Tag Archives: duck

New Restaurant Opening: Little Park

8 Apr

We made a bucket list of things we wanted to do before the baby comes, and eating at Little Park was high on it.  I read a lot about it, but the article that put it on the Baby Bucket List came from New York Magazine.   We, too, had enjoyed Andrew Carmellini‘s other restaurants (The Dutch, Lafayette, Bar Primi, Locanda Verde, etc) and there was something about the NYMag review that got me excited.  This line really stuck out in my mind: “But as one polished little dish succeeds the next, the sense you get is that, with all these popular trends covered, this talented chef is taking the time, at long last, to cook for himself.”

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The restaurant itself is very blonde, with light colored wood throughout and an open, welcoming vibe.

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The menu is diverse, with many tempting dishes.

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The bread and butter set a nice start to the meal, with attention to detail and not just an afterthought.

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The part of the menu we started with was from “winter vegetables” and as we sampled our way through many of them.  And not one made me miss meat (which is rare).

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We started with the butternut squash with Vermont burrata and nasturtium (edible flower blossoms).  This was a novel take on familiar flavors and felt comforting yet fresh.

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We also tried the fried local cauliflower with pistachio and herbs.  This was so lightly fried so it was crisp but not at all greasy.  The pistachio and herbs made it bright and fresh.

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On the recommendation of our waiter, we tried the roasted sunchoke with hazelnut and black trumpet.  This was so earthy and tasted like something you would only get if your best friend were a master chef.

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And since we love our brussels sprouts, we had to try these crispy brussels sprouts with smoked parsnip and apples.  This was a great balance of sweet with hearty flavors and was a very satisfying, original version of brussels.

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From the pasta portion of the menu, we chose the black kale ravioli with squash and pine nuts.  I’m so-so on kale. I get that it’s healthy, and I love me some kale chips, but usually I find it a bit too bitter and something I really only order when I’m making an effort to be healthy (not spoil myself with a gourmet meal). But this was an excellent ravioli.  All the right flavors and textures and the pasta itself was fresh and fantastic.

 

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We split a main of the dry-aged duck and kebab with turnips and pomegranate. This was some of the best cooked duck I’ve ever had, and the parsnip puree was incredibly flavorful with a great texture.  but that kebab (hidden under the leaf in the back of this picture) was special.  An all around awesome dish.

 

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For dessert, we got the frozen lemon fluff with honey-lemon sorbet.

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This was such a bright and sunshiney dish.  It sparkled and the tart sour was excellently balanced with sweet.  A really great way to end the meal.

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But the dessert that really made this meal a home run was the cinnamon toast ice cream. It came with croutons and the ice cream tasted just like cinnamon toast crunch (if it were made by a well experienced pastry chef).  A nostalgic flavor in a refined dessert.  Excellent.

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We really loved our meal at Little Park. I was impressed all along the way and each dish felt a bit special, different, and fun.  I enjoyed every dish and can’t wait to go back.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

nomscale- 08.0

Chicago, IL: Alinea (A New #1?)

10 Jan

2013 was an amazing year… After all, Mike and I got married and we took an amazing honeymoon, including a dinner at THE French Laundry.

So how do you close out such a year?

For us, it was by going to the restaurant on the very top of my bucket list: Alinea.

Alinea hit my radar after I was looking for a new food-centered book to read and someone recommended Life, On The Line by Chef Grant Achatz.  I had no idea what I was getting into when I downloaded that book, but I found myself loving every moment while reading about Chef Achatz’s adventures in food, getting jobs in food, and creating a whole new world of food… and I cried as I read about his hardship as he faced a battle that no one should have to face, let alone a CHEF, when he was diagnosed with tongue cancer.  I left that book inspired… and hungry.

But Alinea is in Chicago, and while one of my very best friends lived there, it wasn’t on the home turf.  So when Mike and I found ourselves with a few extra days off on our hands, and a few extra travel points, I looked at the Alinea reservation site just for fun. And low and behold, a single reservation was open for 9:15pm on Sunday, December 29.  We booked our flights and made it happen.

