I had an amazing dining experience last night at this place. I was and still am in shock that a place like this is actually in New Jersey. You walk through a set of froasted double doors and then you enter this amazing space with a lit wall of color changing hues. The tables are set in all white with white marble chargers. The tapas menu was not offered to us either just the tasting menus. My girlfriend and I took Tommy's advice and opted for a four course and we "put our selves in the restaurants hands." First of all I wanted to kick myself for not bringing a camera to take pics but I will have to on my next visit. Our amuse bouche was some king of rabbit roll with a carrot water. Very interesting and tasty. For our first course my girlfriend was given the "burnt pear salad" and I recieved crispy rock shrimp. The presentations of both thses dishes were phenominal. The burnt pear salad doesnt look or taste anything like a salad. It is a line of cylinder shaped apples that have been heavily caramelized then topped with a blue veined chesse fondant and a spicy pecan with a single selery leaf placed atop each one ( I think there is about 5 of them) They all sit on a small puddle of caramel gastrique. The crispy shrimp had the coolest presentation I have ever seen for a dish anywhere. They are coated with a tangy and spicy aioli and places in a glass tube that kind of looks like a bong laying flat. There are six indentations with the shimp sitting in each with toastd sesame and frizzled wasabi leaves. At this point we could have left and already be completely blown away. The second course consisted of Diver Scallops for myself and " paella" for my girlfriend. The scallops were ultr good and were topped with an airy orange foam. They melt in your mouth. This"paella" was the most interesting of the dishes we sampled. It consisted of a saffron rice that had been puffed, with edamame beans, manilla clams and ausralian prawns. The dish comes with two pipettes that are filled with a very strong flavored paella broth. We felt wierd squirting it in our mouths but the taste was delicious and you can actually taste all the elements of traditional paella in this broth. At this point in the meal we were so overwelmed that it was almost exhausting. In a good way. We kept telling ourselves and the server"I cant believe this place is in NJ. Why? The culinary wasteland of the universe. Thank god. Any how, next came the air. This was the sickest thing Ive ever had in my life! It comes in a champagne flute and is flavored with orange blossoms. This thing was so good and refreshing. Just to let you know, to recieve the air you must order at least a four course menu. After interegating outr waiter on how the chef makes it he said that ist is a foamy emulsion that is frozen with liquid nitrogen. Youve got to be shitting me! Wild. Next came the Lamb raviolo and foie gras beignets. Im not a huge fan of fioe gras but this preparation was easy for me to eat. To doughnut shaped beignets filled with liquifide foie gras served with chocolate ganaches cranberrys cooked in somekind of japanese vodka and cand apple sorbet. The hot and cold element of this dish was enjoyable and interesting. The lamb rav was also interesting. It comes with akujura(sp?) and dehydrated garlic yogurt and micro mint. This dish was very robust and a bit spicy. It was a good change form the previous dishes we sampled. Next the shortribs. AHHHHHHHH. Amazing. So tender you would think it was butter. I dont know how they get it so tender but If you go there, make sure you get this one. It was the best preparation I ever had. The venison was also excellent coming with a "cherry leather". This was an amazing element to this dish. The best way i can describe the is that it is like a thicker more natural tasting version of a fruit rollup. It starts off slightly chewy then dissolves in your mouth. Interesting. Next came a wild berry "fizz". This was also very cool. Dehydrated Berries ground up with poprocks. Definitely whimsical and interesting. Last was dessert. I was a bit upset with the dessert That was chosen for me. Im not a big fan of sweet potatoes so a pana cotta didnt do much for me. Its my fault. I should have told the server that is the only dessert I didnt like. Some luck! They did offer to give me something different but at this point Iwas so full I didnt want to impose on the kitchen. My wife recieved a black pepper and chocolate soup with a funnel cake type thing, turkish pistachio ice cream and mango aspic on a bamboo skewar. Awsome dessert. I highly reccomend this one. With the check we also recieved a pear and ginseng injection which comes in a pipette. In my opinion this is the place to go in Nj if you are into a serious dining experience. There is nothing in the state doing anything remotely close to this. I just recommend you go with an open mind and try everything! I now know why this place got an excellent without a liquor licence. Its a shame they dont have one but if they did, alot of us probably wouldnt be able to afford it. So its a good thing. I just wish I brought a camera. Ive also been to wd-50 on the lower east side, and in my opinion, this place is better. Check it out and get the short ribs.
