The resulting dish. Exactly what le Bernadin is. Fish prepared in simple perfection paired with a sauce that will make you beg for more. This was an incredible presentation and the flavors were groan-worthy. The slightest hint of wasabi flavored each bite. Just a perfect dish.
I didn't take notes, and this was not on the menu. So I don't know what it is, other than one of the best desserts I have ever had. The smoky meringue along the bottom was punctuated with the items on top - tart fruits, basil. So many textures throughout. This was just out of this world.
"Empanada". Cotton candy empanada. Cotton candy (brought out raw, pressed right in front of us), foie gras, corn nuts. What the hell??? Giggled uncontrollably through this.
Gem salad, farro, bacon, buttermilk ranch. This salad was insanely good.
"Chuleta". A5 Hokkaido Wagyu with gold leaf, roasted piquillos, beef jus, black garlic puree, onion puree. Oh my God. I've never had anything this delicious. The entire room groaned and giggled through each bite - you literally can't believe how delicious each bite is.
New Zealand Roasted Lamb, baby zucchini, parmesan, cauliflower puree, jus of truffle and peas. The dish was straight up the middle (conceptually), but the very best delivery of it. The quality of the lamb was also the best I've ever had. When I placed my fork into it to cut it, it just sank under the fork, it was that tender.
Texas wild antelope, aged 18 days in house. It gets to the restaurant 18 hours after harvesting. With grilled chickoree and a sauce from the grilled bones of the same antelope. Many other components to this dish (in the photos following), but this is one of the best dishes I have ever had. Incredibly centered on the product while wholly delicious in each varied presentation. The coup de gras, to be sure. Truly impressive...
Look at the plating too. What an incredible dish/vessel in which to serve this course.
Radish multiple ways (fermented, pickled, grilled, raw), Fermented radish broth with shiso oil. I lied about the uni. This dish - so simple - may have stolen the night. The freshness, vibrance and varying flavors and textures from each preparation, brought together with the most lovely fragrant (cold) broth. Refreshing, springtime and heaven. Never would have expect it from this dish.
The best composed dish I have ever had. Pigeon with smoked (BBQ) beet root and pigeon sauce. The pigeon was beyond flavorful and just a little gamy tasting (like venison), which was perfectly balanced by the sweetness and smokiness of the beets. We could not get over this dish. Incredible.
TORTELLO all’ UOVO egg yolk center, spinach and ricotta filling, maitake mushroom
Mochi iteration made from oats. Saffron pressed into honeycomb then filled with elderflower ice cream...
Their play on French Onion Soup. Burnt bread, carmelized onion gel, cauliflower ice cream, onion ash, green onion oil, escargot roe. Served with...
Murrina cappuccino. Their signature, and for great reason. Murina, potato cream, spirolina, seaweed, sea urchin. The visual is stunning and strong and the flavors matched. Deep, rich, complex, balanced, unctuous and offensively delicious.
Organic, Colorado buffalo tenderloin, savory red wine caramel sauce (read that again!), cauliflower puree, roasted shitake mushroom duxelle
They did not go light! Hokkaido uni, Australian black truffle, brioche. One of the best bites of food anyone could possibly enjoy.
Toro (fattiest part of the belly of the tuna), russian sturgeon caviar, black garlic infused soy sauce. This was the best bite of sushi I've ever had. Unreal.
Tartare with lean tuna, "heavily seasoned", with puffed rice paired with...
The turbot was glazed with turbot stock and emulsified with juniper. The technique!! The fish itself was incredible, and it was seasoned incredibly strong and just perfectly. There was a lip-smacking quality to it (a la ribs) that made you wish it never ended. This hits my favorite dishes list.
Hotate. U12 Hokkaido scallop, sous vide then seared. Cooked in vanilla bean and butter. Served with a white chocolate and yuzu buerre blanc. This dish was truly special. What a creative bridge from savory to sweet. I would have preferred the scallop be seared (only). The sous vide affected its texture. But a truly gorgeous dish.
Wow!! The entire dinner worth it for this dish of food. Peas (super crisp and crunchy), tomburri on top (like the caviar, each individual sphere is peeled by hand). Paired with the next two dishes.
"Into the vegetable garden". Shaved kohlrabi, turnips, rose apples, shinko pear, pineapple guava, grilled avacado, nisturshum aoili, bitter and savory greens, edible flowers. Their signature. Somehow even more delicious than beautiful. Top 5 dishes I have ever seen, eaten or even imagined.
