my dinner at Benu, a restaurant that has received genuine and enthusiastic praise from many in the Bay Area. Chef Corey Lee decamped from The French Laundry, and set up shop in the spritely, developing area South of Market. His goal, it has been claimed, to produce food of Kellerian perfection but with an Asian sensibility. Benu is sometimes called “The Chinese Laundry.”<br /><br />I give Chef Lee high marks for intention (and for congeniality), but, based on one meal, not fully on execution. Neither the service nor the dishes were marked by perfection. I generally give the service a pass when it is good-natured, but this night there were enough minor errors of service and of molasses timing that made us realize that we were not in Napa. Thanks to my dining companions, the seven hours passed quickly. Many the dishes were thoughtful, but slippages dominate my memory. Chef Lee is a gifted Imperfectionist.<br /><br />But I begin with one stunningly grand dish from a fifteen-course tasting menu. A dish from the blessed past: a tribute to Chrono-Cuisine. We ordered as a special addition to the tasting menu, Poularde Cuit en Vessie, the classic French preparation of Chicken poached in a Pig’s Bladder. What is not to adore? I found Chef Lee’s Breast, Celery, Black Trumpets, Green Almonds, and Dates to be splendid. While my dining companions found the dish over-celeried, I fully embraced the modesty of the celery, and treasured the celery glaze that covered the chicken. No thin sauces please. What was so special was how simple it seemed, even while being a fully complex dish. The green almonds and dates added their special sour, nutty, sweetness to the plate. It was among the greatest dishes that I have had in 2011, and I only wish that every dish that Chef Lee prepared had this power and vision. But alas.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648545516/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Cuit en Vessie (display) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5188/5648545516_c9fe63ff4f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Cuit en Vessie (display)"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647982915/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Breast, Celery, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Green Almond, and Date by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5647982915_2a475b82f4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Breast, Celery, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Green Almond, and Date"></a><br /><br />When one orders Vessie, the bird does double-duty. A second course was poularde leg with peas and spring onion bulb and a shrimp roe sauce. And once again the chicken was as moist and flavorful as heaven, but here the accompaniments were off. The shrimp roe sauce overpowered the bird, even though the English peas and onion were congenial. It was an effectively composed dish, a work of art in a black bowl, but missed greatness. Still, we were all gratified to be able to treasure such a wonderful chick, and through the interactive ability to shuffle my plate, I could minimize the sauce, while voiding the chef’s salty vision.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647983407/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Leg, Shrimp Roe, English Peas, and Spring Onion by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5647983407_8ebd3a7bc6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Poularde Leg, Shrimp Roe, English Peas, and Spring Onion"></a><br /><br />Our meal opened with Thousand Year Old Quail Egg, Ginger, Potage and a Ginger-Almond Foam. Lee’s dishes often read as braver than they taste. I loved the Ginger-Almond Foam, and the textures were sublime, but the dish lacked the kick than I expected from an egg of such antiquity. It launched the meal, but was not the glorious blowout of Tom Keller’s pearls.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647977721/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Thousand Year Old Quail Egg, Ginger with Almond Foam by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5647977721_0b0f6cd142.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Thousand Year Old Quail Egg, Ginger with Almond Foam"></a><br /><br />This starter was followed by an amusingly light dish of Caviar and Bone Marrow with a Lobster Crisp. Imagine a lobster pork rind. It was a two-bite wonder. Chips ahoy. We were having fun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647978233/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Caivar, Bone Marrow, Lobster Crisp by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5647978233_3deb4a713f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Caivar, Bone Marrow, Lobster Crisp"></a><br /><br />While my companions slurped a stunning homemade tofu, abalone, chrysanthemum soup, I was served sautéed abalone Grenobloise – floured and served with lemon and capers. I suspect that Chef Lee lacked a second stunning abalone dish in his quiver. This was a sturdy, if somewhat unremarkable, presentation. I was less enthused with my plate than my companions were with their bowls.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647978733/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Sauteed Abalone Grenobloise by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5647978733_34eee1d6a9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Sauteed Abalone Grenobloise"></a><br /><br />I soon returned to the main road: oyster, cabbage, pork belly, and fermented Korean pepper (gojuchang) gelee. On this small plate the gelee was the star. But we agreed that the balance was off. Not enough cabbage to contain the pork and oyster: here was Atkins Cuisine. Everything that the gelee touched was rosy, but such a tiny dish seemed heavy.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647979309/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Oyster, Cabbage, Pork Belly, Fermented Pepper Gelee by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5188/5647979309_ec1236ebc7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Oyster, Cabbage, Pork Belly, Fermented Pepper Gelee"></a><br /><br /> The next dish altered my perceptions. We were served a pair of lovely-looking Xiao long bao (Chinese dumplings): one filled with foie gras, the second with shrimp and black truffle: A-list ingredients. But how could dumplings go so wrong. Gummy and starchy and not entirely cooked: if this is an indication, Benu needs a Chinese grandma at the stove. Perhaps this Saturday was the opening night for a newbie stage, but these lumps didn’t come close. With a perfect dinner, one error reminds us how perfect the dinner is, but that wasn’t the case at Benu. The inners were silky smooth, but Silk and Gum lacks the cachet of Oysters and Pearls. Fortunately no other dish was so down-and-dirty.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648542634/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Foie Gras Xiao Long Bao by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5648542634_9cf8671def.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Foie Gras Xiao Long Bao"></a><br /><br /> There followed a small plate of unagi (freshwater eel), crème fraiche, lime and a small stick of feuille de brick (phyllo). For a small serving it was a pleasant interlude, but the lime and unagi could have been more pronounced.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647980211/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Eel, Feuille de Brick, Creme Fraische, and Lime by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5647980211_3aa42a38da.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Eel, Feuille de Brick, Creme Fraische, and Lime"></a><br /><br /> Lucky seven. Our seventh dish was a star turn, a subtle and savory classic: monkfish liver torchon, turnip, cucumber, salted plum, and a small slice of toasted brioche. Here was a dish worthy of calling Benu “The Asian Tiffany.” In its simple complexity, its confident play of flavors, and its willingness to combine musky liver, picked turnip, salty plum in an elegant presentation it revealed Chef Lee’s genius. I would love a reprise.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647980601/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Monkfish Liver Torchon, Turnip, Cucumber, Salted Plum Brioche by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/5647980601_f77821586f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Monkfish Liver Torchon, Turnip, Cucumber, Salted Plum Brioche"></a><br /><br /> White sausage, black bread, and XO sauce seems so modest, and in some way the presentation was. The fish sausage was rather spongy, lacking subtle notes, and, as my dining companion pointed out, the house-made XO sauce lacked the textural complexity of the store-bought version: only in America. I objected to the velvet sheen of the sauce less than an expert XO taster, but aside from the impressive crispy squid ink wafer, I found the dish rather pedestrian in composition and flavor.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647981219/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Fish Sausage, Black Bread, XO Sauce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5647981219_76140ffbe5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Fish Sausage, Black Bread, XO Sauce"></a><br /><br /> Finally Shark Fin Soup, or perhaps more prudently “Shark Fin” Soup. Fee Fie Faux Fumble. The soup was subtle, filled with delicious crab and rich truffle, which surely would have been sufficient without a Mad Man’s claim of shark’s fin. Perhaps the chewy consistency recapitulated shark fin, but why make the claim if you cannot carry it through. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648545138/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - "Shark Fin" Soup, Dungeness Crab, Jinhua Ham, Black Truffle Custard by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5065/5648545138_fcca29ebc0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - "Shark Fin" Soup, Dungeness Crab, Jinhua Ham, Black Truffle Custard"></a><br /><br /> After two courses of Poularde Cuit en Vessie, we were solidly landed on land protein. We were served a loin of lamb stuffed with lamb mousse and fennel-scented lamb sausage. While the asparagus was as fresh as spring, the remainder of the dish, properly cooked in a bountiful broth, was somewhat old. The protein never sang. It was technically satisfying, but not a dish of any particular achievement.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648546950/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Milk-Fed Baby Lamb, Mousse of Lamb, Spring Vegetables, Parmesan Bouillon by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5648546950_86bcd0a3e8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Milk-Fed Baby Lamb, Mousse of Lamb, Spring Vegetables, Parmesan Bouillon"></a><br /><br /> I am a sucker for lily bulbs, and so sprinkling lily buds on ketchup or Twinkies satisfies me. This beef braised in pear, lily bulb, celery, and shiitake was a far superior dish to the previous lamb. The celery proved a nice reprise of the Poularde breast. Here was a cut of cow that sparkled, and was one of the strongest creations of the evening. Pear and celery might seem in conflict, but the fruity, herbal mixture was a pleasure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647984285/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Beef Braised in Pear, Lily Bulb, Celery, Shiitake Mushroom by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5647984285_9b87db32ff.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Beef Braised in Pear, Lily Bulb, Celery, Shiitake Mushroom"></a><br /><br /> Then followed two desserts. Neither was really remarkable. Fennel sorbet with rhubarb, sesame, and meringue was saved from catastrophe by the wondrous fennel sorbet, an ice of genius, but the other contributions were textually challenged. Too gooey for an adult palate.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648547714/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Fennel Sorbet, Rhubarb, Sesame by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5648547714_4bc75e3c6f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Fennel Sorbet, Rhubarb, Sesame"></a><br /><br /> Banana ice cream, burnt acorn (custard, praline, and bread pudding), ginger gelee and foam was a typical modernist dessert: a bit of this, a bit of that, lacking a center: the kitchen sink approach. It was not a failure, but nothing really sang, and I learned that burnt acorn will not make my Baskin-Robbins list of 31. It was a brave effort, but an effort nonetheless.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647985033/" title="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Banana Ice Cream, Burnt Acorn Gelee, Burnt Acorn Bread Pudding, Ginger by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5105/5647985033_04a3de4341.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Benu - San Francisco - April 2011 - Banana Ice Cream, Burnt Acorn Gelee, Burnt Acorn Bread Pudding, Ginger"></a><br /><br /> And so the meal ended. The greatest problem with Benu is its buzz. Corey Lee does show moments of genius and of gastronomic power, but his menu has not fully developed and his cooking is not always assured. To compare this meal, filled with deadends and with inspiration to the French Laundry is to do this young chef a disservice. The poularde was memorable – and Chef Lee is to be commended for his attempt to retrieve and reconstruct the greatest culinary triumphs of the past. The monkfish torchon was astonishing, and the beef and lily bulbs inspiring. But these were matched my dishes that were bland, doughy, or gooey. Critics often end their remarks suggesting that they will or will not return. In my case, let time be my judge. Benu may become the Chinese Laundry, but tonight it was just too close to dry cleaning.<br /><br />Benu<br />22 Hawthorne Street <br />San Francisco CA 94105<br />415-685-4860<br />http://www.benusf.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-21110822013082667992011-05-07T21:40:00.002-05:002011-05-07T21:44:50.905-05:00San Fran Hip - Flour + Water<br /><br /> As I think of my year in the Bay Area, I have discovered that San Francisco restaurants are adept at producing stylish, creative cuisine at prices that 20-somethings can afford. Yes, there are some extravagant restaurants and, frankly, some rotten ones, but SF has a mid-budget culinary swagger that few cities can match. Perhaps this is a function of the fact that SF is a youthful, vibrant city and a city where people dine out: seven meals at $150/per is more Silicon Valley than Noe Valley. <br /><br /> Several restaurants might be named as fitting this category: Delfina, Zuni Café, among others. But as I managed to snare a rare reservation at Flour + Water, a sophisticated modern Italian restaurant in the Mission District - a restaurant that is Pizza-plus – F+W is my text. Flour + Water charges $17 for pasta, $16 for pizza, and $21-24 for their secondi. The restaurant is well-priced and always filled. It is the Eternal Seating.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5697607069/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5067/5697607069_67caf0936b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011"></a><br /><br /> My companion and I ordered a pair of antipasti, two pasta, and a secondi, and were, in general, quite impressed: three of the five were distinguished. Pork belly with broccoli salsa gribiche, asparagus, sofritto, and fresh coriander was marred by a small and overly crispy pork belly. It was pretty, but not truly delicious. In contrast, the halibut crudo with strawberries, favas, and fennel blossoms was a cool tribute to spring. The fish was sweet and the accompaniments added layers of textures. The tasting notes were just right.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5698182120/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Pork Belly with Broccoli Salsa Gribiche, Asparagus, Sofritto, and Fresh Coriander by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5698182120_a4db0b33b3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Pork Belly with Broccoli Salsa Gribiche, Asparagus, Sofritto, and Fresh Coriander"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5697607825/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Halibut Crudo with Strawberries, Favas, and Fennel Blossoms by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/5697607825_f617ac5be9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Halibut Crudo with Strawberries, Favas, and Fennel Blossoms"></a><br /><br /> The path of pasta diverged. One was fabulous, the other sounded fabulous when read on the menu. Less successful (and not a choice that our server recommended when asked for pasta advice) was Aleppo Spaghetti with Ink Braised Squid, Mint and Chili Oil. Aleppo is a mild Syrian pepper. While the pasta was properly cooked, the plate with its black and brown tones was not inspiring and the flavors, presumably intended, seemed a bit off. Mint and chili did not match well. Braised squid was not as pleasing as the grilled version.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5698183302/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Aleppo Spaghetti with Ink Braised Squid, Mint and Chili Oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/5698183302_756964e0e8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Aleppo Spaghetti with Ink Braised Squid, Mint and Chili Oil"></a><br /><br /> In contrast, the Taleggio Scarpinocc with Rosemary and Aceto Balsamico (which our server enthusiastically admired) was stunning in its simplicity. These oddly shaped raviolis (shaped like wooden shoes) were luscious, and were as fine a filled pasta as any I have had for months. The cheese was astonishingly tangy.