ajgnet

So it's not technically in Buenos Aires; but, at the request of a few people, I'm going post some of my experiences from Mendoza ... the wine country of Argentina. Plus, this fits in nicely with the existing chronology of this thread. I flew to Mendoza about 4 weeks ago, where among sampling some really delicious Argentine wines, I had the most succulent, juicy, and delicious steak of my life. The first place we visited was: Azafrán Sarmiento 765, Mendoza The restaurant itself is located inside the Park Hyatt Mendoza. I'm generally pretty turned off by hotel restaurants, and I was hesitant to go here at first even despite reading very positive feedback; but, the fact that this is a hotel restaurant makes no difference with food quality or authenticity. In addition, the restaurant boasts a 300 bottle cellar, making it a nice starting point for our first night in wine country. The space is very open and is shared, somewhat, with the lobby of the hotel. While the restaurant is segmented off to the side, lobby noise does travel to the table. Despite the wooden tables, checkered floors, bowls of fruit and dried vegetables that decorate the restaurant, it still feels like eating in the lobby of a hotel. But, that doesn't really matter once the food hits the table. The bread is served hot and is baked on the property. We started with a simple greens salad (gotta eat any sort of vegetable when it's available down here) and empanadas asadas. The empanadas were piping hot (I nearly burnt my tongue); but, once they cooled, were light and delightfully not greasy. We decided to pair our main courses (everyone ordered meat) with a Saint Felicien 2005 Malbec from Catena Zapata vineyards, as per the recommendation of the sommelier. The wine was really dark and reminded me of fresh blueberries with a little bit of vanilla. It was a really nice start introduction to Argentine wines. Now, for the main courses. My friends ordered the lamb (medium), goat stew, and angus rib eye (medium-rare). I didn't try the goat stew (I really wasn't in the mood for goat) but I did try the lamb and rib eye. Both were a little over-cooked for my tastes ... personally, I like my meat rare, edging on the side of raw. None of the steaks were marinated and or any nonsense like that. The ribeye especially, had a really round flavor that made me very envious ... that is, until, I had a bite of my steak. I ordered the bife de lomo (also ribeye ... not sure why this was labeled differently on the menu) rare and, frankly, it was the most tender, flavorful, juicy steak I have ever eaten. It topped my experiences at Peter Luger, Striphouse, and BLT Steak -- ok fine, BLT Steak shouldn't be in that list. But you get the idea. Wow. I was silent for most of the meal after that steak came, mostly because I was so engaged in the incredible flavors; but, partly because I was hoping no one would ask for a taste! I guess that's another benefit of going out with a table of girls -- you get to try everyone else's food but rarely will one of them ask for a taste of yours! All in all, this restaurant is very highly recommended and, despite having only gone to two restaurants in Mendoza, I would return to Azafrán anytime in hopes of getting another bife de lomo quite like the one I had experienced. Our second day in Mendoza was our first day of truly sampling Mendoza wines. We visited four different vineyards. Alta Vista Winery Alzaga 3972, Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza Our first stop was Alta Vista, where we tried several varieties from 2005, one of which that stood out particularly was a light and crisp 2005 Rosé which had hints of grapefruit. This wine was incredibly light which went well at 9am in pretty cold weather. Catena Zapata Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza Our next stop was Catena Zapata, the vineyard that, coincidentally, produced the 2005 Saint Felicien we'd had the night before at Azafrán. I was really tempted to bring a bottle of this back with me to BA; but, I was afraid it would break. The Catena Zapata winery was definitely the most visually impressive -- the main entrance was reminiscent of a Mayan temple with a spectacular view of the Andes. Ruca Malen Ruta Nacional Nro 7 km 1059. Agrelo. Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza We had a 5-course paired lunch at Ruca Malen which was the highlight of the day. The first course was a Yauquén Chardonnay-Semillón 2006 (70% Chardonnay, 30% Semillón). We were told it was the youngest wine the winery produces. It was indeed young; but also fruity and fresh with no oak aging. Very easy to drink. This was paired with bruschetta that had thin slices of eggplant, ricotta cheese and lemon zest on top. This particular pairing highlighted the freshness of this wine which went nicely with the acidity from the ricotta and the citrous flavor from he lemon zest. Next up was the Yaquén Malbec - Cabernet Sauvignon 2006lend of 50% from each grape. This also belongs to the youngest line the winery produces. 50% of the wine was in contact with oak. It was a red wine with violet-like hues. It had a complex nose and a soft and light mouth with strong fruity notes. This was paired with a small tartelette made of grilled onions, pumpkin, and cheese. The wine highlighted the sweet notes of the onions and pumpkin. The third course started with a Ruca Malen Merlot 2004 which was, indeed, 100% Merlot. It was aged for 12 months in oak barrels (80% aged in French barrels, 20% in American). It was then aged for 12 months more in the bottle before release. It was a red wine with violet hues. The aroma was reminiscent of cherries, strawberries, and plums with some vanilla and chocolate notes. For eating, we had lentil ragout with creme fraîche ... the cream was reminiscent of the malolactic fermentation and the earthy flavors that accompany the tannins of the malbec. Just before our meat course, we got to try a bit of the Ruca Malen Malbec 2004 (85% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot). This is Ruca Malen's middle-line commercial brand, aged for 12 months in oak barrels. And again, 12 months more of bottle aging before release. It was a red with some violet hues. The aroma is reminiscent of red fruits like cherries, strawberries, and plums. Again, with some vanilla and chocolate notes. For our fourth course, we had a Kinien Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 which was 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec. This one was aged 15 months in new oak barrels, and a final 15 months in the bottle before release. It had a rich ruby red color with spicy scents and a delicate pepper touch mixed among plums, berries, and cherries. A little smoky with vanilla and chocolate character. This was paired with roast beef tenderloin, black pepper butter, olive oil and roasted peppers. This pairing seemed pretty self-explanatory! Mmm. For dessert, our fifth course, we had Quinoa bread, roasted apple cake with hesperidina and caramel sauce. No dessert wine today. After being stuffed, we still had one more vineyard to check out. Save the best for last, I suppose: Achával Ferrer Winery Calle Cobos 2601, Pedriel (5509), Mendoza Here, my favorite wine of the day, was the Achavel Ferrer Quimera 2002. It was a Malbec blend that really tasted like blackberries. Very dark coloring, very smooth. Somehow, despite all the eating and drinking, we had a little room left at the end of the day and decided to try an Italian restaurant known for making all pastas in house: Francesco Chile 1268, Mendoza What an aesthetically beautiful restaurant. Rather than eating in a large room, the restaurant was segmented off into smaller rooms which, combined with the natural woods, large shuttered windows, and comfortable living-room chairs, almost felt like eating in a nice country house. There was a bit of coldness, though, from the white walls and marble floor ... but nothing too bad, just enough to remind you that this was indeed a restaurant. The lighting was also very bright -- no candlelight here! I started this meal at the hands of our waiter who recommended the empanada special of the day. This was a mistake. The dish was less like empanada, and more like an egg white omelet with tomato sauce as can be seen in the picture. Then again, what was I doing ordering an empanada in an Italian-esque restaurant? But still, as my friend says, a menu should not be a minefield and there should be no such thing as ordering wrong. My main was the pasta special of the day: Cappelletti san martino y Oreccheitte. This was a little better; but, still nothing spectacular. The pasta albeit fresh, was way over cooked. The tomato sauce, which I'd previously experienced with my essence of empanada, was a little bland ... undersalted, I think. Dessert was pretty standard and consisted of dulce de leche and vanilla ice cream. I wanted something sweet. All in all, pretty mediocre ... we should have gone back to Azafrán! Mendoza was a fantastic weekend trip and, to anyone spending more than 2 weeks in Buenos Aires, would be a nice getaway.

