Tag Archives: lobster

Date-iversary 2013: Del Posto

7 Jan

We have been celebrating the anniversary of our first date for 6 years now. Every year we trade off our anniversary and Valentine’s Day and choose restaurants to surprise each other with.

This year, we had to rename our event to our Date-iversary, since our real anniversary is now our wedding date. (Awww)

But the tradition will not go away! Now we just have one more day to celebrate (and eat)!

This year, Mike chose Del Posto as our date-iversary meal.  Del Posto is famous for being one of the all-time best in NYC and is owned by Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali.  I had been there once before for lunch (and thought it was good but not great), but he hadn’t been yet. I was excited to go back with my honey.

They offer a 5 Course Tasting menu, which we opted for, at $126 each as well as a Captain’s Menu with 8 courses at $179.

The restaurant itself is stunning.  Sweeping interior with very dark wood and cream accents.

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And I especially love the circular balconies on the 2nd level.

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Everything is set formally yet modern.

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And there are little statement pieces throughout, for instance, this pitcher. (So not my style, but I loved the aesthetic in here)

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The lower level has the wine cellar, private rooms, and some restrooms.  The stairs that connect the two levels are equally stunning.

 

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And I love the collection of old globes under the stairs.

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We sat our table and started with cocktails. They were strong but very well done.

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Our amuse bouche were a collection of truffled goodness, including mini lobster rolls (top right), celery root parsnip soup with a truffled rim (botttom), and dried rice pasta puff in parmesan (top left).

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The rim of dried truffle on the soup made for quite a decadent few sips.

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And just in case lobster isn’t good enough on its own, adding truffle ain’t so bad!

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The bread basket had 4 different breads, each better than the last, with lardo and butter.

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The lardo was nice in small doses, but I preferred the very creamy, flavorful butter.

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Our first course of the tasting menu was Truffled Beef Carne Cruda with Grana Padano and Watercress Buds.  The beef carpaccio was seasoned perfectly and all the flavors and textures went very well together.

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Our second course was Charred Octopus with Umbrian Garbanzo, Celery Hearts & 25 year Aceto Tradizionale (Balsamic Vinegar).

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The char on this octopus was really flavorful and I really enjoyed the warm octopus and beans with the cooler and crisp greens. The sweetness of the balsamic was really nice on the dish.

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There is no way to photograph this next dish nicely, so you’re just going to have to trust me that this Luna Piena (moon shaped pasta) with Castelmangno & White Truffle Butter was out of this world.  What it lacked in color it had in flavor (in spades).  The truffle was fantastic and the pasta really tasted like pasta. (While this seems obvious, I’m always saddened when pasta tastes like nothing)

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We then had Traditional Del Posto Garganelli Verdi al Ragu Bolognese.  The pasta was green from spinach and the bolognese was lamb and veal.  All the flavors were rich and hearty.

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Next was the Lobster with Artichoke, Almond, Basil Salad, & Gangerine Essenza.  The lobster tail was from Maine (and finally tasted like it!)  I absolutely loved loved loved the sauce on this. It perfectly complimented the dish without taking away from the delicate lobster flavor.

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Next was labeled as follows: “Veal & Beef: Cosa Viene Prima? – Rocky Mashed Potatoes, Brussels Sprouts & Barolo Fondo”

Cosa Viene Prima translates to “What came first?”  While the usual end of this question is the chicken or the egg, in this term, it referred to the fact that it was beef wrapped in veal (or was it visa versa?) and it was served tableside with jus.

Very nice, meaty dish, with some mild offal flavor and nice richness.

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They then changed out our napkins very formally.  Funny that both Mike and I recognized this.  Fancy service is still so surprising.

We then moved into the sweeter courses with an intermzzo of Sfera di Caprino with Celery, Fig Agrodolce & Celery Sorbetto.  This was a sphere of goat cheese in a bread crumb crunch.  I usually really dislike celery as a flavor, but this was light and it all went very nicely together.

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While we decided not to do wine pairings for this meal, we sipped our cocktails throughout and then went for some dessert wines.

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Both were really fantastic.

