NY trip report

[hhlodesign]

Ling and I just got back from an incredible trip to NY. No time to write much tonight as we are both jet-lagged and tired. But here's a list of the places we will be giving reports and pictures of in the next few days.

Dinner at Daniel and Alicia's

La Maison du Chocolat

Gordon Ramsey

Fauchon

Joe's Shanghai

WD-50

Pegu Club

Momofuku Ssam Bar

Jean Georges

Room 4 Dessert

Danube

Bouley

Katz's

Kee's

Jacques Torres

Amy's Bread

Murray's Cheese Shop

Rocco's

Lots of pictures to come!

Edited December 17, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[H. du Bois]

You did all that in three days????? Wow!

Looking forward to hearing about it.

[vloglady]

Be careful of your credit card bill. It might jump out and bite you!

[BryanZ]

That's a pretty baller trip, especially in three days. Looks like something I would do. Props.

[Ling]

You did all that in three days?????  Wow! 

←

Actually, we did it in 66 hours, to be precise.

The only time I remember not eating (or being en route to a restaurant or bakery) was when I collapsed in bed for 2 hours due to a food coma after Jean Georges.

Our trip got off to a bad start--we showed up for dinner at Daniel and Alicia's 3 hours later than we expected because our plane got delayed. Not only that, but I soon realized I had forgotton my purse in the taxi! I thought it was a lost cause but the taxi driver soon came back to the building to return the purse. Things were looking up at that point...I'm happy to report that lucky streak continued for the next few days.

Daniel and Alicia invited us over for dinner when they found out we were coming on a quick food trip. They were warm and engaging hosts, and are great cooks to boot!

We started off with a seared foie gras course with apple salad and caramel.

R. Dumont Douce Cuvee demi sec

Saffron mussel soup with caramelized onions--this was very tasty and I liked the off-center plating.

fried potato pancake tower with smoked salmon, eggs, creme fraiche, and caviar, dill oil around the outside

Meursault 2002

beet and ricotta ravioli

seared duck breast with sourdough bacon stuffing, foie, sour cherry and cabernet sauce, sweet potato puree, peas

Volnay Santenots 1st Cru 1993

Frozen rum eggnog souffle--this was delicious and oh-so-boozy

flourless chocolate cake served with armagnac--this was one of the best flourless chocolate cakes I've ever had. It was characteristically rich, yet melted on your tongue and still felt light.

Rocco's lobster tail pastry--when Daniel read that I wanted to try this, he bought a box of them after work to serve as a "surprise" dessert course. They were ENORMOUS! Check out the amount of cream inside...

We were so drunk by the end of this meal...obviously, I forgot to write down some of the wines that were poured. We both had a fantastic evening and felt so lucky to have such awesome people open up their homes to us.

[docsconz]

A beautiful and delicious looking meal. That is a nice relaxing way to start the trip once you settled down from the journey itself.

A good lobster tail is a wonderful thing whether it be crustacean or pastry!

[Ling]

The next morning, we woke up quite late and a bit hungover, but managed to get to La Maison du Chocolat for breakfast.

window displays

inside displays

I bought a few boxes of chocolates, a caramel macaroon, and a florentine. The macaroon was particularly good, and I don't even normally enjoy macaroons. The chocolates were definitely top-notch and very fresh. The fillings were well-balanced, and the chocolate didn't overpower the flavours. Some of the ones I tried were the Bacchus (raisins flambeed in rum), Andalouise (lemon), Maiko (fresh ginger), Garrigue (fennel), and Jolika (pistachio with almond paste). I haven't finished tasting them all yet, but I'll post a picture of the ones I have left tomorrow.

[hhlodesign]

Then we walked to Gordon Ramsey at the London, stopping for some touristy things along the way.

Finally sitting down to a wonderful place setting at GRATL.

We both opted for the 3 course lunch for $45.

They started us off with small toasts with two accompaniments; foie gras with sauternes jelly, and black truffle cream.