Ooooh ... that sounds really nice. I can't wait to see a picture of this one.

Stopped by Casa Cruz on a Thursday night around 11pm ... seemed like things were just getting started. I'm pretty convinced porteños (literally "port people," the locals of buenos aires) have eating jet-lag. Every meal seems to be about 4-5 hours later than it would normally be in NY. Lunch around 3-4pm, dinner around 10-11pm. Most nightlife doesn't get started until 2am ... how these people get to work the next day is beyond me! Casa Cruz Uriarte 1658, Palermo On the outside, this restaurant seemed more like a nightclub -- the restaurant's name was indistinguishable, there was a security guard standing outside with his arms folded, and I had to duck through a thick velvet curtain to get into the restaurant. The first thing that struck me was the warmth of the restaurant -- lots of red woods, dimmed lightings, and exotic floral arrangements which surrounded the semi-circular bar in front. It was very comfortable and warm. Despite our 11pm reservation, there was a bit of a wait, so we had ourselves some more caipirinhas (de frutilla, de frescas, strawberry) to change it up a little ... the drinks were spot-on and the 30 minute wait flew by. We were then escorted to our table. On the way to the table, I'm pretty sure 50% of the tables I passed were speaking english which, I have learned, is pretty common in these chic "in" places ... definitely not a local joint. The bread was particularly good as the pan de campo (country bread) was served hot. The amuse was a parma ham roll with mint custard which pretty much sums up chef Germán Martitegui style: traditional argentine cuisine with a modern twist. For starters, I had a pumpkin vegetable salad ... hey, I wanted something light. Unlike many other restaurants, this menu had a lot of fish options. My main course consisted of trout over smashed potatoes. My trout was well-cooked and the vegetable accompaniments worked nicely ... this dish seemed pretty standard. My friends ordered Rock Oysters and Langoustines for appeitizers, the latter of which stole the show for the evening. There's a really fine line when serving shrimp between raw and overcooked and these langoustines were perfect. The butter saffron sauce was delicious and aromatic. For mains, my friends ordered grilled sea bass and grilled octopus, both of which did not strike me as particularly noteworthy. For dessert, we split a peach torte with honey ice cream, honey. Casa Cruz combined atmosphere with food quality in a way that I would definitely recommend. It had more hits in terms of flavor than Sucre, albeit the food wasn't so inventive. The decor made this place incredibly sexy yet comfortable, perfect for a date. So far, this was the coolest restaurant I'd been to in BA ... my favorite so far.

Hi Peter! I still haven't really gotten into wines so my feedback would, for the most part, be haphazard. I'll definitely be on the lookout, especially when I talk about a weekend trip I took up to Mendoza 3 weeks ago ... but I'd rather not focus this too much on wine, frankly, because I'm not convinced I know enough about what I'd be discussing.