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5698182962/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Taleggio Scarpinocc with Rosemary and Aceto Balsamico by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2330/5698182962_e11f2ef77f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Taleggio Scarpinocc with Rosemary and Aceto Balsamico"></a><br /><br /> The secondi – slow cooked cod with artichokes, spring onion, asparagus, pounded herbs, and fennel – was lovingly prepared, elegantly presented, and carefree. If it was not as savory as some main courses, its subtlety carried the night. The lightness of the fish made it float away.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5697609073/" title="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Slow Cooked Cod with Artichokes, Spring Onion, Asparagus, Pounded Herbs and Fennel by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/5697609073_218a9d9c38.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Flour + Water - San Francisco - May 2011 - Slow Cooked Cod with Artichokes, Spring Onion, Asparagus, Pounded Herbs and Fennel"></a><br /><br /> With Flour + Water only a few blocks from Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream, a post-modern ice-creamery (Brown Butter Ice Cream and Malted Dulce de Leche), we didn’t test the F+W desserts.<br /><br /> We left F + W with wallets only slightly lightened and hearts greatly so. <br /><br />Flour + Water<br />2401 Harrison Street<br />San Francisco, CA 94110<br />415-826-7000<br />http://www.flourandwater.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-54102081032078425032011-04-30T22:38:00.002-05:002011-04-30T22:43:54.876-05:00Out of the Way – Pacific’s Edge – Carmel, California<br /><br /> Some restaurants are so fortuitously sited that the wisest thing that a chef can do is to stand out of the way, not blocking the diner’s line of sight. This is the challenge of Chef Matt Bolton at Pacific’s Edge. <br /><br /> The Pacific’s Edge restaurant, located in the Hyatt Highlands Resort in Carmel-by-the-Sea, has an astonishing view. It was named as one of the ten best restaurants with a view by USA Today in 2006. The award is deserved. Looking out over, yes, the Pacific, the restaurant remind us just how fortunately those living on the coasts can be, and with its high perch even a tsunami would not diminish the romance of dining. All tables have a view of the Pacific, but some are nestled up against the windows, awarded on a first-come/first-served basis. We were grateful to have been informed of this policy, allowing us to snag a 6:00 p.m. reservation and a window view. The sunset was not as glorious as some, but was superb none-the-less.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647937749/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - View by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5307/5647937749_f759d35e6f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - View"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648501054/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Sunset View by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5648501054_fedc43e7b4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Sunset View"></a><br /><br /> Pacific’s Edge serves well-prepared, if somewhat conventional, modern cuisine. A four-course “tasting menu” ($99/person) is not overly adventurous, but is quite successful, never failing to please.<br /><br /> We began with an Asparagus Vichyssoise with a luscious Truffle Pecorino Grilled Cheese petit-four, crispy spring onions, and prosciutto de parma. While the soup was delightful, the two-bite sandwich was ideal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647938307/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Asparagus Vichyssoise, Truffle Pecorino Grilled Chess, Proscuutto de Parma, Crispy Onion by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5647938307_77cf17dcd8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Asparagus Vichyssoise, Truffle Pecorino Grilled Chess, Proscuutto de Parma, Crispy Onion"></a><br /><br /> The Wild King Salmon with Olive Oil Poached Artichoke, Oven Roasted Tomato, and Chanterelle was a pleasant, properly cooked piece of fish, if a bit minimalist.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647938723/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Wild King Salmon with Olive Oil Poached Artichhoke Barigoule, Oven Roasted Tomato, Chanterelles by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5647938723_b30d58ed01.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Wild King Salmon with Olive Oil Poached Artichhoke Barigoule, Oven Roasted Tomato, Chanterelles"></a><br /><br /> Our main course was a well-conceived, evocative Pan-Seared Breast of Sonoma Duck with a five-spice pastilla (fried duck confit basket), English Peas and Shoots, and Duck Jus. The pastilla was unfortunately greasy, but the rest of the dish was sturdy and warmly evocative of a California April. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5647939181/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Sonoma Duck Breast, Five Spice Pastilla with Confit of Duck, Carrot Puree, English Peas and Shoots, Duck Jus by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5647939181_6cfac45a9c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Sonoma Duck Breast, Five Spice Pastilla with Confit of Duck, Carrot Puree, English Peas and Shoots, Duck Jus"></a><br /><br /> Dessert was a Meyer Lemon Semolina Cake with Pine Nut Sable and a sparkling Raspberry-Rosemary Sorbet. While this was not an elaborate creation, it was creatively presented and flawless.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5648502962/" title="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Meyer Lemon Semolina Cake, Pine Nut Sable, Raspberry-Rosemary Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5648502962_d8d1d9c236.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pacific's Edge - Hyatt Highlands - Carmel, CA - April 2011 - Meyer Lemon Semolina Cake, Pine Nut Sable, Raspberry-Rosemary Sorbet"></a><br /><br /> It is perhaps unfair to note that the food at Pacific’s Edge is not among California’s best. That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that the evening isn’t as pleasing as any. Pacific’s Edge is a restaurant to see and to sea. <br /><br />Pacific’s Edge<br />Hyatt Highlands Inn<br />120 Highlands Drive<br />Carmel, California<br />831-622-5445<br />http://www.pacificsedge.com/Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-54416569130705635792011-04-10T00:17:00.002-05:002011-04-10T00:23:42.897-05:00Crab Crab Crab Duck – Yum’s Bistro – Fremont, California<br /><br /> Few things can be more depressing for an ecstatic lover of ecstatic food that to dine at a Chinese restaurant alone. So many possibilities, so little to share. From a list of hundreds of dishes, the lone diner plays the lottery.<br /><br /> Without a large network, I have been Chinese-cuisine-deprived during my year in the Bay Area. But not entirely. On a quiet Tuesday an email popped into my inbox announcing a “chowdown,” sponsored by the San Francisco branch of Chowhound. In contrast to the LTH community in Chicago, these invitations are rare and rather select: twelve diners sitting around a table. It is a tough reservation to snag. And so I jumped at the invitation.<br /> <br /> One of the favored restaurants of the Bay Area foodie community is Yum’s Bistro, located in a suburban shopping mall in Fremont (in the East Bay, across the Dumbarton Bridge from Palo Alto). The diners of SF Chowhound had previously held their New Year’s Feast at Yum’s, a restaurant that is Cantonese, broadly speaking. The chef had previously cooked in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong and in large Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, but had retired. But retirement is not all that it is cracked up to be, and he decided to open a modest “bistro” in Fremont (although the Chinese meaning of bistro is somewhat obscure). The menu advertises their “exquisite crab dishes.” April is edging towards the end of Dungeness crab season on the West Coast, and my colleagues speculated that the sweet crab was from Washington State or beyond, but none the worse for its travel.<br /><br /> The organizer of the event is the estimable Melanie Wong, San Francisco’s answer to Cathy2, and she has been involved in the local chow community for so long that she recalled the breakup of LTH and Chowhound, casually referring to our Chicagoland rebels as “the Boys” (sorry, Cathy, I am just the reporter). As usual the group that gathered was congenial and bright. Aside from the fact that these gatherings are rarer in the Bay Area than in Chicagoland, what struck me most was a greater seriousness of attention to wine culture. Perhaps a dozen bottles of local and international wines were opened, and diners brought their own glasses (like chefs and their knives; the restaurant doesn’t supply wine glasses). The whole evening was good fun. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603334887/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5603334887_32b66312b4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011"></a><br /><br /> We began with a very flavorful soup, ordered special: watercress, dried scallops, and duck gizzards in a rich liquid. I was particularly impressed with the savory broth. It was supple and subtle, poultry and seafood, as sterling as a French bistro consommé. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603335267/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Watercress, Dried Scallop, and Duck Gizzard Soup by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5603335267_559e916f9d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Watercress, Dried Scallop, and Duck Gizzard Soup"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603918670/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Watercress, Dried Scallop, and Duck Gizzard Soup by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5603918670_cd8f889474.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Watercress, Dried Scallop, and Duck Gizzard Soup"></a><br /><br /> Now followed our three Dungeness crab dishes, served in sequence, each competing for attention:<br /><br />Soy sauce and garlic crab (a special preparation for our group).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603919238/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Soy Sauce and Garlic Dungeness Crab by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/5603919238_fc4c4d6fa3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Soy Sauce and Garlic Dungeness Crab"></a><br /><br />Hunan crab served in a Clay Pot with hot peppers<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603919720/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Hunan Clay Pot Dungeness Crab by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5603919720_87a724dc38.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Hunan Clay Pot Dungeness Crab"></a><br /><br />Jakarta Chili Crab with curry and coconut milk. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603337171/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Jakarta Chili Dungeness Crab by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5603337171_459430c238.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Jakarta Chili Dungeness Crab"></a><br /><br />I admired them all. The spice was not excessively intense, but still I preferred the Garlic Crab and the Jakarta Crab for the symphony of flavors. Although one thinks of crab as having a delicate flavor, certainly true, it does stand up impressively to spice. Crab and chili can be a beautiful marriage.<br /><br />The trio of crab was followed by another specially prepared dish. Stuffed duck, fried and braised, with ham, barley, and nuts. The quality of the duck was not impressive, and the accompaniments didn’t sing either. Despite the impressive presentation, it is not a dish I plan to try again.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603920638/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5603920638_3cdf65a4f3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011"></a><br /><br />Shifting to the end of the night, we were served Ong Choi, hollowed hearted Chinese greens, sautéed with garlic. It is a green and bright change from protein. Our noodle dish, another special, was Longlife noodles with abalone and mushrooms (one twirls the noodles uncut or one’s life is shortened). The noodles were perfectly chewy and the abalone sauce was delicious.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603338115/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Ong Choi with Garlic by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5224/5603338115_2b7072cc60.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Ong Choi with Garlic"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603921436/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Longlife Noodles with Abalone and Mushrooms by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/5603921436_c671f86c9b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Longlife Noodles with Abalone and Mushrooms"></a><br /><br />Desserts included peach buns (a roll filled with sweet bean curd) and a tapioca soup. The peach buns were witty and sweet. The tapioca soup was properly made but overly thick for the end of an evening.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603921794/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Peach Buns by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5266/5603921794_7f2e390fc4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Peach Buns"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5603339447/" title="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Tapioca Soup by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5302/5603339447_4e58f47ce5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Yum's Bistro - Fremont, CA - April 2011 - Tapioca Soup"></a><br /><br />I was grateful to meet new friends and to learn that culinary friendship is not (quite) a Chicago monopoly.<br /><br />Yum’s Bistro<br />4906 Paseo Padre Parkway<br />Fremont, CA 94555 (closed Tuesdays)<br />510-745-8866<br />http://www.crusa.biz/yumGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-7883002730321364572011-04-02T22:33:00.000-05:002011-04-02T22:36:49.080-05:00Delfina, Delfina – San Francisco<br /><br /> Some restaurants, modest though they seem, are just about perfect. Their humility hides their brio. In San Francisco I can think of no better example than Delfina, a lovely, sunny, airy Italianate restaurant set in the somewhat scruffy Mission District. There is little showy about the space, although it is pleasing and airy, but the plates are modestly priced show-stoppers. <br /><br /> I ordered Warm Ceringola Olives, meaty, green nuggets swimming in rustic olive oil, served with warm crusty bread (perhaps baked by the iconic Tartine Bakery next door?). Tonight San Francisco revealed its Mediterranean climate which these olives matched degree for degree.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5583807034/" title="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Warm Ceringola Olives by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5583807034_8f0287c6a6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Warm Ceringola Olives"></a><br /><br /> The olives were followed by a creamy cauliflower soup with paprika oil drizzled on top and cumin-scented croutons. The soup was redolent of flowerets, but needed the kick that the paprika and cumin provided. It was an exceptionally pretty bowl.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5583806800/" title="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Cauliflower Soup With Paprika Oil and Cumin Croutons by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5583806800_168d97e0ae.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Cauliflower Soup With Paprika Oil and Cumin Croutons"></a><br /><br /> Delfina’s Hay and Straw Tagliarini with English Peas, Pecorino, Raw Egg Yolk, and a touch of Pancetta (or its moral equivalent) was as lush as one might imagine a spring plate could be. The green and white pasta was nettles and spinach (?). The richness of the cheese, cream, and egg played perfectly with the peas, creating a modernist carbonara. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5583218611/" title="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Hay and Straw Tagliarini with English Peas and Egg Yolk by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5583218611_d8129d51c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Delfina - San Francisco - March 2011 - Hay and Straw Tagliarini with English Peas and Egg Yolk"></a><br /><br /> They also serve a superior Blood Orange Prosecco.<br /><br /> All in all, a splendid moderately priced spring meal. Bravo. <br /><br />Delfina<br />3621 18th St<br />San Francisco, California 94110<br />(415) 552-4055<br />http://www.delfinasf.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-16230849529948063652011-03-12T22:45:00.002-06:002011-03-12T22:52:33.342-06:00White Light – Commis – Oakland, CA<br /><br /> For some obscure reason, this evening I decided to review some food pictures from the past few months. I realized that I had not described my January dinner at Commis, Chef James Syhabout’s modern cuisine restaurant on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue. Commis has a space next to Bay Wolf, one of the most important restaurants of post-fusion cuisine of the high-energy 1980s. Bay Wolf was a temple of combinatory creativity, but as I looked at Wolf’s menu I realized how far we have come in technique and in ingredients. Children, can you remember when your fruits, vegetables, and proteins lacked a provenance?<br /><br /> Commis is hip to the new millennium. Of all of the restaurants striving for modernist cuisine, Commis is the most Zen of all. It is so white, so placid, so restrained that for an instant I felt that I had stumbled upon a Methodist heaven or a Jewish hell. It is neither quite: it is architecture filtered through the light of the East.