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Sushi Nakazawa – Dining Room

Published March 30, 2014 NYC + , Sushi Nakazawa (2) , USA Leave a Comment
Tags: Alessandro Borgognone, Daisuke Nakazawa, Sushi Nakazawa (2), Sushi Nakazawa Dining Room, Sushi Nakazawa NYC

Last week Rocky and I made our way down to the West Village to see what Chef Daisuke Nakazawa is cooking up (and serving raw) at Alessandro Borgognone’s new spot on Commerce Street, Sushi Nakazawa. I wasn’t actively chasing a reservation, more looking through popular restaurants’ availability out of curiosity, when a table popped up in the Nakazawa dining room. So I figured we should go check it out.

We showed up super excited, took our seats, and delved into the beverage list. The range of sake on offer is impressive, but we opted to go for bubbles along with our Omakase. I got a really excited and went a little over budget when I saw Vouette & Sorbée Blanc d’Argile… amazing juice.

I’m not incredibly experienced when it comes to high end sushi, nor am I very educated about Japanese cuisine in general. So I don’t have a good base of comparison, but I thought our meal here was pretty solid. Clean, intentional, and at times very precise flavors.

I apologize ahead: I’ll do my best to name all the pieces appropriately, though some I’m not sure about and others I’m completely clueless on. Twice I was told that someone would be happy to write a menu of the fish we were served, though when it was time to pack up and go a guy asked for my email and said he would send me the list instead. Now, a week later, I’m assuming it’s not coming. Anyways..here’s how it went down.(The descriptors will go from the right side of the plate to the left.)

Alaskan King Salmon. Rich, full flavor.

Maybe Sea trout? Smoked with some very special wood.

Scallop. Yuzu pepper, sake sauce. Cool, meaty slices of scallop beautifully complimented by the sake. The pepper finish was long and spicy.

Washington Geoduck. Seared. Fantastic texture. Subtle but defined taste. The gentle sear was nice.

Cusk. Yuzu pepper, ponzu.

Sable. Nikiri(sweet soy sauce), a little bonito. A superb bite. One of the best of the meal. Rocky’s favorite.

Porgy. Yuzu zest. Slightly metallic tasting.

Aji(Horse Mackerel). Ginger, nikiri. Fantastic.

Silver Stripe Herring. Nikiri. Strongly flavored, a little fishy.

Herring. Very nice with a subtle wasabi type spice and an almost pickle-ish taste.

Madagascar Tiger Prawn. Nikiri. Good texture with a rewarding shrimpy sweetness.

Spearhead Squid. Japanese pepper leaf. I thought it was a great bite, but the smooth kind of gummy feel on one side didn’t work for Rocky.

Something that sounded like ‘Kawati’ ? A little stronger sauce was well suited on the stronger fish.

Spanish Mackerel. Cured black pepper. Soft, fleshy, buttery.

Blue Fin Tuna. An elegant, pure flavored lean cut subtly enhanced by the Japanese mustard spice.

Blue Fin Tuna. A fatty cut, marinated and seared, with a bit of the same mustard. Biting this was like an immediate fat explosion that coated the whole mouth. Rocky said: ‘That’s something special. Better than a cheeseburger.’

Maine Uni. Just wonderful. And I got to eat two since Rocky has some type of uni-phobia.

Alaskan Chum Salmon Roe. Soy marinated. Superb combination of tastes and textures between the roe, seaweed, and rice. Bordering on mind blowing.

Eel. With eel sauce. Pretty straight forward eel.

Tamago. The piece that made Chef Nakazawa famous in the Jiro documentary. A delightfully light, sweet and savory egg custard.

From here we were asked if we wanted to repeat any pieces or try some others. We opted for a little of both.

Jackknife Something. From Japan. Dense and almost tangy.

Some silvery fish.

A red-edged piece of fish of some kind with a super intense fatty and salty flavor.

Santa Barbara Uni. Velvety and supple sea urchin. I got to eat two again. Score.

Madagascar Tiger Prawn.

Aji(Horse Mackerel).

Sable.

Tea.

Yuzu. Sorbet with berries.

Pineapple. Fresh and intensely sweet.

An apparently very happy Chef Daisuke Nakazawa.

Date of meal: March 24, 2014

Sushi Nakazawa. 23 Commerce St. NYC 212.924.2212 www.sushinakazawa.com

Eleven Madison Park. NYC

Published March 28, 2014 Eleven Madison Park (2) , NYC + , USA 3 Comments
Tags: Angela Pinkerton, Chris Flint, Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park (2), Eleven Madison Park NYC, Eleven Madison Park Restaurant, Will Guidara

My birthday and Rocky’s are eight days apart. We’ve made a habit of making the celebrations span a few weeks. Last month, between our birthdays, on a beautiful February Sunday, we celebrated with an outstanding lunch at Eleven Madison Park. We showed up ahead of schedule and sipped some bubbles at the bar before sitting at our splendid corner table.

On the table was a knife we used to open an envelope containing two punch cards offering four different flavors: maple, cranberry, fennel, apple. We were told we had to pick a flavor that would appear later in our meal. Rocky picked apple. I chose fennel.

CHEDDAR Savory Black and White Cookie with Apple. To kick off the meal, EMP’s most recent adaptation of the New York classic. A cheesy savory biscuit complemented nicely by the sweet apple filling.

OYSTER Vichyssoise and Caviar. A dense Spring Creek Oyster, dotted with caviar, resting in creamy vichyssoise. The rich sauce was a good base for the dual salinity. Good stuff.

SCALLOP Marinated with Apple, Pine, and Water Chestnut. A solid enough East Coast scallop spiced up with horseradish and cooled off with yogurt. Some apple snow gave the plate a nice lasting acidity.