It just occurred to me that I can upload photos to better share my experiences here. And, since I pretty much always bring my camera to dinner with me, I have lots of food porn to share! Plus, maybe my photos will compensate for my poor writing (but hey, maybe by the end of this I'll be a little better!) Sucre 676 Sucre, Belgrano Eating at Sucre felt like eating in a renovated factory -- lots of metal, concrete, sparsely placed tables and furniture -- fortunately, this was countered by the warm fireplace, comfortable chairs, dim lighting, and backlit liquors at the bar. The wait staff was dressed in black and intimidatingly attractive, might I add. While Fernando Trocca's restaurant was really swanky, it also served good food to match. To start, I got the Huevo de campo a baja temperatura y jamón Serrano brioche de naranja, espárragos y crema de queso manchego (country egg cooked at a low temperature, serrano ham and an orange brioche, asparagus with manchego). My main consisted of Ravioles de conejo estofado con canela en rama salsa de conejo, olivas negras tipo calamata y salvia fresca (rabbit ravioli stuffed with cinnamon and black duck sauce, calmata olives). The ravioli was way overcooked ... sort of soggy, too. My friends ordered ensalada tibia de codorniz y verdes amargos jengibre dulce, avellanas, calabaza y vinagreta de salsa de soja y panceta (warm salad of bitter quail and green sweet ginger, hazelnuts, pumpkin and of soybean vinagrette with panceta), followed by Confit de pato manzana asada con especias, emulsión de papa y jugo de pato (duck confit, spiced apple, Pope emulsion and duck jus). Another friend ordered speghetti with lamb, the description for which does not seem to be available on Sucre's website. For dessert, we split creme de “Dulce de leche” con espuma de maní, mantecol desgranado y teja de café torrado (dulce de leche cream with peanut foam, mantecol pastry and wafer of torrado coffee), as well as frozen honeycomb. The highlight of me was the frozen honeycomb which I hadn't tried before ... it was really light, fluffy, and well, cold at first ... but after a few bites, it quickly condensed into a chewy ball of crunchy honey ... the texture was really playful. One of the advantages of eating with a group of friends is getting to try a variety of different meals. I think I ordered pretty well with my lamb ravioli, it seemed to be the best of the group. The dishes used a lot of foam, which I was sort of expecting, by dint of the chef's penchant for modern. None of the appetizers were particularly special; but all were good. This seemed like a good place to take an out of town visitor; but ultimately, it was more trend than cuisine.

Morelia Báez 260, Las Cañitas This place had a really nice pizza. It was the first slice I’d eaten since arriving here and it could compete against NY thin crust slices any-day (similar to Otto). A little pricey for a pizzeria; but then again, it’s more of a sit-down restaurant that happens to have good pizzas. Unlike traditional pizzerias, Morelia adds an Argentine twist by barbecuing its pies, making the crust crunchy and slightly smokey. The dough is lightly brushed with olive oil, grilled, and flipped at which point the cheese and other toppings are added. The flipping of the crust makes sure that both sides are really crispy and don't become soggy ... really nice. I ordered a margarita pie, a vegetable pie, and a chanterelle, caramelizad onions and white cheese pie (no tomato sauce). I always feel like I have to get a margarita pie just to have some basis for comparison between pizzerias ... while this pie was really nice texturally, it was way too cheesy for me and had very little sauce. I would definitely stay away from the plain pie next time. The vegetable pie was packed high with brocolli, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and roasted tomatoes and, surprisingly, the super thin crust was able to support all this weight. My favorite pie, of the three, was the chanterelle and white cheese ... really nicely balanced between the saltiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the onions.