I liked these both very much! The foie gras spread had just a hint of sauternes taste to it. Maybe not enough, but still nice. and the truffle cream was perfect. Seemed to be just minced black truffles mixed with creme fraiche. I'm not sure if I was supposed to mix the two spreads, but I did; and don't regret it for a second!

Next came our amuse bouche. Shimeji mushroom, white bean capuccino with a slice of black truffle on top.

In my top 5 of favorites on this trip.

The bread was pretty good. Considering that we'd heard not so good things about the bread, I asked if the bread was baked in-house. Our server replied that they were "figuring things out," implying that they may have outsourced.

Our first courses:

Chicken and mushroom tortellini with porcini soup.

Foie gras and ham hock terrine with apples

I loved the porcini soup. The foie gras flavor was very minute in the terrine. Possibly a bit bland for my taste.

Our mains:

Pot roasted rabbit leg with confit garlic, oyster mushrooms,

roasted celeriac and an anchovy jus

Found the rabbit a bit hard to eat without picking it up and gnawing at the bone. I would have liked to taste more anchovy flavour.

Roasted lamb saddle with carrots, beats, pearl onions and rosemary jus

I thought this was one of the best preparations of lamb I've had in awhile (Lorna disagreed.)

I let Lorna pick both of our desserts, since I am not a fan of sweets:

One of these I don't think we ordered. The chocolate one. I think they sent out the most photogenic one for use because there was a photographer for NY Magazine taking pictures for the restaurant issue that day. The Matre'd asked us if we would mind if they photgraphed our table for the magazine shoot. We said, "Sure!"

After dessert, the Matre'd asked if we would like a tour of the kitchen and to meet Gordon. We said, "Sure!"

Other than the noise of working, it was eerily quiet. Not much talking, other than Gordon speaking loudly on the phone in the corner. He then got off the phone to say hi to us. He is quite the larger than life character he appears. Seemed generally interested who we were and how we enjoyed our meal.

Then back to the table for more:

With the coffee service,

you get the bon bon trolley rolled to your table

Service was some of the best I've experienced in any restaurant. Not a single hiccup, and they made us feel like we were the most important people in the room, (as I'm sure every other table did as well.)

Edited December 17, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[little ms foodie]

yum!! looks great you guys- we are definately looking forward to our lunch at GR also!! great photos.

[Ling]

Next came our amuse bouche. Shimeji mushroom, white bean capuccino with a slice of black truffle on top.

In my top 5 of favorites on this trip.

TOP 5?!! It was a bit undersalted for me.

The bread was pretty good.

The bread was passable. The crust was too soft.

Our first courses:

Chicken and mushroom tortellini with porcini soup.

This was simple, but fantastic. Much tastier than the ham hock and foie gras appetizer.

Found the rabbit a bit hard to eat without picking it up and gnawing at the bone. I would have liked to taste more anchovy flavour.

I thought it was very tasty, and the anchovy flavour was probably less apparent in the portion I gave Henry, because I ate most of the sauce.

I thought this was one of the best preparations of lamb I've had in awhile (Lorna disagreed.)

I don't mean that it wasn't good--it was. It just wasn't particularly special or creative to me. The lamb was a bit overdone for my taste. (It was medium.)

One of these I don't think we ordered. The chocolate one. I think they sent out the most photogenic one for use because there was a photographer for NY Magazine taking pictures for the restaurant issue that day. The Matre'd asked us if we would mind if they photgraphed our table for the magazine shoot. We said, "Sure!"

The photographer took many pictures of the bonbon trolley, and he also took quite a few at our table. Both desserts were absolutely delicious. The figs were poached in port and the sabayon (served in a silver sauceboat) was thick and luscious. I didn't take any notes at lunch, but I think the thick chocolate mousse had cocoa nib, raspberry filling, and a sable crust.

After dessert, they Matre'd asked if we would like a tour of the kitchen and to meet Gordon. We said, "Sure!"