Wild strawberries, sorbet, champagne jelly. Strawberries were insane. Each component was too much individually, but taken together were just perfectly brilliant. (And look at that kennel! It is perfectly smooth and without a seam! How do they do that??)
The pièce de ré·sis·tance: double cut veal chop, madeira sauce, mushrooms, sweetbreads. This dish was mindblowing. Insanely deep flavors, super quality chop, perfect cooked.
Red mullet, crust of sesame seeds from Sicily, over cooking rice on 3 sauces: turnip tops (green), red mullet bisque (brown), smoked goat cheese (white). One of the best dishes I have ever eaten. The balance of flavors from the sauces, nuttiness and texture from the sesame seeds and the varying sauces. Mind-blowingly good.
"Jose's Taco". Jamon iberico (the highest grade, pigs only eat acorns last 7 years of their life), caviar, gold leaf. This is one of the most incredible bites of food I have ever had.
Opening bite. Bluefin tuna, beluga caviar (look at all that caviar!!), mustard blooms on a crisp. Mind blowing and an incredible statement to come out of the gate with. Clearly sets your expectation that this will be no ordinary meal.
Far and away the best thing I put in my mouth all night. "Whiskey". Black tea, honey, lemon, Chicopee root, ginger root, torched oak chips, branded ice cube. Impossible to describe the layers and depths of delicious flavors in this glass.
Squid poached in butter, coconut tentacles, curry sauce and that kohlrabi (shaved in front of us on a gleaming meat slicer) is on the right. The depth of flavor in that sauce is not conveyable. We begged them to bring us any they had leftover - even from other diners' plates. :)
Spring wafer. Pine needle wafer macha tea white choc mousse huckleberry jam pickled huckleberry. "Like an ice cream sandwich", they said.
Strawberry wrapped in nasturtium leaf, gooseberries, pinecones, honey infused with flowers. This was BEAUTIFUL!! Deep strawberry flavor, chewy strawberries, frozen bites, herbaceous notes. Brilliant. I've had a number of very similar dishes but this one blew the others out of the water.
Arugula, curly mustard, sorrel, tatsoi, radish, sunflower seeds, grilled squash mini lovage beignet, Romouski sea urchin, yellow pea hummus from Quebec, homemade za'tar seasoning. Doesn't look like much but WOW what a plate of food. Best hummus I have ever had. That zucchini pancake thing was awesome and perfect with the urchin. Super fresh veg. I'll remember this plate for a while.
"for damage caused by floods, fois gras, flan or frippery...". Fois gras flan, caramel, rosemary ice cream, mango, peppercorn tuile...
Agnello Arrosto e Caponata. Charcoal-Grilled Rocky Mountain Lamb, Roasted Red Pepper, Caponata
The chef giggled introducing this "eggs on an egg inside a nest inside an egg"...
The final dish. The best I've had here. The crunchy vegetables are pickled perfectly - just enough to cut through sabayon. Terrific pairing with a Mosel Riesling
Beet root tart with beet root and onion flowers. This may be the most beautiful dish I have ever seen. I gasped as they set it down. And it was delicious to boot.
"Passi D'Oro" risotto. Saffron and licorice risotto, grilled lemon, fermanentated lemon and South African chile pepper. The most brilliant dish I have ever eaten in my life. That pepper is incredible with a strong sweetness to its pepperyness (like mesquite, but not smoky). That sweet pepper cut beautifully through the rich risotto and was PERFECTLY balanced in the dish. Drips on the bowl was not food but part of the bowl design. A signature of theirs.
Karuma ebi (tiger prawn), uni, avocado and asian pear "slaw", tangerine, mango gelee, ossetra gold caviar. Out of this world.
Butter poached lobster in a cumin carrot sauce. It was so good I giggled when I ate it. 2nd best plate of food I have had in my life.
Hokkaido urchin, sourdough brioche, brown butter sauce. Paired with an incredible sake rich in umami flavors because of a very unique milling process. A clear take on Chef Table at Brooklyn Fare's signature uni-on-brioche. I didn't think that one could be topped. I was wrong. This bite was mystifying. The bread soaked in the brown butter but with a crisp solid top supporting the uni. Come here for this bite alone.
Cod egg. A stew with scallop, mushroom, rice. Impossible to describe how delicious this bowl of food was.
