Room 4 Dessert

[BryanZ]

The melted "butter orb" at Alinea is an example of the combo can be used in hot applications.

[tan319]

The melted "butter orb" at Alinea is an example of the combo can be used in hot applications.

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...very interesting...

[ASM NY]

I for one thought he was kidding when he offered me some!!! Happy to hear there is a "dealer" in these substances around here... Will have to score some soon! Jokes aside, I think it's a nice gesture to hook people up with these items that are very hard to find.

It might be a little off-topic, but for those wondering, Calcium Chloride is indeed the chemical used to melt snow. It is used however, in the food industry as well. (I would be very careful about using the one they use for the snow in the kitchen). You have to make sure to get "food grade" CaCl.

More recently it has become more popular thanks to the good people at elBulli. Adria was working on his "liquid ravioli", which is basically a self enclosed "liquid sphere" of a juice/puree.

Sodium Alginate and Calcium Chloride react with each other. So if for example one mixes the alginate with apple juice and then this is poured into a solution of Calcium Chloride the drops of apple juice will react with the solution and create a membrane around themselves, thereby effectively enclosing the liquid in itself.

There is a recipe for Adria's apple caviar at the starchef's website here and the mango ravioli here.

Will currently prepares these with mango in his "Voyage to India" dish, and both flavor and textures are outstanding. That alone is worth the trip.

[tan319]

Thanks for that clarification, Arley!

[BryanZ]

Alinea's butter orb is essentially a butter "liquid ravioli". It's a really cool, almost alien effect for those who haven't experienced it.

Edited February 26, 2006 by BryanZ (log)

[M.X.Hassett]

For the Mango recipe cited the addition of sodium citrate is also needed as in most of Adrias "sphere" recipes from El3 to lower the acidity.

Edited February 26, 2006 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[alanamoana]

for people who have been to both...how would you compare R4D with Chikalicious?

i understand that R4D is serving more "avant garde" desserts on par with WD-50, el bulli, etc. as opposed to Chikalicious which is more traditional, but how would you compare the ambiance, service, concept, etc.?

one of my criticisms with Chikalicious was that the desserts and petit fours didn't change frequently enough (in my opinion) for a place that only served dessert. i only went once, but from other people's posts and comments it seems that they all had the same things i did over the course of two years!

if this needs to be spun off into its own thread, please do so. i'm not sure about etiquette with these things

i'm sad i left new york before being able to give R4D a try!

[ASM NY]

for people who have been to both...how would you compare R4D with Chikalicious?

i understand that R4D is serving more "avant garde" desserts on par with WD-50, el bulli, etc. as opposed to Chikalicious which is more traditional, but how would you compare the ambiance, service,  concept, etc.?

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I find the concept to be similar, but a few differences. While R4D is definetly more creative, I don't think their desserts are necessarily over the top. While Chikalicious has a "bar" and a few tables. R4D is one long bar.

At Chikalicious, you get an amuse and petit fours, and pick a choice of dessert. At R4D each of the dessert options is a "set" of 4 dessert items or so. (you can also order a "glass" of dessert, which is only 1 item). If you go by yourself, the variety of the things you would probably try would be similar. If you go in a group, you could probably get to try a lot more different things at R4D.

From a service standpoint, I find the service at both places to be very good and friendly. At R4D however, I found the staff more approachable and social. We spoke for a while with Will and our waitress. Much more in line with what you'd expect from your bartender!

Chikalicious opens in the afternoon and on weekends, while R4D opens nights and closes on Sundays. Chikalicious lends itself as a good place to go for dessert on a Sunday after lunch. R4D is more of a place for dessert on a weeknight or saturday night. On the same note, R4D serves cocktails and feels more like a fun bar (darker, music).

Personally R4D is more my type of place (although I do wish they opened earlier on weekends). I have only been to R4D once, but I did enjoy the food and the ambiance more than Chikalicious. Don't get me wrong, I have been to Chikalicious many times and enjoy their desserts.