Actually, at that point, Gordon had already come by our table since I mentioned to the server that I saw him walking through the dining room and I guess she must've told him he had some fans out there. He walked straight to our table a minute later, shook our hands and said "Merry Christmas", then disappeared back into the kitchen.

Service was some of the best I've experienced in any restaurant. Not a single hiccup, and they made us feel like we were the most important people in the room, (as I'm sure every other table did as well.)

←

The service was flawless. Quite formal for the most part. Jean-Baptiste was there as well! I told the server I recognized Jean-Baptiste from TV and the server told me not to tell him because his head is already big enough.

The lime vanilla candy floss and the canneles were particularly tasty from the bonbon trolley! I wish I got a picture of that because it's just incredible--so many different types of chocolates and candies arranged in old-fashioned glass canisters!

BTW--an EGer came up to us after their meal to say "hello". I think I see her lurking in this thread right now!

Edited December 18, 2006 by Ling (log)

[IML]

That's Sullivan Street Bakery bread, which, on any given day, is better than any bakery in Seattle, excepting maybe Tall Grass (the two styles are not really comparable, though).

[Ling]

We walked to Fauchon right after lunch. (We had a reservation at 2pm and left around 4:15pm) Unfortunately, I didn't buy a pastry because I didn't have room for it and I didn't want to keep it around until the next morning. And also, Henry wanted to fit in Joe's Shanghai before dinner at WD-50.

Display cases

We forgot to take a picture of our xiao long bao from Joe's Shanghai, but we were both excited to try them since we've read quite a few good things. To be honest, I thought the xiao long bao at Joe's Shanghai sucked. They were filled with soup--but it was very mediocre chicken stock, not the fatty porky broth that I love. The skins were of average thickness. I wouldn't recommend them.

Edited December 18, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

That's Sullivan Street Bakery bread, which, on any given day, is better than any bakery in Seattle, excepting maybe Tall Grass (the two styles are not really comparable, though).

←

I think Tall Grass is very mediocre as well, and certainly not even close to Columbia City Bakery.

We had very good Sullivan Street Bakery bread at Jean Georges the next day. I thought the Sullivan Street french roll was the best bread we ate on this trip, and the sourdough rye was good as well. I don't know why I didn't enjoy the bread we had at Gordon Ramsey. Maybe I just don't like that particular loaf.

[hhlodesign]

We forgot to take a picture of our xiao long bao from Joe's Shanghai, but we were both excited to try them since we've read quite a few good things. To be honest, I thought the xiao long bao at Joe's Shanghai sucked. They were filled with soup--but it was very mediocre chicken stock, not the fatty porky broth that I love. The skins were of average thickness. I wouldn't recommend these.

←

"Sucked" is such a strong word. Lorna is somewhat of a XLB nazi! I didn't think they were that bad. I liked the amount of soup they had in them. The skins were not too thick, as is so often the problem. About average, but not in the ballpark of some places in Richmond, BC or DTF in Taipei.

[hhlodesign]

That's Sullivan Street Bakery bread, which, on any given day, is better than any bakery in Seattle, excepting maybe Tall Grass (the two styles are not really comparable, though).

←

We loved the SSB bread we had at Jean Georges. Better than any bakery in Seattle? Maybe? But that's quite a blanket statement. Have you tried every one?

[IML]

Depends upon what you appreciate from a loaf of bread. Tall Grass is the only bakery in Seattle that, at this moment, is using starter-only-raised bread, with only a few exceptions. Of course, the resulting loaves have a denser, more cake-like crumb that display a greater range of fermentative flavors than, say, Columbia City Bakery (mediocre bread). Columbia is more similar to Sullivan Street Bakery's production model, except for their retardation and smaller scale. (Sullivan Street makes approximately 90,000 individual pieces of bread on any given day.) Very few New York restaurants have serious in-house bread programs (AD/NY, Per Se and Bouley are the best, with the last two being too variable, especially Bouley), and so most of these use bread that is delivered (or picked up, depending upon the restaurant) very early in the morning. The soft crust you experienced was due in large part to the age of the bread, and nothing else. The Ramsay bread is quickly reheated at the canape station when it is fired, but with a combi heat element, which isn't powerful enough to overcome mushy, old bread.