<br /><br /> My wife and I sat at the smooth wood kitchen counter, and were pleasantly ignored, as we ate our four-course tasting menus (two choices for each course for a mere $68, which for this level of cooking is a bargain of epic proportions). Often in such circumstances one communes with the staff, chattering, chatting, and, always, gossiping. Not at Commis. These cooks worked in a focused fugue. We weren’t dismissed, just unseen. The hard-working cooks became objects of observation, not friends. That’s OK, but perhaps it led to a feeling that there was to be no Commis family. Every restaurant has its style, and focus is Commis’s. Chef Syhabout was there, murmuring to his staff. Anthony Bourdain he will never be. He’s a dish whisperer.<br /><br /> Chef Syhabout is a sterling chef, very much in the style of David Kinch, one of his mentors. In this, he is a synthesizer, incorporating styles, techniques and ingredient often with great aplomb. The meal was distinguished with some dishes that were remarkable, and a few that were less so. His cuisine is surely appealing enough to try again. Perhaps the atmosphere overwhelmed with its serenity. (“Serenity Now!”, sayeth Frank Costanza), but the foods had sparks and flash to balance the silence and the white light.<br /><br />The Amuse: Egg Yolk, Creamy Onion Soup, Majool Date Puree, Granola. Very clever start, and totally delicious. This start represents the best impulses of a cuisine of astonishment: Cuisine Agape. This bowl builds on molecular techniques and a commitment to flavor.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521689610/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Egg Yolk, Creamy Onion Soup, Majool Date Puree, Granola by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5521689610_5bf279b35a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Egg Yolk, Creamy Onion Soup, Majool Date Puree, Granola" /></a><br /><br />Oysters and Fresh Cider in Sunchoke Cream, Ginger and Radish. An impressively composed dish with challenging and fascinating flavors, with an Asian sensibility. A profound appetizer.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521689862/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Oysters and Fresh Cider in Sunchoke Cream, Ginger and Radish by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5521689862_22e5af6008.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Oysters and Fresh Cider in Sunchoke Cream, Ginger and Radish" /></a><br /><br />Coastal Heirloom Beans in Onion Consomme, Raisins with Warm Spices. This appetizer matched its sibling in its intelligence commitment to texture and agriculture. A very successful dish in all ways. A lovely soup with surprises peeking everywhere.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521690038/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Coastal Heirloom Beans in Onion Consomme, Raisins with Warm Spices by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5521690038_f5e8f5c644.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Coastal Heirloom Beans in Onion Consomme, Raisins with Warm Spices" /></a><br /><br />Atlantic Haddock with Smoked Mussel Vinaigrette, Herbs and Cabbage. Dishes like this have become fairly standard in modern cuisine. It hasn't become cliched, but it wasn't astonishing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521099671/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Atlantic Haddock with Smoked Mussel Vinaigrette, Herbs and Cabbage by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5521099671_29526f7f0c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Atlantic Haddock with Smoked Mussel Vinaigrette, Herbs and Cabbage" /></a><br /><br />Leeks and Celeriac Cooked with Anise, Citric Crab Emulsion, Wild Lettuce. Along with the amuse, this was probably the most startlingly successful dish of the evening. The crab and anise merged so well with the greens. A quietly triumphant plate.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521099863/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Leeks and Celeriac Cooked with Anise, Citric Crab Emulsion, Wild Lettuce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5521099863_9033b1b926.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Leeks and Celeriac Cooked with Anise, Citric Crab Emulsion, Wild Lettuce" /></a><br /><br />Slow Cooked Lamb with Horseradish Yogurt, Quince and Winter Greens. Well-cooked if somewhat fatty lamb but with enough interest with the accompaniments. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521690620/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Slow Cooked Lamb with Horseradish Yogurt, Quince and Winter Greens by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5521690620_82c4f8db37.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Slow Cooked Lamb with Horseradish Yogurt, Quince and Winter Greens" /></a><br /><br />Pressed Guinea Fowl, Young and Braised Garlic with Potato. This was the least effective dish of the evening. It was somewhat bland, perhaps it was too much of a classic throwback.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521100203/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Pressed Guinea Fowl, Young and Braised Garlic with Potato by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5521100203_e964491e4a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Pressed Guinea Fowl, Young and Braised Garlic with Potato" /></a><br /><br />Chocolate Gianduja, Green Apple, Hazelnut, Absinthe Ice Cream. I enjoyed the Absinthe Ice Cream, but this dish lacked a focal center - a bit of this and that.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521690972/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Chocolate Gianduja, Green Apple, Hazelnut, Absinthe Ice Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5521690972_5872ab5eee.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Chocolate Gianduja, Green Apple, Hazelnut, Absinthe Ice Cream" /></a><br /><br />Panna Cotta Scented with Winter Citrus, Pomegranate, Coriander. A very pleasant modern dessert. The two desserts had less interest than the appetizers, as so often is the case.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5521100617/" title="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Panna Cotta Scented with Winter Citrus, Pomegranate, Coriander by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5521100617_a3768a97c5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Commis - Oakland - January 2011 - Panna Cotta Scented with Winter Citrus, Pomegranate, Coriander" /></a><br /><br />Commis<br />3859 Piedmont Avenue<br />Oakland, CA<br />510-653-3902<br />http://www.commisrestaurant.com/index.phpGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-40577147434497082242011-03-05T22:29:00.002-06:002011-03-05T22:37:39.036-06:00The Citrus Mind – Manresa – Los Gatos, California<br /><br /> David Kinch, the esteemed chef at Manresa, is perhaps the most accomplished shape-shifter in American cuisine. But maybe I am the one who has been unable to pin his butterfly wings. I have found French, Catalan, molecular, and Japanese nods in his preparations. Two weeks ago some friends and I attended the nine course Citrus Modernista that he and his friends at Love Apple Farms prepare annually with the crucial contribution of Gene Lester and his citrus orchards above Monterey Bay.<br /><br /> It was a very impressive evening throughout – and surprising. Walking through the doors I expected that it would be citrus all the way down – tangerines, pomelo, and Buddha’s hand. A symphony of pastel. Indeed, there was a lot of citrus: wekiwa tangelo, meyer lemon, etrog citron, Mandarins, bergamot, poorman orange. Still with all this variety, I was startled in that in most dishes Chef Kinch used citrus delicately and supplely.<br /><br /> My wife and I used to amuse ourselves by preparing meals with one ingredient to be found in every dish, the more bizarre the better: the best was the banana meal, the worst, the liver meal. This foolishness is, of course, the conceit of Iron Chef. But when we played the game the goal was that the ingredient would be front and center. This is not Kinch’s style. <br /><br /> Once one overcame the surprise of subtlety, the meal was filled with wonder. The theme of these dishes emphasized Kinch’s love of gathering, of modest ingredients. More than previous dinners it was a meal that paid tribute to the New Naturalism. It was not exclusively found foods (foie gras does not lay about), but the connection of kitchen and ground was evident. The dishes pulled back from the drama of a cuisine of astonishment to reveal the power of a cuisine of consideration. <br /><br /> Perhaps I was more struck by the lengthy Japanese tasting menu I was served last year, but Citrus Modernista was a tour de force, particularly as it is a one-off, never to be tasted again. And perhaps it speaks of Chef Kinch’s desire to cook food, rather than to cook theory. <br /><br />Foie Gras and Buckwheat Crisps, Marmalade Bouquet de Fleurs. A pungent beginning to the meal. Perhaps it was a twist on a cliche - with foie gras replacing the expected caviar - but none the worse for that. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480922868/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Foie Gras and Buckwheat Crisps, Marmalade Bouquet de Fleurs "chez Pim" with Cauliflower by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5480922868_42297b2797.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Foie Gras and Buckwheat Crisps, Marmalade Bouquet de Fleurs "chez Pim" with Cauliflower" /></a><br /><br />Garden Leaves, Shoots and Flowers, Roasted Meyer Lemon Mustard with Apple, Spot Prawns with their Head Juices. Two of Chef Kinch's passions combined: greens and local spot prawns with a subtle bit of meyer lemon.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480322743/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Garden Leaves, Shoots and Flowers, Roasted Meyer Lemon Mustard with Apple, Spot Prawns with their Head Juices by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5091/5480322743_59553fbe5d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Garden Leaves, Shoots and Flowers, Roasted Meyer Lemon Mustard with Apple, Spot Prawns with their Head Juices" /></a><br /><br />Mackerel Marinated in Sake Lees, Charcoal Grilled with Seafood Salsa Verde , Assorted Clams with Sampson Tangelo, Salted Butter. I felt that this composition was the best dish of the night. It was a wonderful combination of textures and tastes, well-considered. Another of the increasingly popular mackerel dishes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480924022/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Mackerel Marinated in Sake Lees, Charcoal Grilled with Seafood Salsa Verde , Assorted Clams with Sampson Tangelo, Salted Butter by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5480924022_7756eca967.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Mackerel Marinated in Sake Lees, Charcoal Grilled with Seafood Salsa Verde , Assorted Clams with Sampson Tangelo, Salted Butter" /></a><br /><br />Scallop Shards and Dungeness Crab, Kyoto Miso with Etrog Citron. This was another fine and considered collection of tastes. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480924590/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Scallop Shards and Dungeness Crab, Kyoto Miso with Etrog Citron by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5480924590_700a308dc4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Scallop Shards and Dungeness Crab, Kyoto Miso with Etrog Citron" /></a><br /><br />Black Cod, jus of bones and Beef Skin, Brassicas and Flowers with Ginger, Dill and Kabuso Citrus. This was another splendid dish, one of the more beautiful of the night, and the dish most gathered. It had just the right mix of flavors.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480324433/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Black Cod, jus of bones and Beef Skin, Brassicas and Flowers with Ginger, Dill and Kabuso Citrus by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5480324433_d259ba0a7e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Black Cod, jus of bones and Beef Skin, Brassicas and Flowers with Ginger, Dill and Kabuso Citrus" /></a><br /><br />Roast Guinea Hen Jelly, Assorted Mandarins with Pickled Cucumber and Roast Peanuts, Bitter Chocolate with Bergamot Orange. Not the prettiest dish of the night, but the flavors were fine and the guinea hen was remarkably tender.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480925640/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Roast Guinea Hen Jelly, Assorted Mandarins with Pickled Cucumber and Roast Peanuts, Bitter Chocolate with Bergamot Orange by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5480925640_9bc57dfc5c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Roast Guinea Hen Jelly, Assorted Mandarins with Pickled Cucumber and Roast Peanuts, Bitter Chocolate with Bergamot Orange" /></a><br /><br />Hot Spring Egg and pure Akaushi Beef Sirloin, Black Tea and Dried Tuna Bouillon, Chestnut with Bergamot Orange. This was my least favorite dish, although it was fine. Chef Kinch likes to mix beef and veal with tuna and tea. The orange was quite subtle, but it couldn't have been more prominent without throwing the dish off.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480926212/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Hot Spring Egg and pure Akaushi Beef Sirloin, Black Tea and Dried Tuna Bouillon, Chestnut with Bergamot Orange by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5480926212_84640681ea.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Hot Spring Egg and pure Akaushi Beef Sirloin, Black Tea and Dried Tuna Bouillon, Chestnut with Bergamot Orange" /></a><br /><br />Ginger Ice Cream and Poorman Orange Sorbet. Here was a well-made paired palate cleanser. Both scoops were luscious.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480325987/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Ginger Ice Cream and Poorman Orange Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5480325987_0a74f004af.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Ginger Ice Cream and Poorman Orange Sorbet" /></a><br /><br />Yuzu Souffle Cake with Herb Sorbet, Exotic Citrus with Honey and Spice, Olive Oil and Almond Crumble. This was the most sustained and deep tribute to citrus with a nod to molecular cuisine. It was one of the strongest dishes of the night, and sent us into the street with a tangy fruity glow.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480326333/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Yuzu Souffle Cake with Herb Sorbet, Exotic Citrus with Honey and Spice, Olive Oil and Almond Crumble by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5480326333_570672f7c0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - Citrus Dinner - February 2011 - Yuzu Souffle Cake with Herb Sorbet, Exotic Citrus with Honey and Spice, Olive Oil and Almond Crumble" /></a><br /><br />Manresa<br />320 Village Lane<br />Los Gatos, CA<br />408-354-4330<br />[url]http://www.manresarestaurant.com[/url]Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-52074796620283024832011-02-26T22:44:00.002-06:002011-02-26T23:09:01.266-06:00In Hiding – Baumé – Palo Alto<br /><br /> Looking at the field of cuisine, it is impossible to escape the reality that molecular cuisine has run its course. Heston Blumenthal and Grant Achatz are mining the past. Ferran Adria and Joan Roca are bowing to classicism. But in Palo Alto, California, Chef Bruno Chemel is producing food as if it is still 2008. How odd. <br /><br /> I have long wondered what would happen if Claude Monet returned to Musee d’Orsay and insisted on dabbing a few more haystacks. Would he be turned out of doors? Is style a moving train that is gone once it leaves the station? And in cuisine, can a chef – having opened a restaurant a year ago – make a go of molecular cuisine.<br /><br /> Chemel is a fine and creative chef, but seems of two minds. One the one hand, he shows no desire to escape the molecular canon. However, he advertises his cuisine as “French Cuisine Moderne.” If a diner wanders in thinking that this is L’Arpege or Chemel is Guy Savoy, there will be heck to pay. His professional lineage is Catalan.<br /><br /> Baumé is an enjoyable restaurant, very pleasant to eat in with its private corners. Perhaps Chemel is not quite the chemical engineer as Dufresne (WD-50) or Cantu (Moto), but he has mastered the techniques. This is second-generation molecular, and not bad for that. <br /><br /> Each dish had its twist: Saketini with freeze dried raspberry ice cream, Asparagus with leek ash, 62 degree egg, daikon mousse, foie gras with apple foam, lemon smoke, paired bonbons – savory (lime miso) and sweet (lime caramel), and frozen snow. Each was worthy – delicious - in its own right. My favorite was the perfectly cooked halibut with Meyer lemon citrus zabaglione and butternut squash puree, a dish that I loved as much for the intense flavors as for the citrus zabaglione. Least successful was the Mont Blanc Thaw – the texture of snow wasn’t quite right, but it was a very distinct and memorable dish, worth the experiment. <br /><br />Saketini with Freeze Dried Raspberry Ice Cream - better as it melted<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480963560/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Razztini with Freeze Dried Raspberry Ice Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5480963560_bcdb78bab1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Razztini with Freeze Dried Raspberry Ice Cream" /></a><br /><br />Sponge Bread with Creamy Butter - Bread Service<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480963810/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Bread Service a la Sponge by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5480963810_3954d122c3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Bread Service a la Sponge" /></a><br /><br />Asparagus, Aioli, Trout Roe, Leek Ash - The leek ash was a creative touch, a nice mix of flavors.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480363353/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Asparagus, Aioli, Trout Roe, Leek Ash by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5480363353_cd80bf6a22.