Now Alinea is an expensive meal.  Like a once-in-a-lifetime expensive meal. Luckily, we have had the fortune of eating at a few once-in-a-lifetime places and I will feel forever blessed for the experience.  But this was a chef’s tasting menu that I couldn’t wait to try.  You buy the ticket (which includes gratuity) in advance and pay in full and then you can add drinks or a wine pairing and extras when you get there.

We decided to split one wine pairing (after a few instances of having the end of the meal get VERY blurry when trying to have my own wine pairing) and opted OUT of the $125 supplement PER PERSON for the white truffle risotto.  Though Mike wistfully said “some day” about the risotto.  Some day.  (While the meal itself was quite the dent in our life savings, spending $125 twice on a single plate of food just felt a bit over-indulgent)  Some day.

Our first wine pairing, the somm was nice enough to each give us a glass.  This was a Champagne Laherte Freres ‘Ultradition’ Brut Rose NV.  I usually don’t enjoy rose, but this was a fantastic sparkly way to begin our evening.

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And we were given a silverware pillow which we were requested to “keep clean throughout the meal” by putting used utensils in our bowls or on the table. A fine and lovely touch that made this meal feel just a little more special (as if it could feel more special).

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First dish: “Char Roe – banana, ginger, passion fruit”

This was Arctic Char roe (fish eggs) with a froth of banana, ginger, and passion fruit.  The salty fish eggs really popped (literally and figuratively) against the froth.  It woke up my palate.

 

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And then… there was a black mat.

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And we watched as our smoking (is it called smoke when it’s dry ice?) dish came out.

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And was placed on the mat.

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And then the top was removed.

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And we were then instructed to remove the top shell to reveal…

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… “Scallop – citrus aroma, fourteen textures”

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Yes. Yes Yes Yes.  I didn’t know that this was called “fourteen textures” when I was eating it, but I remember recognizing as we ate it that the texture profile far surpassed anything I’ve tasted.  The aromas and the scallop and the textures and the smoke and the presentation.

Wow. Just wow.

(This was paired with a Selbach-Oster ‘Zeltinger Sonnenuhr’ Riesling Kabinet, Mosel 2011.  Excellent compliment)

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And then… there was this…  coals on top of slate?

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And then they lit it on fire.

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Until it was like our own little roaring fireplace.

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And then left it there for an entire course as it smoked and filled our table with the most amazing aroma.

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We let that burn while we went onto the next dish: “Dungeness Crab – squash blossom, cardamon, saffron.” (paired with Saint-Aubin ‘Les Murgers des Dents de Chines’ Hubert Lamy 2009.)

This was just absolutely beautiful in every way.

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The squash blossom leaf was spread out and then… I have no idea… dried? into this transparent work of art.  It was one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever eaten and it tasted as beautiful and delicate as it looked.  The crab flavor with the other flavors and the textures of crunch, liquid, cotton candy, gel… gosh… it was all so beautiful.

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And under the plate was a scented salt (I think) that shows that they care about every detail, even the hidden ones.

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At this point they took away our amazing smelling fire center piece…

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…and took it to a cart beside the table to disassemble.

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He started slicing into what had just a moment before looked like a cindered piece of wood.

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To reveal a white inside.

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And then a beautiful piece of meat.

This was “Wagyu – parsnip, black trumpet, kombu” (paired with Sato Ho Homare ‘Pride of the Village’ Junmai Gingjo-shu, Sodu Honke Shuzo, Ibaraki-ken).

The parsnip was perfectly cooked and the light char on the outside was delicious.

That wagyu was the most buttery, delicious piece of meat I’ve ever had. I’ve had wagyu before, but for some reason never saw the appeal (or rationale for the crazy price), but this changed my mind. Good wagyu is incredibly good.

