Search results for 'dufresne'

Brunch at DBGB

18 Nov

My sister was on a quest to find a brunch place on the Lower East Side that could accommodate a semi-flexible birthday brunch of about 10-15 people.  That’s no easy task in the LES.  Lots of places are great, but very small, or very quickly booked up weeks in advance.

But I was thrilled when she booked at DBGB, a Daniel Boulud restaurant.  We have dined at a few of Chef Boulud’s restaurants and they have always been especially great and high on the list of reliable favorites.

IMG_1454

The space is quite large, with a big bar and lots of beer selections.

IMG_1456

We sat right below this beauty, which made me want to immediately book a Whole Hog Feast for the near future.  The mirrored panels around the restaurant are also printed with great quotes from famous food lovers (everyone from Wylie Dufresne to Homer Simpson).

IMG_1455

When we were getting ready to order, Mike spotted an old high school friend across the room, who happened to be the general manager of the restaurant. He said hello and two things immediately went through my head…

“Wow! Small world.”

and

“Man… I hope this meal isn’t shitty. I hate having to pretend to like a place because we know someone there.”

Thankfully, the latter turned out to be nothing to worry about. In classic Chef Boulud style, the food was a notch above great.

And Mike’s old buddy sent over a few very nice extras for us, including a starter of Viennoiseries (French for pastries from Vienna) with butter and jam.  This included a madeleine on top, which was surprising but incredibly delicious.  All the pastries were very, very good, but the highlight was actually the raspberry jam.  That was some incredible jam.

IMG_1452

DBGB features their different variations of sausages prominently.

The table tried the Vermont Sausage with pork & cheddar link, hash browns, and red onion crème frache. Everyone enjoyed.

IMG_1465

And the Thai sausage.

IMG_1466

Everyone loved the Thai sausage (sadly, I couldn’t try due to my allergy), which had pork, lemongrass & red curry links, green papaya, basil fried rice,  and chili sauce.  There was even a perfect little quail egg on top.

IMG_1470

One person got the Vermont with 2 fried eggs, a lovely breakfast.

IMG_1468

I got to try a bite of the Eggs Florentine with creamy spinach, hollandaise, english muffin with Jabon de Paris.  This was sensational.  All the components seemed simple but the taste came together in the most spectacular way. (The hollandaise was on the side for this one, per my mom’s request, and I thought it was a perfect hollandaise)

IMG_1459

The Oeuf Forestére was two eggs “en cocotte” with wild mushrooms, gruyère, fines herbes

IMG_1462

“Le Bucheron” with two eggs any style, toscane sausage, smoked bacon, home fries, a house-baked croissant

IMG_1467

 

An omelette (not sure which kind)

IMG_1472

The Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

IMG_1464

Mike got (surprise) the buger. Specifically The Frenchie: 7 oz beef patty with confit pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote & morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun with cornichon, mustard & fries.  He said it was very juicy, and I stole quite a few great, crispy fries.

IMG_1478

 

He also got a side of the Brussels sprouts with bacon, which were perfectly cooked and just the right amount of crispy and sweet.

IMG_1471

I got the French Toast.  I hardly ever get french toast but this one was listed with roasted plum compote and it was just calling my name on this day.  Usually french toast suffers from being tasty on the outside and then just bread on the inside.  This suffered from no such problems. In fact, this was hands down the best french toast I’ve ever had.  The outside was crispy and slightly bruleed, and the inside was like the best combination of bread pudding and creme brulee.  It was so tasty and so perfectly textured, with the absolutely awesome roasted plum compote that I just wanted to lick off the plate.

IMG_1477

I also go a side of the house smoked bacon, which I ordered extra well done (I love bacon crispy) and this did not dissapoint.  Great bacon.

IMG_1473

And since it was a birthday celebration, we got some desserts for the table to share.

We split the Cranberry Cream Cheese Sundae which came with spiced cranberry compote, linzer crumble, orange marshmallow, toasted pumpkin seeds, and whipped cream.  I usually don’t like cranberries all that much, but this was awesome. The ice cream tasted like cheese cake and the cranberries were just the right amount of sweet.  And the orange marshmallows were a great part of the full sundae.

IMG_1484

We also tried the chocolate bourbon sundae with brownie bites, chocolate sauce, bourbon gelée, candied pecans, and whipped cream.  This had great flavor, and the bourbon gelée was a great pop of flavor, and I absolutely loved the candied pecans in this sundae.