I decided to start with a small, relatively unknown restaurant: Cabaña Las Lilas Alicia Moreau de Justo 516, Puerto Madero you may have heard of it. R.W. Apple, Jr. listed it in his famous article, Meals Worth the Price of a Plane Ticket. It was also featured in my Lonely Planet, Frommer's, and just about every other anything that was ever written about the city. In a nutshell, this might be the most famous parilla in Buenos Aires and, ironically, I'm not sure why. I arrived with two other guests at 9:30pm, without a reserve, and was told there would be a 20 minute wait. No problem, we grabbed a table by the bar, had a caiparinha, and waited to be seated. Really nice drinks those caiparinhas. The restaurant was packed and the longer we waited, the more people continued to pour in. We were told we could be seated immediately in a smoking section, or could wait another 20 minutes for non-smoking ... we decided to take the smoking, normally something I would not do, because it seemed like no one was actually smoking at the time. As I walked to the table, the decor was trying to convince me that I had been transported to a wooden cattle ranch somewhere in the country; but, the large port-side windows and views of modern high rises quickly brought me back to reality. The room had what seemed to be a lot of wood: exposed beams, wooden tables, paneling ... but something just didn't sit right. It was as if everything had been made of plastic. My visions of eating at an Argentine steering ranch were quickly shut down by the loud english of tourists who, likely, had read many of the same recommendations as I had. Something about the place screamed inauthenticity, making me feel as if I had entered Disneyworld, a world of make believe. But I was ready to make believe, for a night, because it's about the food. The meal started off with the cover food: plates of chipa, Argentine cheese bread, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella, mushrooms, zucchini and olive oil, stewed red peppers, and chicken with olives. The waitress asked us if this was our first time eating here, which it was, and she proceeded to explain how "we do things here," starting with a varietal plate of appetizers to whet the palate. All the finger bites were tastey, particularly the chewy texture of the chipa which required no butter, but nothing really jumped out at me except the excessive amount of oil on everything. First course was a mixed vegetable salad for the sake of eating vegetables. Nothing special there. As a main, I ordered the Ojo de Bife (Rib Eye) and asked for it jugoso (rare). I was very excited when my grass-fed beef arrived which, unlike most corn-fed beef in the states, is supposed to have a leaner texture and rounder flavor. The steak pushed on the upper limits of rare, more like medium rare, but close enough. And it was a pretty good steak. Definitely the best steak I'd had so far in Buenos Aires but, after all, I'd only been here for a few days. Which makes me wonder if most food writers have really had the time to sample all these steak houses before declaring Cabaña Las Lilas as having the best steak in the country -- a pretty bold assumption, if you ask me. Dessert was a panqueque de dulce de leche con helado de crema, pretty standard, nothing special. The bill came, it was around $25 / person -- incredible by New York standards; but objectively way over-priced for what I'd just eaten. Overall, this was a good restaurant; but definitely nothing special. I think there are other places with better steaks for slightly less money.

Hi -- I don't mean to double-post. I'm new to the searching ways of this site; but, I did search for thanksgiving and found the existing threads either had no replies or were several years old. I was hoping that someone might have had a more recent experience he'd recommend. Someone had suggested Hearth, Grammercy Tavern, Craft, or Daniel which I think all sound pretty solid ... I wonder if anyone's had a Turkey there?

It looks like there will be no home cooked turkey this thanksgiving ... at least, not at home. Keeping all options open, where should my family and I (8 people, including 2 little kids) eat in the city? I had this fantasy of eating at Blue Hill Stone Barns ... but they seem to be closed that night. Are there any particular Thanksgiving experiences that you would highly recommend? Thanks for your help!

I'm living in Buenos Aires until mid-October where I'm (hopefully) improving my Spanish, learning more about the culture and, most importantly, discovering some culinary secrets on this side of the equator. I'm certainly no professional writer (I studied computer science, if you believe that) nor am I culinary expert. I'm sort of a scatterbrain; but, like everyone else here, I love food and pretty much everything about it. A little about me: I spent the last 5 years of my life living in NYC where I had all sorts of cool food during which I probably should have been studying. I've been to over 400 documented restaurants in these past 5 years (I keep a notebook) ranging from Masa (along with a good friend of mine tupac17616 who actually inspired me to write this with his trip to italy) to scoops of gelato at Il Laboratorio, and many places inbetween. My experience with food in NY has been wide-ranging; but, I have no preference for haute cuisine ... just for delicious food (in fact, I'm really turned off by pretense and the way it negatively affects my experience). My favorite restaurants in NY currently are L'Atelier and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, two places I really miss. I love the way a meal can bring together a group of totally different people to satisfy a common desire, even if they don't speak the same language or share many of the same interests. I love the feeling of spending a day in the kitchen and watching friends and family (usually) enjoying my attempt at creativity. At the risk of sounding cheesy, food is a very special glue that brings people together and, in the case of living in a foreign country, tells a lot about the culture. So, before I came down here I made a brief list of restaurants I wanted to experience while here, most of which came from various sources (personal recommendations, newspaper articles, guide books, etc ...). I always write down something after I experience a restaurant because it helps me to better relive the experience in the future and to, sometimes, better illuminate exactly what I liked. And, as an aspiring chef, these notes have been really helpful in the kitchen. Before coming down here, I realized that there was not too much activity on Buenos Aires restaurants in cuisine in general, only a few threads here and there. So, I decided that it might be helpful to post some of my experiences here so that, hopefully, future foodies can make more informed decisions! So here's my list so far. If you have any experience at these places please share. Likewise, if you have a must-visit place that is not on this list, please share that too! All and any input is requested! Cabaña Las Lilas, Sucre, El Gaucho, Oviedo, Le Mistral, Tomo Uno, Duhau Restaurante & Vinoteca, La Bourgogne, Rosa Negra, Le Sud, Restó, Yuki, Anciens Combattant, Bengal, Italpast, Sinclair, Don Carlos, La Dorita, Casa Cruz, Olsen, Guido’s Bar, La Generosa, Morena, La Cabrera, Enfundá La Mandolina, Desde el Alma, La Escondida, Puratierra, Maizales, Las Cholas, Osaka, Azzurra 222, El Diamiante, Te Mataré Ramirez, Cala Bistró, De La Ostia, Cluny, Bar Uriarte, Spirit Deli & Oyster Bar, Little Rose, Rodizio, Dada, Guerrin, Tuñin, Morelia Stay tuned!

