Alba White Truffle Dinner

We had such a good time last year with our at home white truffle dinner that we decided to do it again - this time with more people and different dishes. A team affair, everyone participated in shopping, prepping, cooking and plating - and eating! Thanks to Susan, Rich, Jeff, Dana, Kristie & Mike for a wonderful holiday dinner.

To kick off, here are the truffles!

We ordered a 2 oz Alba White and 4 oz of Burgundy Black truffles from Urbani online. We were able to get a good discount again this year keeping the price out of the stratosphere, more or less.

We started the evening (afternoon, really) with a selection of cheeses, bread and meats before the cooking got underway.

The first dish was a return visit to Daniel Boulud's white truffle scrambled egg. A very, very simple recipe of fresh eggs (these came right from Rich & Susan's sister's farm collected just a few days prior), butter, salt, pepper & creme fraiche. The only trick here is the double boiler and constant stirring in a slow, deliberate figure eight to get them to cook but only ever so slightly which Susan did to perfection. Finished off with shaved white truffle and eaten immediately.

For the second course Jeff prepared enormous bay scallops with a little sea salt seared in rendered bacon fat and finished with aged balsamic vinegar. These were topped with shaved black truffle.

For the third dish was a ricotta gnocchi in brown butter sauce and Parmesan with white truffle

Susan and Rich made the gnocchi at home ahead of time. To prepare the dish they boiled the chilled gnocchi and then seared them in a pan with butter before plating and adding the cheese and truffle.

For the fourth and final white truffle dish, Alan and I prepared a knock off of Gordon Ramsay's famous and famously expensive pizza. Store bought pizza dough was allowed to warm up to room temperature and rise slightly for a few hours before making. A pizza stone was used and heated in a 500 degree oven for an hour. We caramelized onion and finely chopped porcini mushrooms to go with the fontina, buffalo mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. White truffle is shaved over the hot slices and served immediately.

 To finish the meal, Susan & Alan prepared two roasted chickens with leeks, black truffle and a black truffle gravy that was fantastic! No picture of that since there was champagne, California and Italian wines flowing.

A great evening, good food and simple recipes to showcase the truffles.

Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, NYC

For our anniversary we met up at the newly opened Aldo Sohm Wine Bar (www.aldosohmwinebar.com) across the courtyard from Le Bernardin where Aldo is also still the sommelier. This is a nice space with bar, sofas and high top tables. Small plates menu accompanies the wine selections. We started with a bottle of champagne and ordered the four cheese sample from Murray's Cheese as well as fennel salami and truffle mousse pate. We added to that the much raved about foie gras lollipops and the truffle pasta with grated yak cheese. Finished off the experience with a half bottle of red wine.

Overall a really nice addition to midtown - a sophisticated happy hour with lots of men in suits unwinding with bottles from the well balanced list. But you have to get there early - by 6 PM all the seats are taken and it's standing room only with little space left over to navigate around patrons all waiting like vultures for a table to open up.

Word of adivce - if you do get there late, immediately see the hostess if you can find her and get your name on the list for a table. It is not first come, first served.

Charleston Eats! Peninsula Grill

A few weeks ago Alan and I tagged a few days in Charleston to the end of a family Myrtle Beach trip. Packing in a couple of new restaurants & bars was easy from our centrally located historic Inn on Kings Street (King's Courtyard Inn, 198 King Street - highly recommend).

To kick off the weekend we popped over to Peninsula Grill for a glass of champagne and an appetizer. This was a repeat - we'd been there for dinner at the bar back in September of 2012 and remembered it fondly. We shared the Lobster “3 Way” ~ Lobster Ravioli, Lobster Tempura, and Sautéed Lobster with Warm Tomato Basil Vinaigrette. Plus lots of warm, soft, fresh bread to mop up all the broth. Excellent dish! We paired this with a glass each of bubbles: Taittinger "la Française", Brut, Reims N/V and the Dumont Pere et Fils, Brut Rosé, Aube N/V.

Because we already had dinner reservations elsewhere, we kept ourselves to the single dish. Still a great looking menu and a popular place that fills up quickly. Give it a try it you're in town but if you've been there before and remember the extensive by the glass champagne list from a few years ago, be prepared to be underwhelmed.

~ July 2014

The NoMad, NYC

Mary & I met up at the NoMad last week to chat, eat & drink. It's such a pretty, unique location with it's different rooms and vibes. Owned and run by Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park fame, it's the more casual sister also located off Madison Park.