IMG_1486

We also decided to split the Baked Alaska around the table, which had pistachio & vanilla ice cream, raspberry sorbet, and fresh meringue flambéed with kirsch.  What we were not expecting was that Mike’s friend, the GM, actually flambéed this tableside for us.  It was quite the spectacle (check ou the blue flame in the picture below).  It was delicious and always an impressive dessert.

FullSizeRender

My sister was thrilled with her birthday brunch and all of us left very full and very happy.  I will absolutely go back there any time I’m in the neighborhood and want to get together with friends to do that Whole Hog Feast.

I was very happy to be able to honestly tell the GM at the end that our meal was really fantastic.  A step above your typical brunch.

Happy Birthday, Stacey!

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

nomscale- 08.5

 

 

 

Top Noms of 2013

13 Jan

2013 was truly the best year of my life.  And most of my best memories of the year include (or entirely revolve around) amazing meals.

It was really tough to narrow it down to the top 10 this year with so many amazing meals, so I’m cheating a bit.  (To see the Top Noms of years past, check these links: 201220112010, and 2009)

Second Runner Up: After a lot of buzz and rumors of impossible reservations, we were lucky enough to walk in and get a seat at the bar at Chez Sardine.  This sticks out in my memory both for the amazing, creative food and for the fun of watching them construct it while peering directly into the kitchen from our bar seats.

Chez Sardine

First Runner Up: After two amazing meals at WD-50 (still in the top 3 of all time meals) we were excited to try Chef Wylie Dufresne’s more casual new restaurant, Alder.  Our entire meal was creative and great, but the chicken liver toast was a huge stand out that I still think about all these months later.

Alder: Chicken Liver Toast

#10: Our honeymoon was filled with a bunch of absolutely amazing meals, but our meal at Le Pigeon in Portland, OR really stood out for its freshness and unique use of ingredients. The trout lox paired so incredibly well with the raspberries. An unexpected match made in heaven.

Le Pigeon: Trout Lox

#9: We couldn’t wait to try Betony when it opened since it was from alumni of one of our absolute favorite restaurants, Eleven Madison Park.   We fell in love with the “Tuna Melt” with melted fontina cheese and there was sculptural beauty (and flavorful beauty) in the Marinated Trout Roe. Any other year this could be a #1 restaurant, but not in 2013.

Betony: Marinated Trout Roe on a puffed rice cracker with cucumber

#8: While we couldn’t take pictures of the Brooklyn Fare Chef’s Tasting menu, you will have to trust me that it all looked and tasted delicious.  We were very excited when they opened up a grocery store near our apartment in Manhattan and can’t wait to try their restaurant.  The Uni with White Truffle was so incredibly amazing and made me fall in love with uni (after a lot of “what’s the big deal?” in the past).

Brooklyn Fare Chef's Tasting

#7: For our date anniversary dinner, Mike took us to Del Posto, where we enjoyed the beautiful place almost as much as we enjoyed the near flawless meal.  It has certainly earned its stellar reputation as being a top restaurant in New York.

Del Posto: Lobster

#6: In what world does The French Laundry in Napa Valley, CA come in as #6 for the year?  I still am in a bit of disbelief that we didn’t love this famous restaurant even more.  In the end, it was probably one of the most perfect meals I’ve ever had, but it just wasn’t surprising.  But the oysters and pearls have truly earned their place in culinary history.

The French Laundry: Oysters and Pearls

 

#5: Coming back from the honeymoon, we had one last hurrah at The NoMad in NYC.  We tried the famous chicken, which had the audacity to not just be perfectly cooked with impeccably crispy skin, but also stuffed with foie gras and black truffle.  It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be, as was the rest of the meal.

The Nomad: Roasted Chicken

#4: Blanca was another Chef’s Tasting menu that didn’t allow us to take pictures of the meal (bummer), but this private room behind Roberta’s Pizza in Bushwick, Brooklyn offered surprises around every corner. There were more than 25 meticulous courses, including a stand-out king crab with plankton butter sauce and not a single bad dish in all 25.

Blanca: Chef's Tasting

#3: Anytime someone asks where they should go in NYC if they want a nice meal, I recommend Colicchio and Sons.  It never fails to impress and we went back to see if the Tasting Menu could live up to our opinion from the previous time.  Each dish built upon the last and they were all expertly crafted. I have especially fond memories about the uniqueness of the potato bavarois dome with Hackeback caviar and vodka cream with homemade potato chips.

Colicchio & Sons:  Tasting Menu

 

#2: A huge surprise was how much we fell in absolute love with Canlis in Seattle, WA during our honeymoon.  Every dish was great and service was so warm and so welcome.  It’s hard to pick a favorite part of this meal, but I still remember how much I enjoyed their preparation of foie gras with homemade brioche to spread it on.