what differences have you noticed (if any) with coffee quality and preparations? is cafe americano really rare and espresso the standard? how about cappuccinos? here in buenos aires, coffee is taken very seriously. so seriously, in fact, that i have not seen a single starbucks anywhere. the starbucks equivalent, havanna, gets the ratios of milk/foam to coffee really nicely and knows when a shot has been pressed for too long. it's pretty incredible. all this, though, is from the heavy italian influence. i can't imagine what it's like where you are ... at the source!

I cannot believe the size of this place. Does this make you miss whole foods back at home? How did the French pastries compare to others that you've had in Italy, and back in New York? The Eataly website made me very hungry.

Those are some really fantastic points ... especially the second one. I can't stand when nori gets chewy from the rice's moisture. There's literally a 10-second golden eating window ... I get sort of compulsive about that. Another important thing I try to do is eat the time-sensitive pieces first. Even at the sushi bar, it's possible to have overlapping courses or multiple items served at once. In this case, temperature and humidity sensitive pieces are elevated to red alert: uni, ikura, unagi/anago, hand rolls of any kind, maki (seaweed on outside only), etc ... In terms of finding out the most information from the sushi chef, I'm always sort of skeptical at new places to completely trust the chef. How do I know that he doesn't want to get rid of certain cuts for time-sensitivity? Maybe the chef thinks I don't like shirako, so he won't tell me he has it. I guess sitting at a table makes finding out this information even more difficult; I guess I just feel like sitting at the sushi bar doesn't guarantee complete accuracy.

Which part? The part about Tupac being skinny??? Sorry....I couldn't resist! We ALL wish we knew his secret! ← I've never met anyone who eats as much as Tupac and who remains as skinny! It's crazy. I remember him telling me about the first time he went to DiFara's in New York and "the pie" he enjoyed ... he literally meant the entire pie. Hope you're having a great time in Italy, Tupac! You've inspired me to put together something about my current adventures in Buenos Aires.

I wonder if he's going to keep the spaghetti alla chitarra con pomodoro fresco on the menu. I remember being intrigued, but ultimately underwhelmed, by this dish.

I'm a big fan of Balthazar Bakery and would put it in my top 5 list. Ceci-Cela is also in my top 5; it has a mean croissant if you like them flaky; you can also sit down in the back and read for awhile. Balthazar Bakery does not have seating other the benches outside. If you don't mind pretense and a trip to the upper east side, Payard is my favorite bakery in New York. They have the most diverse selection and, for a croissant person, the perfect balance between flake and moisture. I'd recommend (in order): Payard, Patisserie Claude, Ceci-Cela, La Bergamote, and Balthazar Bakery. Anyway, have a great trip in New York! Enjoy!

