Graduation Dinner

This past weekend, I had one of the best dining experiences of my life. As I was sitting at our table in the center of a room that made you forget you were in the middle of Manhattan, I mentioned this to my dad and brother. We were at Restaurant Daniel, and with its four star reviews from the New York Times and three Michelin stars, I felt like somewhat of a groupie saying this, like I was hopping on the bandwagon. After thinking this through, however, the reasons behind my feelings became apparent. Not only was the food flawlessly prepared, but the overall experience was something I had never experienced before. And I’ve been to some great restaurants.

At Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, I had a similar feeling. The food was all so fresh, and precisely prepared.  The fact that so much of it came right off the farm elevated the experience. I wasn’t sure if dinner at Daniel could match the feeling. It did. It was a different experience. They had taken the same care with their food. One place where Daniel separated itself was their sauces. None of the sauces were too heavy, yet each and every one had layers of flavor, extraordinarily developed, complimenting the flavors of the rest of the dish. In addition to this, the service  wowed me. A few months ago, I ate at Picholine in New York City. The room was not as inviting, and the atmosphere seemed slightly stuffy. The servers seemed to be doing everything they should, but it was overbearing. They were not nearly as inviting as the staff at Daniel, and they were awkward in their actions. Placing every diners food down at the same moment was something they did, but it just didn’t fit. At Daniel, I expected to feel similarly about these kinds of orchestrated actions. To my surprise, this was never the case. Servers came to the table unnoticed to deliver each and every course. More important than this, however, were the welcoming feelings they exuded. Each and every member of the staff made you feel happy to be there, answering each and every one of our questions as if it was their priviledge to do so. One commented that we were almost to the end after she delivered our fifth plate of food. My dad quickly responded, “We don’t want to get to the end.” It would be ridiculous to say we felt at home here. I have to say, my home feels nothing like this, but we feel comfortable.  We are having a wonderful time.

To go through everything we tasted might be a little excessive, so I will just mention some highlights from the meal. To start, an amuse bouche was sent out from the kitchen. It was a trio of beet preparations, the favorite of the table being a spoonful of a highly refined borscht. The soup was thick, a deep red color, and allowed the flavor of the beet to shine through with proper seasoning and touch of pleasant acidity.

To start, I had a meyer lemon royale with sea urchin. The dish came out with a meyer lemon royale, a sea urchin royale, an oyster, caviar, a sea urchin emulsion, and one piece of fresh sea urchin. I am an avid sea urchin fan, so I was happy to see it in three different applications. This dish tasted like the ocean, briny and sweet, and the lemon royale was perfectly creamy, the lemon brightening the dish and rounding out the flavor.

Next I had a hazlenut crusted sea scallop served with morel fricasee and swiss chard. The scallop was perfectly cooked, and the earthiness of the morel played well along the sweetness of the scallop. The freshness of the scallop was extraordinary, and the deeply developed flavor of the fricasee and peppercorn sauce brought the dish to another level. The only part of the dish I found unwelcome was a textural issue. There was a pleasant crunch that the hazlenut crust provided, but there was an occasional grittiness that I came across that was slightly unpleasant. In spite of this, the dish still managed to be one of my favorites.

In the next course, I had a black seabass with syrah sauce. It was also served with a leek potato parmentier and roasted and tempura celery. My dad and brother both had yellowfin tuna with hearts of palm and fennel confit.  Each fish was perectly cooked. The tuna was properly rare, and the sea bass was very moist. Again, what I found shining in each dish were the sauces. The syrah sauce with the sea bass was flavorful, glossy and rich. The tuna was dressed with a chicken based sauce. It was perfectly executed, and I was surprised at how well it complimented a fish dish. The flavors came together in such a pleasing way.

For my final savory course, I had a duo of beef, braised short rib and seared tenderloin. The short ribs were falling apart and tender, and the saucing of the dish was again the star. Velvety and rich, the sauce still allowed the excellent flavor of the beef to shine through. The server brought out the dish, mentioning the seared tenderloin, and I had forgotten that the menu stated it would be wagyu beef. But whenI started to cut into it and taste, I knew immediately. This was not a typical unmarbled piece of tenderloin, prized for its tenderness but lacking in flavor. It was a well-marbled piece of meat, rich and flavorful. This is certainly somewhere I don’t mind ordering tenderloin of beef. The flavor is not lost.

After all of these wonderful courses, the desserts did not disappoint. The chocolate was rich and smooth, and each sorbet was smooth and perfectly textured, not the least bit grainy. And the wine pairings throughout the meal elevated the entire experience. Each of the six courses came with a different wine, and the effort put into finding the right wines for each course was clear. Beginning with a refined and fruity white, we moved into some more minerally whites, onto a lighter, fruitier red with the sea bass, and a rich, robust red came with the beef. It was clear that the people behind the menu believe that great food and great wine go hand in hand.