Canlis: Foie Gras

#1 (THE #1): I was so excited to finally try Chef Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago, IL at the very end of the year.  Every moment of this meal was special and fun and incredibly delicious. Even if it hadn’t been as entertaining and creative, the taste of the food alone would have made this the meal of the year.  The rest, and especially the cleverness, made this the meal of a lifetime.  The best meal we have ever, ever had.  The white truffle risotto that they brought out as a special treat was hands down the most amazing thing I have ever eaten.  It is worth a special trip to Chicago just to have the good fortune of eating here.

Alinea: White Truffle Risotto

 

Alinea: Scallop

 

We are so incredibly fortunate.  Thank you, 2013.

 

 

WD WOW

16 Aug

Mike told me he was taking me to WD~50 for my birthday dinner a few weeks ago.  I was quite excited, but also worried that it wouldn’t live up to its hype.  Well… it lived up to its hype… and THEN SOME!  WOW!

The front of the restaurant was so unassuming.  A small green awning on a brick building with a little neon wd50 sign in the corner.  It was in the Lower East Side on Clinton Street between Stanton and Rivington Streets. 

In the basement, by the bathrooms, was a wine cellar.  While I was there taking pictures, I was jokingly accused of “being a spy.”  Oh if only I could get past humble notions and think that some day, Wylie Dufresne would be worried that my blog would be some sort of threatening enterprise.

WD~50 was made top of mind famous (at least from my perspective) with Wylie’s appearance on Top Chef.  I had read many blogs, articles, and foodie fan write-ups of Wylie’s perspective on Molecular Gastronomy and his amazing food, however, it was really his appearance on Top Chef that amassed my guilty pleasure notion of wanting to try his restaurant.  I knew my boyfriend knew me well when he made reservations about a month in advance to take me to WD~50 for my birthday.  

We began with quite an offering… with the Tasting Menu order, there was a 50% discount on any bottle of wine.  While there was a wine pairing with the tasting menu, the waitress told us that the 50% discount was “quite a deal” so we went for it.  With a lot of help from the Sommelier and browsing through the vast menu (that had an odd pair of vertical lips below the cover of the menu), we selected a white and a red.

The white was the Malvasia ‘Selezione’ Edi Kante 2000: Friuli, Italy ~ malvasia
caramelized peach, white currant, floral ($105.00… aka $52.50 with the deal).  We chose it because the description from the someliere referred to it being made in a “cave” and reminded us of our favorite wine discovery, a Domaine du Viking Vouvray that described to us as being brewed by a crazy man only during full moons.   It was a GREAT selection and we thoroughly enjoyed it (though the smell was sour-ish, we loved the taste).

We chose the red early, even though we decided to wait until more than halfway through the meal for the more “hearty” dishes to start drinking it.  This wine was an absolutely incredible winner.  It was a Syrah ‘Kalen’s Big Boy Blend’ Eric Kent Wine Cellars 2006: Sonoma County, CA ~ syrah- roasted bramble fruit, fennel, cocoa powder ($125.00… aka $75 with the deal).  This ranked in the top 5 of wines I’ve ever had.  It was so flavorful and complemented anything salty (and probably would have complemented anything with red meat or tomato sauce).  It was a big wine, and we loved it.

We went with the tasting (because for a birthday dinner, it’s worth the big splurge) and it was $140 each… and COMPLETELY worth it.  The staff was incredibly accommodating, even to my allergy, and I was a little excited and star struck to see Wylie Dufesne in the visible kitchen, fully invested in the preparations that night. 

The meal was supposed to begin with Striped bass, peach, paprika, and sake lees, but I’m allergic to peppers (which is in paprika) so I had an amuse bouche of a mushroom broth with some form of yam or sweet potato and celery (the details are fuzzy after the two bottles of wine).  It was quite good.

Mike had the correct starter, and thought it was delicious.  I trust his opinion, and was quite jealous of the fish + peaches.

Next up was the Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese.  What we didn’t know from the menu, however, was that the “everything bagel” was really ice cream.  It was a standout dish of the night.  The dish came together so well and all the flavors just blended in a great way.  The ice cream was an exciting surprise and I did not want the dish to end.

Next up was the Foie gras, passionfruit, chinese celery.  The surprise here was that the foie gras was actually stuffed with passionfruit, so as you cut it open it just oozed deliciousness.  It was fantastic, although I expected the foie gras to have a bit more flavor (though the passion fruit was AM.AZ.ING.)