BEEF Tartare with Caviar and Smoked Bone Marrow. A decadent treat. Somehow the smoked marrow and raw beef didn’t kill the caviar with richness. Great balance.

BEEF Pastrami with Pickles, Rye, Mustard, and Apple/Fennel. An homage to NYC delis. Rye bread with mustard, black garlic, and endive, pickles, a couple slices of pastrami, and sodas – apple flavored for Rocky and fennel for me. A super fun and pretty delicious course. Both the sodas were awesome.

FOIE GRAS Seared with Sunchokes, Hazelnuts, and Solera Vinegar. At the outset of the meal we were each asked if we wanted our foie gras seared or cured. Naturally I wanted both but we ended up going one and one and I got to eat the majority of each. This presentation was fantastic. The foie was superb with the sweet and earthy accompaniments.

FOIE GRAS Cured with Sunchokes and Fermented Mustard Greens. The mustard seeds and fermented greens added a nice depth to the plate, but we both preferred the seared presentation.

APPLE Waldorf Salad with Celery, Cranberries, and Walnuts. Apple and celery root dressed in lemon mayonnaise with cranberries, blue cheese, and candied walnuts. The service cart that rolled up with the mise en place for this course was impressive. The story of the dish, the preparation, and the beautiful antique cookbook were remarkable. The salad itself was mediocre at best. Rocky asked me if she had to finish hers. Though beneath the salad in the two part bowl was a granola and yogurt reinterpretation that was pretty nice. The strong celery taste of the granola was great, but it was still just yogurt and granola. Too bad the food didn’t match the grandeur of the service for this one.

Rocky and I were invited into the kitchen and shown to a standing high-top table where we were served a modernist interpretation of a penicillin cocktail. Scotch, ginger, honey…boozy fun.

LOBSTER Poached with Razor Clam, Sea Urchin, and Kale. First, a cold plating of the course. Tangy lobster salad stuffed inside a claw, sea urchin panna cotta, and razor clam with pear, roe, and kale puree. The clam and pear slices were strongly flavored and were great with the earthy vegetal kale.

LOBSTER Poached with Razor Clam, Sea Urchin, and Kale. And then, the warm plating of the course. Sweet, rich lobster tail, sea urchin foam, meaty razor clam, a nice slice of pear, and an amazing kale leaf that tasted as if it may have been cooked in lobster stock and butter. A sublimely superb plate.

CELERY ROOT Braised with Black Truffle. A sphere carved from the core of braised celery root and doused with powerfully rich and fragrant black truffle jus. Alongside was some celery root puree under which sprawled black truffle puree. Wonderful intensity of earthy flavors.

DUCK Broth with Sausage and Gruyère. At the start of the meal, another choice we had to make was between duck or pork for the final savory. I’ll choose their honey lavender glazed duck every time. The bird was presented, then carved and plated while we had a small bowl of duck broth with a kick ass gruyère and duck sausage chip with some kickin mustard seed acidity.

DUCK Roasted with Lavender, Honey, and Rutabaga. An outstanding roasted duck breast with rutabaga and citrus duck jus. The bowl served beside the feature was something along the lines of confit duck leg with a dense foamy foie gras sauce.

GREENSWARD Pretzel, Onion, and Dried Fruit. A picnic basket complete with everything we needed to have a cheese course picnic. The feature was a cut of Greensward, a raw cow milk cheese by Jasper Hill Farms(Vermont) that is washed with Ithaca Beer Co’s Picnic Basket Ale and wrapped in spruce. Alongside was dried fruit, onion jam, and pretzel bread; the latter two were flavored with the aforementioned beer, a bottle of which was included in the basket. Good times.

SWEET POTATO Curd with Espresso Meringue and Orange Sorbet. A strikingly brilliant plate. Compelling compliments between multiple sweet and multiple bitter elements and the sourish citrus acidity. This had me going until the end: ‘Wow…what’s happening??’

VANILLA Baked Alaska with Rum, Raisin, and Apple/Fennel. Vanilla ice cream enclosed in a thick layer of meringue arrived on our table and was flambéed while our guy explained the history of the Baked Alaska dessert. It disappeared back to the kitchen and arrived again later plated up with Rocky’s and my preordained flavors of apple and fennel. Between the initial presentation and the final plating the portion curiously shrunk dramatically in size. I’m guessing the rest got tossed, but we sure did want to eat it.

PRETZEL Chocolate Covered with Sea Salt. A pretty delicious mildly crunchy, sweet, chocolatey pretzel.

CHOCOLATE Sweet Black and White Cookie with Cinnamon. To finish the meal, EMP’s current sweet iteration of the NYC classic. Oatmeal flour, Saigon cinnamon, and Mast Brothers chocolate.

And some handsome birthday treats to take home. They tasted like PB&J chocolates.

Some wines we drank:

Date of meal: February 23, 2014

Eleven Madison Park. 11 Madison Avenue. NYC 212.889.0905 elevenmadisonpark.com

Little Elm at The Elm, Brooklyn

Published March 24, 2014 Little Elm , NYC + , USA Leave a Comment
Tags: Little Elm, Mazen Mustafa, Paul Liebrandt, The Elm, The Elm Brooklyn, The Elm Restaurant

Last month for my birthday, Rocky offered to take me out and buy me dinner at a restaurant of my choice. I decided to go with something new that neither of us had tried. After a little back and forth I chose to visit Little Elm, the tasting counter at The Elm in Williamsburg, to see what Chef Mazen Mustafa is cooking.