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Asparagus, Aioli, Trout Roe, Leek Ash" /></a><br /><br />Slow-cooked egg with sunchoke - this old style of egg preparation. Filled with flavor and with texture.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480964490/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - 62 Degree Egg, Sunchoke, Croquette by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5480964490_27fde28bd7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - 62 Degree Egg, Sunchoke, Croquette" /></a><br /><br />Foie Gras Two ways (old and new) with apple gelee and foam.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480364041/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Duck Foie au Naturel and Seared with Apple by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5480364041_fb3ce811c7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Duck Foie au Naturel and Seared with Apple" /></a><br /><br />Vegetable Bisque, Daikon Mousse, Dungeness Crab - Modernist soup with a daikon mousse focus<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480965602/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Vegetable Bisque, Daikon Mousse, Dungeness Crab by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5480965602_0f859f6cfc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Vegetable Bisque, Daikon Mousse, Dungeness Crab" /></a><br /><br />Halibut, Curry, Leeks. The most balanced and lustful dish of the evening. Perfectly executed with excellent Meyer lemon zabaglione.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480966396/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Halibut, Curry, Leeks by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5480966396_e80117a8bb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Halibut, Curry, Leeks" /></a><br /><br />Lemon Smoke Cleanser. Pure molecular.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480966964/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Cleanser by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5480966964_cf6bf10d50.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Cleanser" /></a><br /><br />Grass Fed Beef, Bergamot Saveur with Carrot Flan: Very tasty flan and fine citrus combination.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480366655/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Grass Fed Beef, Bergamot Saveur with Carrot Flan by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5480366655_40c6b5d983.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Grass Fed Beef, Bergamot Saveur with Carrot Flan" /></a><br /><br />Gruyere, Beets, Watercress - Nicely composed cheese plate<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480367123/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Gruyere, Beets, Watercress by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5480367123_a8faca08cc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Gruyere, Beets, Watercress" /></a><br /><br />Mont Blanc Thaw, Madeleine, Warm Ganache with Exotic Citrus Ice Cream. Interesting in conception as dessert snow. The texture was too "snowy" after a few bites<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480367629/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Mont Blanc Thaw, Madeleine, Warm Ganache with Exotic Citrus Ice Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5480367629_255f2aaa79.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Mont Blanc Thaw, Madeleine, Warm Ganache with Exotic Citrus Ice Cream" /></a><br /><br />Candied Raspberry Sphere with Chocolate Base<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5480368829/" title="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Raspberry Sphere by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5480368829_e48e87695c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Baume - Palo Alto - February 2011 - Raspberry Sphere" /></a><br /><br /> I plan to return to Baumé for their spring, despite their identity confusion. This is a restaurant that really takes you back, even if time machine is set in months, not in years. The San Francisco Bay Area does not have a true molecular restaurant other than Baumé. It deserves attention, despite its own imagined claims.<br /><br />Baumé<br />201 South California Avenue<br />Palo Alto, CA<br />650-328-8899<br />http://www.baumerestaurant.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-31716962286283125442011-02-19T22:29:00.002-06:002011-02-19T23:19:03.778-06:00The "End" of Astonishment - El Bulli's Classicism and a World of Pleasure - Roses, Spain<br /><br /> Every art movement has its lifecycle, a fact that is as applicable to culinary movements as to other aesthetic domains. The middle of the first decade of the Twenty-First century will be remembered as a time of triumph for the Molecular Movement, a trend that I termed Agape Cuisine for its carnal desire to astonish through the creation of new techniques of preparation that taken together had the goal of astonishment. This was the El Bulli moment, a moment that was supported and extended by world-class restaurants such as the Fat Duck and Alinea and El Celler de Can Roca and WD-50 and Moto. But where are we today? What is left after the nitrogenated dust has settled? <br /><br />Such a question is properly asked in the dawning of this new decade because of El Bulli’s recently announced closure, the new directions (and restaurants) of Heston Blumenthal (in Dinner) and Grant Achatz (in Next) and the incorporationist movement of other chefs and the prominence of some restaurants (Noma, Coi) such as those that some bloggers have termed the New Naturals with chefs as hunter and gatherers and others, such as Chef Josh Skanes at San Francisco’s Saison or Chef John Shields at Virginia’s Town House, experimenting with cooking in ash. It’s back to the future.<br /><br /> Ultimately all art worlds (and the world of high-end cuisine must be conceived of as an art world) have their styles and fashions, and these styles and fashions can be analogized to scientific fashions, as discussed within the sociology of knowledge. When old techniques stop working or stop appealing to an audience, there is a space for a change. We are always looking out for the “next new thing.” We hope to be first movers, revealing what is hot and what is cool. This was brought home to me in a recent visit to Barcelona to dine at two of the world’s great restaurants, the estimable El Celler de Can Roca (in Girona) and “the restaurant at the end of the universe” El Bulli (in Roses).<br /><br /> I was fortunate to dine at El Celler de Can Roca two years ago and, although I was an EB virgin, I dined with a multiple-time diner at El Bulli. Neither chef (Chef Joan Roca or Chef Ferran Adria) has forgotten the techniques that he had pioneered and that brought fame. Both meals were filled with creative nummies. But each seemed to recognize that cuisine is built on a classical foundation. Perhaps this is not Escoffier’s Paris 1906 as Grant Achatz will replicate in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, but it recognizes that new techniques take us only so far, they need to be integrated into the canons of taste. Sauces are there for the rediscovery.<br /><br /> A view of photos from El Bulli reveals distinctive and joyous dishes, but nothing from a different universe, and this is not bad. Adria’s shrimp on a tortilla, wonderful and distinctive, was not mad. The other shrimp dishes were even more classical. Perhaps woodcock is not typically served with guanabana, but it doesn’t take a chemist to figure out how to do so. The San Felicienne cheese blini was as classic and as buttery as could be requested. The quails with escabeche, wonderful and precise, were remarkable in a way that is within the canon of classic cuisine (even if perhaps cooked sous vide). Even the olive oil chip relied on one of Adria’s old-new techniques. Some surprises remained, but nothing that demanded a new vision.<br /><br /> The same should be said of the meal at El Celler de Can Roca. The caramelized olives were wonderful, as was the herbal green colourology dessert, the mullets with stew, the steak tartare with mustard ice cream, and the oysters with cava. All of this was definitely modern cuisine in its best sense, but it no longer seemed straining for effect. Three years ago I was startled and amazed; this year I enjoyed.<br /><br /> So at this moment we seem to be at the ending of a phase of an aesthetic revolution in which chefs – the best ones and the new ones – are rethinking what needs to be saved and what jettisoned to produce delightful dishes. <br /><br /> There is a necessary and joyous tension – a dialogue – between cuisines based on simplicity and nature (the new naturals, “snout to tail dining” and “farm to table” cuisine) and those based upon novel elaborations and techniques (the family of molecular cuisine). With the attention that has been given to new methods, there is a recognition that the past has virtues as well. And so we find Chrono-cuisine, as chefs like Grant Achatz (at Next) and Heston Blumenthal (at Dinner) mine the past, remembering the forgotten.<br /><br /> Chefs are at an inflection point. Molecular cuisine is yesterday. And Yesterday is tomorrow.<br /><br />And to the El Bulli meal (photos of El Celler de Can Roca on on the previous post). We were served 42 courses in this last year of El Bulli on a menu that emphasized winter provisions, such as black truffles and game (hare and woodcock). I was impressed in examining Josh's photos and from comments by those who had dined at El Bulli before that the meal was less experiment, but almost restrained. It was not that there were no molecular dishes, but some of the striving for the new was less evident. Yes, this was a version of "cuisine agape," a cuisine of amazement, but simultaneously it spoke to traditions in cuisine. Even Adria's new found classicism is not Escoffier's as Grant Achatz may soon demonstrate. Actually I have come to prefer dishes that are astonishingly simply, rather than those that strive for aerial acrobatics. Of the 42 courses, I would not wish to taste all again (there tofu tiramisu I could do without and the sugar cane was less than compelling), but other dishes were evocative and will live as long as I do in my memory. Ferran Adria is one of the few true geniuses in the culinary world (Grant Achatz is another), even when his ideas do not pan out. <br /><br />With forty-two courses the meal permitted sets of courses, creating musical variations on a theme: we had a set of mojito courses, a set of shrimp courses. nut courses, truffle courses, Mexican courses, and game courses. And sometimes we would revisit a theme. I have had better courses, but with a very, very exceptions, never a better meal. With fifty cooks, twenty-five servers, and fifty diners, service was splendid. One of the eight of us could not eat raw fish or shellfish, meat, or liquor. For many restaurants this would be a problem. But her forty-two courses (about half were different) were just as proficient as ours. As is evident, Adria is not a star when it comes to plating - only a few dishes are beautiful on the plate and some are (perhaps deliberately) sloppy - he cares about the theory of taste, the idea of the gustatory senses. In that he is the master.<br /><br />Even with 42 courses and 6 bottles of wine (for seven of us), we were not stuffed after five hours (but no pizza on the way home)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439984425/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5439984425_1c7049b29b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439984759/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5439984759_fcb1ecae48.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439985171/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5439985171_9371f8a7ff.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439985545/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5439985545_e498369f38.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011" /></a><br /><br />Here is the man himself greeting his guests<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440591116/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Ferran Adria by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5440591116_628d9bbecb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Ferran Adria" /></a><br /><br />Ginger and Lime Candi. An elegant start to the mojito theme.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440591926/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Ginger and Lime Candi by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5440591926_35f3b514ba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Ginger and Lime Candi" /></a><br /><br />A warm and minty mojito<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439987011/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Warm Caipi-Mojito by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5439987011_b649f7a76e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Warm Caipi-Mojito" /></a><br /><br />Mojito 3.0 - a mojito sandwich (mojito and apple flute), very playful<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440592644/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Mojito and Apple Flute by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5440592644_b4f8aec92b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Mojito and Apple Flute" /></a><br /><br />Moving from mojito to nuts with the almond fizz with amarena.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439987767/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Almond-Fizz with Amarena by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/5439987767_fe8921cb21.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Almond-Fizz with Amarena" /></a><br /><br />Nori Seaweed with Lemon. A beautiful dish using ingredients that would challenge other chefs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439988357/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Nori Seaweed with Lemon by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5439988357_744073407e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Nori Seaweed with Lemon" /></a><br /><br />The olive oil chip was masterful. So was the parmesan macaron. It could be found nowhere but El Bulli.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440594028/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 Olive Oil Chip with Parmesan "Macaron" by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/5440594028_65df44e151.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 Olive Oil Chip with Parmesan "Macaron"" /></a><br /><br />Peanut and honey roll. An early dessert - and an ode to nuts<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440594532/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Peanut and Honey Cookie by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/5440594532_b81472bd99.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Peanut and Honey Cookie" /></a><br /><br />Hibiscus and Peanut. Tropical and inviting. More nuts, and the start of the Latin theme.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439989575/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hibiscus and Peanut by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5439989575_8c17ff2335.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hibiscus and Peanut" /></a><br /><br />Pistachio ravioli. As good a ravioli as I have had. Nuts!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439990023/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Pistachio Ravioli by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5439990023_1ecb08249c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Pistachio Ravioli" /></a><br /><br />Shrimp torilla. One of Adria's best dishes. Simple and so clever and so shrimpy. Beautiful. I won't forget this, ever.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440595576/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Shrimp Tortilla by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5440595576_8129960916.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Shrimp Tortilla" /></a><br /><br />Classic shrimp.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439990689/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Boiled Shrimp by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5439990689_3439973fb9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Boiled Shrimp" /></a><br /><br />The third (and fourth) shrimp - a prawn with an intense "soup"<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439991099/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Prawn Two Firings by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5439991099_b004272571.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Prawn Two Firings" /></a><br /><br />Quails with Carrot Escabeche. Another amazing and simple dish. Four dabs of carrot and one dab of peppery carrot (it is number four). Wonderful.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439991515/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Quails with Carrot Escabeche by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/5439991515_da32b9d025.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Quails with Carrot Escabeche" /></a><br /><br />Tomato Tartare. A pure palate cleanser<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440597370/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Tomato Tartar by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5440597370_25c6338eb8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Tomato Tartar" /></a><br /><br />Soya Tiramisu. My least favorite - a bit of a mess, and not pretty. There has to be one worst dish. It just didn't sing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439992297/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Soya Tiramisu by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5439992297_ee14da3b80.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Soya Tiramisu" /></a><br /><br />Soya Matches. A much better use of soy, each bite had a distinct taste: how did he do this?