BryanZ

Kyotofu 705 Ninth Ave btwn. 48th St. & 49th 212-974-6012 After a very nice sushi dinner at Sasabune on the other side of the city, we trekked over to Kyotofu, the new Japanese dessert bar. By 9:20 there was a wait of about ten minutes, easily passed by looking at the menu and drink list. Although we didn't have any the cocktails look especially tasty. The room is very minimalist and chic. The tables very tightly spaced. I wondered why they didn't make the kitchen prep and bar area smaller while expanding the dining room. Perhaps the walls were already in place, but they could have accomodated a larger dining area given the restaurant's overall dimensions The menu itself is somewhat confusing, and this is for someone who has a basic understanding of the Japanese language. Perhaps because I've never been overly fond of Japanese pastry (as opposed to Japanese-style French pastry which I love) many of Kyotofu's offerings were foreign to me. The menu does not describe what okayu, anmitsu or dorayaki are, thus requiring the assistance of a server when ordering. Those servers were somewhat scarce and it took several somewhat lengthy minutes for one to finally come over to take our drink order and answer any questions on the menu. The staff was very friendly though and gave off a distinct downtown vibe. In fact, the whole restaurant seems out of place at its address given its soundtrack, design, staff, and overall atmosphere. We ordered one dessert and one "Kaiseki prix fixe" to share between the two of us. This was an ample amount of food for those who don't mind sharing. The kaiseki includes three courses (much like a Chikalicious) for $15. This was a very fair price for the variety of desserts included in the set. Included in the kaiseki was: A sweet tofu with some kind rich "Japanese-sweet" (those who know, know) syrup. This was very tasty. Again, not sweet and creamy in the European pastry sense, but definitely sweet and creamy. Next was a main course sampler that included anmitsu with black currant mochi, kinako-an cream, azuki red bean sauce. The anmitsu (a type of Japanese jelly dessert gelled with agar) was subtly flavored with plum sake. I thought the plum sake flavor wasn't strong enough but the accompaniments were very cool. There was also a portion of okayu, a type of Japanese rice pudding. Again, the base flavor was very subtle but the accompaniments of dried sour cherry, kuromitsu whipped cream, and candied ginger definitely made the dish. Next was a miso-chocolate cake (did they take this from Goldfarb, did Goldfard take it from Japan?) that was quite tasty. The miso flavor was light so that it worked to bolster the rich bitterness of the chocolate without adding too much fermented salt. Personally, I would've like more miso, but I love that combination in general. Lastly there was a fig yokan, another gelatinzed offering served with a roasted soy bean powder (I think). This was the least appealing item of the night, as it was kind of bland. The petits fours in the kaiseki were two very moist cookies. I usually don't like cookies, but these were very tasty. One was a very subtle kinako, or roasted soy bean, which we first thought was salty peanut butter. The other was a cookied dipped in green tea chocolate. The dessert we ordered separately was the toasted walnut tahitian vanilla parfait with maple soy-marscapone mousse and caramel apricot sauce. This was very similar to the kulfi that's been on the menu at Tabla forever. This version works walnuts into the frozen cutsard itself. The apricot caramel was nice but I would've liked more of it to brighten up the vanilla. This was good but not great. They presented us with what I think were orange-y gelatin jelly things with the check. They were kind of hard to pick up and at went bouncing onto the table for us and another party next to us. Hold tight. All in all a very nice, subtly tasty experience. Kyotofu really gets into what modern Japanese pastry is all about. Thankfully it eschews much of the traditional Japanese "sweets," which I hate with a passion unmatched, in favor of a more modern approach. Unlike Chikalicious, however, it still retains a distinctly Japanese soul. The food, after tax, before tip was $25. Cocktails are $9ish, teas $3-$6 for a pot.

Start with the adventures thread. There's another good thread linked in there. If you have any other questions, I can answer them based on what little knowledge I have working with the product.

I mean I don't know anything about chocolates and the GR ones looked "prettier" to me. Now that you reveal that they're different styles, I see that my comparison of aesthetics wasn't really applicable.

Yeah, that happens. Though usually not when I'm out with my mom.