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And I loved that they served it on a charred slab of tree with a few different textures of mushrooms to go with it.

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At this point, our waiter excitedly came up to us and said he had a surprise, but asked that we sit tight and not get up to go to the bathroom just for the next few minutes because they were bringing us something special.

Something special?

Whatever could it be?

Never in my wildest dreams did I possibly imagine what came next…

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What are those lumps of weird looking things on rice in a box?

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Those… are WHITE TRUFFLES.  Like… THE white truffles.

As our waiter opened the box for us to smell it, I assumed he was probably just showing us how amazing these truffles smelled. All the other wait staff came over and took a sniff while we did. It was intoxicating.  Orgasm inducing even. I love truffles, but I have never seen (nor smelled) truffles like this.  White truffles are especially rare (and expensive).

So maybe we were going to get a shaving of white truffle on a small amuse bouche?

Oh no.

Oh no. No. No. No.

We were being GIVEN the white truffle risotto. THAT white truffle risotto which they originally offered to us for $125 per person and we dreamed of the “some day” we could let ourselves indulge that much more.

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I think I nearly leapt out of my seat!

They brought over a sauce that they poured over table-side.

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And then they came and shaved the fresh white truffles on top.

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It was as if someone handed me a bag of diamonds.

This little flake of truffle was a thing of beauty.

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Oh. My. God.

How on earth did we get so lucky? (I STILL have no idea why they decided to bestow such a gift upon us, but I will forever be grateful to the Alinea food gods)

This was the most decadent, delicious, exciting thing I have ever eaten in my life. And the best dish I have ever had and probably will ever have.

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How do you recover from that?  I think they gave us a few minutes to float around in euphoria before the next dish came out.

The next dish: “Veal cheeks- lapsang souchong, pine, blackberry” (paired with Faugeres Domaine Leon Barral 2010).

This dish was served over pine needles which added a lovely smell to the dish.  It was a good thing this was the dish that came after the truffle risotto, because had we not had the risotto, this would probably have been my favorite dish of the evening (or perhaps I was still coming down off the high?)

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I don’t know if I can explain this dish well enough to do it any justice.  Tons of textures and flavors and sweet and rich.  It was just fantastic.

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Next dish: “Hot potato- cold potato, black truffle, butter”

It was served in this interesting setup on an almost needle-like apparatus sticking out of a finger bowl-like dish.  It was kind of like a bumped up, deconstructed potato salad (maybe just because the potato was cold).  Not my favorite dish, but a nice segue bite.

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And then… a piece of artwork came to our table.  On the menu we received at the end, this is quite literally called “Duck ……..????………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  (yes… seriously)

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These were 60 different nibbles to be combined with 5 different preparations of duck.  This is nearly impossible to explain (and they made it a point to not explain too much).

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There was egg, and horse radish, and fruit leather, and fruit, and almonds, and turkish delight, and pistachio, and… and… and… and… I was overwhelmed by beauty and flavor and general awesomeness.

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The duck five ways included  rillette, confit,breast, foie gras, and a torchon.  Maybe in that order? I don’t remember… but each was the best version of the preparation that I can remember having. (This was paired with Bandol, Chateau Pardeaux 2007… which I do not remember after all of those amazing duck and things!)

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Our next dish: “Black truffle explosion, romaine, parmesan”

In the picture below the black you see is actually the table, so this was like a donut shaped spoon rest with a single dumpling inside.  This was certainly accurately described when called an “explosion.” It was like a soup dumpling with a mushroom bang.  So good.

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Our next dish was so incredibly delicate: “Ginger – five other flavors” (paired with The Rare Wine Co. ‘Boston Bual – Special Reserve’ Madeira, great with the gingers) which was a whole bunch of teeny tiny nibbles of ginger with different flavors on the ends of very long needles.

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Each nibble was roughly the size of a pencil eraser and it was a great palate cleanser that was also creative and fun.