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440598294/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Soya Matches by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5440598294_897bdcd793.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Soya Matches" /></a><br /><br />Ferran at his most playful: caviar with hazelnut cream. Hazelnut caviar with caviar cream. A very Fat Duck/Moto playful dish. A laugh riot. I wouldn't have it again, but I will talk about it endlessly.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439993047/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Caviar Cream with Hazelnut Caviar by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5439993047_720967ae68.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Caviar Cream with Hazelnut Caviar" /></a><br /><br />Liquid Hazelnut Porra. Very pleasant "bread" stick, hazelnut style.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5439993503/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Liquid Hazelnut Porra by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5439993503_0c1d0c3604.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Liquid Hazelnut Porra" /></a><br /><br />Truffle cake. Wow. As truffly as things get. The texture matched the dark intensity of the fungus. A great and extravagant use of the black truffle.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440599254/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Truffle Cake by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/5440599254_9e3920428f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Truffle Cake" /></a><br /><br />Endive in Papillote 50%. A play on fish cuisine with endive. A good and light dish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440599670/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Endive in Papillote 50% by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5440599670_0bdaf24e06.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Endive in Papillote 50%" /></a><br /><br />Foie Cake. In contrast to the above dish, an uber-rich cake. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440600100/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Foie Cake by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5440600100_0a9a8b6827.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Foie Cake" /></a><br /><br />San Felicienne (cheese) Blini. Simple. Classic. And as good as cheese gets in the hands of a master.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440600548/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - San Felicienne (cheese) Blini by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5440600548_574a8d8afd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - San Felicienne (cheese) Blini" /></a><br /><br />Steamed eels. Fun as a quicky. I prefer eels more robustly prepared, but it was an aquatic palate cleanser.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440011715/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Steamed Eels by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5440011715_39230ca5a4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Steamed Eels" /></a><br /><br />Lulo Ceviche and Mollusk. A dish of sublime complexity. Part of the Latin sequence<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440012061/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Lulo "Ceviche" and Mollusk by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/5440012061_887dc3267c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Lulo "Ceviche" and Mollusk" /></a><br /><br />What a beautiful dish. Iced gazpacho with prime olive oil. Adria removes all of the color (how?), but leaves in all of the taste. It would be the best dish in July, and pretty amazing in February.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440618006/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Iced "Gazpacho" and "Ajo Blanco" by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5440618006_24e62a64a9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Iced "Gazpacho" and "Ajo Blanco"" /></a><br /><br />Hare Bunuelo. The bridge between the Latin courses and the game courses. A bite size treasure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440618382/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Bunuelo by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5440618382_efdb9360d6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Bunuelo" /></a><br /><br />Game Meat Capuccino. Soup Starbucks style - finally foam. Note the absence of form (and other oddities) in the rest of the meal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440013193/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Game Meat Capuccino by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5440013193_76aa1bbb15.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Game Meat Capuccino" /></a><br /><br />Peas Two Ways. A vegetable dish for a diner who didn't eat meat. I just thought it was so pretty - but not a great photo. (It wasn't part of the game sequence)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440013591/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Peas Two Ways by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/5440013591_b535212dc9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Peas Two Ways" /></a><br /><br />Woodcock and fruit (with a Latin twist with soursop): lovely dish. The best of the game offerings.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440013949/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Woodcock with Guanabana (Soursop) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5440013949_f38b0fdf70.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Woodcock with Guanabana (Soursop)" /></a><br /><br />Blackberry Risotto with Game Meat Sauce. Another fruit and game special. A strong dish as well.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440015147/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Blackberry Risotto with Game Meat Sauce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5440015147_bc7a3d1b53.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Blackberry Risotto with Game Meat Sauce" /></a><br /><br />Hare Ravioli with Bolonesa (and Blood). Very intense dish. A fine taste of the wild. Traditional, but also El Bulli style<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440620978/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Ravioli with Bolonesa (and Blood) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5440620978_6a678ef305.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Ravioli with Bolonesa (and Blood)" /></a><br /><br />Hare Cocktail with Raspberry. Another in the set of game "soups" with fruit. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440016939/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Cocktail with Raspberry by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/5440016939_17e474ee8e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Cocktail with Raspberry" /></a><br /><br />Hare Chestnut with Liver Puree. Finally game and nuts - wrapped up in a delicious package. Perfect for snacking.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440017267/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Chestnut with Liver Puree by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5440017267_e27bb44d83.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Hare Chestnut with Liver Puree" /></a><br /><br />Pandang Ice Cream with Coconut Water. Another treat and trick. One of the jelly beans is salty: a reprise of the quail dish. The best dessert.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440017641/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Pandang Ice Cream with Coconut Water by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5440017641_53d1d8afdf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Pandang Ice Cream with Coconut Water" /></a><br /><br />Sugar Cubes with Lime Whiskey Sour. OK. A palate cleanser. A mojito reprise.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440018129/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Sugar Cubes with Lime Whiskey Sour by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/5440018129_cc40912c6e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Sugar Cubes with Lime Whiskey Sour" /></a><br /><br />Rum Sugar Cane. A second palate cleanser. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440624070/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Rum Sugar Cane by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5440624070_98823c21bc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Rum Sugar Cane" /></a><br /><br />Mini-Donuts with 97% Pure Chocolate. Powerfully bitter and sweet. Can chocolate taste so intense?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440624592/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Mini-Donuts with 97% Pure Chocolate by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5440624592_17209b13ac.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Mini-Donuts with 97% Pure Chocolate" /></a><br /><br />Coca de Vidre - Crystal Cake - Coconut and Pine nuts. A very enjoyable sweet. It went down easily and quickly<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440019729/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Coca de Vidre - Crystal Cake - Coconut and Pine nuts by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/5440019729_47927142e4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Coca de Vidre - Crystal Cake - Coconut and Pine nuts" /></a><br /><br />Gold Leaves in Coffee-Chocolate Soil. A strong way to wrap up, reminding us that despite the nods to classicism, Chef Adria created much of modern cuisine that we take for granted.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440020227/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Gold Leaves in Coffee-Chocolate Soil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5440020227_7d738d0237.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - Gold Leaves in Coffee-Chocolate Soil" /></a><br /><br />The finale! The box! The freeze dried strawberries were particularly notable as was the passionfruit-yogurt sponge<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5440020827/" title="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - The "Box" by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5440020827_fe1b302aa7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Bulli - Roses - February 2011 - The "Box"" /></a><br /><br />El Bulli<br />Roses, SpainGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-47900692184041331462011-02-19T22:02:00.002-06:002011-02-19T22:28:36.780-06:00Photos from my February 2011 Dinner at El Celler de Can Roca. For discussion of this dinner and dinner at El Bulli, see the next post,The End of Astonishment. While not all of the dishes have a classic aspect, I was startled - and pleased - at the incorporation of the Great Tradition of Haute Cuisine into Chef Joan Roca's modernist cuisine. The meal was far less molecular than the meal that I had in 2008. It perhaps was less startling, but lovely, poetic, and evocative.<br /><br />El Celler has a clean, modern, linear feel.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444142784/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5175/5444142784_97bb740dbc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011" /></a><br /><br />Caramelized olives (picked off the tree!) were as delicious a bar snack as one could imagine. It is a counter-point with Ferran Adria's liquified olives (now available to 41 Degree)/<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443540793/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Caramelized Olive Tree by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/5443540793_a8699bd672.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Caramelized Olive Tree" /></a><br /><br />A liquified Bellini bonbon, a tradition in molecular cuisine. It was fine.<br /><br />[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444143314/][img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5444143314_30996ca08e.jpg[/img][/url]<br />[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444143314/]El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Bellini Bombon[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/52391789@N00/]garyalanfine[/url], on Flickr<br /><br />Sardine bones - snacks just right for gobbling when watching Barca win at football.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444143706/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Anchovy Bones by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5444143706_ecf8094101.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Anchovy Bones" /></a><br /><br />Chips and Chicken Cracker. I remember this snack less well, but it was tasty.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443541751/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Chips and Chicken Cracker by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/5443541751_6722117dc6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Chips and Chicken Cracker" /></a><br /><br />Truffled Brioche and Pot au Feu Broth. Very classic in conception, and very filled with flavor: splendid broth.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444144460/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Truffled Brioche and Pot au Feu Broth by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5444144460_14d9da790e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Truffled Brioche and Pot au Feu Broth" /></a><br /><br />Smoked herring-caviar omlette and pigeon parfait. Two effective bites in the modern tradition.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444144788/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Smoked herring-caviar omlette and pigeon parfait by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5444144788_f0a3fa77bd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Smoked herring-caviar omlette and pigeon parfait" /></a><br /><br />Oysters with Agusti Torello Cava, apple compote. An elegant and smooth oyster bite with a lot of flavors. Splendid.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443542895/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Oysters with Agusti Torello Cava, apple compote by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5443542895_5baf9f38d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Oysters with Agusti Torello Cava, apple compote" /></a><br /><br />Escalivada with Anchovies and Smoke of Ember (Eggplant, Pepper, Onion and Tomato). Although the smoke is a molecular touch, but the escalivada is a classic preparation. A marriage of old and new.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444145402/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Escalivada with Anchovies and Smoke of Ember (Eggplant, Pepper, Onion and Tomato) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5444145402_56f7d23c02.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Escalivada with Anchovies and Smoke of Ember (Eggplant, Pepper, Onion and Tomato)" /></a><br /><br />Artichoke, Foie Gras, Orange and Truffled Oil. A frighteningly good meld of flavor in a modern cuisine vein. This is how foie gras should be done.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444145798/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Artichoke, Foie Gras, Orange and Truffled Oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5444145798_46622e383a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Artichoke, Foie Gras, Orange and Truffled Oil" /></a><br /><br />Charcoal-grilled King Prawn with Acidulated Mushroom Juice. A classic presentation although with acidulated mushroom juice. Classic up front, molecular behind.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443543895/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Charcoal-grilled King Prawn with Acidulated Mushroom Juice by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/5443543895_2f747f8c65.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Charcoal-grilled King Prawn with Acidulated Mushroom Juice" /></a><br /><br />Crespia Walnuts, and Comte Cheese (with onion soup). Very powerful cheese and soup course. Lovely textures and a delightful vision.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443544439/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Crespia Walnuts, and Comte Cheese (with onion soup) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5443544439_b3311dc420.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Crespia Walnuts, and Comte Cheese (with onion soup)" /></a><br /><br />Sole, Olive Oil and Mediterranean Flavors. Each bite is a different taste. Perfectly prepared sole, although some sauces were more intriguing than others.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443544747/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Sole, Olive Oil and Mediterranean Flavors by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5443544747_1dd1bff462.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Sole, Olive Oil and Mediterranean Flavors" /></a><br /><br />The fun continues. Onion rocks with perfectly tender squid.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443544997/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Baby Squid with Onion Rocks by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/5443544997_a4f64ff8a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Baby Squid with Onion Rocks" /></a><br /><br />Red Mullets with Suquet (Catalan Seafood Stew) and Lard. Very classic and traditional dish in composition, including the lard. We almost felt we were dining in Catalonia!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443545405/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Red Mullets with Suquet (Catalan Seafood Stew) and Lard by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/5443545405_5a381c60bb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Red Mullets with Suquet (Catalan Seafood Stew) and Lard" /></a><br /><br />Steak Tartare with Mustard Ice Cream. The most molecular dish of the evening. It works. Much flavor mixing that with mustard ice cream is on the edge.