Category: West Village + TriBeCa

120 West Broadway on Duane Street
212/964.2525
$175 for the tasting menu with wine pairings, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

There comes a time in your life when you have an awesome meal with good company and you think back the next day without regrets because you realize you deserve everything. Unfortunately for me, I think that way 80% of the time, but I recently read that desire is never a mistake. For my birthday this year, my good friend Miriam and her fiancé, Eric, showed me that you have to allow yourself to want things, even if that means a lot of them. And boy, Bouley was the perfect place for it.

The night started off with the scent of apples in the foyer. Ever since I stepped in Bouley a couple of years ago to check out the menu, I have known that smell. It’s of the holidays, of cider, and of something warm and cozy inside. The small bar at the receptionist’s counter was a different matter. Our table was for 8pm, but it seemed like the entire New York Japanese population was also waiting to be seated. It had been drizzling outside and the coat check lady was flustered with requests from customers who have already eaten and from customers waiting to be relieved of their coats. We started afresh as soon as we were seated in the dining room.

The ambiance reminded me of Daniel and Le Bernardin, though it isn’t as expansive as Daniel’s and the crowd around us was less older than that of Le Bernardin’s. The jacquard chairs and the tassels on the lamps belong more in Versailles than the TriBeCa neighborhood this incarnation now stands, but you know to expect that the food will be as polished and refined as any old New York institution.

Below is a list of what I ate with their wine pairings:

1. Phyllo-crusted Florida shrimp, Cape Cod baby squid, scuba-dived sea scallop and sweet Maryland crab meat in ocean herbal broth with Pouilly Fumé Domaine Lebrun 2006

Restaurants need to cook shellfish more this way: you don’t have to force the meat; they just give. The baby squid was a spoonful of tenderness that softly went “squish” in my mouth.

2. Potato-crusted Mediterranean rouget with a mung bean saffron risotto, rose-olive sauce and Parmesan cloud with Viognier, Alban Vineyards, Edna Valley, California 2006

The potato gave the fish texture and the olive sauce gave it a bit of tart that harmoniously fused with the delicate touch of cheese. I could have enjoyed this even without the very yellow risotto. Extra points for calling the cheese a “cloud”.

3. Organic Pennsylvania rack of lamb baked with rocket salad, fava beans, sage and a purée of zucchini and mint with Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine des Vins de Vienne, Rhone Valley 2005

The best of all the racks I’ve had this year mainly because I wasn’t inebriated by the time this course was served. I thoroughly enjoyed the juiciness of the meat and couldn’t have enough. The touch of zucchini-mint was just right. The greens wonderfully matched. Just like the risotto with the rouget, I could have done without the gnocchi.

4. Texas pink grapefruit soup infused with green cardamon, star anise and Tahitian vanilla with Campari sugar and fromage blanc sorbet with Moscato D’Asti, Francesco Coppo 2006

The three of us all had this “soup” as a palate cleanser. I could have ended our night here with this flawless dessert. This is the kind of dessert I aim to make someday.

5. Warm passion fruit and blueberry meringue with caramel sauce, huckleberry coulis and Provence lavender ice cream with Muscat de Rivesaltes, Domaine des Schistes 2006

I loved the lavender ice cream, but I thought the meringue was too sweet with the caramel sauce.

Talk about decadence, but hey, I am allowed to want things. Happy birthday, me.

Related post/s:
My birthday last year was with a larger group at Blau Gans
The year before at La Esquina after its opening
A delirious experience at Daniel
A younger menu at Le Bernardin

150 West 10th Street off Waverly Place
212.929.0898
about $145 for one tasting menu and two extra dishes, with two drinks, with tip
♥

Where do you go on a first date? If you feel unsure about the other person, you may want to go to a small bistro where the fare would be safe and expected. If you’ve known the other person for a while and feel comfortable enough to eat with a very sharp knife, you may want to go to a steakhouse. If you want to be playful but still slightly impress, you might go to P*Ong.

It’s hard not to think about desserts as soon as you step inside P*Ong. The first whiff you catch is of a bakery’s. From the red wall down to the glossy paper used for the menu, the Dr.’s first reaction when we sat down was, “Are we eating precious little things?” He was skeptical and he was hungry.

I went over the short menu and bravely ordered the suite which consisted of ten savory dishes. They are adventurous, yet well thought out. No one lackadaisically combines the ingredients like chef Pichet Ong does at P*Ong. Who else would think of a stilton soufflé encrusted in crushed walnuts and then pair it with a basil-arugula ice cream?