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And the holder was so specially made to serve such a dish.

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And then another mystery on the table.

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Into this little dish (the center copper piece was about the size of a half dollar), they sat a holder that had spider like legs and then into that holder they sat “Pumpkin – smoldering cinnamon, maple, pumpkin seed.”

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The cinnamon stick was, quite literally, smoldering and smelled great.  You grabbed the stick (without burning yourself) and ate the pumpkin fritter.  This had incredible flavors and was a really great texture with a crispy outside and soft inside.  It was a very nice middle ground between sweet and savory to bring us from the meal into the dessert courses.

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At this point, our utensil pillows were moved to the center of the table as if to signal we were entering into a new part of this epic adventure.

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And they poured us a Chateau Tirecul la Fravier ‘Les Pins’ Monbazillac 2009.  I had no idea what on earth a Monbazillac is or could be, but this was awesome.  A dessert wine that wasn’t very sweet.  But very very good.

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Our first dessert: “Corn – white chocolate, honey,mango.”

This tasted like corn. Corn corn.  Why don’t more people put corn flavors into things? Especially dessert? This proved that if you do it right, it can be magical.  Everything about this was a work of art.

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And next… some fun: “Balloon – helium, green apple”

Sure enough, this balloon was filled with helium so that as you eat it, your voice gets that great squeak while you inhale an apple flavored balloon on a fruit leather string.  Clever and tasty and fun and unlike anything I have ever seen or tasted.  Super cool!

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And then they rolled out a tablecloth that felt like silicon and started adding dishes of all kinds filled with unknown things of all kinds to our table.

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And poured us a Maculan ‘Torcolato’ Breganze 2009 which was, again, a great dessert wine that wasn’t too sweet.

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A chef came by and placed a metal ring on the table.

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Then filled it with a whole bunch of things including a crumb bottom…

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A liquid nitrogen something…

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And then a liquid chocolate…

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And then topped it with some meringue.

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And then they turned our table into artwork, spreading a vanilla sauce…

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…and violet candy across our table.

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And then dropped on little pieces of hazelnut (I think) nuggets.

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Some glittery violet dust and candied basil.

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And then removed the ring!

The chocolate had (mostly) become a mousse/pudding-like consistency.

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They call this “Milk chocolate – pate sucree, violet, vanilla” and invited us to pick up our spoons and dig in.

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But not before we took a picture behind this beautiful creation.

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It was so delicious and so fun to eat.  And not too overwhelming at the end of a fourteen course meal.

And then they folded it up… and just like that… the best meal I have ever had (yes… you heard me say it) was carted away.

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But not before they dropped off a menu trying to explain (as if it could be explained) the adventure we had just been on.

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And on our way out, as we waited for a cab, we peaked into the impeccable kitchen downstairs.

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Overall… Wow. Just wow.

This meal was the most impressive, fun, delicious, exciting food I have ever had.  It was surprise after surprise and fun after fun and taste after taste and just… wow.  It actually opened my eyes as to why I was ever so slightly underwhelmed by The French Laundry.  The French Laundry was perfect.  And that’s just it… it was too perfect.

It wasn’t all that fun. It wasn’t whimsical.

I’m sure some people would argue that food isn’t supposed to be fun nor whimsical. But when you can make food both of those things, plus taste like the best thing you have ever eaten, you have just created a world outside of food. It’s fine culinary entertainment at its absolute greatest. An experience.

It was an amazing journey.

Happy New Year!

Total Nom Points: 10 out of 10

nomscale- 10

 

 

Honeymoon: Seattle- Canlis

10 Jul

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that we are huge Top Chef Sluts.  So it should come as no surprise that one of the restaurants we first looked into upon planning our honeymoon that was starting in Seattle was Canlis, a restaurant prominently featured on Episode 4 of Top Chef Season 10 (Seattle).