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443545751/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Steak Tartare with Mustard Ice Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5443545751_5c728998cc.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Steak Tartare with Mustard Ice Cream" /></a><br /><br />Lamb with Sweet Potato and Tangerine. Mainstream modernism. Good, but in a somewhat convention way in light of the canons of contemporary taste. Fruit and meat is a cliche - admittedly a happy cliche.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443545999/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lamb with Sweet Potato and Tangerine by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/5443545999_5163234892.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lamb with Sweet Potato and Tangerine" /></a><br /><br />Lightly-smoked pigeon with Anchovies, Truffles and Blackberries. Another fruit and meat (game) composition. Successful and somewhat more interesting than the lamb.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5443546325/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lightly-smoked pigeon with Anchovies, Truffles and Blackberries by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5443546325_77ebf22762.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lightly-smoked pigeon with Anchovies, Truffles and Blackberries" /></a><br /><br />Green Colourology. An incredibly beautiful composition of sweet and herbal and fruity flavors. A glorious opening to dessert. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444148626/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Green Colourology by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5444148626_7b029d0be1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Green Colourology" /></a><br /><br />Lemon-distillate Sorbet. A nice palate cleanser. Sharp and clean flavor. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444149064/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lemon-distillate Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5444149064_aece527d7d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Lemon-distillate Sorbet" /></a><br /><br />Vanilla, Caramel, Licorice, and Caramelized Black Olives. A modernist dessert with a wide range of tastes that do come together effectively. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5444149456/" title="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Vanilla, Carmael. Licourice, and Caramelized Black Olives by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5444149456_2ec3f308fb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="El Celler de Can Roca - Girona - February 2011 - Vanilla, Carmael. Licourice, and Caramelized Black Olives" /></a><br /><br />El Celler de Can Roca<br />Can Sunyer 48<br />Girona, Spain<br />972-22-21-57<br />http://www.cellercanroca.com/inici.php?secc=presentacion&lang=ukGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-77854621472453486202011-02-11T22:57:00.002-06:002011-02-11T23:05:24.999-06:00Soon I hope to post about my dinner at El Bulli (and Celler de Can Roca), but today I want to start with the new cocktail bar that Ferran and his his brother Albert Adria have opened in Barcelona, 41 Degrees (the latitude of Barcelona). They will follow the cocktail bar with Tickets, a tapas restaurant next door. As El Bulli closes 41 Degrees and Tickets will keep alive some of the classic tastes (if one can call food at El Bulli classic - perhaps classic, but not classical). <br /><br />41 Degrees is a very stylist space - cool, glassy, and aqua. Not at all retro (and of course Spain did not suffer through Prohibition - suffering through Franco's fascism was quite sufficient). <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437928128/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/5437928128_8e5ebf3300.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437320101/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5437320101_6514eb9e88.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437320513/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/5437320513_1dfef8c4bd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona" /></a><br /><br />Most of the drinks currently available on the menu at 41 Degrees are classical cocktails: Negroni, Aviator, Cosmopolitan. However, the 'tenders will make a drink if asked. I love Manhattans, but also was intrigued by the Aviator, and so received an astonishing cocktail that mysteriously combined the two. It has no name, but it deserves on: I'll call it the LaGuardia: it was a mix of single malt vodka, bourbon, creme de violette, peychauds bitters, honey and orange juice. Perhaps it was my jet lag, but I was flying. It was a beautiful mix of sweet, bitter, caramel, and flowers. That this concoction was newly minted was quite astonishing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437930148/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Off the menu Cocktail by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5437930148_595f1e1f16.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Off the menu Cocktail" /></a><br /><br />Along with drinks one can order oysters as well a dozen El Bulli-inspired bar snacks (although using El Bulli and bar snack in the same sentence seems sacrilegious). I selected Adria's powerful spherical olive, pure olive liquid in a gel sac; a parmesan ice cream sandwich (intense cheesy ice cream and crackers), robust lime marshmallows, and pistachio embedded in sugared yogurt (sweet and pretty). Soon going to Barcelona will require seeing monuments Gaudi, Dali, and Adria. Degree 41 is a good place to experience (a bit of) the Adria magic.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437929066/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Spherical Liquid Olive by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5437929066_79ce0d3160.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Spherical Liquid Olive" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437321981/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Parmesan Ice Cream Sandwich with Parmesan Biscuits by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5437321981_411e40bfbd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Parmesan Ice Cream Sandwich with Parmesan Biscuits" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437930596/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Lime Marshmallows by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5437930596_98cba1d300.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Lime Marshmallows" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437321207/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Pistachio with Yogurt by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5437321207_c06d39727c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Pistachio with Yogurt " /></a><br /><br />I was able to peek into the construction of Tickets, the Adria brothers tapas bar, which, as everything the brothers touch, bears watching.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5437930888/" title="41 Degrees Barcelona - Interior of Tickets as of February 2011 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/5437930888_2a57b3ed2b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="41 Degrees Barcelona - Interior of Tickets as of February 2011" /></a><br /><br />41 Degrees<br />164 Paral.lel<br />BarcelonaGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-39165403099914010802010-12-25T22:12:00.003-06:002010-12-25T22:24:01.618-06:00Pop-Up Gourmet - Ludobites 6.0 – Sherman Oaks<br /><br /> Perhaps we should blame the housing bubble, perhaps the remaining high rents in the beau monde, or perhaps the lack of commitment of a generation of slackers. Whatever the cause, a hot trend in contemporary dining is the restaurant that is not, truly, a restaurant: a restaurant of the eye blink. A restaurant that is less a piece of real estate than a place of mind. Sometimes this alternative style is known as underground dining, which has the allure of a dining party consisting of people that you never wish to meet again. These gatherings are frequently one-offs, sometimes held in an apartment or an industrial venue, although some establish weekly or monthly schedules. One senses something of Tom Wolfe’s nostalgie de la boue – a loving admiration for dirt and depravity – that makes these occasional festivities fascinating, but with health departments not invited.<br /><br /> However, even in occasional dining there are status distinctions. Some prominent chefs are satisfied to cook for awhile, and then go fallow, only to sprout again. In my hometown of Chicago the best known example was Patrick Chabert’s occasional meals at Berutti’s in Buffalo Grove. Chabert was for many years sous chef at Le Francais, and some of that glory sticks to him still. <br /><br /> At present the star of the pop-up is surely Los Angeles’s admired chef and food trucker extraordinaire (Keep on Truckin’) Ludo Lefebvre, a chef with all the proper Parisian credentials (L’Arpege and Gagnaire) and with a stint of fine restaurant chefing under his toque at Bastide and l’Orangerie. Chef Ludo has received honors of various weight, including warmly admiring media attention.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234982403/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Chef Ludo Lefebrve by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/5234982403_baf44a07f0.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Chef Ludo Lefebrve" /></a><br /><br /> Today Chef Ludo fashions himself as an occasional chef. Yes, he has a food truck, purveying what I am led to believe is sturdy fried chicken, found on the streets of Los Angeles if one is on his Tweet-list, but he has no permanent restaurant home. What he has, in contrast, are pop-up sites. He will rent a restaurant space and then will devise a fairly set menu for some six weeks. In our digital age, these spottings are labeled 1.0, 2.0, until the current iteration, Ludobites 6.0, open (and now closed) at Max’s, a modest but pleasant restaurant space in Sherman Oaks, located in “The (San Fernando) Valley,” along Ventura Boulevard.<br /><br /> From a friend who has eaten at five of these pops, I understand that Chef Ludo’s style changes with the iteration, creating disparate culinary selves. Sometimes his menu owes much to classical traditions, other times he is modernist, and on still other occasions there is a pronounced Asian inflection. Some meals are more precise and restrained, and others are profoundly energetic. Ludobites 6.0 is more ebullient than carefully composed.<br /><br /> This meal was characterized by robust flavors, but for the most part not a large dollop of precise technique appearing on the plate. I was told that the 6.0 cuisine was at some distance from chef Ludo’s cuisine at Bastide: not that one would wish to have a chef’s creations frozen in amber or molasses: no semifreddo he.<br /><br />The first marquee dish - Escargot, Brussel Sprouts, Red Mole, Corn Ice Cream, and Tofu Squares – provoked a dollop of dispute. More than my tablemates, I found the dish excellent and after some weeks I recall it well. Chef Lefebvre did not prepare an authentic, classic mole, and so perhaps the false advertising burned some tongues: the sauce had very strong allspice tones, but I found the combination of allspice and snails and corn ice cream alluring and seductive. The dish was not designed for quiet contemplation. It was a excitable plate, to be avoided by the squeamish. Perhaps it wasn’t beautiful resting on china, but in this it set the tone for the meal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235565300/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Escargot, Brussels Sprouts, Red Mole, Tofu, Corn Ice Cream by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5235565300_d1c3886e52.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Escargot, Brussels Sprouts, Red Mole, Tofu, Corn Ice Cream" /></a><br /><br />Hamachi Vietnamese Style appeared as a wild salad, and so a theme emerged. Some fine slabs of Hamachi were showered with Vietnamese inspired ingredients, ginger and sprouts throughout: it was not a classic composition, but a tasty mound of vegetables. Without much of a culinary logic, it did not leave a large impression.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235566098/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Hamachi, Vietnamese Style by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5235566098_f07c5df65d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Hamachi, Vietnamese Style" /></a><br /><br />Today everything is coming up mackerel: classic or contemporary. Should the trend continue, jack mackerel will perhaps be soon as endangered as Chilean seabass. This oily fish, once rarely seen at top tables, now shows up in the best society. Marinated Mackerel, Leche Del Tigre (a citrus-based marinate), Baby Leeks, and Verdolagas Leaves (aka purslane) constituted Ludo’s paean to ceviche. While the dish revealed well-chosen ingredients and was successful as an aquatic appetizer, the flavors or textures have slid from memory.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235566890/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Marinated Mackerel, Leche Del Tigre, Baby Leeks, Verdolagas Leaves by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5235566890_3636321041.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Marinated Mackerel, Leche Del Tigre, Baby Leeks, Verdolagas Leaves" /></a><br /><br />Salmon “a l’huile”, Somen Noodles, Carrots, Red Wine Vinaigrette, and Grilled Salmon Roe was my least favorite plate of our night. This was ultimately a straight-up seafooder. With the exception of the creative escargot dish, the other courses to this point were presented within well-trod traditions. I do not complain about the quality of the ingredients, but I was surprised at the lack of buzz. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234974165/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Salmon "a l'huile," Somen Noodles, Carrots, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Grilled Salmon Roe by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5234974165_53c54d5370.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Salmon "a l'huile," Somen Noodles, Carrots, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Grilled Salmon Roe" /></a><br /><br />Although White Rice Veloute, Poached Egg, Spinach, and Christmas Oil does not either read or look like a dish that one might expect a celebrity chef to prepare, the dish in its hidden and unsuspected way proved to be delicious: three-star comfort food. Perhaps the Christmas (conifer) oil might have been more dramatic, the dish worked nicely.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234975013/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - White Rice Veloute, Poached Egg, Spinach, Christmas (Pine) Oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5050/5234975013_b94f6c5d52.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - White Rice Veloute, Poached Egg, Spinach, Christmas (Pine) Oil" /></a><br /><br />Impressive, too, was Chef Ludo’s Boudin Noir “Parmentier”, Apples, Mustard Tapioca, looking for all the world like an Asian roll that might have emerged from one of David Chang’s kitchens. Parmentier indicates that the dish ennobles the potato and its promoter, but the apples and mustard tapioca provided the necessary kick for what would otherwise have been sausage and mash.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235568890/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Boudin Noir "Parmentier," Apples, Mustard Tapioca by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5235568890_009a24aac3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Boudin Noir "Parmentier," Apples, Mustard Tapioca" /></a><br /><br />A quick glimpse of Beef Tartar, Celery Root Remoulade, Red Port, and Foie Gras Powder suggests that an explosion must have occurred in the kitchen, splattering the good china. As such, this was the most revealing dish of the evening. The precision that one might have expected was knocked aside in a riot of carnal taste. As an abattoir of flavor, the dish succeeded with the port and foie gras providing the savory core, but as a plate, tonight Chef Ludo was less Rodin than Jackson Pollock. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234976215/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Beef Tartar, Celery Root Remoulade, Red Port, Foie Gras Power by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/5234976215_0c33f14167.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Beef Tartar, Celery Root Remoulade, Red Port, Foie Gras Power" /></a><br /><br />Foie gras continued into the next dish, which was one of the most compelling of the evening: Roasted Pickled Foie Gras, Honey, Autumn Fruits (Pear and Pickled Ginger), and Rose Flowers. Although my taste for Foie Gras has waned as its celebrity expanded, the rose flower compote made this dish a memory of summer, a moment of desire. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234976723/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Roasted Pickled Foie Gras, Honey, Autumn Fruits, Rose Flowers by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5234976723_035bc38b66.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Roasted Pickled Foie Gras, Honey, Autumn Fruits, Rose Flowers" /></a><br /><br />In contrast Cod, Smoked Potato, Bell Pepper, Pil-Pil Sauce, and Amaranth lacked drama. For me the thinly sliced and crispy smoked potatoes were the high point of a dish that seemed fundamentally pedestrian. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234977509/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Cod, Smoked Potatoes, Bell Pepper, Pil-Pil Sauce, Amaranth by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5234977509_4f67687ef4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Cod, Smoked Potatoes, Bell Pepper, Pil-Pil Sauce, Amaranth" /></a><br /><br />Even fine chefs are prone to stumble when confronted with hunks of protein. Perhaps because of their more compact form, appetizers are often more successful than the main course. Main courses often are variations on the tried and true without a novel conception. Fortunately this was not true of the two main courses prepared by chef Ludo. Maybe these dishes required less technique, but they both were exceptionally creative: brilliant and challenging combinations.<br /><br />The Braised Veal, Leek Salad, Button Mushrooms, Fresh Black Truffle, Green Onion-Garlic Parmesan Bubbles was the most explicitly molecular of the dishes on the menu. One might imagine that Green Onion-Garlic Parmesan Bubbles would not be an ideal match for braised veal, but in fact the match was joyous. The combination of textures and tastes, although surprising, were celebratory. Hypermodern cuisine has the potential to enter the history books in the right hands.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235571662/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Braised Veal, Leek Salad, Fresh Black Truffle, Green Onion-Garlic Parmesan Bubbles by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5235571662_4641d06e95.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Braised Veal, Leek Salad, Fresh Black Truffle, Green Onion-Garlic Parmesan Bubbles" /></a><br /><br />Better still was Chef Ludo’s paean to Korea: Marinated Korean Steak, Crispy Kimchi, Radish, Bone Marrow, and Shiso. Tonight the chef was working with Asian ideas, and the creativity of Crispy Kimchi was marvelously provocative and managed to bring the dish together in gustatory common cause.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234979833/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Marinated Korean Steak, Crispy Kimchi, Radish, Bone Marrow, Shiso by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5234979833_901f7249ca.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Marinated Korean Steak, Crispy Kimchi, Radish, Bone Marrow, Shiso" /></a><br /><br />I was disappointed by the Cantal Cheese Mikado, White Chocolate, Candied Black Olive, another explosive presentation, but one in which the cheese and white chocolate mirrored each other visually, but did not contribute to a greater insight into either.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235573894/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Cantal Chesse Mikado, White Chocolate, Candied Black Olive by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5235573894_61d6e07bd4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Cantal Chesse Mikado, White Chocolate, Candied Black Olive" /></a><br /><br />Surely the grandest creation of the evening was Chef Ludo’s Crème Fraiche Panna Cotta, Caramel Sauce, and Caviar, a bravura dish that several at the table found reminiscent of his work at Bastide. Here were textures and flavors that did illuminate each other: sweet, salty, sticky, and smooth. It was an electric presentation. Let us have caviar for dessert each and every evening for eternity.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5234981201/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta, Caramel, Caviar by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5234981201_051e35dc9b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta, Caramel, Caviar" /></a><br /><br />Finally we were served a very hospitable Warm Carrot Cake, Coconut, Thai Curry, Mango Sorbet, with Kaffir Lime Oil. This was another Asian melody: one in which curry proved that when well-handled be a source of dessert pleasure.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5235575274/" title="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Warm Carrot Cake, Coconut, Thai Curry, Mango Sorbet, Kaffir Line Oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5235575274_76a1f9f597.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Ludobites 6.0 (at Max), Sherman Oaks, CA - December 2010 - Warm Carrot Cake, Coconut, Thai Curry, Mango Sorbet, Kaffir Line Oil" /></a><br /><br />Given my recent experiences with San Francisco restaurants, I found that Ludobites 6.0 was less vegetable-centric than I expected: this was a protein-based cuisine. The evening was none the worse for that, but less about the chef as gardener-in-chief.<br /><br />One of the advantages to running a pop-up restaurant is a lack of commitment to a flavor profile. And so Ludobites 7.0 might be an occasion for a new invention of self for Chef Lefebvre.<br /><br />Ludobites 6.0 (now closed)<br />(at Max’s)<br />13355 Ventura Boulevard<br />Sherman Oaks, CA <br />http://www.ludolefebvre.com/ludobites/maxGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-48599505324060394512010-12-25T21:46:00.002-06:002010-12-25T21:52:48.039-06:00We Are Not Modern – Comme Chez Soi – Brussels<br /><br /> At a recent conference on the convergences and divergences of food cultures – there actually are such funded academic gatherings – I argued that cuisines could vanish. While appearing robust, they are often, in reality, distressingly fragile. For dramatic emphasis I pointed to the remarkable disappearance of classic French cuisine, a cuisine that has gone from dominant to absent in less than half a century. Here was a cuisine that could never die, but did exactly that. Where can one find those wondrously heavy sauces that so admirably contributed to lowering life expectancies among the rich and powerful? The days of roux are done. Do diners dream of mirapoix? Grand restaurants in Paris – and New York – once ladled out the cream and the butter, and every well-made sauce was flour-based: the gluten-or–lactose intolerants were in the closet. Vegans had to live by a code of don’t ask, don’t eat.<br /><br /> Classic French cuisine was the venerated culinary style for over a century – the natural zenith of cuisine. But when it came crashing down with a push from Nouvelle Cuisine, a nudge from Gault-Millau, and a prod from the health police, the collapse of the caloric tower was total. Who cooks Escoffier today?<br /><br /> Some restaurants exist that are classic-lite – La Grenouille in New York is one – but their cuisine, as presented today, would be thin gruel for the beau monde in 1960. <br /><br /> The night the conference adjourned, I found myself in such a restaurant, the double Michelin-starred Comme Chez Soi (“Just Like Home”), that reflects a classical-lite cuisine with all of its loving style and its drawbacks. Comme Chez Soi is a restaurant that abjures the sharp elbows of the contemporary style. Its heart is in the 1890s – along with its splendid Art Nouveau décor - even if the kitchen is producing a more contemporary version of a classical cuisine at which Careme might scoff. This is a restaurant that is run by the fourth generation of the Wynants family, a low country tradition. But it isn’t your granddad’s restaurant, even if it might wish to be. For many decades the restaurant was run by the great Belgian chef Pierre Wynants, and currently the kitchen is managed by his son-in-law Lionel Rigolet. Perhaps it is true that contemporary diners would rise in anger and disgust at the true classics, but such a claim reminds us that there are limits that you are what you eat. Sometimes dishes are unavailable: there are some culinary selves that we can not be.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5292226820/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5292226820_8cf559a593.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010" /></a><br /><br /> I began with a light amuse of crackers with pink peppercorns, nice and spicy if not particularly daring, and a much more engaging pair of smoked halibut mille-feuilles. The latter were classic in style and conception, but with enough drama and visual appear to keep any contemporary diner sated.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291625017/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Crackers with Pink Peppercorns and Smoked Halibut Mille-Feuilles by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5291625017_421e34ab4a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Crackers with Pink Peppercorns and Smoked Halibut Mille-Feuilles" /></a><br /><br />My second amuse was, in fact, a trio: the third, fourth and fifth tastes of the night. The best of the three was a warm geleed fish consommé with microdiced vegetables. Any classic restaurant must be skilled in stock, and Comme Chez Soi shines in the broth department (if broths can be said to have a department). Further, in this one could see the compulsion of the classic restaurant for dicing, mincing, and chopping: mirapoix as religion. I suddenly shuddered to realize that dicing has become a lost art in modern cuisine. When does one find knife skills today? Not often. <br /><br />Mackerel with cucumber, marinated in yuzu, was also impressive, the only use of fruit on Comme Chez Soi’s menu. And even in Brussels, mackerel has made its mark. Every fish gets its fifteen minutes of fame, and this is mackerel’s turn. The third of the set Fried Crawfish with several dabs of a quasi-Chinese sweet sauce was a disappointing bite, reminding more of little more than a cheap and not very authentic Asian restaurant. Any restaurant that has linen napkins should be very cautious when considering investing in a deep fat fryer: grease does marry graciousness well.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291626887/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Trio of Amuses: Warmed Gelled Fish Consomme, Mackerel with Cucumber, Fried Crawfish by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5291626887_37a86050a1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Trio of Amuses: Warmed Gelled Fish Consomme, Mackerel with Cucumber, Fried Crawfish" /></a><br /><br />The first post-amuse dish, a carpaccio duet of Dublin bay prawns and lobster with lemongrass and raw minced gambas (shrimp) with ginger and lime, showed off Comme Chez Soi to its best effect. Here was a dish that revealed that mosaics were once a delight of the pampered diner. It was a jigsaw in spirit and in practice. While the lemongrass lent the plate a modern twist, the twist was simultaneously discreet and effective. It was restrained and classic, but very intriguing. CCS is traditional but not embalmed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291627599/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Carpaccio of Dublin Bay Prawns and Lobster with Lemograss and Raw Minced Gambas with Ginger and Lime by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5291627599_eda0b6f9ee.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Carpaccio of Dublin Bay Prawns and Lobster with Lemograss and Raw Minced Gambas with Ginger and Lime" /></a><br /><br />While it is not quite fair to term the second dish a soup, it revealed again the height of broth. I was served steamed dab with snails from Namur, bouillon with shiitake and Chinese chives. The flavors were rich and the presentation restrained. Perhaps the dab was cooked more fully than one would find at Le Bernardin, but it was moist and rich and happy in its little ocean.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291628885/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Steamed Dab with Namur Snails, Bouillon With Shiitake and Chinese Chives by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5291628885_01803cccba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Steamed Dab with Namur Snails, Bouillon With Shiitake and Chinese Chives" /></a><br /><br />Scallops with Puy lentils and cucumber roll with Colchester flat oysters proved again to be properly restrained in the lite-classicism that I was learning to appreciate. CCS rarely challenges the diner with clashing tastes, and this was certainly true with this subtle dish. To be sure oysters and scallops are not usual partners, but neither are they oysters and blueberries. The restaurant as current style demands provides a dollop of light sauce, a well-made accompaniment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5292232716/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Scallops wiht Puy Lentils and Cucumber Roll with Colchester Flat Oysters by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5292232716_da974d3e41.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Scallops wiht Puy Lentils and Cucumber Roll with Colchester Flat Oysters" /></a><br /><br />The greatest disappointment of the evening was the main course of roasted halibut with Chiloë peppers and king crab, smoked emulsion of parmesan and old balsamico. Halibut has a strong and “fishy” taste, and can easily be overcooked. By overcooked, I don’t mean inedible, and I did not return the dish, but lacked appeal, even when set off by the balsamic sauce. Visually it was subtle, but lacked a spark on the keyboard of taste.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291631543/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Roasted Halibut with Chiloe Peppers and King Crab, Smoked Emulsion of Parmesan and Old Balsamico by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5291631543_bf213171d7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Roasted Halibut with Chiloe Peppers and King Crab, Smoked Emulsion of Parmesan and Old Balsamico" /></a><br /><br />The first dessert, “pear with multiple flavors,” was close to the contemporary style with a set of plated thematic mini-desserts. I particularly enjoyed the pear ice cream and “Poire William” soup with its brandied kick. While it was not as startling or as deconstructed as a fully modernist dessert, it revealed the possibilities of pear.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5291632411/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Pear with Multiple Flavors by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5291632411_1b306ce464.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Pear with Multiple Flavors" /></a><br /><br /> The final scheduled dessert emphasized chocolate and coffee, but as I avoid caffeine, I pleaded for a fruity exchange, and I was graciously blessed with the highpoint of the evening: a fully classic Lime Soufflé with Lime Sorbet. Nothing adventuresome. Just a perfect presentation of a canonical dish. Yum. When done right, the oldies are still goldies.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5292235948/" title="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Lime Souffle with Lime Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5292235948_dbbf7e94a7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Lime Souffle with Lime Sorbet" /></a><br /><br /> Given current styles, it is hard to suggest that Comme Chez Soi is an essential restaurant. Yet, I would mourn if it disappeared. In its restrained classicism, served in a striking Art Nouveau dining room, it is graceful and loving. Perhaps the main course disappointed, but most of the dinner captivated me, revealing the pleasures of restaurants from the days when I started my trek through the culinary forests. But, I wonder, could a restaurant in thrall to Escoffier survive the footfalls of modernism? Can a restaurant, in sympathy with anthropologist Bruno Latour, shout that “we are not modern” and survive?<br /><br />Comme Chez Soi<br />Place Rouppe 23<br />Brussels, Belgium<br />02-512-29-21<br />http://www.commechezsoi.be/Gary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-80452296620962973102010-12-24T22:24:00.002-06:002010-12-24T22:31:56.596-06:00Loaves and Fishes – Le Bernardin – New York<br /><br /> Nearly twenty years ago I had one of the most splendid and memorable meals of my life at Le Bernardin. As it happened, and although we did not realize it at the time, it was the last restaurant meal that I had with my father who died soon afterwards and whose given name was Bernard. How is that for irony! To be sure the circumstances of that meal cast a somewhat nostalgic glow on all that fish, but we both knew immediately how wonderful the meal was. Chef Eric Ripert had recently arrived at Le Bernardin, still working with Gilbert Le Coze. <br /><br /> Some fifteen years later I finally returned on my own dime: Dismay ensued. Chef Ripert was not in the kitchen that night and he had his mind on other matters (he was consulting on a failed restaurant opening). There were some astonishing dishes (a flight of raw fluke, for instance), but one dish was so overcooked that I returned it to the kitchen, caught between embarrassment and anger, perhaps the only time I have done that at a restaurant of serious mien. The expeditor had apparently gone AWOL. Other dishes were not brilliant either. And, as I noted at the time, the bread was cold and stale, which, when returned to the table, was presented warm and stale. <br /><br /> Five years later I returned. And Chef Ripert’s mind was now firmly focused on the plate: my wife and I were delighted with our choices, although as seems generally true at Le Bernardin, the less that the seafood is heated, the better for all concerned. Still before I discuss the courses, the great and embarrassing failure of Le Bernardin is still their bread service. Unlike most grand restaurants, they do not bake their own bread, and it shows. The bread was a notch above the slabs from five years back, but they were still mediocre and some slightly stale. When one compares the bread service with Per Se or Jean-George, well, one cannot compare the bread service. Think Olive Garden. Perhaps Chef Ripert believes that we should all live gluten-free.<br /><br /> The pictures tell the story: here is a chef who creates exquisite compositions with raw or barely warmed fish – oceanic and from the shell. The striped bass tartare with a watermelon radish carpaccio was a delight for all those who love radish (my father did and he passed that passion on). The scallop slivers with mandarin puffs and scorched lemon were a nearly perfect composition of sweet scallop and tarted-up citrus. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811323/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Striped Bass Tartare, "Watermelon Radish Carpaccio," Mustard Oil, Red Dulce Seaweed Vinaigrette by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5288811323_75f866658f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Striped Bass Tartare, "Watermelon Radish Carpaccio," Mustard Oil, Red Dulce Seaweed Vinaigrette" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811321/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Scallop Slivers, Mandarin Puffs and Scorched Lemon, Rosemary Vinaigrette by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/5288811321_da4071eb95.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Scallop Slivers, Mandarin Puffs and Scorched Lemon, Rosemary Vinaigrette" /></a><br /><br />Much the same could be said of the warm lobster carpaccio, hearts of palm and orange vinaigrette. Perhaps Chef Ripert overuses vinaigrette (although that serves to preserve the fish), but each dish stands on its own. The smoked yellowfin tuna “prosciutto” was stunning visually and compelling as an artwork for the mouth. Here is sashimi with a Gallic accent. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811333/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Warm Lobster Carpaccio, Hearts of Palm, Orange Vinaigrette by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5288811333_e569738e03.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Warm Lobster Carpaccio, Hearts of Palm, Orange Vinaigrette" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811339/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Smoked Yellow fine Tuna "Prosciutto", Japanese Pickled Vegetables and Crispy Kombu by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5288811339_50c4050afb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Smoked Yellow fine Tuna "Prosciutto", Japanese Pickled Vegetables and Crispy Kombu" /></a><br /><br /> Slightly – but only slightly – less successful was the barely cooked wild salmon with braised burgundy snails, heirloom potatoes, and pernod scented sauce. I felt that the combination was a little less than brilliant, but each ingredient worked on its own terms. Baked lobster with mole puree was not as strongly flavored as I expected, but at least the good, clean lobster was not overwhelmed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811341/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Barely Cooked Wild Salmon, Braised Burgundy Snails, Heirloom Potatoes, Sweet Garlic Parsley, and Pernod Scented Sauce by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/5288811341_c6d787e138.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Barely Cooked Wild Salmon, Braised Burgundy Snails, Heirloom Potatoes, Sweet Garlic Parsley, and Pernod Scented Sauce" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288811349/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Baked Lobster, Mole Puree, Stuffed Baby Cabbage and Bacon Bordelaise by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5049/5288811349_76f1b36ba8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Baked Lobster, Mole Puree, Stuffed Baby Cabbage and Bacon Bordelaise" /></a><br /><br /> Desserts were appropriately modern, if less memorable than the raw seafood. Pistachio mouse with caramelized white chocolate was pleasantly architectural, and the chestnut mousse was well-prepared and echoed with the baked chestnuts being sold by winter vendors on New York streets. But one does not dine at Le Bernardin for the dessert. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288816615/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Pistachio Mousse, Caramelized White Chocolate, Lemon, Bing Cherry by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5288816615_5c40d9408d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Pistachio Mousse, Caramelized White Chocolate, Lemon, Bing Cherry" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5288816073/" title="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Chestnut Mousse by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5288816073_605f12f95d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Le Bernardin - New York - December 2010 - Chestnut Mousse" /></a><br /><br /> Chef Ripert cooks in a modern style, but without the experimental techniques that one sometimes found at L20 under the leadership of Laurent Gras (Gras’ seared foie gras with cotton candy and bee pollen is a dish as memorable in its own way as Tom Keller’s Oysters and Pearls). Still, at Le Bernardin there was a commitment to quality this night as there had been some two decades back. <br /><br /> I understand from the proficient staff that the dining room will be restructured and revamped, and that some recognize that the bread service is not up to par (I hope that the chef is included in this worried minyan). I rather like the dining room, but in this Christmas season, let us not forget the miraculous pairing of loaves and fishes. <br /><br />Le Bernardin<br />155 West 51st Street<br />New York<br />212 – 554 - 1515<br />http://www.le-bernardin.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16625139.post-2396951145567962492010-11-21T20:23:00.002-06:002010-11-21T20:37:09.831-06:00Chef in Translation – Manresa 2.0 – Los Gatos, CA<br /><br /> My second visit to Manresa, Chef David Kinch’s highly esteemed restaurant in Los Gatos, occurred less than two weeks after the first, and in culinary style, it was as if Manresa had suddenly hired a new chef. But no. When one dines at a serious restaurant with a brilliant chef, a critic attempts to draw a bead on how this artist defines gastronomy as evidenced by what he chooses to put on the plate. <br /><br /> My first visit to Manresa was characterized by a vibrancy that owed much to Parisian and Catalan styles as filtered through California light. Diebenkorn on a dish. I was particularly impressed by Kinch’s version of the Arpege egg, his experimental Elemental Oyster, a poached oyster made to taste raw, his Catalan (and Italian) inspired Rack of Veal Tonnato. Even the dish that I rejected – Butterfish in a Yuzu Sabayon – had no Asian tranquility, but was all jangly and nervy, despite its ingredients. <br /><br /> But this second evening was a different matter. We asked Chef Kinch to cook for us, and twenty-one courses later we were sent packing. (Given my complaint with my first meal, I am obliged to note that the timing was impeccable on this Saturday night – and I have come to admire Manresa’s smooth and elegant design, even if it has none of the New York glass, high-modern style, and bluff). <br /><br /> I do not cover each of the dishes of the evening, but the menu consisted of six amuses, ten savory courses, and five sweets. One should note the symmetry of the first and final two courses. The petit fours and gels (Red Pepper/Black Olive; Strawberry/Chocolate) were identical twins separated at birth: both engaging and delicious as hand-to-mouth bites. The beignets were less of a precise match, but contrasted savory and sweet. The cream beignet with a “dairy cup” of condensed milk ice cream was one of the two most persuasive desserts.<br /><br />Amuses<br />Petit fours “Red Pepper-Black Olive”<br /><br />Garden Beignets, Vinegar Powder<br /><br />An Elemental Oyster (image in a previous post)<br /><br />Caviar Beggar’s Purse<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195370833/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Caviar Beggar's Purse by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5195370833_af46a90ac1.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Caviar Beggar's Purse" /></a><br /><br />Spot Prawn Roe Tempura<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195370999/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Spot Prawn Roe Tempura by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5195370999_236bb82134.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Spot Prawn Roe Tempura" /></a><br /><br />Raw Milk Panna Cotta, Abalone<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195371139/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Raw Milk Panna Cotta with Abalone by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5195371139_bfb5abfc37.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Raw Milk Panna Cotta with Abalone" /></a><br /><br />Savory Courses<br />Geoduck Clam in Apple and Seawater<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195371349/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Geoduck clam in apple and sea water by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5195371349_99521b51be.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Geoduck clam in apple and sea water" /></a><br /><br />Golden Butterfish, Sashimi Style, Citrus and Olive Oil<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195371657/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Golden butterfish, sashimi style, citrus and olive oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5195371657_d2d19740d3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Golden butterfish, sashimi style, citrus and olive oil" /></a><br /><br />Mushroom Broth and Black Tea, Dried Tuna<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195371909/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Mushroom Broth and Black Tea, Dried Tuna and Truffles by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/5195371909_c3602301f4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Mushroom Broth and Black Tea, Dried Tuna and Truffles" /></a><br /><br />Golden Raisins and Vegetables, Pickled With Mackerel<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195372187/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Golden Raisins and Vegetables, Pickled with Mackerel by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5195372187_963b02bdaf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Golden Raisins and Vegetables, Pickled with Mackerel" /></a><br /><br />Autumn Fruit with Jasmine Tea, Bay Scallops, Pumpkin Seed Oil<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195372333/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Autumn Fruit with Jasmine Tea, Bay Scallops in Pumpkin Seed Oil by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5195372333_190602292f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Autumn Fruit with Jasmine Tea, Bay Scallops in Pumpkin Seed Oil" /></a><br /><br />Into the Vegetable Garden<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195372579/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Into the Vegetable Garden by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5195372579_084520d8bf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Into the Vegetable Garden" /></a><br /><br />Asian Pear with Celtuce, Beach Herb Vichyssoise<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195972898/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Asian pear with Celtuce and Beach Herb Vichyssoise by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5195972898_2bf814fa25.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Asian pear with Celtuce and Beach Herb Vichyssoise" /></a><br /><br />Spot Prawns on the Plancha, Spiced Pumpkin<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195973224/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Spot Prawns on the Plancha with Spiced Pumpkin by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5195973224_40eb3e9523.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Spot Prawns on the Plancha with Spiced Pumpkin" /></a><br /><br />Black Bass with Walnut Oil, Wild Watercress<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195373883/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Black Bass with Walnut Oil and Wild Watercress by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5195373883_0c5262e659.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Black Bass with Walnut Oil and Wild Watercress" /></a><br /><br />Roast Duck with Cabbage and Dates and Riesling<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195973992/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Roast Duck with Cabbage and Dates by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5195973992_c0bf08b35b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Roast Duck with Cabbage and Dates" /></a><br /><br />Sweet Courses<br />Banana Roast in Passion Fruit Caramel, Shiso Crumble<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195374845/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Banana Roast in Passion Fruit Caramel, Shiso Crumble by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5195374845_e80b0a00d4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Banana Roast in Passion Fruit Caramel, Shiso Crumble" /></a><br /><br />Frozen Cream Cheese, Citrus and Lime Curd<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195374541/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Frozen Cream Cheese, Citrus and Lime Curd by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5195374541_740272b24a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Frozen Cream Cheese, Citrus and Lime Curd" /></a><br /><br />Orange Sable Millefeuille, Coffee and Chicory<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195975056/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Orange Sable Millefeuille, Coffee and Chicory by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5195975056_91df5210ae.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Orange Sable Millefeuille, Coffee and Chicory" /></a><br /><br />Muscovado Sugar Beignets with Condensed Milk Ice Cream<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52391789@N00/5195975436/" title="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Muscovado Sugar Beignets, "Dairy Cup" (Condensed Milk Ice Cream) by garyalanfine, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5195975436_f8fe898391.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Manresa - Los Gatos, CA - November 20, 2010 - Muscovado Sugar Beignets, "Dairy Cup" (Condensed Milk Ice Cream)" /></a><br /><br />Petit fours “Strawberry-Chocolate”<br /><br /> While Kinch’s plates on my first visit were exuberant, these were hushed, subtle and seductive. Chef Kinch had recently spent several weeks in Kyoto and tonight it showed. Perhaps the change can be attributed to the difference between a Prix Fixe (dishes that are fixed in amber for the cooks to prepare – Greatest Hits) and dishes that are in process, tested through an elaborate tasting menu. Some of novice dishes tonight may in time be given starring roles. <br /><br /> But a few dishes were birthed from different traditions, notably the Vegetable Garden Salad, a dish in motion. This plate of greens is continually altered according to what is freshest in the Manresa garden: a chop suey of herbal cuisine. While I didn’t have the two salads to compare, I was struck by a few nicely bitter leaves that I didn’t recall from a few weeks back. Nature’s bounty is dynamic.<br /><br /> The Raw Milk Panna Cotta with Monterey Abalone was also an exuberant dish – profound and dramatic. (Milk and cream are used in several dishes, more European than Asian). This mix of the smooth, cool pudding with the chewy, oceanic abalone was a warm surprise and a success.<br /><br /> More inspired by Japanese traditions was the next act: Geoduck Clam in Apple and Seawater. The seawater was the liquid remains of the oysters as reconfigured by the kitchen. I often find geoduck chewy, but texture is crucial to Japanese cuisine, and the small pieces of clam were brightened and heightened by the water and the apple. It was not a dish that I would have chosen as a main course, but it was delightful for a few bites: a happy honeymoon of ingredients. <br /><br /> The mushroom broth was a firmly kaiseki dish: perhaps the most traditional of the evening (despite European shaved white truffles). No jangling here, but a mix of tuna, truffles, tea, and chanterelles. It was a dish that managed to display the best of the ingredients without having the chef’s shadow in the way. <br /><br /> Visually the autumn fruit with jasmine tea, bay scallops, and pumpkin seed oil was the dish that most reminded me of my visit to Kyoto, and it is a lovely jewel: Tokyo Tiffany. The plate sparkled without screaming, and the complexity of the small bowl more than made up for the fact that it was but a few bites – but rich and pungent bites. Tea, pumpkin, and scallops each have enough flavor without any shoving the others aside. Beautifully quiet, confidently composed.<br /><br /> In a similar way, although not as visually compelling, was the Spot Prawn Roe Tempura, which used ingredients to their very best effect. The spot prawns with pumpkin required that a diner digs the meat from the shell which made things a bit messy, but the combination of flavors and the challenge of the diner to be thought-filled made the effort memorable.<br /><br /> Who could not treasure the Asian pear with Celtuce (a Chinese lettuce) and Beach Herb Vichyssoise? Perhaps it owed much to the idea of the ingredients – just finding beach herbs must have been a challenge – but as a small soup I was glad to enjoy the effort of combing the oceanfront, bucket in hand.<br /><br /> The frozen cream cheese with citrus and lime curd was pretty on the plate and happily acidic on the tongue. Along with the beignets it was the star of the sweets.<br /><br /> The least successful dishes were the two main proteins. Roast duck with cabbage and dates was the type of contemporary dish that any well-trained modernist chef might have prepared, a bit of breast and a few spheres of accompaniments and a cabbage leaf. Competent, but edging to cliché. The weakest dish of the night was a zingless Black Bass with Walnut Oil and Wild Watercress. Borrring! Where is the hook? Time for a next course. Fortunately this pair of snoozers was no larger than their better cousins – and so could easily be forgotten. <br /><br /> So in 21 courses, no singular style fully characterizes Chef Kinch’s artistry, but tonight he strived to combine Catalonia, California, and Kyoto. His goal is my dream.<br /><br />Manresa<br />320 Village Lane<br />Los Gatos, California<br />(408) 354-4330<br />http://www.manresarestaurant.comGary Alan Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16303435885333367392noreply@blogger.com0