NYC, Part 6

When I was planning my trip to New York, I set a budget just for food. I won't say what that budget was, but I definitely set aside a good portion of that budget for sushi.

Our original plan was to go to Sushi Yasuda and have the toro flight. Similar to a sake tasting, the toro flight would feature a number or pieces of fat-laced pieces of tuna from around the world, each with a distinctly different taste than the last. Fortunately (yes, fortunately), when we called to confirm our reservation, we had found out that they had moved us from the sushi bar to a table so we canceled our plans.

This left us scrambling for an alternative and luckily Soto was available for dinner that night at the sushi bar.

Though it wasn't exclusively a sushi dinner, it featured impeccably fresh seafood and other ingredients presented beautifully and simply.

Black and white sesame tofu, wasabi soy sauce

Geoduck clam salad - Japanese cucumber, daikon, shiso, spicy radish sprouts

Fluke and cod roe

The next course is an example of trying everything at least once. In my case twice. I had eaten shirako once in Tokyo and declared it one of the worst things I had ever eaten in my life. For those of you that don't know what shirako is, go ahead and look it up, you wouldn't want to eat it either. 

I even remarked to CK that of all the things on the menu, this was the one thing I wanted to have no part of. When it came out as one of our courses I thought I would suffer through it, out of respect for the chef. It turned out to be one of the best parts of the meal.

Shirako Agedashi

Chawan mushi 

Wild snapper carpaccio - aged vinegar, sea salt, cilantro, ginger shoots

Surf clam - sweet miso and mustard marinade, myoga ginger shoots, sesame, scallion

Minute steamed tai - ginger, scallion, light soy

Unctuous and rich without being heavy or laced with butter or added fat, the next course was beautifully prepared and the highlight of the meal.

Braised black cod - Japanese vegetables

Shima aji carpaccio - truffle ginger soy sauce

White shrimp - uni, quail egg, nori

Broiled langoustine - shiitake mushroom sauce

The cooked courses were followed by a few pieces of sushi, but at this point I was so eager to eat sushi that I didn't want to leave them sitting for much longer than a few seconds so the pictures I did manage to take didn't come out too well. 

Sea Trout

Ika

Aji

As a bonus after meeting up with LO and another friend MC and consuming a few too many drinks over the next few hours, we made the Grey Goose-infused decision to head to Blue Ribbon to try and soak up some of the alcohol.

Beef marrow, oxtail marmalade

Nothing like beef marrow and oxtail marmalade at 1 AM!

As you can see by this next photo, I was feeling pretty good because this appeared to be totally in focus when I took it.

Duck club sandwich, sweet potato chips

Happy and full, we headed back to CK's apartment. The next day would, unfortunately, be my last in New York.

NYC, Part 5

The dining in New York started to become a blur. Between all the Michelin starred dinners, drinks, and delis its becoming hard to fill in the gaps between meals. Luckily, we had a lot of memorable ones.

Though CK has had the chance to both eat in and work in 3 Michelin starred establishments, I would be experiencing it for the first time on this trip.

We chose to head to Jean Georges for lunch as we could order 1x1 and taste a lot of the same food they offer for dinner.

Trio of Canapes - Cauliflower Soup, Salmon & Creme Fraiche, Clementine

We didn't actually order our next course, but thanks to CK, again, we got a treat with our meal.

Uni - Yuzu, Jalapeno, Brown bread toast

After that pleasant surprise, we got into what seemed to be one of the best overall dining values in New York (especially considering that this is a *** restaurant) as each course is $14 and you are allowed to choose as many you like or as few as 2.

One of the best dishes I ate all week and a Jean Georges Classic.

Tuna Ribbons - Avocado, Spicy Radish, Ginger marinade

Peekytoe Crab dumplings - Celeriac & Meyer Lemon Tea

Next was another dish I had been looking forward to trying for a long time.

Sea Scallops - Caramelized Cauliflower, Caper-raisin emulsion ($8 supplement)

Foie Gras Brulee - Pineapple-meyer lemon jam

Soy glazed beef short rib - Apple-jalapeno puree, Rosemary breadcrumb

Black Cod - Honshimeji Mushrooms, Lemongrass Consomme

Chocolate - Jean Georges chocolate cake, Vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate gnocchi, grapefruit, gianduja, basil

Caramel - Chocolate pop, Coffee-cardamom ice cream, Dehydrated sponge, Roasted pineapple sorbet.

Macrons and chocolates

Jean Georges marshmallows

A completely different experience than Daniel. Not better, not worse. Different. A different style of food entirely, much lighter in style but no less flavorful. Just another experience that I will never forget.