We were intrigued by the fact that it had been around for 50 years and then as we read more, we knew it was a primary destination for dining.  Chef Jason Franey was a finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest (stay tuned for our Portland Honeymoon write-up coming soon to read about who actually won) and the executive chef won Cochon 555 Seattle this year.

Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted by name (mind readers) and wished a very warm congratulations on our honeymoon.  They asked us about the details of our honeymoon trip (Mike didn’t even remember telling them about our road trip).  They informed us that our table was not quite ready but we were welcome to get a drink at the bar, next to the (very good) piano player. Our drinks were not only tasty, they were also absolutely beautiful.

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The flower petals really made it look that much prettier.

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We were sat the moment our drinks came out.  The dining room is timeless.

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With a nice view of the water (even in the fog and pouring rain).

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We sat down to a lovely note from the Canlis family and two glasses of champagne on the house.

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We hear the menu changed recently, ever so slightly. Here was the menu when we were there at the end of June, 2013:

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We decided on the 4 Course menu because we both had heard great things about the duck and wanted the opportunity to try that.

We started with 3 amuse bouche (bouches? is bouche a plural?)

From left to right, it was a morel mushroom tart (nice, rich flavor), black olive coronet with salmon mousse, pickled rutabaga, and wasabi tobiko (which was packed with flavor and textures that mixed together perfectly), and a fried egg yolk, which we were advised had a liquid center “So don’t try to take a bite. You have to commit.” And commit we did.  Great flavor and a nice middle ground between a hard boiled egg (which would be way too solid when fried) and a poached egg (which would be too runny).

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The holders were also lovely and showed off each bite as if it were artwork.

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The wine was a local Pinot Noir (from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, a place we were soon to visit) that the sommelier picked (and we really loved).

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Our first of 4 courses arrived:

Mike chose the smoked Copper River salmon which came with yellow and purple potatoes. (Salmon is very popular in this part of the country and was on nearly every menu. I believe it was also salmon season, though every day could be salmon season up there for all we know.  Funny thing… I usually don’t like salmon, but every time I had it up in the Pacific Northwest, I really loved it.  Totally different flavor and none of that gross salmony-fishiness I hate).

The salmon was smoky and light but filled with flavor.  Both Mike I said that we wished there were more (not because the portion was small, which it should be with a multi-course tasting menu) but because it was so good.

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I chose the foie gras with cherry beet puree, cocoa brioche, dehydrated milk with pistachio.

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The brioche had a great crunch and everything combined perfectly.  There was tarta and sweet to pair with the rich and dense foie and brioche.  One of the best preparations of foie gras I’ve had.

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As we were awaiting our next course, we noticed a manager-like looking man come to our side of the restaurant and look around as if observing his flock.  Mike went totally out of character and struck up a conversation with him, only to find out that he is one of the owners (and grandsons of the original owners), Brian Canlis.  Brian was warm and genuine and we instantly liked him.  We had a quick discussion about where we were from and Brian asked us our favorite restaurant, to which we answered in unison, Eleven Madison Park. He got very excited at this and asked us if we knew about the connection between Canlis and Eleven Madison Park.  We did not, so he told us he went to Cornell with William Guidara, business partner in Eleven Madison Park.  (And now the presence of a special Ithaca Beer on the EMP menu made much more sense!)  I told him I went to Ithaca College and we had a great moment reminiscing about the lovely town of Ithaca, NY.  Brian then excitedly asked if we ordered the duck and when we confirmed we had, he said he thought it beat EMP’s duck (sadly, we didn’t try the duck, we chose the beef when we were at EMP, but the friendly competition was quite adorable). He then kindly excused himself and we went back to our meal, but not before the waiter was kind enough to take a lovely picture.

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For course two, Mike chose the famous Canlis Salad (which is prepared table-side, but only for bigger parties from what we observed). This was one great salad.  The inclusion of mint was fantastic without being overpowering. It tasted like it was all picked fresh moments before hitting our plate.