And then it was time for some celebratory desserts (sorry about the photos, lighting was very tough in here).

We had a Tartufo al Caffe with Dark Chocolate, Sant’Eustachio Coffee & Candied Bread.  I really enjoy a tartufo. Something about breaking through that outside shell to the ice cream inside fills me with childhood joy. It helps that this was a deliciously executed version.

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Also included in the tasting was a Butterscotch Semifreddo with melon Agrumata & Crumbled Sbrisolona.    I loved the fruit with this and the butterscotch semifredo was fantastic.

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There were also a few extra desserts, including this apple fritter, which I absolutely loved.

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And this fun grater box with candies below and petit fours above.DSCF2892

Very whimsical, and nice bites of everything.

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And at the end they sent us home with a specially printed menu and a box of treats for the next day.

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Overall, our meal was fantastic.  Great execution, excellent flavors, very well paced, and it built from start to finish.  Each dish was unique and very tasty and felt classic yet somehow fresh.  You really can’t go wrong at this New York institution.

Total Nom Points: 9 out of 10

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Sunday at Sea (AKA: The day I started to hate Lena Dunham)

23 Aug

Last weekend was my birthday weekend, however, we had a lot of obligations so there was very little ME time.  And since I am the princess on my birthday, when we saw a fun looking event on Underground Eats, we quickly decided it sounded like a perfect way to celebrate my day.

It was billed as follows:

Enjoy a three-hour cruise during which you’ll feast on jumbo lobster rolls, oysters, and whoopie pies, get a chance to learn the secrets of oyster shucking and help yourself to endless beer and wine.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Jumbo Lobster Rolls
  • Ahi & Watermelon Ceviche
  • East & West Coast Oysters
  • Whoopie Pies
  • Open Bar (Beer & Wine)
  • Live Music
  • Oyster Shucking Class
  • Learn to Break Down a Lobster

Sounded like a good value for $60. HA!  That’s a joke. I don’t think I’d let someone pay me to take this boat trip again.  What a shit show.

Though it didn’t start too bad.

We haven’t spent much time in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and we arrived much earlier than intended. Not much to see in the area so we killed about 45 minutes on a bench checking out a new view of the skyline.

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Our ship then pulled in

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And before we knew it, there was a HUGE line behind us. (They boarded a bit late, and took a lot longer to board than intended, so we wound up leaving nearly 45 minutes later than scheduled)

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They were checking bags and giving everyone the pat down to get on the boat.

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It was pretty empty when we first got on (which obviously didn’t last).  They had a downstairs dance floor and DJ who spun an odd collection of “beachy” music I had never heard before, but it was decent. Though I’m not sure if I would consider this “live music” as billed.

There were 2 stations downstairs for lobster rolls and whoopie pies, as well as a bar.

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And upstairs there were about 20 seats, a dance floor, 2 food stations (oysters and ceviche), and a small bar.

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The bar started with a very nice beer offering. I LOVE Sixpoint Sweet Action.  Always tastes like summer and baseball to me. (Perhaps because I tried it first at Citi Field).

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Very quickly, the ceviche line opened.  I was SO hungry so I ran up to get it. Sadly, it was coated in peppers. But Mike said it was very interesting since it was combined with watermelon.

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I went downstairs a few times, but no food was being served yet (and even though the whoopie pies were out, he wouldn’t let me touch them until the “official time”). I kept checking, and I finally caught it open and the line was already across the boat and spiraling back (it wound up building to a triple snaking line).  I left Mike upstairs since there were only 20 chairs and we scored them early.

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And I waited… and I waited… 50 minutes.

50 minutes on line to get lobster rolls.

And then I got up there all excited to finally try one…

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And they wouldn’t give me one for Mike.  “1 per person.”

Now I get it.  I get that they don’t want everyone to come down and hog 2 lobster rolls at once.

BUT.

Then at some point during my 50 minute wait online, how about someone come out and TELL us that? How about tell us that when we get on the boat? Or give people tickets to get lobster rolls?

Or… HELL… put more than 20 freakin seats on a boat that you put at least 200 people on.