Following up a wonderful birthday lunch, a stop at the bar at the NoMad, and a quick nap at home, we made our way across the water to the King & Grove Hotel, home of The Elm. We checked our coats, dried off from the rain a moment, took our seats, ordered a bottle of bubbles, and got the party started.

An amusing trio to begin:

Sweet and tart, delicately crisp sea buckthorn.

Parmesan crisps dusted with acidic tomato powder.

Red miso financiers with yuzu ricotta. A nice savory/sweet/sour bite.

Black Bass | Hon Shimeji. A crudo of bass with pickled hon shimeji mushroom, caviar, radish, and dashi gelee. Great intensity of flavor without being too strong. It would have been nice to have another utensil; eating this with the large fork was brutal.

Foie Gras | Black Trumpet. A solid dish. Super smooth foie gras topped with gelee of black trumpet mushroom spiced with peppercorn, accompanied by compressed apple, celery root and sake puree, and a perfectly toasted slice of thai long pepper brioche.

Nantucket Bay Scallop | Tom Yum. The first service of the scallop was a crudo topped with shaved marcona almond, shio, and kombu. Not sure what the marinade or dressing on the scallop itself was, but it was superb. Effing amazing little dish all around. Even the savory aroma was intoxicating. Easily my favorite course of the meal.

Nantucket Bay Scallop | Tom Yum. In the second service of the scallop, they were roasted and served with ricotta gnudi, tom yum sauce foam, and lime zest. The pairing of the scallops with the gnudi was very nice. Though the mild lingering heat didn’t quite balance and for me the citrus in the plate stood out against the richness instead of calming it.

Lobster | Brown Butter. The first lobster plate was roasted Maine lobster tail with heirloom beets, tomatillo puree, and a bizarre but strangely good black garlic balsamic reduction. The beets were very nice though I didn’t quite understand them with the lobster. The tomatillo was far too spicy for my midwest white boy spice tolerance.

Lobster | Brown Butter. The second lobster dish was torchietti pasta with tomato and pork ‘XO sauce’ over a huge chunk of lobster mitt. A pretty solid pasta dish with a good level of lasting heat.

Elysian Fields Lamb | Eggplant. A very fatty, overly rich cut of lamb neck served with eggplant, radish, a very nice mix of quinoa and almond, and a strong sauce.

Stichelton | Pear. Stichelton blue cheese with textures of pear, vadouvan spices, and mustard oil. A great composed cheese course. The creamy spicy blue with the pear along with some riesling auslese was fantastic.

Puff Pastry | Popcorn. Damn. This was a kick ass little dessert. Popcorn mille-feuille with a little apple. Rocky and I saw a much larger version of this plate go out to the dining room a few times and we’ve been talking of returning for it since.

Chocolate | Berry. A small bar of chocolate feuilletine cake covered in dark chocolate alongside some huckleberry jam and a quenelle of huckleberry and red fruit sorbet. Delicious.

Petit Fours. Green Chartreuse cream puff. Smoked cookies & cream financier. Yuzu ricotta chocolate. Thai tea canelé. Coffee cardamom canelé. Black cherry pâte de fruit. The financier, chocolate, and pdf were tasty. The Chartreuse cream puff was superb, light and almost fluffy with a good dose of the herbal flavor I love. The canelés, while flavored well, were abysmal. Terribly textured and tasting almost of raw egg inside, I have to wonder if anyone tasted this batch before serving them.

Some wines we were served:

Overall a fun and memorable birthday dinner. I look forward to returning to The Elm to try their burger and have a giant popcorn mille-feuille.

Date of visit: February 20, 2014

Little Elm. 160 N 12th St. Brooklyn, NY 718.218.1088 theelmnyc.com

Blue Hill at Stone Barns – Two-a-day, Part 2

Published February 27, 2014 Blue Hill at Stone Barns (3) , NYC + , USA Leave a Comment
Tags: Blue Hill, Blue Hill at Stone Barns (3), Blue Hill Restaurant, Dan Barber, Stone Barns

Feeling elated from an incredible lunch and enthusiastic for our impending dinner, Rocky and I headed back to Stone Barns a little early to do a bit more exploring of the grounds before taking our seats for round two of our Blue Hill two-a-day. (click here for round one)

Once again, this post is coming eight months after the meal, so I’m going to keep it fairly brief with any details I happen to remember or have jotted down.

Vegetables from the garden.

Rhubarb strips.

Baby kohlrabi from the garden.

Pig heart pastrami.

Radishes from the greenhouse.

Pea and corn shoots. To be snipped and dragged through lemon vinaigrette with aleppo pepper and bee pollen.

Blueberry, honey, and lardo pancakes. Tremendous.

Chocolate and pork liver.

Mini asparagus burgers.

Coppa flatbread. Crispy and hammy.

Toasted yogurt. One with carrot sorbet, the other with beet sorbet.

Green garden gazpacho(cucumber, zucchini, herbs) with buffalo yogurt and a polenta chocolate wheat chip.

Local clams, peas, lardo. Superb green combination of peas, fava beans, and asparagus with lovely clams(razor and some other). Though the dish was topped with too much lardo for my taste.

Zucchini, nasturtium, almond. A lovely, juicy cut of squash.

Peas, bio-char onions, daylily. Damn. Amazing. I still think of this little dish occasionally. The charred allium taste was sublime with the perfect peas. The daylily was a lifting lightly floral compliment.

Handmade goose egg pasta(made with minimal flour) with basil and cured immature egg yolk. Another winner. Rocky still talks about this dish occasionally.

Potato onion bread with Hudson Valley butter, Tulip’s butter(Normandy cow), Blue Hill lardo, and corn salt.

Turkey breast, heart, and liver accompanied with beet and strawberry.