We met in the bar for a drink ahead of time. It's a relatively small bar though for the size of the restaurant and it gets packed so assume you won't get a seat. A glass of bubbly (Billecart-Salmon) before we were shown to our table in the Parlour room. This is a more intimate room with oak and dark fabrics adding a richness. We like this room better than the larger Atrium with it's uniformed rows of tables all close together.

After selecting a bottle of the Araujo Altagracia, Eisele Vineyard 2010 Syrah we got busy picking menu options. We went with two appetizers served back to back and then a shared entree.

To start, the FOIE GRAS; SMOKED TERRINE WITH APPLE, SUNFLOWER SEEDS & THYME

This was just perfection! The sunflower seeds were roasted giving the dish not only texture but a nice nuttiness to compliment the sweetness of the terrine and apple. The bread they served with it was unexpected - almost a Texas toast thickness with multi-grain texture.

Next course was the Egg, slow cooked with mushrooms and black garlic kale.

There is no better ingredient than an egg. It won't be overwhelmed as easily as shellfish but it's delicate, runny, luxurious and goes well with almost everything. They pairing with mushrooms was fantastic. These two courses were close to perfect and there was nothing left on the plate.

For our entree we shared the whole roasted chicken for two with foie gras and black truffle. They actually come and present your chicken to you before taking it into the kitchen for deconstruction and presentation. Your chicken comes back as two dishes - the breast and the dark meat. The breast had foie gras and black truffle stuffed under the skin served with what I believe was cauliflower puree. The chicken is moist and super flavorful - added layers of depth from the truffle and foie gras ensure this isn't your everyday poultry dish.

And my personal favorite, the dark meat:

This evening's preparation was with crispy chicken skin and a poached egg. Yep, another egg! Holy happiness!! Incredible flavor - so decadent!!

If you get the chance to go to this 28th and Broadway fun spot, I promise you'll love the food. Not to be missed in NYC.

Zagat: 27-26-24
Jenn's Rating: 93
Michelin: One Star

Lorena's, Maplewood NJ

We haven't seen friends of ours in a few months so jumped at the chance to meet them out for dinner. The BYO of the evening was Lorena's in the heart of Maplewood, NJ. This is a tiny little restaurant that seats only 32 at capacity, reservations are hard to come by. Luckily our friends secured a coveted Friday evening (Jan 17).

When you enter the restaurant you are both struck by how small and almost immediately relieved that the sense is intimate & cozy not crowded or uncomfortable in any way.

Service was close to perfection - the type you don't often find outside of NYC. Always there, never obtrusive - you didn't have to wonder what was taking so long; why food was coming too fast; or if your water glass would ever be refilled. Quite a nice experience.

The menu is moderate - roughly six each of appetizers and entrees. That being said, it was harder to choose than you would have thought with so many of the options sounding fascinating. In the end, we started with a shared plate of a dozen oysters from Long Island followed by two courses.

My first course was the Warm Lump Crabmeat Crepe, Shibumi Farm Wild Mushrooms, Fresh Herbs, White Truffle Oil. Spectacular! Nothing about this dish was heavy and achieving a meld between crab that can so quickly be overshadowed by anything with wild mushrooms was heaven. Fantastic!

Alan ordered the special of the evening, the wild mushroom bisque.

This was close to perfection - with truffle oil nice pieces of mushroom afloat in a soft but rich broth...wow, so nice.

I'm having difficulty remembering what anyone else ordered - I think there was a Scottish Salmon Tartare or perhaps the foie gras.

For our entrees we covered the majority of the menu including the Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs, Cipolinni Onion, Tomato Confit, Potato Puree, Cracked Black Pepper-Braising and the Roasted Domestic Rack of Lamb with Pistachio and Herb-Shallot Crust, Baby Carrots, Black Olive Powder, Potato Puree, Rosemary Lamb Jus.

The braised short ribs weren't as fall apart succulent as I've had in the past - they came off as a bit dry so this wasn't my favorite dish.

We did open four bottles of wine / champagne with dinner that we all brought (love BYOs) and skipped dessert. Overall, a really nice evening with fantastic service and some fantastic dishes.

Eating in Sin City: Fleur

With our conference being in Mandalay Bay, we took the opportunity to try out the revamped (to small plates) Hubert Keller eatery, Fleur. I was hoping for great things - having only ever watched one season of Top Chef, it was the original Masters season and Hubert was a favorite to watch by far.