I was NOT a happy camper.

I tried to argue with the guy serving, who was from Greenpoint Fish, but he was a total jerk to me. He called me “little girl” and told me to “stop complaining and move along.”  Not cool. Not cool at all.  It’s bad enough to give a customer a bad experience (especially for a place that I believe is trying to open a restaurant soon). I immediately tweeted them an unhappy sentiment, and not only did they not do the customary social media community management best practice of responding… they actually censored/deleted my tweet from their wall. Bravo jerks. Bravo.

I was so angry that I didn’t even get a good picture of the roll, but really there was no reason to. I’m not saying this because they were totally douchey to me, but the lobster roll was just meh.  When the line finally went down a while later, Mike got on line for his (waited another 20 minutes or so) and got to the front to find out that they actually ran out of their lobster roll meat, but they had some fresh cracked lobster meat to put on the bun.  Now this lobster… this lobster was GREAT!  It made it very obvious that they had either used frozen or sub-par lobster in the original roll.

Needless to say, I will never go to Greenpoint Fish.

After this disappointment, at least we had the view to check out.

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After watching the world go by for a bit, we went and got ourselves some oysters. These were awesome. Super fresh and the shucker spent all 5 hours on his feet, shucking at incredible speeds. Props shucker man.

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And then we went to get some whoopie pies.

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Now these were no Cranberry Island Kitchen whoopie pies (the vendor we chose for our wedding), but they were good in their own way. They tasted like fresh devil dogs.  We enjoyed these and actually, this was the only food I could fill up on, so I had a few.  Yum.

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And then we made a sweep next to the lady. (A view I never get tired of)

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They then had their lobster cracking demonstration. Most of the stuff I’ve already shown, but a genius way to get meat out of the legs… use a rolling pin. Comes right out!  Who knew?

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And these were the fresh lobsters that wound up going into the good lobster roll. I love how the light is shining on them, as if from heaven. (mmmm heavenly lobsters)

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About halfway through the cruise, the good beer ran out. No more Sixpoint Brews. Just Bud and Bud Light.  I’d rather just drink water.  BLEH.

And then everything went to hell. The bathrooms stopped flushing.

To make matters much worse, the boat was basically entirely Brooklyn hipsters.  Total hipsters.  I couldn’t believe the amount of fun mustaches and rolled up pants with boat shoes I saw.  But the style aside, these millenials were jerks.  It was like a bad episode of Girls. They smoked on the small boat, in the middle of everyone eating, and refused to move.  (NO ESCAPE!)  They cut in line and then kept blocking the path to get anywhere on the boat (including the broken bathrooms). They danced into me while I was waiting in various lines, many times, and no apologies.  They were obnoxiously drunk and dropped food all over and threw their cigarette butts into the water.  And they just had no courtesy for anyone around them.  It was as if they were the only one on the boat.  I really hate the self-involved, entitled attitude.

And afterwards everyone got on their vintage bicycles and peddled home.

I blame Lena Dunham.

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Honeymoon: Napa Valley, CA – THE French Laundry

14 Aug

And then… we arrived.

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After an amazing 10 days romping from Seattle to Sonoma, we arrived at the restaurant we built this honeymoon around, The French Laundry.

You will recall it was quite the adventure trying to get the reservation, but I was so excited to be able to cross my first Big 3 off the Restaurant Bucket List (the other 2 being Per Se, which is also from Chef Thomas Keller, and Alinea in Chicago). We arrived a bit early for our (already early) 11:30am reservation, so we took a seat in the lovely garden area behind the restaurant while they got ready for service.

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At first we actually didn’t even know where to enter, but finally found a door.

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From the moment we walked in, it was obvious we were finally there. Down to the napkin holders.

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There are 2 tasting menus and only 2.

“Tasting of Vegetables”

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and “Chef’s Tasting Menu”

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Yes… you are seeing that price correctly… $270 per person… total 100% insanity… but it was our honeymoon and we were going to DO THIS. We got all the hotels on points, so I rationalized it that way.