Another great lunch at JG today. The place was really bumping, certainly the most crowded I've seen it. On one hand, the restaurant seemed more alive and festive than any other time I've been before. On the other, it lost some of its airy elegance. Not a complaint, just reflection on this season in the city. The staff was really great about seeing to our time constraints. We had a 1:30 reso and needed to get out by 3. We were able to get three savory courses and dessert plus petits fours with a bit of time to spare. They brought out the food efficiently and I praise them for that. Service was still quite polished, though, again, not as refined as its competitors. We had (from memory): Amuse of hamachi sashimi, cured ginger, chive; parmesan panna cotta, roasted beet, arugula puree; ravioli with black truffle apple??? (not quite sure on this last one) Santa Barbara sea urchin, black bread, butter, jalapeno, yuzu - I added a bit of Manni Per Mi olive oil because I thought it rounded out the citrusy and spicy notes of the dish. A great dish with a noteworthy balance of strong flavors. The spice of the jalapeno was quintessentially JG. I thought the portion was a bit small, but mainly because I'm an uni whore. Scallops, caper-raisin emulsion blah blah blah - A classic and what I riff off of when I do scallop dishes Bruleed foie gras, dried cherries, pistaschios, wine gelee - Another classic, this time with cherries and pistaschios. The more I have this dish, the more I realize that great foie dishes are made not necessarily by the quality of the foie itself but by the chef's control of the bitter and acidic accompaniments. Poached and grilled escolar, lemon spaetzle, crispy trumpet mushrooms, shallot vinaigrette - Very tasty, nice acidic fish dish with enough creaminess from the spaetzle and earthiness from the mushrooms to give it balance. Venison, chili broccoli rabe, quince puree??, Cabrales foam- This dish looked like something I would serve. It was probably tastier, though. Venison seemed a bit tough to cut at first but was very tender in the mouth. I would've liked more spice in the broccoli rabe but it did add a nice fresh, green note to the plate. Late Harvest dessert - I was less taken by this dessert than Ling on her recent NYC trip report. I thought it was good, but I actually liked the apple side of things more. The beet/chocolate side was an interesting (in both the good and strange senses of the word) combination that I liked but didn't love. Think sweet/bitter chocolate minerally/sweet beets. Ling also commented on the quality of chocolates at JG vs. Gordon Ramsay. While I do appreciate the thinner coating of chocolate at JG, those at GR look more professional. The fillings in the latter were also more pronounced to my palate. Great meal, great restaurant, never ever disappoints.

Raji, do you want to start a new thread for Kyotofu. I think it merits one. I'd also love to hear a more detailed account. I've been to tons of places like this in Japan, but seeing one in NYC is kind of cool.

My mom used to make this stuff when I was a kid, and I've had it in Japan a few times. I think Hiroyuki is right in that you're technically supposed to use just normal green cabbage. Napa cabbage, like you used, would work though. Looks tasty nonetheless. Jeremy, you like Lifetime and Sunny Day. That amuses me; good times. For those who actually want to join the official eG Facebook group, "I Post on eGullet" you're going to have to go to facebook.com, then go to "my groups," then go to the bottom of the page, then do a search for "i post on." For some reason typing in "eGullet" doesn't come up with any matches. Follow these instructions and you'll be among the coolest cats on Facebook. Then again, Facebook is so lame.

Yeah, that piece just came out this week. I think it's really well-written, and Bridget, the author, was so nice. I'm not sure what you're referring to. There was Z Kitchen stuff in the SF Chronicle and Independent Weekly (a local magazine), so maybe you read those links I posted here or something. Or maybe you're referring to the fact that my culinary philosophy pretty much mimics that of the chefs I've talked to and grilled with questions. In that regard, everything I say has been published elsewhere. You can't win 'em all. Thank you. They're cooked in-shell 62C for about an hour. I like the look, too. Some people are kind of indifferent to this dish because it is just an egg. But then again I think it embodies everything that is cool about an egg. The way the proteins behave under heat, the way the flavor is subtly intensified. Good times.

Yeah man, they have a dessert tasting menu. Jordan Kahn himself is a big draw the restaurant.

Following what SE said, I wonder if you could elaborate a bit further on your wd~50 experience. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessments of the other locations, but I'm perhaps a bit troubled by the fact that wd~50 didn't live up to your expectataions.

Tailor will open in early '07 by Sam Mason. Varietal is a full service restaurant but they have a dessert tasting menu similar to Chef Stupak's at wd~50.

See, that's where I'm not sure. As I said I don't have the jar in front of me so I can't say for sure. I do recall reading only a couple ingredients on the back, soy sauce, maltodextrin of some kind, and no oil or fat or anything. Again, the texture is very different that powders made from tapmalto.

Someone needs to step and do a whole standing rib roast SV. Blast it in like a 550 oven to brown it at the end. My baths aren't big enough and my vacuum bags aren't big enough to hold something of that size..

I've had some very nice and very disastrous results. Needless to say, foie can be very easy to prepare but also very easy to destroy completely. Terrines are nice because you can totally mangle the liver and just smush (a very technical term) it all back together. Since I'm pretty OCD I pass the foie through a tamis after soaking overnight in milk and removing the major veins. I know other people soak in sparkling water. Some people dont like to destroy the liver by passing it through the tamis but I've found that it comes back together just the same and is blessedly vein free. Granted, the veins won't hurt you, so the choice is yours. There's a lot of good information in the cooking/curing from Charcuterie thread and the Terrine thread. If you want to do a torchon, Keller's recipe is real easy and the standby for many. You might be able to Google it. You're going to have to keep it tightly wrapped in plastic to keep it from oxidizing and drying out. It's foie though so it should be delicious that it doesn't stay around for long. I like Keller's pickled cherries, kumquats, grapefruit marmalade, brioche, beet syrup, stuff like that. And Sauternes if you've got it. I love Sauternes.