[bripastryguy]

After spending something like 2 hours just hanging out , talking and eating with Will and Bob, enjoying the hipness of R4D, I planned a stage with Bob. Will was a most gracious host, very free with his knowledge and list of suppliers. He reminised about his days on Long Island (as I was a troop of Long Island Top Chefs) I plan to spend some time talking to these guys in the future and will make it a point to visit the restaurant as often as my wallet allows.

[Bond Girl]

Time out 2006 award. Best Reason to Skip Dinner. Congrats to Will, Bob, Laurent and Stephan.

[ellencho]

Some friends and I have reservations for this weekend and we have never been there before. Is there any sort of dress code?

[Sneakeater]

I would say you definitely have to wear clothes. But they're so accomodating there that they'd probably come up with some kind of coverall for you if they decided it was important.

[ellencho]

Fair enough. I guess I left myself wide open for a smartass answer. Let me be more specific then. Is the dress there usually casual, or is it more along the lines of trendy night life type clothing?

[Nathan]

you can wear anything you want.

its very casual. I was there with a friend last night after work (albeit after 11) and so I was in a suit...but I've been there in jeans and a sweater certainly...

for chef spotters taking notes -- Wylie and Paul were in last night (among others)

[Sneakeater]

Fair enough. I guess I left myself wide open for a smartass answer. Let me be more specific then. Is the dress there usually casual, or is it more along the lines of trendy night life type clothing?

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I apologize. I didn't mean that as a smartass answer. I meant to convey that anything would be acceptable there.

[tupac17616]

I suspect Sneakereater's reply above was not a smartass answer but rather his way of trying to convey how incredibly nice and accomodating the Room 4 Dessert staff is. And if so, I definitely agree with him on that account. Oh, and just fyi, on my two visits, I saw everything from hockey jerseys to suits and ties. Just wear whatever you feel like wearing. Go. Eat. Drink. Enjoy. It's a fun place.

[tan319]

Time out 2006 award. Best Reason to Skip Dinner. Congrats to Will, Bob, Laurent and Stephan.

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Ditto!!!

Very nice, congrats to all!

[ellencho]

My bad. Thanks for the clarifications everyone.

[Sneakeater]

Entirely new menu.

Frankly, as a reading/ordering document, it isn't as appealing as the initial menu, on which just about every dish (or assemblage) virtually leaped off the page as something that seemed great. The items on this menu didn't seem to me as immediately attractive.

OTOH, I had the "red" plate, and it was GREAT. My dining companion (a first-time visitor) was thrilled with his dessert, a modification of the "There's Something About Chocolate" plate (modified because they'd sold out of one item on it).

I would note, though, that I'll bet the reason the "There's Something About Chocolate" plate sold out that day was because it is, to me, by far the most immediately appealing thing on the menu. It used to be that all the plates and glasses looked great right off the bat.

I don't mean that as a criticism, since I loved what I had and I'm sure I'd pretty much love everything. Just a comment.

Will, of course, remains a genius.

Edited May 17, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Bond Girl]

Now they are open on Sundays.

[Sethro]

Now they are open on Sundays.

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RAAAA I can go!!! Now I know what I'm doing on my day off.

[tan319]

Now they are open on Sundays.

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RAAAA I can go!!! Now I know what I'm doing on my day off.

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Can't wait to read what you think, seth!

[gaf]

Niche-aclious New York City Entry #98 Chikalicious / Room 4 Dessert

For the past three months I have mused on the emergence of the dessert bar. With the announcement that Sam Mason, the celebrity pastry chef at WD-50, is set to open his own aerie later this year, these sweet spots are reaching critical mass. These bars present a "tasting menu" of small desserts, supplemented with sweet or fortified wine, tea or coffee. The dessert bars are intimate (read: cramped) rooms that bow to the pressures of New York real estate. They are dominated by counters where diners watch the staff prepare the sweets, making the experience a spun-sugar equivalent to a sushi bar. Their iron pastry chefs take center stage. Both Chikalicious in the East Village and Room 4 Dessert in SoHo follow this formula.

I have now eaten at Chikalicious twice and Room 4 Dessert once, and both are satisfying, even if the presentations, while creative, lack the visual and gustatory fireworks of the elaborated creations of our most regal chefs.