Hudson Valley lamb with morels and dragon radish.

Sweet Berry Farm black sheep cheese in the style of goat cheese. With rye bread and rhubarb compote.

Blueberry with frozen Stone Barns buttermilk. Tart sweet berries and rich buttermilk served super cold. Good stuff.

Strawberry ‘cannelloni’ with creme fraiche and balsamic reduction. A kick ass berries and cream plate.

Oh boy…mignardises on bark. They were something along the lines of: chocolate corn flakes, chocolate pumpkin seeds, honeyed chocolate, minty chocolate, chocolate raspberry lollipop, chocolate covered hazelnuts.

A couple wines of the night:

And that’s my recap of our Blue Hill at Stone Barns two-a-day from last June. Rocky and I are amped to join Chef Dan Barber and crew again for her birthday dinner this weekend. Hopefully I can get the post for that one done in under eight months this time.

Oh yeah…as we were leaving the restaurant, the ‘Super Moon’ was in full effect(though covered with clouds).

Date of meal: June 23, 2013

Blue Hill at Stone Barns. 630 Bedford Road. Pocantico Hills, NY 914 366 9600

www.bluehillfarm.com

Blue Hill at Stone Barns – Two-a-day, Part 1

Published February 27, 2014 Blue Hill at Stone Barns (3) , NYC + , USA Leave a Comment
Tags: Blue Hill, Blue Hill at Stone Barns (3), Blue Hill Restaurant, Dan Barber, Stone Barns

As I’m sitting in my UWS apartment in the middle of a cold NYC winter, I’m looking back on some of my dining moments from last summer. One particularly hot and sunny day in June, Rocky and I found ourselves at the hands of Chef Dan Barber and his team at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. When I was making the plans for the trip I figured that as long as we were making the trek from city, we may as well make it a two-a-day. It was quite a remarkable pair of meals. Since then Rocky has claimed the restaurant to be her favorite that we’ve visited in the states. Now, in late February, with Rocky’s birthday just a few days away, we have some solid weekend plans in place, which include her b-day dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. So I suppose now is as good a time as I’ll have to finally share our BHSB two-a-day. (click here for part 2)

We showed up early to get a snack from the Blue Hill Cafe and tour the grounds before the restaurant opened.

Once lunch time came we got straight to it. I won’t go too much into details. I think the photos(while of questionable quality) speak for themselves.

Vegetables from the farm.

First zucchini from the farm.

Radishes from the greenhouse. Cool, brisk, and pretty spicy.

Rhubarb poached in a little sugar.

Pea vichyssoise with crispy quinoa and snow peas. Out of this world. Easily among my favorite bites of the day.

Weeds from the garden with lemon verbena vinegar. Pea and popcorn shoots, to be snipped and dipped in tarragon pesto.

Fennel sausage. And Rocky with a sharp knife. Slicing away like a pro.

Parsnip, egg yolk, and pancetta ‘pie’.

Strawberry marmelade granola bars.

Charcoal whoopee pie with minty cream.

Asparagus and pancetta.

Veal bone marrow with beef heart. Sweet and rich.

Celtuce, diced and in a broth. With pinenut, Blue Hill yogurt, shungiku, and green apple. Cool, vegetal, fresh.

Fresh mozzarella, strawberry, sesame, bone marrow.

Blue Hill ricotta, whole grain brioche, swiss chard & kale.

After this we were led out of the dining room through a side exit and escorted outside to a small shed with a beautifully set table where we had our next few courses.

Certainly this was quite an amazing place to enjoy a good part of our meal. We took in the setting for a bit and then this stunning spread showed up:

Asparagus over larch. Butter lettuce with coppa. Pea stew. Borscht. And a center piece of wax beans, rapini, orach, chorizo sauce, almond saffron sauce, and shavings of almond, hazelnut, egg yolk, and Treviso cheese. Home run. I would gladly indulge in this impressive offering any day.

Next up: Tacos. Fourchu lobster, kohlrabi, ham hock, artichoke, strawberry compote, carrot puree, coriander, watermelon molasses hot sauce, and smoked salt with lobster roe.

We were invited to linger awhile, and while it was tempting to spend more of the day in the serene setting, we thought it prudent to keep the meal progressing. Moving back into the dining room:

Blue Hill egg yolk, zucchini, ham. A small, quick, and rich little plate.

Potato onion bread. Whipped lard. Butters from Annabelle and Jillian(Jersey and Normandy cows).

Blue Hill pork jowl with mulberry, wineberry, fennel, and herb sauce.

Local sheep milk cheese rolled in vegetable ‘bio-char’. With radish salad and a rye pretzel.

Tart, sweet raspberry with floral elderflower foam and frozen pistachio butter. Delicious.

Corn crumble, milk sorbet, currant compote, and almond cake.

Chocolate eggs with milk jam. Creamy and crunchy with a lasting smooth chocolate finish.

A few beverages from lunch:

An incredibly impressive and poetic first meal at Stone Barns. Rocky and I couldn’t wait to get back for dinner to see what was in store for round two of our day.

(click here for round two)

Date of meal: June 23, 2013

Blue Hill at Stone Barns. 630 Bedford Road. Pocantico Hills, NY 914 366 9600

www.bluehillfarm.com

Birthday Lunch at Gramercy Tavern

Published February 26, 2014 Gramercy Tavern (2) , NYC + , USA 2 Comments
Tags: Gramercy Tavern (2), Gramercy Tavern NYC, Gramercy Tavern Restaurant, Michael Anthony, Miroslav Uskokovic

Last Thursday was my 33rd birthday. For my gift Rocky wanted to take me to lunch and dinner. We thought we were going to have to wait until the weekend to celebrate(since Sunday is our big day off together), but I actually got my birthday off from work, as did she. So I started looking for dining options. I decided to go with one place I know and love for lunch(Gramercy Tavern) then another place I’d never been to for dinner.