The location in nicely situated over by restaurant row between the casino and the convention center so lots of foot traffic walking by the "outdoor"  patio seating. The place was basically empty - possibly not a great sign.

We ordered appetizers to share and a round of entrees. The menu is organized by country which is a bit odd. Not the entire list of what we ordered but some call outs included the roasted bone marrow with grilled toast points; duck confit over whipped potatoes and the Fleur burger (quartered) with caramelized onions and fried potato.

There were also flatbreads with bbq pork belly and a few other dishes that sounded pretty great off the menu. The issue was that the taste just didn't live up to the description. There wasn't a standout course and a few, like the flatbreads were truly disappointing. We wonder why they chose to switch from a formal, traditional French restaurant into small plates in the first place considering Keller is a superstar French chef. This format and preparations didn't do anything to encourage us to seek out his other restaurants. There are far better meals to be had around the strip.

Jenn's Rating: 79
Zagat: 25-23-22

Rob's Cafe, Madison NJ

A group of us were looking for a BYO in NJ to go to earlier this month. Rich suggested Rob's Cafe in Madison - a little traditional French bistro. We started with appetizers and then onto entrees. To start off...French Onion Soup, escargot, roasted bone marrow were some of the dishes the six of us ordered..

The main courses included mussels (moules mariniere) with pomme frites, steak & frites, duck-duck-foie,  duck breast and bacon wrapped pork.

And to finish off we did cheese and desserts including tangerine semifreddo, chocolate mousse and baked brie.

Overall it was a casual BYO with pretty good food. Some dishes - like the duck-duck-foie (duck breast, duck leg confit and foie gras) were outstanding. The steak and frites also quite good. Some dishes were a bit off the mark - the onion soup was lacking taste. But a very reasonable check, and comfortable enough ambiance and a nice menu made the evening a lot of fun.

Jenn's Rating: 80
Zagat: not rated

Daniel, NYC

On December 30th we had the pleasure of closing out the year with another trip to Daniel in NYC. My long-standing, all-time favorite restaurant - I was so thrilled to be going back for our 13th visit to the flagship restaurant of Daniel Boulud.

On this occassion we were joined by Nick and Patty with the added excitement of being the eve of Patty's birthday. It's a formal place by design so I took no pictures during dinner. What I will share here is a summary of the dinner and our customized menus.

The amuse bouche was a trio of carrot bites served on the classic Daniel tower. For dinner we asked for an eight course, chef's tasting. Almost every course they brought Patty & I different dishes from Alan & Nick and for some, Patty had something without crustaceans. Here's what we were served...

Course #1

• Mosaic of squab with pickled shitake; confit grapes, muscat gelee, purple watercress, pistachio oil and young vegetables
• Pheasant foie gras and black truffle mosaic with artichoke barigoule, celery-mustard coulis and toasted hazelnut

Course #2

• Orange yuzu marinated nantucket bay scallops with pickled Buddha's hand lemon, shiso oil, sea lettuce and chayote
• Trio of salmon: Coho salmon poached with finger lime and mint; salmon tartare with Meyer lemon and shanso pepper tulie; hot, smoked salmon with celery remoulade
• Maine peekytoe crab salad with granny smith apple, pickled cranberries, celery shavings and walnut oil

Course #3

• Slow baked Jade Tiger Abalone with cauliflower, Red Cedar juniper berries, Northern Lights caviar and vodka burre blanc
• Kataifi crusted sweet Maine lobster with licorie braised Hearts of Palm, pickled clementine and Red Ribbon sorrel
• Fennel ravioli with basil salad, Sicilian green oil, braised artichoke, roasted King Oyster mushroom and pickled red onion

Course #4

• Cedar wood wrapped hamachi with braised celery, caramelized salsify, cipollini onion and mustard seed bourbon sauce

Course #5

• Roasted Elysian field lamb chop with Brussels sprouts, spelt risotto, sauteed black trumpet glazed turnips, manouri cheese and hay-lamb jus
• Duo of beef: braised black angus short ribs with wild mushroom, fricassee with horseradish; seared wagyu tenderloin with rutubaga-mace puree and glazed chestnuts

Course #6

• Scottish hare "a la royale" with glazed winter root vegetables, parsnip puree, King Oyster mushrooms, chestnut and winter black truffle
• Roasted Liberty Farm duck breast with hazelnut-spinach subric, confit turnip, poached quince, garganelli pasta, winter black truffle and sauce civet