This is a meal I will never forget. It is something I wish I could enjoy more. It is one of the priciest meals one can enjoy in an already pricey city, but it was worth every penny. The food and service are refined and polished. With all of the stars and accolades that the restaurant has received, including its recent James Beard Award for Best Restaurant, there is a pressure to keep standards high. On this night, the kitchen and staff showed me why they deserve everything they have been given. If I had an award to give out, Restaurant Daniel would be the front runner that all other fine dining restaurants should strive to emulate.

Colicchio and Sons. New York City

This was somewhat of a surprise visit to Tom Colicchio’s new restaurant in Chelsea on a Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, I was planning on heading back to Vermont. I spent an hour and a half lugging an unnecessarily large bag through subway stops, train stations, and seemingly endless walkways at JFK. Arriving at the ticket counter, I soon found that I was not on any of the afternoon’s flights. Spending the next half figuring out the cost of getting on a flight, I decided to head back in to the city. My step-dad would be in town for work, and getting a ride back to Vermont with him seemed like the best option. Luckily, a friend of mine was also able to set me up with a place to stay for the next two nights.

Slightly frustrated with this misfortune, I decided to release some steam. What better way to do this than to head out the door in search of a great meal. Recently, I have seen a few articles and heard of some good things being done at Colicchio and Sons. I hopped on the subway from the Upper West Side and arrived in Chelsea in just fifteen minutes. When I arrived at the door, I was greeted by the front of house staff. There were at least four or five of them, each one happy to see each customer to walk through the doors. On the way to a table for on in the Tap Room, I had a host and a hostess each ask me how my day was, and both seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say.

The decor in the restaurant was striking. The deep browns that dominated the surroundings gave the room character. It was dark but still managed to be inviting. A wall of wine bottles separates the tap room from the main dining room. The bar is on the tap room side of the wall and holds a great number of options with significant variety. There was what seemed like endless choices. The two beers (of about 25 on tap) I had were ones that I had not tried before, and they fortunately complimented the food quite well.

The beers were great, but I was more excited about the food to come. I started with a squid salad with chickpeas, raddichio, celery, carrots, red onion, and a vinaigrette. The salad was well dressed with a nice kick from the acidity in the vinegar. There was a pleasant chew to the squid, but it wasnot tough. My only issue with the dish came from the number of chickpeas served. The dish was pretty heavy on the beans. Don’t get me wrong, I ate every one of them, but I am a fan of chickpeas and could deal with a few forkfulls that were about 90% chickpeas.

For an entree, I ordered the braised rabbit legs over polenta w/ soffrito. The dish came out with two rabbite legs sitting on top of golden polenta, a ring of jus surrounding the dish, and a couple of spoonfulls of soffrito on top of the pair of legs. The rabbit came our well caramalized and was extraordinarily tender. The dish’s aroma was enticing and was begging me to dive in. This was not as hard as I had imagined, the meat eager to be eaten. Needing only a fork, the tender flesh flaked apart and away from the bone. The polenta was creamy, but maybe could have had more corn flavor. It was also a bit loose for my taste. It did, however, compliment the tangy and salty soffrito, contributing to a well rounded dish.

Having been somewhat wowed by the food, I had to change my original plan. This plan involved skipping desert, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I ordered a cinnamon raisin pain perdu with grapefuit slices, pine nuts, and rosemary ice cream. The cinnamon raisin bread, with caramalized sugar glistening on the outside, had soaked up the custardy liquid. In cooking, the center set up nicely contributing to a pleasant texture. The caramalized outer layer gave way to a creamy interior. The dessert had some complexity as well. The ice cream was smooth, and the rosemary provided a complimentary herb flavor that did nor overstep its bounds. The grapefruit added some tartness, and the crunch from the pine nuts was a welcome addition. In fact, I would not have minded a few more scattered on my plate.

The service in the dining room did not veer from professionalism and warmth I felt from the front of house. The wait staff was not intrusive, but they also did not skip a beat. They were well trained, made you feel comfortable, and their attitude and professionalism contribute to your ability to enjoy the food as much as possible. Chef Colicchio was speaking on a panel uptown that I was disappointed to miss. Knowing that he had an event, I had not expected to see him in the restaurant. To my surprise, he walked in the dining room buttoning his chef’s coat, around 10pm. After a couple quick hellos, he headed back to the kitchen. It was refreshing to see a celebrity chef making this kind of effort to be around. If this keeps up, the restaurant is sure to have a bright future. Upon exiting the restaurant, I was handed a carrot muffin for the morning and was wished luck for safe travels home. I thanked them and assured them that I would be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.