Gramercy Tavern is an amazing restaurant. And Chef Michael Anthony is a bad ass. So we went in for lunch with high hopes and came out singing praises as much as ever.

We got the party started with a bottle of Marc Hebrart Champagne and ordered up the tasting menu(which is an insanely good deal) with a few supplements(of course).

Oysters. I had just been trying to figure out how I was going to work an oyster stop into the bday schedule, then here they come. One raw, fresh and light. One cooked and topped with kale, hearty and meaty.

Lobster Salad. Winter Squash, Spinach and Sesame. With generous chunks of lobster and a fun addition of roe. The squash, diced and pureed, was a nice compliment, not too sweet. The topping of yuzu foam I didn’t care for too much.

Ruby Red Shrimp. Sweet Potato, Farro, Pine Nuts and Brussels Sprouts. A superb plate. The shrimp was well executed and well complimented. The farro and pine nuts gave a great texture. The sweet potato, parsnip, jalapeño sauce gave a light spice.

Halibut. Cauliflower, Cabbage and American Caviar. A good piece of fish atop slightly caramelized cauliflower and soured cabbage. The light vinegar/pickled taste of the cabbage really set off the dish.

Scallop & Lobster Pappardelle. Chorizo, Scallions and Mussels. A tasty seafood pasta. A sprinkle of toasted bread crumb was nice for some crunch. The light chorizo spice was good for a little kick.

Mushrooms & Barley. Arugula, Olives and Parsnips. Another superb plate. The barley was cooked to a wonderful al dente texture. The variety of mushrooms were all seasoned and cooked amazingly to earthy, savory goodness. A small amount of diced parsnip threw in a playful sweetness.

Roasted Pork Loin. Turnips, Buckwheat Ravioli and Charred Onion Broth. Super clean flavors. Moist slices of pork loin. The crisp, fresh root vegetables were fantastic. The strips of seaweed with the allium broth were killer.

Pre-dessert. Apple consomme, pomegranate seeds, lychee foam. Fresh, layered sweetness with a seedy crunch.

Blood Orange. Buttermilk, Pistachio, Tapioca and Cara Cara. When this dessert landed I was thinking how thankful I was I ordered extras. After a few bites my thoughts did a 180. This was a bad ass little bowl. A great combo of sweet and bitter citrus layers with rich buttermilk set off by the textures of the tapioca and candied pistachios.

Coconut Birthday Cake. A nice surprise. For how much I don’t like coconut cake, this was actually pretty enjoyable.

Chocolate Banana Slice. Caramel, Sesame, Black Cardamom and Rum. A solid enough slice of layered cake. Though for me the banana ice cream was too strongly flavored. The accompanying variety of crumbles and powders on the plate were delightful.

Gramercy Tavern Cookie Plate. Good spread of cookies. A couple of them were awesome.

Petit Fours. Fennel macaron. Caramel chocolate. Nougat. A delectable few bites to round out a superb birthday lunch.

Some wines we had:

Date of visit: February 20, 2014

Gramercy Tavern. 42 East 20th Street. NYC 212.477.0777 www.gramercytavern.com

Maní, São Paulo

Published February 17, 2014 Brazil , Maní 2 Comments
Tags: Daniel Redondo, Helena Rizzo, Mani, Mani Restaurant, Mani Sao Paulo

When we started outlining our recent trip to Brazil, Rocky and I hadn’t originally planned to spend so much time in São Paulo(proportionately, vs Rio). But it turned out that one of the restaurants I most wanted to visit didn’t reopen from their holiday closure until a week into the new year. So we stretched out our stay, relaxed a little, and had a nice time. After a great lunch with our friend Marc Z, some ice cream and chocolate along Rua Oscar Freire, and a swim on our hotel rooftop, Rocky and I spent our last night in São Paulo checking out what Chefs Helena Rizzo and Daniel Redondo were cooking up at their restaurant Maní.

Walking into the space for a meal at Maní is like accepting an invitation to the dinner party of an ex-surfer turned millionaire who tried his hardest to recreate a beach side taco stand within his downtown loft, except with better food. Settled in at our table we ordered up a bottle of grape juice and the Chef’s tasting menu(naturally) and got the party started.

mani sao paulo bread service

Pães diversos, lascas de polvilho, coalhada seca, queijo de cabra com pimenta rosa, manteiga, pirulito de parmesão. Bread service. Parmesan lollipop, tapioca starch chips, and a crusty loaf accompanied by butter, goat cheese with pink peppercorn, and sour milk curd with paprika. The tapioca chips were dangerously addicting, light and savory.

Belisquetes: Bombom de guacamole com biscoito de fubá. Bombom de Foie Gras com goiabada e capa de vinho do Porto. Chips de batata com rosbife e mostarda dijon. Guacamole bonbon with cornmeal biscuit and dried tomato. Foie bonbon with port wine and guava. Potato chip with roast beef and dijon. Both of the bonbons were rich and smooth. The guacamole had good acid with contrasting crunch from the cracker. The foie was balanced with sweetness. Rocky said the roast beef and potato chip was reminiscent of her childhood lunches.

Sopa Fria de Jabuticaba – com camarão no vapor de cachaça e picles de couve flor e amburana. Cold soup of Jabuticaba with cachaça steamed crayfish, pickled cauliflower, and amburana nuts. The crayfish was nice. The soup was tart, juicy, and almost effervescent. Overall this was the weakest dish of the night.