Hah, I'd love to see Dom not use his hands ... Is there any update as to when DiFara's is slated to open? I really miss the calzones.

I dined at Cafe Boulud several months ago with some friends of mine. I'd heard such incredible things about the restaurant and, after having a highlight meal of 2006 at Daniel, I greatly anticipated what was to await at one of Chef Boulud's other restaurants. Unfortunately, to say the least, things did not go so well that night. We arrived on a Saturday night for a 9pm reserve. I know there had been some discussion about capacity problems on Friday and Saturday nights; so, I anticipated a wait before being seated. This wait turned into being seated at 10:30pm. What made this extremely painful was being consistently told that we would be seated "shortly." Otherwise, we could have gone somewhere else and come back. When we were finally seated, the manager apologized for the extended wait and kindly offered us a class of wine. A minor bleep, nothing too bad ... and hey, I had some extra time to look at the dishes on other tables. Then, things got really bad. My first course, Butternut Squash Soup, was really disappointing. The soup was very thin with a viscosity similar to skim milk. It would run off my spoon without leaving any granular bits of squash behind, something that I look forward to with such a warm and autumnal soup. The soup was under-salted. It was also lukewarm. The portioning was way off -- the bowl seemed more appropriate for tortilla chips. The combination of the soup’s thinness and sheer volume made me reach for the bread instead of the spoon. To add to the randomness, grazing the top of this were raw apple slices (with skin) and a raw brussel sprout leaf. For me, this textural contrast was just too sharp. I also don’t really understand what the leaf was doing there. This whole dish seemed way off. My friend ordered the same soup. Since we were dining with an employee of the Dynex group, we felt awkward sending the dish back and decided to cut our losses and save our appetites after the fifth bite. The second course, Sea Bass with Squid Ink Risotto was not nearly so disappoining as the first; but, it too was lackluster. Aside from the overall dull flavor, my biggest complaint was the lukewarm temperature again. There was also a shiny film that began to form over the risotto, making me think it’d been sitting around for awhile. Second, was the staining caused by the squid ink. It made the risotto so dark and opaque, that the seasoning and miniature pieces of chorizo were indiscernible. With each slicing of the fish, pieces would fracture off into the muddy abyss. Granted, that might be a personal preference of liking to see exactly what I’m eating. On the plus side of things, the warm madeleines at dessert were a nice treat. A little dry but the warm temperature made up for that in my book. The only other place I’d ever eaten warm madeleines, outside my own kitchen, was at Daniel. It seems like such a basic idea that really goes a long way. Real tasty. The highlight of the meal came with the petits fours. Small cream puff pastries with cherry cream filling. Absolutely fresh, perfectly balanced (not overly sweet with a pinch of fleur de sel on top), and texturally beautiful. These might have been the best cream puffs I’ve ever had. We requested 3 additional rounds of petits fours. I still think about them. Overall, I think this was just an off night. I’d like to return at some point to confirm my suspicion.