Course #7 & Course #8
Assortment of desserts
Duo of fruit & chocolate
Petit Fours and Madelaines

Our wines & champagnes with dinner:

• Andre Clouet Bouzy Grand Cru 2002
• Beaune 1st Cru Remoissenet Domaine "Marconnets" Burgundy 2008
• Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine La Barroche "Signature" Rhone 2010

Summary...
It can be hard to describe the emotion associated with a great meal. One in which the service flows like an orchestrated ballet; the ambiance is comfortable while being formal enough to feel that something special is taking place; the lighting, noise, roominess of the table, beautiful simplicity of crystal wine glasses on crisp linen; the intimacy of conversation with your dinner companions all a part of a unique ambiance that many restaurants will never perfect. All of that contributing to but taking a quiet back seat to the star - the food.

At Daniel, each experience has been an embodiment of all of those facets with the food shining through to cement itself as (in my opinion) the best restaurant in New York. I don't say that lightly - Per Se is a mega star in it's own right. But on 13 different occasions across the span of 14 years, Daniel has proved why it has earned countless awards, stars and accolades. They never miss a step. Every single presentation of every dish and every bite...it's really the standard in fine, French dining in the US.

If you ever have the opportunity just close your eyes, open up your wallet and say Yes! You won't be disappointed.

Zagat: 28-28-28
Michelin: 3 stars
World's Best Ranking: 25
Jenn's Rating: 99

Le Bernardin, NYC

Last week we went back to the country's best fish / seafood restaurant, Le Bernardin in New York City. Unlike the previous times we've been, we did not opt for the chef's tasting menu but instead all tried the prix fix four course menu. Being five of us it meant we could cover almost the entire menu.

Since the last time we were there with Susan & Rich, the restaurant has gone through a pretty major renovation. It now has a larger bar area with lounge seating for a more casual dining option. The decor is a bit lighter overall than it was with honey colored wood accents and a giant painting of the ocean covering an entire wall.

We were seated at a table that was likely for four people that they managed to get a fifth chair around. It didn't look like it would be comfortable but we fit pretty well and never felt cramped. Except perhaps Alan who got the middle seat on the sofa.

To start off our evening they brought a trio of amuse bouche:

From the left, a salmon "roll"; tuna tartare on Parmesan crisp; lobster bisque. The salmon bite was nice - the tuna was great and the bisque was excellent!

For our first course which we selected off the Almost Raw portion of the menu:

Hamachi “Sashimi”; Sea Beans and Daikon, Black Garlic-Ponzu Sauce. Octavio ordered this; it was extraordinary, fresh fish dressed perfectly in the ponzu sauce. I loved this dish and could have eaten all of it.

Fluke “Sashimi”; Micro Watercress, Baby Carrots Ginger-Citron Vinaigrette. Alan's fluke was also spectacular. Fluke has such a gorgeous flavor raw and the citrus preparation allowed the more pronounced taste of the sea to come out.

Single Variety or Assortment of Oysters (Six Pieces). I went with the oysters after having a tough time picking... but thought, if I'm going raw let me select one of my most favorite raw foods. These were six different types of oysters from mostly the Atlantic. It wasn't as special or different as the rest of the appetizers but I really love oysters - great course.

Layers of Thinly Pounded Yellowfin Tuna, Foie Gras and Toasted Baguette, Chives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This was the selection by Nick's business school friend, Nick who joined us for this dinner. A carpaccio of tuna, basically with crumbled foie gras all over. I don't remember bothering with the toasted baguette when trying this. Look at it - just beautiful and wow, what a taste!!

Thinly Shaved Geoduck Clam and Osetra Caviar,Wasabi-Citrus Mousseline. The final dish of the first course was Nick's giant clam. We've tried giant clam before- it's more of an acquired taste than anything else on the menu. A slight chewiness and a distinctive "fishy" taste, it needs to be sliced very thin and served with something that can stand up to the flavor profile without getting lost. The accompaniment of caviar and wasabi were a great pairing. I don't recall enjoying giant clam nearly this much in the past. Excellent!

On to our second course - this time from the "barely touched" section of the menu.

Surf & Turf Roasted Bone Marrow; Sea Urchin, Fleur de Sel. Both Nick and Octavio ordered this dish served with toast points for smearing the urchin and marrow on. I liked it - very different take on serving sea urchin that traditionally comes to you in the hollowed out urchin shell. Good but it didn't blow me away.