Salada Waldorf – gelatina de maçã com sorbet de aipo, nozes caramelizadas e emulsão de gorgonzola. A take on the classic Waldorf Salad. Apple jelly with celery sorbet, walnut praline, and gorgonzola emulsion. When all the tastes on the plate were combined, the dish was successful. The texture of the apple brunoise and nuts were great. More of them and more greens and petals would be nice to accompany the excess of jelly.

Nhoques de mandioquinha e Kuso com “dashi” de tucupi. Mandioquinha(a type of ‘little cassava’) and araruta gnocchi served with tucupi dashi. F*cking nuts. The gnocchi, cheesy and starchy, were of ideal density. The savory hit of the dashi was perfect. The Jambu,one of the herbs atop the gnocchi, was a lot of fun, giving a tingling numbing sensation like a Szechuan button.

Tutano com pupunha, açaí, salada de rucula selvagem. Heart of palm(from pupunha palm tree) stuffed with cow bone marrow, with wild arugula and white truffle oil. Quite a rich few bites. Nicely salty. The palm was very good with a little crispness.

Moqueca de lagostim com terrine de mandioquinha. A modernized moqueca(fish stew) with langoustine and a ‘terrine’ of mandioquinha root in a broth from the crayfish with roasted bell peppers and onion. Beautiful intensity of savory compliments.

Bacalhau com taioba, queijo da serra da canastra e farofa de milho. Cod brandade with taioba leaf, Serra da Canastra cheese emulsion, and manioc farofa(toasted flour). The taioba had a very vegetal kale-like taste. The crunch of the farofa was good against the softness of the rest of the plate.

Feijoada – carpacio de pé de porco, esfera de feijao, laranja e farofa. A modernist feijoada(bean and meat stew) of pork foot carpaccio, bacon, black bean spheres, orange, kale, and manioc farofa. I wasn’t completely sold on the dish, but Rocky maintains that it was solid.

Escondidinho de carne seca com pimenta biquinho. Another take on a Brazilian classic and a very nice plate. Escondidinho, or ‘hidden jerk’. Instead of the dried meat being ‘hidden’ under a mound of mashed cassava, it was encased with manioc puree inside manioc flour and sitting atop a reduction from the jerk. Also on the plate were some candied, cubed, and powdered biquinho peppers.

Canelone de pé de porco, maçã verde e repolho roxo. Pork foot cannelloni(in bread) with red cabbage, green apple emulsion, and crispy pork skin. Good richness to round out the savories.

Panacota de Coco – com sorvete de chocolate branco ao rum, pérolas de abacaxi e consome de abacaxi e capim santo. Coconut panna cotta served with rum and white chocolate ice cream, pineapple pearls, lemongrass and pineapple consommé. The white chocolate added a subtle rich element to the beautiful little light tropical dessert. Rocky exclaimed: Piña Colada!!

Mil folhas “Dominó” com sorvete de framboesa. ‘Mille feuille’ with raspberry sorbet, puff pastry, and vanilla cream. Superb. I loved the light crunch of the pastries with the perfect combo of vanilla and raspberry. A very special little dish.

Some wines we had:

Date of visit: January 7, 2014

Maní. Rua Joaquim Antunes, 210. São Paulo, Brazil +55 11 3085 4148 www.manimanioca.com.br

Kinoshita, São Paulo

Published February 4, 2014 Brazil , Kinoshita Leave a Comment
Tags: Kinoshita, Kinoshita Restaurant, Kinoshita Sao Paulo, Tsuyoshi Murakami

In the months leading up to my recent trip to Brazil I met a steady stream of food-savvy Brazilians visiting and dining in NYC. I collected lists of restaurant recommendations from many of them and continued to stay in touch with a few. Since São Paulo is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, I wanted to check out a couple Japanese restaurants. The same three names popped up consistently on the lists I was given. Two of them I couldn’t make it to because of closures or scheduling. The third was Tsuyoshi Murakami’s Kinoshita. My buddy Marc Z from Gastronomium had just flown back to SP from his NYC/LV trip and invited Rocky and me to join him for lunch there.

We chatted and caught up for a moment then got the party started with some cocktails and an omakase menu.

An oyster with quail egg yolk, salmon roe, okra, ponzu, and tabasco. The oyster ‘shot’ had a nicely rounded hit of savory layers with just a little spice.

Salmon with vegetable tempura, flying fish roe, and olive oil soy vinegar sauce. The savory aroma was very nice and the dish was tasty, though the featured salmon was covered up by the other components.

Tuna with seared foie lobe, teriyaki, and olive oil. What little flavor there was in the fish was again overshadowed with stronger flavors. The foie was well-executed and the plate as a whole had nice salt.

Torched salmon with butter soy lemon sauce. The fish had good flavor and a good fleshy bite with nice texture from the torching. The pool of sauce had a pleasant saltiness to support the fish. There was also something sweet in the dish that was fantastic.

Fatty tuna sashimi and uni with lemon and salt. A fine plate. The tuna had great taste and texture. Their house soy sauce was pretty solid.

Kinoshita sushi. The tuna, foie gras, and teriyaki was decent enough. Salmon with white truffle oil was strong on the truffle taste. Yellowtail with fleur de sel was very nice with pure fish taste. Hokkigai surf clam had great density with a good chew. The uni was fantastic and sweet. Accompanied by a subtle Japanese soy sauce.

Shrimp tempura with a sweet apple onion carrot sauce and some mustard on the side for a light spice. A tasty enough plate, though nothing crazy special.

Soba noodles with egg yolk, vegetable tempura, wakame seaweed, okra, and mushroom dashi. A tremendous savory bowl of cold noodles. The closer I got to the bottom of the bowl the more superb and full flavored the dish was.