Ossetra caviar, lemon cream, pickled red onions, potato crumble, bonito salty cream, spinach oil. This was silly. The entire table groaned. Gorgeous salty caviar, herbaceous cream, the pickled onions cutting through. Never wanted it to end. Goes on my favorite dishes of all time.
They treated us to an additional dish off the menu - pasta with butter, garlic, sage and fried eggplant chips. As delicious as the other pasta dishes are, this one was beyond. Indescribably good.
A Chartreuse of Savoy Cabbage and Maine Lobster with Caviar Beurre Blanc. Almost put it to my mouth to lick it fully. The visual disappointment (lack of color, simple plating) was immediately replaced with plenty of expletives at how perfectly cooked and delicious this was...
Halibut in a cream sauce (cream, butter, clam juice, lemon, herbs). This may be the best sauce I have ever had. Every bite was shockingly good.
Hokkaido scallop, Alaskan sweet shrimp, amur caviar, razor clams, dashi jelly, uuzu miso mustard sauce, yuzu miso foam
Rose of sashimi kamachi, pickled pear, shiso ginger dressing. So superb. The vinaigrette was super bright and lemony and the individual layers of kamachi and pear was delightful. A bit difficult to eat as it didn't come apart so easily. Asked for a spoon so I could have every drop of that dressing.
Duck breast, wood fired cherries. Best duck I've ever had, and the cherries were unreal. Killer dish. I almost ordered a 2nd one.
Pumpkin Pie Millefeuille (Episode 14 “The Final Plate”). Pumpkin custard, maple caramel, pumpkin spice cake, pumpkin crisps. WOW was this amazing, to look at and to eat! The caramel at the bottom clumped into a ball making it difficult to eat. The server acknowledged that it was not intended to be like that. Still, this dessert was off the hook. So incredibly delicious.
Red mullet, octopus, rice (highest grade in japan), dashi foam. My favorite dish of the night. Aside from the plating (how gorgeous is that?!), the small pieces of octopus mixed in with the rice gave a broad and strong textural base to a beautiful, silky piece of fish and perfectly complemented sauce and foam.
White asparagus, cashew emulsion. This is a truly impressive dish. The asparagus was beautiful with a subtle brightness (vinegar) and the emulsion was rich and deep. The nuts brought umami flavor and crunch (from tiny chopped nuts beneath the emulsion). Brilliant. So intensely respectful of the primary ingredient.
The final dish. Stunningly good, and SUCH an improvement over the raw mushroom steak debacle last year. That cauliflower mushroom with its crispy, carmelized ends is one of the better things I have ever eaten.
The resulting dish. Indescribable. That sauce was so luxurious and buttery, so its fat pairing with the salt and texture of the caviar mixed with luscious almost-raw scallops...this too caused endless groans and a wish that it would never end.
Part 2 of the cheese course. Goat cheese. May be the best thing I've ever eaten. The texture (soft as cool whip, but more body), flavors (light cheese, rich oil, salt, herbs). It was mind blowing.
This is one of the best dishes I've ever had. The fresh earthiness from the celtuce was outstanding balance to the sweet scallops. Uni added an unctuous salinity. Absolutely brilliant. I couldn't get enough.
"Cold carbonara soup". English cream, banana, white chocolate ganache, pecorino romano ice cream. The cone (made from banana) had caviar inside. It was finished with a pepper grinder that delivered dried and smoked banana peel. This was off the charts amazing, from concept to delivery to flavor. What a finale!!
A closer look. This made me giggle. Just absolute perfection. Perfectly cooked crab with just the right accent from the aoili.
Inspired by Yucatan. Tempura shiso leaf, blackened from a mole base. Indescribable. This may be the best bite of food I have ever had.
Their signature "jewelry box". Spanish Toro, Hokkaido scallop, caviar, Hokkaido uni, ossetra caviar, wasabi soy, gold leaf. Insane.
The best dishes make me giggle when I eat them. This one absolutely did that. Cedar wrapped tenderloin (that the chef showed us earlier), pilsner jus, sun dried tomato. Yes, the tenderloin tasted as good as it looks. Yes, you could taste the smoky effect of the cedar they cooked it in. That jus though...it was SO incredibly delicious in its own right, and then added incredible layers of flavor to the beef. This goes on my top 5 all time dishes. I would return to this restaurant just for this plate of food.
Arctic char, cured for 1 hour with salt and sugar, then marinated for 48 hours in maple syrup, seared on flat top and lacquered in more maple syrup. This was giggle-worthy. (Note the glass vessel...)