I was excited upon reading the next dish: Scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, hamachi.  A quick iPhone look up told us that hamachi was fish typically used in sushi.  It was AMAZING fish.  The scrambled egg ravioli was actually entirely made of egg (outside and in) and the charred avocado was the second best avocado I’ve ever had (after the Fishtail octopus app I had just this past week).  Mike absolutely LOVED this dish.  I thought it was great, but I preferred the previous tasting of the “everything bagel” with “smoked salmon.’

The next dish was something I also had to have substituted.  The dish on the tasting menu was Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tabasco, caviar.  The tabasco was the problem here.  So instead I was served smoked eel with some sort of homemade tofu that was incredible.  I’m not sure what the thinly sliced veggie was on top (perhaps some sort of turnip) but I wasn’t a huge fan.  The rest of the dish, however, was amazing.

Mike received the fried chicken and said it was amazing though spicy.  I tried the buttermilk ricotta with caviar (since it was safe) and though it was absolutely great.

Next up was Crab tail, kohlrabi, ‘dirty’ grape, cocoa nib.  This was an absolutely fascinating dish for me.  It was “spicy” without having peppers.  When I inquired, I was told that it was the “angel food cake” (the spongy looking things on either side) that had some sort of black or green (?) pepper in it.  I was shocked that I enjoyed it so much without having a reaction, and was pleased as punch that I could taste “spice” for pretty much the first time ever.  The rest of the dish was great, though not quite what I’d expect from crab.  I was just so taken aback by the spice without allergy thing that I couldn’t stop gabbing about this plate.

Our next treat was Duck leg, popcorn pudding, kalamansi, lovage.  Now it’s very hard to pick a least favorite dish, but this may have been mine.  It had all the workings of a best of (I love duck, popcorn, and according to our iPhones kalamansi is a fruit from the Phillippines and lovage is a spice that is a cousin to celery), however, it somehow fell short.  It was great, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t quite have the “wow” factor of the other dishes.  I think that the lovage may have been the ehh-ehh part for me personally.


The next dish sounded amazing, and I was a bit bummed that I was given a substitute.  My dish, however, was probably the best “entree” of the night: Wagyu skirt steak, long bean, tamarind, peanut butter ‘pasta’.  The peanut sauce was incredible, and the beef just tasted perfect. 

Mike got what was originally on the tasting menu: Lamb loin, black garlic romesco, pickled ramps, dried soybean.  Turns out it was the dried soybean that I was allergic too (I think), however, it wasn’t quite enough to give me a complete allergic reaction, so I got the chance to sample a wee bite.  It was really good, but not Wagyu beef with peanut sauce good.

The epic dessert journey began with vanilla ice cream that was filled with balsamic (the best I’ve EVER had) and raspberry.  This tiny dish with few ingredients tasted like a complete tart in my mouth.  I do not know what they did, but it was one of the most satisfying bites of food I’ve EVER had.


The next dessert was Hazelnut tart, coconut, chocolate, chicory.  I think the foam was chicory, though I’m not sure.  Whatever it was, it was sensational.  In fact, the entire thing was.  So many textures and flavors. My favorite dessert of the night. (Which is hard to say since all the choices were so amazing!)

Up next was Carmelized brioche, apricot, buttercream, lemon thyme.  I honestly cannot tell you what I was eating, but I enjoyed it to the utmost degree.  The “sorbet” like portion (I’m guessing lemon thyme) was so-so, but the carmelized brioche looked like a scallop and tasted like heaven.

We (sadly) ended our adventure with Cocoa packets, chocolate shortbread, milk ice cream.  This was definitely one of the more confusing descriptions. We actually had to ask the waitress her advice on how to eat this. Turns out it was “milk” ice cream balls that were rolled in chocolate shortbread.  It tasted like the best oreo I have ever had.   Our waitress advised to save the “packets” for last and turns out, you can eat the outside AND the inside.  It was a chocolate explosion in my mouth.  It left me so happy and so satisfied (without any aftertaste) that I just was in complete bliss as the meal ended.

I’ve had a lot of great meals in NYC and, as much as it is hard for me to say, this was the best.  There were little surprises along the way and everything just had phenomenal flavor. Combined with the amazing wine, it was beyond a great meal… it was an experience that I will not soon forget. What a birthday dinner!  Every single course left us thinking “WOW!”  It takes a lot to make me say “wow” even once, let alone with every single new bite.  I was impressed.  Very impressed.

Total Nom Points: 9.5 out of 10