You will also noticed there were a number of up-charges throughout. You could choose to upgrade each course, but they were all a $100 supplement. Not $10, not $20… ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE. (I am all about food ridiculousness, but that was even too ridiculous for my blood.)

 

One more thing about the menu… I really liked the custom printed menus wishing us Congratulations.

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The tables were set beautifully and simply.

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And my new husband made quick use of that clothes pin.

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We had trouble finding wine. We wanted to enjoy some drinks (being in wine country and all) but there were very few bottles under $100 (and most over $200). We wound up choosing 2 half-bottles to get to try some different wines. Each were about $80. (Yikes)

Our first bottle was a Chateau Montelena, made famous by the movie Bottle Shock (good movie about the coming of age of California wines… I recommend it)

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Our first nibbles were these very nice little rolls with gruyere. They were almost like a cream puff but savory.

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Followed by a amuse bouche of salmon in a sesame cornet (which was very reminiscent of the amuse we had at Canlis just a few days prior). This was a flawless bite and it was hard not to compare it to the one we just had. This one was slightly better with richer tasting salmon and more flavorful cone.

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And then it began. Our Chef’s Tasting Menu began with their most famous dish: “Oysters and Pearls”

Here was the description:

“Sabayon” of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

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The description was missing one key word: Heaven. This was one of the best dishes I have ever had in my entire life. This is why we were here. This was the moment. This rivaled the previous best bite I’ve had at Colicchio and Sons many moons ago (scroll on down to the gizzard to get right to that dish).

I cannot even describe the awesomeness of the burst of flavors and textures that this dish had. It was everything I love about food…

They trim the oysters down to be perfectly round, incredibly succulent delicacies swimming in a sabayon (which is described as a custard-like sauce, but that doesn’t do this justice). I don’t know what kind of oysters they were, but they were some of the best I’ve had. Typically oysters are just so good on their own that they don’t need any sauces or treatments, but these were elevated even higher by that sabayon.   The “pearls” are made of caviar that was perfectly sweet and briny. The dish all together was just exquisite.

Even the spoon it came with was special.

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…I just wish it wasn’t where we started. Because where can you possibly go from there?

But on we went.

Bread and butter was a lovely combination of a local butter and a salted butter along with some special flaky pastries.

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Our next dish was a beauty: Salad of French Laundry Garden Potatoes

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This had many different types of potatoes (red, blue, white) with different preparations (chips, baked, etc). It was like a deconstructed potato salad with beautiful shaved vegetables and edible flowers. This was fresh and felt truly original.

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Next was Gulf Coast Snapper “Goulash.”

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Mine had to be altered a bit so as not to have peppers, and my sauce was very good.

I have 0 idea what made this goulash, but the fish was cooked flawlessly and the sauce on both (according to Mike) was impeccable.

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Our next dish was one of my favorite of the evening (though still didn’t hold a candle to those oysters and pearls). Alaskan King Crab “Boudin.” The combination of crab, lobster, and bing cherries made this a fun and playful dish that also screamed “FRESH SEAFOOD ROCKS!” Some of the best tasting lobster I’ve had outside of Maine.

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Up next we had Salmon Creek Farm Pork Jowl. A nice pork dish, but fairly unmemorable during the course of the meal.

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We had polished off our first half bottle of wine a bit too easily, so we ordered a local Pinot Noir (Roar). It was good but nothing stand out.

And it was at this moment that I realized we were already half-way through. I still am not sure how that was possible. It felt like everything was moving TOO FAST (even though, in reality, the meal was paced flawlessly). I just wanted to slow down and enjoy more. We truly tried to, but I have trouble eating slowly when the food is tiny yet scrumptious.

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The next dish was herb-roasted Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Rib-eye. Mike’s had some peppers.

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Mine came with some pattypan squash (which I love).

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The meat itself was packed with lamby flavor. I was worried about the amount of fat on the meat, but it was tender and melted in my mouth.

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And then there was more bread, this time with sea salt and some pretzel bread. (All variations on bread throughout the meal were delicious).