My chalenge to you for this blog is to consume more food than I did in mine. I wish you luck in this endeavour. And if you get around to making some of the unagi we were talking about please take pictures. As an aside, we need to start a global eG Facebook group. There's me, you, Shal, s_sevilla, tupac (but I haven't seen him around), chianti_glace, Rocklobster. Anyone else? Where are the ladies?

I only cook for friends now. So making "friends" with the owner of a wine store (though my age makes this difficult) and similar people seems to be a good idea. Mainly I just talk to people who are interested about food and see if they're interested in me cooking for them. Needless to say, I've already learned A LOT. I might be doing some luxe meals next semester. The only problem is that since I can't source any foie or truffles or uni or top-notch duck or my other favorite foods locally that means I have it mailed in. This costs a lot. Soy sauce powder is product distributed by Ajinomoto. It's effectively soy sauce that's been dehydrated with a type of maltodextrin. I don't have the container here, so I can't tell you exactly which maltodextrin, but I'm quite sure it's not tapioca maltodextrin because of the mouth feel. I love tapmalto for dessert applications and in small quantities on the savory side, but the gumminess isn't applicable to everything. Whatever Aji uses reconstitutes "cleaner."

That's a pretty baller trip, especially in three days. Looks like something I would do. Props.

I mentioned this in another recent thread, but I use xanthan gum. It's heat stable so you can hold foams in the canister in a water bath for a few hours and keep them warm. It also adds more body and stability than soy lecithin in my experience.

Well, that was a really long paragraph. Welcome to eG FoodPassion. Seeing that Chef Kahn acknowledged that there were POS problems on that night, Sneakeater's comments seem more than fair. Sneakeater tells it how it is from a very real, down to earth perspective. While I'm more than inclined to believe him, having heard of similar timing issues here and on other boards, that doesn't mean that I'm any less inclined to visit. No one is at all questioning Chef Kahn's ability, but the day a restaurant opens to the public it is subject to any criticism its diners choose to give out. As others have said, it will be more interesting to see how the restaurant grows and matures.

Under the videos. It's called "Elia meets a friend" or something like that.

So there's a great extra video on the Top Chef website that just has to be watched. In it, Elia meets up with Stephen (yes, that Stephen; they're friends and I believe he recommended her for the show) after the cooking for the party is done. So, in typical Stephen fashion he rips on everyone, calling them "hacks" etc etc. I was so pleased. Then, to top it all off, he rips on Marcel ("the guy who worked at Robuchon with you") and says his food pretty much sucked. Elia was aprehensive to agree, probably because she didn't want to seem like a pretentious bitch (in addition to a tool and a douchebag) on camera, but you could tell she was kind of agreeing with Stephen. I wish I was friends with them so I could get these little nuggets of Stephen-wisdom.

Selling rocks on the streets can be tough, indeed. I thought Sam' team did a really nice job with the challenge, even if the food wasn't amazing, seeing them work together was refreshing. It would've been very, very sad to see Elia go. Thanks to Mia, we get to hear sweet, sweet accent for yet another week. I kind understood where Marcel was coming from after Sam was named the leader at the judge's table. I think that he just simplly wanted to emphasize that it was a team challege and they all really rocked it. Unfortunately he wasn't able to articulate that fact clearly and ended up looking like an ass. Why can't Marcel and Ilan get along like Stephen and Harold last season? I'm excited to hear Ilan talking smack next week. "Make your foams and go cry in the corner!" Classic. But Marcel has a wealth of ammunition to fire back with. The watches, the sunglasses, the earring, the fauxhawk, the Spanish food ad nauseum. I hope we see a Candace v. Stephen-esque bloodbath.

We'll file this under the "trainers" category and call it a day.

Indeed these are very Adria-esque platings, perhaps more so than any other I've seen in NY. While I'm perhaps a fervent modernist, I'm still not entirely convinced by this style of plating. Striking and beautiful, yes, but even I feel as if there might be too much going on and not enough aesthetic focus. This is by no means a criticism of Chefs Kahn, Adria(s), Stupak et al, but rather a gut reaction. Regardless, I'm very, very excited to eat here now and will do so in the next couple weeks. Now that we've have a Varietal thread, can you divulge approximate prices, Doc? ← actually these platings are not at all like anything from adria they are more like grant which is direct line from the second book of michel bras totally different school of aesthetics most of the adria platings have 1/4 the amount of components looks beautiful a rose by any other name still looks good ← I'm certainly not an expert, but having studied the El Bulli photos extensively (both sweet and savory) that was the first aesthetic that came to mind. To say they're completely disparate (a popular word in this thread it seems) is perhaps too reductionist. But with that said, I do also see the Bras influences. Based on what I've seen of Bras' work, he, more than any other, conveys movement and energy on the plate. I think this is what Kahn is doing, though it seems he's taking this idea even further. So in general, I see similarities in the general aesthetic between the work of Adria, Kahn, Achatz, Stupak, etc. This plating style, however, is in my mind severely departed from Keller's which is incredibly focused and most often symetrical. Personally I'm most attracted to the middle ground between the two camps struck by Chefs Talbot and Kamozawa, but that's only b/c I <3 their work.

You can probably look it at up at www.channel4.com/fword