Chikalicious, managed by Chef Chika Tillman and her husband Don, conveys a double meaning. A repository of chicklets. The gender ratio evidences girl power. The restaurant with twenty seats, is decorated in shades of white - a granite counter top, leatherette stools, painted brick.

At Chikalicious one receives an amuse, a dessert, and three petit fours. I was particularly impressed by the amuses I received: first, Granny Smith Apple Sorbet over Camomile Gelee and, on my second visit, Frozen Honey Custard over Blackberry Gelee. Chef Chika is partial to gelee and sometimes overuses this preparation, but these two were well-chosen and matched with the frozen dessert, proved less of an amuse than a first course. Chika has a way with fruit, making the meal an airy delight, not a heavy afterthought.

The first dessert was one of the better sweets of the year: Coconut Sorbet on Grapefruit Terrine with Coconut Tuile and Black Pepper Syrup. This was a fearless plate with grapefruit and black pepper syrup droplets. In other hands, it could have faltered, but this night I found it a compelling synthesis of tastes. My second dessert was effective, but less imposing: Strawberry Sorbet with Brown Sugar Panna Cotta and Lemongrass Agar Agar Gelee. One agar would have sufficed. Agar agar (aka agar) is a gelatin from red algae, advertised as the "queen of the jelling agents." Here the rectangles of gelee lacked a strong presence, a jello without punch. The sorbet was luscious, but the strawberry ice and sweet brown sugar panna cotta belonged in different presentations.

The main dessert is followed by a trio of "petit fours" (petit threes?). Chika's marshmallow in coconut is a buoyant sweet, easily swallowed. A pecan sandie and a chocolate chocolate chip cake wedge were both passable. Best among the petit fours were two lapidary tarts: one Key Lime Creme Fraiche, the second Almond Amaretto Cream. Although tiny, these dime-sized dollops contained dollars of joy.

Room 4 Dessert, presided over by the former Cru pastry chef Will Goldfarb is more attuned to the niceties of culinary theory. Whereas Chikalicious might float away on the morning air, Room 4 Dessert is a creation of the long SoHo night. A narrow room in browns and blacks, its dark counter is dramatically accented by orange Murano hanging lamps.

Perhaps R4D is not truly an outpost of molecularism, but Chef Goldfarb plays with ideas as much as food. The wit in the restaurant's moniker is that diners receive a flight of 4 thematic desserts (along with optional wines, liquors, teas, and coffees).

The night of my visit Chef Goldfarb presented a string of four red desserts, an homage to Pierre Gagnaire. When chefs pay homage to role models, one knows that a community of theory is firmly in place.

I selected the "PACK," a tasting menu of pistachio, apricot, cherry, and kirsch, and was pleased by the chef's work. Because Chef Goldfarb is creating on a small scale, none of the items proved miraculous. The cherise confiture consisted of a small jar of very well-made jam. Best was a forceful kirsch sabayon, served over pieces of dried apricot, and nicely combined with the confiture. Strikingly successful was a moist pistachio moelleux, a soft, olive-green cake with pistachio cream. I was less impressed with the apricot sorbet, lacking a potent fruit flavor, but sited elegantly on a bed of crushed almond candy.

Neither Chikalicious nor Room 4 Dessert is yet a destination restaurant, but both provide a lovely evening's close. They are pioneers in a trend that allow nighthawks to get their breakfast sugar fix and spaces for others who do not wish our public evenings to end quite yet.

Chikalicious

203 East 10th Street (at Second Avenue)

Manhattan (East Village)

212-995-9511

Room 4 Dessert

17 Cleveland Place (at Kenmare Street)

Manhattan (SoHo)

212-941-5405

My Webpage: Vealcheeks

[cchen]

So, I went back again to try their new menu. I was able to taste all 4 of the 4 dessert plates. The chocolate one was the best, by far. Every other plate had an element that was delicious, but also elements that were just not very good at all. But I still applaud their creativity.

[NaFairge]

will and bobby are two of the sickest individuals i know.

just bobby's vanilla base for ice cream will blow your mind.

read h. this.

eat goldfarb.

understand.