Had dinner at Masa last night and sat at the sushi bar. I’ve spent a significant amount of time in Japan and, excluding the price, I think this is probably the best sushi experience I’ve had outside of Tokyo. I’ll try my best too recap the ambiance, then the service, and then the food. After opening the 30,000 year-old wooden door the first thing I noticed was the lack of windows. While for most restaurants this is negative, mainly because it can feel claustrophobic, in Masa’s case it added to the ethereal feeling of being transported to a Tokyo sushi-ya. When we arrived around 8:30 the restaurant was full; yet silent. In fact, my friend and I felt the need to whisper for the first 45 minutes until the volume gradually increased (likely due to the alcohol). This quietness was quite refreshing, though a bit awkward at first. The room is very sparse in typical Japanese minimalist fashion; but, it was very warm – this was due to the artful lighting and warm woods. As said before, the sushi bar is a solid piece of hinoki wood, sanded nightly to maintain it’s impeccable cleanliness and smoothness. In total, I counted 10 seats at the sushi bar, 4 tables of 2, and 2 tables of 4. There is only one seating for the night. There was a lot of eye-gazing going around in the restaurant, as if everyone was curious just who else was crazy enough to spend this kind of money on a meal (these people have not eaten in Ginza where these prices are common). Within moments of sitting down we were handed hot towels and a sake menu. I ordered a carafe of sake and when it arrived, it came with a large (around 16” long) piece of black hair. It really wasn’t a big deal I just asked for a second cup. After politely showing the waitress, who was very embarrassed, the cup was replaced and I was told this round of sake would be on the house. We weren’t lucky enough to be sitting 2 seats to the left in Masa’s territory -- perhaps this is something that needs to be requested ahead of time. Our sushi chef asked if we had any restrictions – we did not. Our chef was a little cold and curt at first but warmed up toward the end of the meal. Actually, now that I think about it, he said some pretty condescending things. My friend kindly asked for no wasabi in his sushi to which the chef responded “no problem; sometimes wasabi is a little over people’s heads …” At the end of the meal, I asked if they had some of the soba ice cream that Bar Masa next door (it’s delicious and I craved it) … the chef responded, “that’s not the concept at this restaurant.” I don’t think he meant it so harshly as it sounds; it was just funny. As for the food, I was blown away by the caviar & toro w/ toast. It was a helpful serving of osetra as well. The combination of the butter soft tuna with the slightly salty roe was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I was disappointed, though, by the uni risotto which seemed to need some more of a kick – even salt would have done it. Also, the fish broth w/ whitefish was disappointing as it was somewhat bland. The nigri sushi stole the show for the night. I’ve simply never had fish of this quality outside of Tokyo. Yasuda comes close, and Kurumazushi comes closer, but nothing at this level. I took note of everything served last night: 1. Chestnuts & Warm Ginko Nuts 2. Caviar & Toro w/ toasted bread 3. Aji (Spanish Mackerel) with sea salt vinagrette 4. Baby eel w/ olive oil 5. Uni Risotto 6. Fish w/ cucumbers and broth 7. Broth 8. Otoro (Fatty Tuna) Nigiri Sushi 9. Otoro (Fatty Tuna) Nigiri Sushi 10. Shima aji (Yellowhack) Nigiri Sushi 11. Hirame hira Nigiri Sushi 12. Tae (Seabream) Nigiri Sushi 13. Kinme (Deep sea snapper) Nigiri Sushi 14. Ika (Squid) Sushi 15. Ama ebi (Sweet Shrimp) Nigiri Sushi 16. Aoyagi (Orange Clam) Nigiri Sushi 17. Tori-Gai (Birdshell Fish) Nigiri Sushi 18. Hotate (Scallop) Nigiri Sushi 19. Grilled Toro (Fatty Tuna) Nigiri Sushi 20. Kohara Nigiri Sushi 21. Tako (Octopus) Nigiri Sushi 22. Uni (Sea Urchin) Nigiri Sushi 23. Seared Sanma ("like mackarel") Nigiri Sushi 24. Maguro (Lean Tuna) Nigiri Sushi 25. Baby Scallop Nigiri Sushi 26. Grilled Anago (Saltwater Eel) Nigiri Sushi 27. Grilled Unagi (Saltwater Eel) cucumber sushi (no rice) 28. Black Truffle crusted rice 29. Shitake Mushroom Nigiri Sushi 30. Nege Toro (diced toro w/ scallion) Maki 31. Sea Salt Ume 32. Additional Uni Nigiri Sushi 33. Additional Deep Sea Snapper Nigiri Sushi 34. Japanese White Peach Overall, this was an outstanding meal and worth $350. We ate quite a significant amount of fish for this price – some of which, like the Toro, can be very expensive on its own.