A fava bean and sugar snap pea dish sprinkled with thinly-sliced almonds and dusted with Parmiggiano reminded me of summers in Vermont. The sweet Maine crab with tarragon, lemon and chives was matched with green apple mousse, while the shrimp ceviche was flavored with Thai chili and mango purée. They were my two favorites even though I could have used more of the natural taste of the shellfish. Both were bright and cooling on the tongue. The bigeye tuna was overpowered by the olive dressing. I wanted to taste more of the fattiness of the tartare. The Wagyu carpaccio was biting with the arugula and the maldon salt gave it some extra texture. I barely had room for the goat cheese and the peaches served on a bed of smooth ricotta and brittled aloe vera. I was full and drowning in whimsical adjectives in my head.

The Dr. selected two dishes a la carte after the kitchen allowed us to order only one tasting menu. He loved the smooth polenta covered in a generous serving of morel mushrooms. A foie-gras brulée started off beautifully and interestingly until the smell of burnt sugar reminded him of something else in the hospital. Unfortunate and unpleasing, I know, and not to be blamed on the kitchen, but this was when the watermelonade cocktail worked its magic.

The Dr.’s skepticism dissipated as it got late and the house music was upped one level. P*Ong is certainly not the place you take your father to, but if your companion thinks stilton has some sexiness to it, you may just have to go out on a second date.

75 Washington Place between MacDougal and Sixth Avenue
212/539.1776
about $300 for two tasting menus and matching wine, with tip
♥ ♥

The Dr. assured me that he passed his two-day long board exams. He won’t find out for sure for another three weeks, but I decided to prematurely congratulate him anyway. He’s always been curious about Blue Hill Restaurant and I’ve wanted to make another visit after a flying roach dropped on my bread plate in the middle of eating my main course. Two years ago, I could have given Blue Hill a four-heart review, but the insect cost them the other half. I know that other people wouldn’t even consider a return if they had the same experience I did. But the food is exceptionally good, inspired by local produce from the Hudson Valley and their own farm up in Stone Barns. I don’t care what people call it–water bug or a super roach–any insect has no place on my plate unless the insect itself is the food. (Hello, memories from eating beetles in Ilocos Sur and chapulines in Oaxaca.)

Why the two hearts again with this review? I’m smiling as I type this: our table was visited by yet another flying roach. I will take responsibility for the fact that I requested, like the last time, to be seated in the back garden instead of the main dining room. Before our tasting menu began, I was already a little wary that it will happen again. The Dr., in his usual composed manner, assured me that it won’t. Sure enough, during our second course, the insect started buzzing around the room. This time, the other diners were also aware of it. It landed on the wall next to me. I stood up, trying to contain myself, and it flew away. Convinced that that was it, I sat back down to try and finish my fish. And then, plop! The insect was inside the Dr.’s wine glass. It fluttered for a second and it flew away again. It never came back, as if it was really just saying to me, Hello, nice to see you again. This time, the other diners saw what happened and complained to our waitress before we did. The Dr.’s wine was replaced and the rest of the night wiled away without incident.

Oh, and the food? Still fresh and delicious, if you can take your mind off the roach story for a minute. We opted for the farmer’s feast which included one appetizer, two main courses and two desserts. The bean salad was delightful, on a bed of purslane and sprinkled with pistachios, made warm with “this morning’s” pullet egg. This was matched with a refreshing Plantagenet Riesling from Australia. A beautifully-done rouget was perfect with some Stone Barns greens tossed in arcuri garlic. Flawlessly-cooked fish just makes me so happy. Another white from Bruno Giacosa in Piedmont was its match. The Berkshire pork tasted a little like offal to me. Maybe because it was too fresh–if there is such a thing. I had to ask for a steak knife to slice through it. It wasn’t tough in an overdone sense; it just didn’t fall apart. The artichoke that was served with it was stuffed with zucchini and ricotta cheese, a quite lovely side I would want to eat again and again. A tempranillo and mazuelo blend was heftier, but kept the buzz in my head going. And mmm, the last two courses were our favorite types of desserts: a fromage blanc sorbet with fresh blueberries and a strawberry granita and sorbet with red and black raspberries. Both were sweetened with a Pineto from Brachetto d’Aqui.

Blue Hill keeps their two hearts from me because I was still impressed with the food considering the circumstances. I will definitely come back a third time, but I’ll make sure I’m far away from the garden.

Related post/s:
My first Kafka-esque episode at Blue Hill
A Blue Hill recipe favorite