Best Restaurants to learn about haute cuisine

[mexigaf]

Hi guys. My name is Diego and I'm new to this site. Im a line cook on long island looking to learn more about food by visiting some of new york's better restaurants. I was wondering if anyone had any insight on to what restaurants I should visit that would really show me what great food can be. You could say I'm on a budget somewhat but I dont mind one or two real splurges. Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA

ps. If anyone knows of any interesting fine dining south american restaurants please include.

[BryanZ]

Not going to find South American fine-dining that I know of. You might be better off taking a trip down to DC to study the Andres mini-empire and see how Spanish, Asian, and Latin American all play nice.

Anywho, if you want to learn (and think) about food you need to eat at:

-Eleven Madison Park

-wd~50

-Room 4 Dessert

-Ssam Bar

-High-end sushi (Yasuda or something)

-Jean-Georges (but you have to order intelligently or risk being underwhelmed)

-Babbo for pastas if you've never had real pasta before

-Gilt (wait....)

-Desserts at Varietal (wait...)

At the risk of sounding crass, I'm going to give you some popular places that I think are not the best use of your time or money if you're looking at this from a professional development standpoint

-Country - boring

-Cru - less boring

-Bouley - somewhat passe

-Per Se (I just went there, like, not literally, but in that "Oh snap, you did not just go there!" sense) - probably the best restaurant in the city but not really worth the time given your context; there's MUCH more exciting, eye-opening food to be had

-Le Bernardin - meh unless you're into the Asian ingredients with French thing

Of course take that in context. All of the above are very solid to absolutely excellent, you just won't learn something there that you won't for less money at other establishments. This is not a list for a visitor to the city, but rather for someone who cares about taking something valuable and new from each meal.

Obviously tasting menus are the way to go. And start reading Ideas in Food just for your own betterment.

[Vadouvan]

-Jean-Georges (but you have to order intelligently or risk being underwhelmed)

Explain please....... ?

[docsconz]

-Jean-Georges (but you have to order intelligently or risk being underwhelmed)

Explain please....... ?

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I would like to read more on this as well.

As for South American fine dining, your best bet may be over the river in New Jersey at Cucharamamama, Marisel Presilla's Pan-American restaurant.

[jon777]

I would like to read more on this as well.

As for South American fine dining, your best bet may be over the river in New Jersey at Cucharamamama, Marisel Presilla's Pan-American restaurant.

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Damn... Thunder stolen! In fact, going there tonight. A real treat in Hoboken!!! I wouldn't describe it as Haute cuisine, more like traditional South American, taken to new heights and done extremely well.

BTW, think you have an extra syllable in there

http://www.cucharamama.com/

NY Times Review:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...75AC0A9629C8B63

[robert40]

I am not sure I agree that someone wishing to learn about haute cuisine for the first time should visit WD50. Or any of the restaurants serving a more modern cuisine.

I guess a good analogy is one needs to crawl before they can walk. There is a huge population out there who have no idea what a fresh peach taste like. Or the basic traditional cooking technique's practiced for years.

I would recommend visiting a restaurant like Jean George or Per Se and experiencing what a Frog Hollow peach taste like, or a chicken from Four Story Hill farm. That can be a revelation in itself for one learning about great food for the first time. Then after that one can move on to what the Liebrandt's and Dufresne's of the world are doing.

Edited April 17, 2007 by robert40 (log)

[BryanZ]

-Jean-Georges (but you have to order intelligently or risk being underwhelmed)

Explain please....... ?

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I would like to read more on this as well.

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I think it's very easy to have a merely very good, as opposed to excellent, meal at Jean-Georges, especially at lunch. With JG's emphasis on spice and, especially, acid, it's easy to select a meal that's out of balance from the wide variety of options on the lunch menu.

There was recently a trip report where a diner selected dishes that nearly all had an overtly acidic component, making the entire meal seem just a bit off. I personally think that if you order one of JG's signature sashimi-style dishes, then perhaps a cooked seafood dish with one of his signature vinaigrettes you run that risk. I'm sure the meal will overall be very good, but if you order well it can be sooooooooo good for so cheap. I suppose what I'm saying is that quality of the meal at JG can vary quite widely based on what you order, more so than at comprable restaurants.

Changing gears, I think that this dude should be exposed to modern cooking early on, he obviously wants to enjoy new experiences. With that said, eat as much Four Story Hills chicken as you possibly can, enjoy simple pastas, simple sushi dishes, etc.