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I went with the pork belly, which came with an almond vanilla sauce with huckleberry.  The pork belly could not have been cooked better. The creamy fat, the hammy pork, the crispy top.  A great balance of flavors and textures with a slightly sweet sauce to compliment the pork and bring it all together

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And then they showed us the duck.

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A few minutes later, it came out fully prepared and ready to be tasted. They had carved up the breast (which included seeds a black peppercorns) and made a duck leg confit croquet, which they plated separately for each of us.  There was also an orange marmalade, fennel puree, and bruleed onion.  The flowers were grown in their garden.

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The crispiness of the seeds on the duck were great, and I really loved the way the spicy black peppercorns mixed with the orange marmalade, which was tart yet sweet.  I was enamored by the marmalade, but, sadly, Mike is not a fan of orange/marmalade/tart sauces so it wasn’t his cup of tea. Luckily, since it was all separate, he could enjoy it just fine without while I lapped it up.

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Our eyes were much bigger than our bellies, and we ordered an additional twice baked potato when we first put the order in.  As we finished up the duck, we realized that the potato never came. We were commenting about how this was a very good thing because we were FAR too full and still had dessert to go, but just as we were concluding that, a huge dish of fries came out and our very concerned waitress. She informed us that she forgot to put the potato in and it takes a bit of time to prepare, so as soon as she realized her mistake she put it in and had them make us fries (which are much faster to prepare) to make sure we had something.  Service was impeccable until this moment, and I always say that mistakes happen, but it’s about how you fix them.  Talk about a fix! Not only immediate response but a solution of fries to boot.

We informed her that we were just too full so we didn’t need the potato and we requested she wrap up the fries. Though not before trying a couple, and WOW! What fries!  Sadly, we didn’t have a fridge in our room so the fries couldn’t be saved.  (I nearly cried as I set them in the trash the next morning.)

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But I couldn’t be too sad for very long since the dessert menu was in front of us.

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Mike chose the Mille-Feuille and I chose the Pistachio Génoise.

The Mille-Feuille was absolutely delicious with lots of textures and flavors.

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But I really loved my pistachio dessert. The cherries on it were just fantastic.

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The pieces of gelee were great.

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And the crisp of the pistachio was great with the flavorful ice cream.

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And we loved the extra touch of writing “Congratulations” on both our plates.

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We were also given macarons in two flavors: negroni and apple pie.

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They were both great but if I could spend the rest of my life eating those apple pie macarons, I would be a happy lady.

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And just when we thought they couldn’t make the meal any better, they gave us a chocolate breakfast brioche for the following morning (which wound up being absolutely sensational, even without a lick of butter to add… we just tore into it and it started our last morning in Seattle perfectly). I absolutely love this touch. It leaves such a great lasting impression on a diner to give them something to eat from the restaurant the next morning.  Classy.

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The entire meal was special. Absolutely special.

The service was some of the best we have ever seen, but not in a mechanical way like some fine restaurants seem to specialize in. This service was warm, personal, and made us feel like we were the only ones in the entire restaurant.  And just as we were wrapping up to leave, Brian came back over to see how our meal was (and of course we gushed) and then he offered us a tour of the kitchen. (BUT OF COURSE!)

He excitedly showed us pictures of his family and the restaurant. One was of opening night and had all the women of the day wearing hats, drinking whiskey, and smoking cigarettes.  Such a time-specific moment.  He was kind and warm and told us he just enjoyed having some drinks at the bar and being in the restaurant that evening.  You could tell he absolutely loves this place and what he does. We talked about how much we envied that he got to grow up and come to own such a place. His enthusiasm was infectious.  He was excited that we were so excited to be there. For half a moment, we felt like part of the family.

And boy what a family that would be to be part of!

I would say that if you’re in Seattle, be sure to go here… but the truth of it is that you should just be sure to go here. Make a special trip to Seattle.  Canlis is one of the best of the best of the best.

Total Nom Points: 9 out of 10

nomscale- 09.0