We were asked if we wanted any more savories before dessert. It seemed like the right thing to do to have a few more bites and another half bottle of Krug.

Uni in lime with wasabi. At first Marc Z and I both agreed the lime was too strong for the uni. Then we agreed again that a little wasabi balanced it all out really nicely.

And another oyster shot. Delicious.

Mochi rice cake and coffee ice cream. The mochi was filled with Valrhona chocolate and was well-balanced and great. The ice cream had an honest coffee flavor though was slightly icy in texture.

A pretty solid lunch with great company. Big thanks to Marc Z for the generosity.

Date of visit: January 7, 2014

Kinoshita. Rua Jacques Felix, 405. São Paulo, Brazil +55 11 3849 6940 www.restaurantekinoshita.com.br

Dinner at D.O.M.

Published January 31, 2014 Brazil , D.O.M. (2) 1 Comment
Tags: Alex Atala, D.O.M. (2), DOM Restaurant, DOM Sao Paulo, Jean Ponce

After a beautiful day of touring museums and parks in the Jardins area of São Paulo, Rocky and I made our way back to Alex Atala’s D.O.M. for part two of our two-in-a-row(click here for part one). Still excited from a remarkable lunch and a night of unique cocktails the day before, we were beyond ready to see what was cooking for dinner.

We got the party started with bread service and some off-menu cocktails that our new friend Barman Jean Ponce worked up in anticipation of our return.

After some back and forth with our service guy we established a game plan for the meal. With the exception of a few dishes we requested to have again, they had a new menu lined up for us.

The same opener from the day before, though this time the texture of the grilled manioc was even better. Perfectly crisped with the starchy layers almost peeling apart. Great again with the cheese and port sauce. It was served with the same drink and I had just as much trouble with the pairing this time.

Salada de abobrinha caipira e lagostim. A zucchini salad with delicate, sweet langoustine and tender squid. Accompanied by Amazon herbs, flowers, and cashews with a tangy tangerine sauce. Playful, bright, light bites.

Vieira com leite de coco e castanha do Pará. This was the dish from lunch that Rocky and I both wanted to have more of. Chilled scallop, coconut milk, shaved Brazil nut, dried mango. Just superb. And an ideal pairing of local flavors with the bottle of Brazilian chardonnay we had.

Ostras empanadas com tapioca marinada. A grilled Santa Catarina Oyster with brioche breading served among salmon roe and tapioca. Texturally this was a ton of fun between shape and size similarities but tactile and taste contrasts of the roe and tapioca. The sweet brioche coating and the pepper spice in the sauce made a good dynamic with the oceanic salinity of the oyster and roe.

Arroz negro levemente tostado com legumes verdes e leite de castanha do Pará. Another repeated plate from the previous day’s lunch. Toasted black rice with green vegetables(asparagus, green pepper, green onion, broccoli, leek, snow pea, celery) and Brazil nut milk. Just a great plate. The toasty crisp rice with the sweet of the milk and the vegetal snap. The leek this time was particularly superb.

Brandade de bacalhau com tutano. Cod brandade with marrow accompanied by port reduction, rich earthy oxtail sauce, and herbed olive oil. Nothing too crazy, but certainly great.

Abacaxi com formiga amazônica. The same insect serving as the day before: Amazonian ant, solo, then with pineapple. Same story as before. Same resounding cooling herbaceousness.

Camarão, couve e rúcula. Santa Catarina shrimp, kale cream, arugula, mushroom, potato, black pepper. Holy f*ck. The head of this shrimp was the best I had tasted in a long time. The intense, savory, lightly sweet, buttery flavor hit hard. Just licking the kale cream off the shell was incredible. My favorite dish of the trip.

Caracol Marinho e casca de limão rosa. Dense, meaty sea snail with bitter, acidic Brazilian lemon peel supported by nice layers of alliums. The little pearl onion petals were great.

Filet mignon de queixada com caramelo toffe e mandioca Brás. The ‘filet mignon’ from peccary, a type of wild boar, dressed with a reduction of red wine, meat, fish, and milk caramel. Accompanied by crispy manioc cooked with egg and onion. Bad ass.

Aligot. Again with the smooth, starchy potatoes whipped with Gruyere and Minas cheeses.

Mandioquinha glacê, chocolaté do Combu e chantilly de mel de abelha indígena. Fried arracacha root with chantilly cream made with local bee honey in a pool of the reduced cooking liquid of the root. The glazed root tasted close to a sweet potato, which I typically don’t care for, but I loved the sauce with the cream.

Abóbora, carvão vegetal e sorvete de tapioca. Pumpkin, cooked in sugar, then caramelized. With tapioca ice cream and coconut foam mixed with ‘vegetable coal’ or carbonized herb powder. The pumpkin was sweet and wonderfully juicy. The ‘coal’ in the foam gave the dish a nice campfire taste.

Some sweets with our tea.

Our new friend Pietro, who we chatted with a good deal the day before, presented us with a beautiful gift of Vale Verde 12 year Cachaça to finish our dinner. Smooth, lightly sweet, with balanced oak and acidity. A perfect finish to our meals at D.O.M.