[Ling]

We chose WD-50 because we have nothing like it (that I'm aware of) in Seattle/Vancouver.

sesame flatbread

corned duck on rye--this was far and away the best dish of the night

hangar steak tartare with bearnaise ice-cream

squid noodles with mullet skin...this dish tasted very bitter to me. Henry and our friend were indifferent to it as well.

Tongue with fried mayonnaise--Henry and our friend loved the fried mayonnaise, but again, it tasted horribly bitter to me. Love the plating, though.

pork belly (this is 1/3 of a main serving). I think the cubes are fried yucca.

foie gras with sea grapes, watermelon, pistachio, and foie gras powder--this flavours in this dish didn't work for any of us

chocolate sable with menthol cream

Edited December 18, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

Depends upon what you appreciate from a loaf of bread.  Tall Grass is the only bakery in Seattle that, at this moment, is using starter-only-raised bread, with only a few exceptions.  Of course, the resulting loaves have a denser, more cake-like crumb that display a greater range of fermentative flavors than, say, Columbia City Bakery (mediocre bread). 

That's very interesting. I have tried almost all the breads Tall Grass makes, and I guess I just can't get past the dense crumb. You mentioned Bouley--we did have good bread there as well. One was an apple bun, and the other was a mini baguette.

[IML]

One of Tall Grass' bakers used to work at Bouley, interestingly enough. Bouley Bakery can, depending upon the day, serve the best commercially-available bread in the city, except most of their breads have been consistently underbaked for the last four or five weeks, in part due to staff changes.

[hhlodesign]

After WD-50, Lorna and I hopped in a cab and went off to Pegu Club.

There we met up with fellow eGers Johnder and Donbert. Let me say right off the bat, if you ever have a chance to meet up with these guys for drinks, do it! They are both a plethora of cocktail knowledge, and nice guys to boot!

Neither Don or John were there when we arrived. We sat down at the very crowded bar and ordered off the cocktail menu. Lorna had a champagne-apricot-something-or-other, while I had a Jamican Firefly (a rum based drink with ginger beer in it). We loved them both. Sorry, but the room is way too dark for any pictures to come out. We asked our bartender if he knows some regulars named Don and John. He replies, "yeah, they show up every once in awhile ."

As we were finishing our first drinks, John shows up and introduces us to our bartender Phil. It was at this point that we started venturing off the menu. Instructed by John to just tell Phil what kind of alcohol you like and leave the rest to him, we did so; and loved every drink he came up with.

After a few more drinks, Don shows up carrying a few bottles of rye. Not just any rye, but 23 year old Red Hook Rye from a limited bottling. 200 numbered bottles only. Don had 1 through 3. "Sazeracs all around!" I heard.

To top it off, the manager comes by and tells us that a photographer from New York Magazine will be taking some photographs tonight at the Pegu Club, and would we mind being props for the shots. We said, "Sure!"

Yes, it was the exact same photographer from GRATL. I told him I'd give him the rest of our itinerarary so he could continue following us around.

For the shoot, the manager set up 6-8 drinks in front of us. I tried (at least) a sip of each of them and loved every single one. However, by then my judgement may have been a little impaired. I'm not sure how many drinks we had by then end of the night, but I think I was nearing the double digits.

While I don't remember much from the second half of our Pegu Club experience, I DO remember talking about Top Chef with John and Don. They both said that Sam has a Hot Dog Cart near WD-50 that sells kim-chee hot dogs. I got excited! So at 2am, it was off on a mission for Kim Chee Hot Dogs!!!

Alas, the cart was not at the designated corner. We had to settle for Momofuku Ssam Bar. Thank god Sam was taking the night off!

Pictures of Momofuku to follow...