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Our last savory course was a nice segue between the lamb and the dessert. It was a light “Tomme de Brebis” (cheese) with summer pole bean salad, cipollini onion and frisee lettuce. The description didn’t leave me too excited, but this was a great dish. Fresh yet rich and a great transition.

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Dessert began with a “toasted oat glacé” with Santa Rosa plums and Japanese plum jam. I don’t know what makes something a glacé, but what I can say is that the ice cream was a tricky little play on flavors where it tasted like delicious oats but was cold and smooth. The plums were as delicious as they were bright. Not too sweet, a tiny bit tart, and a great combination with the oat flavor.

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The next sweet bite was the “Dark Treacle” which had the description of devil’s food, valrhona chocolate “marquise”, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, and Marshall Farm’s Burnt Honey ice cream. The entire dish was fantastic with tons of flavors playing off each other. But that burnt honey ice cream was something else! WOW! I would have been happy to just have a bowl of that!

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Our final listed dessert was Delta Blueberry Cheesecake which was described as “compressed blueberry muffin, lemon ice cream, and puff pastry “arlette.” I remember this being very good, but not nearly as memorable as that burnt honey ice cream.

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And then the meal wrapped up with a parade of final bites that weren’t listed, which I have learned are called “mignardises.” (I typically call it “petit fours” but it seems these descriptions are close to interchangeable).

First was a classic pairing I always associate with New Orleans:

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Fried dough/donuts/zeppoles/beignets. I don’t remember what they called them, but they were very good.

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And they came with a mousse “cappuccino” which was one of the best mousses (mousse-ie? mousse-i?) I’ve ever had.

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The layers of mousse with the foam on top were fantastic.

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This was also served with some chocolate covered macadamia nuts (I kick myself for not bringing home the rest of this bowl).

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And homemade caramels and fudge (which we took with us and had later on in the road trip… awesome).

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But we weren’t done there.

Out came a selection of chocolate truffles of many different varieties. We tried a few different kinds and all were rich and flavorful and awesome… but nothing stood out. (Though as soon as Mike read this he mentioned “you don’t remember that one of them was beer flavored?!”  I didn’t… but obviously he did!)

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We were given a takeaway (one of my favoritist things about fine dining… a memento to remember them by). It came in a perfect little clothespin tin (which I kept because I just can’t toss it… what to do with it I have no idea though!)

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Inside were shortbread cookies (and they were absolutely flipping fantastic.)

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Our bill was even “on brand” as a laundry tag. Adorable… Except the price… which still makes me gag. (though at least gratuity was included)

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As we left we noticed that the French Laundry farm (or at least one of them) was actually right across the street.

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Can’t get fresher than that!

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Overall, our dinner at French Laundry was perfect. It was flawless. It was impeccable. It was everything a dinner at French Laundry should be…

BUT…

It wasn’t special. At least not special enough.

I had heard some disappointing things going in, so I was kind of ready for this not to be as epic as I wanted it to be. And I am spoiled… very, very, very, very spoiled.

I honestly felt like besides the Oysters and Pearls, I have had much more exciting meals in the past. (And beginning with the Oysters and Pearls meant the rest of the meal just simply couldn’t compete.) I guess this is a bit of a reflection of my taste in food. I love classic food, but I love exciting food better. I love molecular gastronomy and dinners that are as much entertainment as they are delicious. I like to have fun with food. I don’t like to take my food too seriously.

And that is why Eleven Madison Park is still absolutely #1. I would even timidly say that I enjoyed our meal at Canlis better, because it felt so damn SPECIAL.

The service was impeccable as well. And that is part of what makes it so great. But to quote Mike, “It was precision. But it wasn’t magic.”

I wanted to love French Laundry. And I did love it. But I just didn’t love it enough to want to take it home with me. It lacked in sex appeal, I suppose.

I’m glad we went. And yes, even at that price, it was worth every penny for the experience and to check it off my bucket list.

Some people want fancy jewelry. Some people want fancy clothes. Some people want to collect handbags or priceless antiques.

Me? I just want to collect memories of fantastic meals.

What can I say?

Total Nom Points: 9 out of 10nomscale- 09.0

 

 

 

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