David Kinch at Le Bernardin

[bourdain]

So here's what happened: Eric Ripert gets taken to Manresa Restaurant a few months ago, is blown away by the experience--so much so that he invites chef David Kinch to come to New York and organizes a press lunch for him in Le Bernardin's upstairs private dining room.

"What do you know about this guy?" I ask Eric. " Where does he come from?"

Naturally I'm thinking Kinch goes back with Eric somewhere--maybe Robuchon, maybe early days at Le Bernardin--the Palladin connection. Nope.

" I don't know," says Eric. " I just liked his food. He is good. Really good."

His confidence was not misplaced.

Passed hors d'oevres included some very sneaky delicious

"petit fours" of beet and of black olive which resembled gelee and madeleine respectively

strawberry gazpacho which I didn't get at all

sweet corn croquettes which were little square croquettes jacked with a tasty liquid corn filling

and beautifully crafted beggars purses filled with crabmeat which made me believe in beggars purses again

A foie gras and cumin caramel resembling, yup, a tiny creme renversee, was amazing

crab salad with avocado and mango was good but I'm way over avocados ( a personal problem)

sea urchin and saffron soup with orange was fantastic--the sea urchin standing up beautifully to the soup. brilliant

blue fin tuna with lightly spicy cucumber gelee was fine

delicate green curry with wild fluke also very fine

scallop carpaccio with stimson clam, sauce ravigote was scary good, kooky and made perfect sense once tasted

roast saddle of rabbit with prunes was another surprising and brilliant tweak on a classic

desserts were also excellent:

a citrus and jasmine tea gelee and black cherry financier and petit fours "grape-chocolate" cleverly mirrored the appetizer "petit fours"

I thought it was a wildly creative but well-thought out meal. beautifully presented--surprisingly minimalist, very very tasty. I immediately checked out the Manresa thread on the California board feeling very foolish that I hadn't heard of either the chef or the restaurant before. I am clearly out of the loop and not up to speed. This guy is indeed something special.

[Jaybert41]

Geez... that stuff sounds great. I off to look for more information about him now. Thanks for the report!

Upon review of the menu posted on the website I am completely intrigued. That is one of the most exciting menus that I have seen in a while.

Here is a link:

Menu

Edited June 10, 2004 by Jaybert41 (log)

[MsMelkor]

I ate there recently with a few other food-oriented people. There was much heated discussion among us on the merits of each item, so I hope my compatriots will forgive me if I have co-opted their reactions.

I'm totally with you on the strawberry gazpacho - David said it grew out of his belief that pureed strawberries and pureed tomatoes are very similar in taste and texture when taken out of context. I'm not so sure I agree with that, since the gazpacho was unmistakably strawberry.

The beet gelee was very...beety. Interesting, though. The black olive madeleines were a bit sweet, didn't you think?

I really enjoyed the corn croquettes. Great contrast of crunchy exterior and liquid center. Also loved the foie gras caramels - I could have eaten about a dozen of those.

I'm guessing David didn't bring his pastry chef to NY with him. That's a shame, as she created some amazing delectables for us. The highlight was probably the cherry crisp, which captured all that is good about the cherry.

[sashimi]

This is the chef that stole L’Arpège's egg, right?

[SKinCA]

This is the chef that stole L’Arpège's egg, right?

See this thread on that issue:

Manresa and the Infamous Egg

Chef Bourdain - we've known about David Kinch and his wonderful cooking here in the Silicon Valley for a bit, but welcome to the party!

[tanabutler]

Great write-up, TB. Glad you got to experience our local treasure.

[tanabutler]

Chef Kinch told me that he brought local (local to us) produce with him for the event.