Edited December 18, 2006 by hhlodesign (log)

[alanamoana]

We forgot to take a picture of our xiao long bao from Joe's Shanghai, but we were both excited to try them since we've read quite a few good things. To be honest, I thought the xiao long bao at Joe's Shanghai sucked. They were filled with soup--but it was very mediocre chicken stock, not the fatty porky broth that I love. The skins were of average thickness. I wouldn't recommend them.

←

i agree with you lorna, i don't love joe's shanghai. i prefer "new green bo" for xiao long bao. very divey and in chinatown, but veeeerrry good! almost sticky broth (from the pork fat), always hot and fresh.

[Ling]

^New Green Bo will be on the list for our next trip! Xiao long bao is one of my favourite foods.

[docsconz]

Is this the only dessert you had at WD-50? If so you really missed a chance to sample the work of one of the most talented pastry chefs on the planet, Alex Stupak.

I am amazed and in awe of your mutual ability to sample and pack so much away in such a short time, but I wonder how much of an effect "the law of diminishing returns" might have had on your ability to really enjoy whatever it was that you were sampling, especially as each day wore on?

[Ling]

^I regret not trying Alex's desserts. We thought we were running a bit late to meet up at Pegu Club (but we were, in fact, early).

We can both definitely pack away quite a bit, and still found the meals at Jean Georges and Bouley (Day 2) among the best we've had, ever.

If I were eating 10 different chocolate cakes in a row and were asked to compare them, perhaps my palate would have been tired on the last few, but the food (for the vast majority of this trip) was so good and so different from restaurant to restaurant that I don't think anything was compromised here.

Edited December 18, 2006 by Ling (log)

[hhlodesign]

Maybe it's because I was drunk, maybe it's becasue of the rock star treatment we got (thanks to Donbert), or maybe its because its just that good! But Momofuku Ssam Bar was my favorite meal in NY on this trip!

We arrived sometime after 2am. Wylie Dufresne was already there and asked, "Did you not get enough to eat at my place?"

Since we had already ate earlier, and still had gallons of liquid in our body from Pegu, we tried not to order too much food. However, Tien Ho, the chef, recognized Don as a regular and came out to talk to us. We told him about our culinary tour of NY. He was most excited for us and started sending all kinds of stuff out for us to try.

Benton's Smokey Mountain County Ham

I don't remember much about the flavor of this ham other than really enjoying it. Especially with the sweet, hot mustard.

Hanger Steak Ssam

Every flavor was present and wonderful. The steak was perfectly cooked, just this side of rare. My first ssam. Oh So Good!

Three terrine Bahn Mi

Not sure what the three terrines were. Tien told me but I was drunk. This was probably the best sandwich I have ever had! It had every taste; sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. Also, perfect mix of textures. From the crusty Bahn Mi bread to the soft, tender terrines, to the crisp pickles veggies. A perfect sandwich!

Grilled Veal Sweetbreads, with pickled roasted chilies and lime

Lorna liked this dish more than myself. Not to say I didn't enjoy it. I did. the sweetbreads go very well with a squeeze of lime and the pickled chilies. One of the best preperations of sweetbreads I've had.

Spicy Squid Salad with mizuna, ginger, and scallions

Another dish Lorna enjoyed more than myself. Probably because this arrived at the same time as the Bahn Mi.

Crab Claws with Yuzu Mayo

Served on ice. Very refreshing. Love the yuzu mayo.

Pork Belly Buns!

I've been dreaming of these since I read about them months ago. They fully lived up to the hype. Luckily there were only 3 of us eating. Guess who got the extra one?

Bay scallops with pineapple, scallions and baby sorrel

Recommended by our waitress. Didn't really stand out for me. Maybe a bit too sweet.

Beet salad

For a beet salad, it was very tasty. Especially with the mustard. But I had hangar ssam waiting for me.

Momofuku was one of the best food experiences I have ever had. Of course the food was good, but above that, it was the late night atmosphere, hanging with regulars, and being treated so well by everyone behind the counter. If I lived in NY, I might just be there every night.

I think we got to bed around 4:30am that night. Full, content, and ready for day 2.