Bread. Paltessa bread. They would make porridge and the next day, make a pancake from the leftovers. This is an homage to that. Danish cows milk cheese. Coji and barley. Flowers from the summer...
Couscous (prepared like a risotto), morels, ramp foam. This was giggly amazing. Goes down as a favorite dish ever. So damn good.
This chocolate tart filled with (super rich) chocolate cream with powdered sugar and gold leaf may be the best pettit four I've ever had.
This greets you as you sit at the table. It's literally breathtaking. The beauty and intricacy of this presentation is the best welcome I have ever seen. The vision to provide this experience combined with the efforts required for each and every table...truly mind blowing. Each of the bites was so beautiful that they warrant their own photo...
Corn cappuccino. This was a truly world-class dish. Corn, wood ear mushrooms, fois gras, snail and "chef's secret foam" (broth). It tasted like coconut milk to me. The flavor of this cup of food forced you to sit back after each bite and marvel at what you were eating. Definitely one of the best dishes of my life.
"Grandma Walking Through Forest In Emilia." Their signature. Cappelletti verdi with roasted, sautéed leeks & black mushroom puree. You MUST get this. It wasn't on the lunch menu, but I asked for it and was so happy they could make it for us.
Darjeeling and mandarin orange sorbet. Small granolas on the bottom for crunch, gelees. This was just so damn good. Offensively good.
The final product. It was delicious. I had to ask where one sources baby eels. I didn't really get the answer. ? This is quite a delicacy and definitely a dish to remember for years to come. I'd love to have some again.
Egg yolk tempura, bite the pastry, pour the yolk into the shell which had mushroom gelatin waiting. Best dish I have ever eaten.
"Menjar Blanc". Marcona almond cloud (almond milk, aerated, then put in a vacuum chamber to get the air back out of it), elderflower toffee. Freaking delicious.
And uni creme brulee. Which was out of this world stupid delicious.
"You like it, it likes you". Palate cleanser. Lime sorbet, calamansi, finger lime, espelette sszechuan peppercorn, pear, coconut foam. This was silly good. The foam was super sugary but balanced perfectly with the acid from the sorbet.
Macha and Coconut milk panna Cotta with black bean and gold leaf. OMG. One seriously amazing dessert.
Ribeye cap, matsutake mushroom, spinach stuffed with brisket. The very best plate of food I have ever had. I asked how they got such a perfect char around the meat. After inquiring further, the waiter asked if we would like to visit the kitchen following dinner so he could show me. We couldn't contain our excitement in answering "Yes!!!"
The first (non-alcoholic) drink arrived. WOW!!! I *BEG* you to get the non-alcoholic pairing. Difficult to describe how over the top incredible each one was. The friendly guy who creates these introduced almost every one with terrific and deep descriptions of how they are made. This one was essentially iced tea with cotton candy on top.
Peas (blanched), black truffle, Iberian ham, egg yolk (peas cracked and exploded sweetly, offsetting the salt of the ham and unami of the truffle. Probably the best dish of the night. So much technique and fantastic levels of flavor.
The salt added to top of wagyu was perfect. In fact, my notes say the following: "This dish is f***ing perfect!!" As evidence, check out the next video of that jus, showing how sticky and tacky it is...
Insalata Cacio e Pepe in Emilia. Little lettuces with pecorino dressing & cracked pepper. One of the best salads I have ever had. So Italian. So simple. Incredible flavor.
A4 Miyazaki Wagyu, maitake, mustard, greens. They select A4 (which is more expensive and harder to source than A5) because A5 is too marbled. Having now had both, they are 100% correct. This (quite generously sized) piece of beef was indescribably tender and delicious.
Smoked tagliolini with egg yolk and guanciale. Unreal dish. The very best carbonara you can even conceive of. Head shakingly good. Makes you fall deeply in love with this chef. Wow.
Doppio tortello stuffed with prosciutto and 24 month parmesan. One of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. Insanely good.
Beet root. Signature dish. It has been on his menu in Sweden for 15 years. Beets lightly poached in brown butter, cherry accents, Malden sea salt. Finished with black lemon. SO memorable. SO delicious. SO unique. A+. Goes down in my favorite dishes list.
I don't like gnocchi. But was ordered to by that same woman who told me about the drink. Let's just say that I like gnocchi now. This dish was insane.