Date of visit: January 4, 2014

D.O.M. Rua Barão de Capanema, 549. São Paulo, Brazil +55 11 3088 0761 domrestaurante.com.br

Lunch at D.O.M. São Paulo

Published January 31, 2014 Brazil , D.O.M. (2) 2 Comments
Tags: Alex Atala, D.O.M. (2), DOM Restaurant, DOM Sao Paulo, Jean Ponce

I first read about D.O.M. back in 2005. I had just earned a BFA in ballet and modern dance performance. I was living a jovial, sometimes raucous lifestyle with very few responsibilities. Each day I was getting more drawn into habitual eating and drinking out and about as well as cooking and entertaining at home. Reading more cookbooks and reading about what chefs and their teams were doing around the world. At that time I started to think it would be a neat idea to get a reservation at one of these amazing restaurants then plan a trip around the meal. Each time I mentioned to my friends the thought of traveling to another country for a meal they would tell me what a ridiculous idea it was. But I kept on looking for new places and another great bite. Now, nine years later, I find myself planning not only travel but most of my life around which wondrous restaurant to visit next.

A couple weeks ago Rocky and I made our first trip to the Southern Hemisphere and I finally got to taste what Chef Alex Atala is cooking at D.O.M. in São Paulo. As long as I was making the trek from NYC to Brazil, I thought I should make it a two-a-day, but Rocky is starting to protest that practice, so I went with a two-in-a-row. So this is a post from Friday lunch. Click here for Saturday dinner.

After a couple sunny days of sightseeing, eating excessive açaí, and playing on the beach in Rio de Janeiro, we hopped on a plane to São Paulo, stopped by our hotel for a few minutes then made our way to lunch at D.O.M. We started up with a bottle of bubbles(kick-ass 1995 Fleury) and got the party started.

dom sao paulo bread service

They hit us first with bread service. Traditional sourdough, whole wheat sourdough, and addictive little pão de queijo(cheese & tapioca buns) accompanied with Brazilian butter, roasted garlic and potato spread, and what we understood to be sour cream with olive oil.

Before starting into the menu, a serving of grilled manioc with smooth, rich, whipped cheese and port reduction. The texture of the root was great. Crisp outside with starchy striations. A good few bites to start. Although it was served with a cocktail of curaçao and sparkling wine that tasted of cough syrup and perrier.

Ceviche de berinjela e algas. A ‘ceviche’ of juicy, acidic eggplant with seaweed, cilantro, and sesame. Not sure what all was in the powder that was dusted over, but it started off with an immediate spice that faded right into a pleasant oceanic seaweed taste.

Vieira com leite de coco e castanha do Pará. Scallops with coconut milk, Brazil nut, dried mango, cilantro, and pepper. Superb tropical balance. Straight from Rocky’s mouth: ‘This is super f*cking delicious.’ Different types of sweetness subtly sang together and harmonized beautifully.

Arroz negro levemente tostado com legumes verdes e leite de castanha do Pará. Lightly toasted black rice with broccoli, asparagus, snow pea, celery, leek, green pepper, and green onion dressed with Brazil nut milk. A wonderful plate of well-executed grains and vegetables.

Olho de cão com mini arroz e alga marinha. Local red snapper with mini-rice and seaweed. Really well balanced. Nothing mind blowing, but delicious.

Brandade de palmito com anchova e telha de tapioca. A brandade of roasted heart of palm with anchovy and a meat-fish-red wine reduction. The brandade itself showed just enough of the astringency and acidity of the palm to balance into the richness. When combined with a little of the super salty anchovy, it was pretty bad ass.

Abacaxi com formiga amazônica. Northern Amazonic ants. Served both plain and with pineapple. We were instructed to have the plain ant first. It had a strong lemongrass-ginger taste and a resonating menthol-ish finish. When combined with the pineapple it was kind of like a cough drop in flavor, with the sweetness of the fruit alongside the herbaceous insect.

Mini arroz tostado com cogumelos e agrião. A toasted mini rice ‘cake’ with mushrooms, kale cream, watercress, flowers, and a cream of curdled milk with brown butter solids. Effing bangin’. The rice was wonderfully textured. The dense, earthy mushrooms with the sweet, vegetal kale and the tangy, sour cream were fantastic.

Fettuccine de palmito à Carbonara. Heart of palm ‘fettuccine’ prepared as a classic carbonara. I wasn’t too excited going into this one. I thought it sounded gimmicky/tacky in Atala’s recent cookbook, but I was way wrong. This plate was dynamite. The al dente snap of the palm and the balance of the inherent acidity within the rich preparation were spectacular.

Costelinha ao Malbec com mandioca Brás. Baby pork ribs, fall-off tender with a nice thick glaze, plated up with Malbec foam and manioc prepared like crispy crunchy little french fries dressed with egg and onion. Not necessarily highly elevated cuisine, but it was super f*cking tasty.

Aligot. An amazing Aligot. Loaded up with Gruyère and Minas cheese. With a perfect density. Almost like potato flavored chewing gum.

Priprioca – Ravióli de limão e banana ouro. Lime gel ‘ravioli’ stuffed with banana with priprioca. The sweet, lightly acidic lime made the banana taste rich which created a light fruity balanced first dessert.

Torta de castanha do Pará com sorvete de whiskey, curry, chocolate, sal, rúcula e pimenta. A Brazil nut tart with whiskey ice cream, curry, chocolate spice sauce, arugula, salt and pepper. With all the elements combined, a superb dessert.

A few sweet bites to accompany our coffee(which was made from Nespresso capsules, which we saw everywhere).

After dinner we got to chatting with one of the service staff and got onto the subject of Cachaça and cocktails and he started to tell us of Jean Ponce, D.O.M.’s barman, and some of his creations. So we decided we needed to visit for drinks in-between our two meals. Here’s a glimpse of what went down that night:

dom sao paulo cocktail

It was absolutely a great first day in São Paulo, to see what we had for dinner the next day, click here.

Date of visit(s): January 3, 2014

D.O.M. Rua Barão de Capanema, 549. São Paulo, Brazil +55 11 3088 0761 domrestaurante.com.br

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