Langoustine with sea foam, bacon(?) and greens. Alan's choice of langoustine was a good one. The pieces were much closer to the consistency of lobster than usual (often they come off as big, plain shrimp). The flavor was mild and delicate with a decidedly French twist.

Peekytoe Crab “Choux Farcis”; Chili-Crab Broth. In case you didn't know this - peekytoe crab is one of my all time favorite things on this planet. I am in love with the peekytoe salad that Daniel Boulud serves at his namesake restaurant. Seeing it on this menu was too hard to pass up. The preparation was unexpected in the broth of chili and crab with the leaves of brussels sprouts covering even more crab. I really liked this dish though it didn't stand out to the rest of the party as a favorite of the evening.

Ultra Rare Seared Tuna; Marinated Fennel, Basil and Capers. Nick's second serving of tuna was a whooper with the seared fish being covered by almost a salsa of fennel, basil and capers. The brine from the capers set off the tuna resulting in a lovely dish that you'd like to have twice as much of.

For our third course off the lightly cooked section of the menu:

Poached Skate and Warm Oysters, Brussels Sprouts-Bacon Mignonette, Dijon Mustard Sherry Emulsion. Skate is a polarizing fish - even when cooked it has a fatty, mushy texture that can throw people off. If you are familiar with it and love sushi anyways, it is unique, delicate and very decadent in the mouth. I thought this was a standout dish with incredible flavor. The sauce added complexity and saltiness to round it out.

Baked Red Snapper in “Citrus-Rosemary Papillote” Preserved Lemon-Mashed Potatoes, Natural Jus. This is a perfect illustration of why Le Bernardin is the only restaurant in New York City to have received a four star rating from the New York Times for more than twenty consecutive years as well as being the only one to have garnered three Michelin stars in 2005 (the debut year for the US) and every year after. This dish Alan chose was heaven - you just can't prepare fish any better than this in the light citrus sauce. And whoever thought to combine lemon with mashed potatoes was a culinary genius. Amazing!

Maine Lobster; Light Potato Gnocchi Braised Pearl Onions. Yeah, I went with the lobster. Sometimes I just can't pass up on the shellfish. This gorgeous course with the tail meat deconstructed into slices and rebuilt was excellent. The secret to lobster is to have it be cooked to just opaque so the flavor is there and it takes on that delicate nature while still tasting like lobster. I loved this dish. Serving gnocchi on the side was just the cream on top!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs; Winter Vegetables,Wild Mushrooms, Parsnip Purée. Nick was the only one to go off the beaten path and order something not from the sea. The short rib was so good - fork tender, obviously cooked forever to get it to have that much infused flavor. The wine reduction sauce is a classic pairing that will never go out of style. This was a standout dish.

Crispy Black Bass; Roasted Shishitos and Acorn Squash “Ceviche”, Peruvian Chicha Sauce. And the final dish was Nick's crispy black bass...wow! Amazing. The skin was fantastic - you could just eat that all night.

And for dessert...

Madagascan Chocolate Ganache, Candied Peanuts, Popcorn Ice Cream

Hazelnut, Madagascar Vanilla, Chocolate, Vietnamese Cinnamon ice creams

Dark Chocolate Cremeux, Kirsch Bavaroise, Belgian Kriek Beer Sorbet

Assortment of Cheeses "4 pieces" with apricot compote and toast points.

Earl Grey Mousseline, Orange Purée, Blood Orange Sorbet (no picture)

Petit fours

Throughout this dinner was champagne and wine:

• Marie Courtin NV Resonance Extra Brut
• Peter Michael Sauvignon Blanc L'Apres-Midi 2011
• Aby Harris Anthill Pinot Noir 2010

I don't remember having the Anthill before but really liked it and the Marie Courtin was really good for a non-vintage - something you can drink a lot of and not have heart palpatations when you see the price.

Le Bernardin is one of the best restaurants in the country, no doubt about it. If you love eating things that come out of the water, this is your Nirvana. I thought our dinner was one of the best of 2012 but by not having the chef's tasting menu and by going with an early seating when you know they are going to turn your table takes a little off an otherwise exceptional experience. Service was flawless and the ambiance lends to a romantic or special occassion. I hope you get a chance to go!

Zagat: 29-28-29

Michelin: 3 Stars

Jenn's Rating: 96