Last night Alan, Mary, Steve and I went to Elements in Princeton for a Farm to Fork dining experience. Steve made the reservation and booked us a chef's table back in the kitchen. There are three tables back there - two that accommodate four diners and one table for two. Very nice ambiance - a little more casual, a little more fun than the romantic vibe you get from the main dining room.
We all arrived at the same time and started with a drink at the tiny little bar under the staircase. By the way, I love this bar - it's cute and it reminds me of Harry Potter and the Cupboard Under the Stairs. The bartender was pleasant and attentive. We started off with a glass - Steve & I with an Italian Rose; Alan & Mary with a Spanish cava rose. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.
We retire to our table and peruse the menu - both the main dinner menu and the Farm to Fork Menu. Within minutes it becomes clear that the Farm to Fork menu isn't going to be the direction we take the evening. It was a pleasant three course offering but struck everyone as too light and too few choices so we pushed that to the side and went with a three+ course dinner. Everyone ordered a cold appetizer, a hot one and an entree. The plus, we also shared a fifth entree that was a close recreation of the dish the chef Scott Anderson recently won the Jersey Seafood Challenge held on July 1st at the Governor's Mansion. That dish consisted of fluke with garlic scapes, panko, arrowhead cabbage and a herbaceous vinaigrette.
To start, they brought us a delightful looking amuse bouche consisting of (from right to left) a cold grapefruit and citrus gelee with herbs; a radish with goat cheese; a warm broccoli soup. The grapefruit was overpowering for me even though the coolness of the bite was welcoming and bright. The radish was crunchy and again, overpowering...I could barely taste the goat cheese. The broccoli soup however was beautiful, warm and creamy. I swiped up remaining droplets with bread so as to not lose a morsel.
For our first course - the cold appetizer - Mary & I ordered the tuna tartar with scallion, ginger and white soy. Delightful! I loved the freshness and flavor of the raw tuna complimented with a hint of ginger and the snap of soy. The greens on top offered the tiniest amount of bitter that went well with the sweetness of the fish. The only thing that struck me as odd was the texture...usually tuna tartar is served with small chunks of fish intact giving that sushi type quality of the mouth. This tuna seemed to be almost creamy and lacking the defined shape of individual cubes. It was as though it had been overly blended and then formed. Not a big deal, the taste was great.
Alan & Steve both opted for the interesting sounding Composed Salad served on a piece of slate. It consisted of goat cheese, hazelnut, Mangalista ham, peaches and barley. There were also field greens and I think I spotted a zucchini blossom. This was a colorful dish with an array of textures and flavors going on. Trying each thing individually was just as exciting as a full forkful that allowed the ingredients to blend together in the mouth. I liked this dish a lot, even though it wasn't mine! Both Alan & Steve wiped their plates clean.
For our next course we all chose a hot appetizer. Mary & I borrowed a course from that evening's tasting menu - the poached egg with mushrooms and squash spaghetti. A small portion (thankfully) that was rich and wonderfully executed. This is something I haven't seen before on a menu so unique and exciting. The egg was perfectly cooked so when broken into, the runny yolk coated the pasta. Just lovely.
Alan ordered the salt crusted duck breast with peanuts and greens. My first impression was that the duck was cooked exactly the way you want it to be cooked - deep red in the middle with the fat layer rendered but intact. My bite at first took me by surprise - it was salty!! Duh. The salt crust, in my opinion didn't mask the duck - it just took a moment for it to come into focus. But it was Alan's dish - so he'll have to add any commentary to the contrary.
Steve ordered the other dish I had been contemplating...the gnocchi with miatake, celery, Parmesan and oxtail. Luckily Steve is willing to share!!! This might have been the dish of the evening, in my opinion. The mushrooms and oxtail brought that earthy warmth to the dish and since it wasn't overflowing with gnocchi, it still managed to have depth of flavor without being heavy and burdensome. Nice!
Then onto the entrees... when we ordered the special fluke dish we were hoping, and perhaps didn't clearly communicate it as such, that it would be it's own course. That didn't happen - it came out as a fifth entree along with our other dishes. It was placed in the center of the table (of course, where else would you put a fifth entree?) and my first bite was of the fluke alone. Nice and flaky but not overly flavorful. But then - I added a piece of the tempura vegetable (a zucchini blossom?) and the cauliflower puree and HEAVEN. What a combination! The crunch of the tempura along with the creamy, distinct flavor of the puree just enhanced the fluke to the point of joyful. Great dish!! I can see why it won.
Unfortunately, the happiness I was experiencing after the fluke did not translate into continued euphoria when I tried my own dish. I ordered the handmade tagliatelle with roasted fennel, squash, zucchini and Parmesan. I need to start learning from these experiences - these pasta dishes with the lighter flavors (not soaked in a heavy red sauce) and made moments before serving just aren't having enough time to really meld together and show themselves off. My dish felt like many different players on stage with no show being put on. The flavors didn't blend and I was left disappointed. I only ate a little and brought the leftovers home - I'm hoping that like the DBGB pasta, this one is much better the day after.
Mary did something completely unexpected - she ordered a vegetarian dish off the Farm to Fork menu for her main entree. Who knew?!? A combination of squash, zucchini, corn polenta, kale and trumpet mushrooms rounded this out. I didn't try it...at all. Now I feel a little bad since it's not my nature to pass up on a bite of anything (and it looks so pretty)...but with my whole pasta debacle going on, I wasn't in the mood. Mary, what did you think?
Alan ordered the Griggstown chicken with tarragon, pioppini (?), broccoli and rye bread. I had a small bite of this and it was good...not fabulous, but good. I noticed he didn't finish all of it which usually means he's full or it just wasn't good enough to power through.
And finally, Steve ordered the 48 Hour Short Rib with fennel, red onion, fingerling potato and chorizo. I tried a bite of this as well and here's where I come out...it was okay. But let me say that I may not be a good judge of short ribs. I'm finding that the vast majority of the time I'm completely underwhelmed except for (1) Daniel's Duo of Beef (which I do think is God's way of giving people a piece of heaven on earth) and (2) the short ribs at Cook in St. Helena, California. Cook's short ribs are, I truly believe, the greatest short ribs on the planet. Or at least in Jenn's world. But beyond those two, I keep expecting to try others in all manners of restaurants and they all come up sadly inadequate. I'd like to hear Steve's opinion on this one since he did order it and seem to enjoy this dish.
This evening was what is starting to be a theme - a blend of hit and miss dishes. But like the others, the company, service, ambiance and conversation more than make up for a lackluster dish. It's a wonderful restaurant that I still highly recommend!
Jenn's rating: 85
Zagat's rating: 26-25-25
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