NYC, Part 4

After eating however many courses at Daniel the night before, CK and I again couldn't make it out of the door before noon. We didn't think it would be very wise to go out for another huge meal so we had already canceled plans our 10PM reservations at Peter Luger for dinner.

About 2PM we finally made it back out again to go to another spot I'd been waiting to try since I saw it on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's Food Network show "A Cook's Tour." Barney Greengrass has been in New York for over 100 years and is famed for their smoked fish and other deli favorites. Bourdain goes so far as to claim that Barney Greengrass is home to the best chopped liver in the universe.

Nova Lox and Sturgeon Appetizer

Chopped Chicken Liver

Nova, Surgeon, Eggs & Onions

Over the 3 dishes and a couple of bagels and bialys we decided to go out for some late night yakitori and take it a bit easy on the eating for the evening. That was easier said than done. 

The following is the "light eating" that occurred that night and into the next morning....

When we got to Yakitori Totto at about 10PM it was still packed. After suffering through some of the worst karaoke known to man next door at the unfortunately named "Japas" (for Japanese Tapas, we assumed), we got the call and sat down to eat.

Tako Karaage

Negima

Teba

Tsukune

Kawa

Gyu tongue

Eggplant Miso

Shishito

Bacon-wrapped asparagus

We were thinking of ordering more food, but we already felt like we ate everything on the menu that we wanted to try.

Not completely full and fueled by some Sapporo-aided gusto we agreed to continue eating at Sake Bar Hagi.

Sake Bar Hagi Entrance

Pork belly, chive, and beansprout stir fry

Hamachi Kama

Chicken Karaage w/ daikon oroshi and ponzu

Mentaiko Fried Rice

Yeah......So.......We didn't really take it easy.......Oh well.....I don't think either of us really expected to anyway.

NYC, Part 3

White Truffles shaved tableside. 3 different times. But we'll get to that in a bit.

After another late night on full stomachs that wouldn't allow us to wind down and sleep, CK and I ended up not making it out of his place until about 2 or 3PM the next day. No matter though, we would be going out for a three course dinner, we thought. On this trip, three courses would qualify as a light meal. Maybe we would grab a late night Gray's Papaya or something tonight and get the New York Street food experience.

So while walking around the neighborhood and doing about as much sightseeing as I would do on the entire trip, we ran into Magnolia Bakery. So I figured we could just stop in for a cupcake and some banana pudding and be on our way. It would get me out of the cold for 5 minutes or so anyway.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcake

Banana Pudding

Our real treat, though, was going to be our dinner at..........

Restaurant Daniel

What can I say? It is good to know people. In my case, it was really good to know someone that knows people. 

As soon as we arrived at Daniel we were escorted to the salon where we enjoyed our complimentary champagne and contemplated what we might be in store for. We came in thinking that we were only going to have three courses, I think we had 11 if you count the canapes. While I will remember this meal for the rest of my life, I don't really like to think about how much we ate. You can try and count the number of courses for yourself below. Just don't tell me the number.

We sat down at the banquette marveling at both the elegance and size of Daniel's recently remodeled dining room. The waiter came by our table and informed us that the only decision we would have to make for the night was the number of courses we wanted to eat.  We replied that we would leave it up to the kitchen to decide. I think that was the right answer. Like I said, it is good to know people that know people.

Trio of broccoli canape

Geoduck Cevice

From here CK and I were served courses 1x1. Meaning each course we each received a different item. Eager to try as much as we could on this trip, we would eat as close to half of the dish as possible and then pass the plate. Though, admittedly, we both found it hard to give up certain dishes.

Mosaic of Venison and Foie Gras ~ Juniper, Sweet and Sour Chestnuts

Game "Pate en Croute" with Foie Gras ~ Porcini, Lady Apple, Celery-Hazelnut salad

Nantucket Bay Scallop Ceviche ~ Blood Orange, Winter Point Oysters, Uni

Maine Peekytoe Crab ~ Fuju Apple, Celery Creme Fraiche, Hearts of Palm

Why does it seem like I eat more Big Island hearts of palm outside of Hawaii when I can't find it on a menu here? Beautiful product, grown in our backyard, used in restaurants with multiple Michelin Stars (including almost daily at The French Laundry and Per Se) and not prohibitively expensive to put on a menu. 

Florida Frogs Leg ~ Potato Gnocci, Watercress, Sweet and Black Garlic

Scottish Langoustine ~ Creamy Polenta, Fennel Confit, Piquillo Peppers

Already in a daze from the barrage of dishes coming one after the other. One of the many waiters that were attending to our every need asked if he could shave some white truffle on my next dish. I don't remember if I answered him clearly or simply let out an audible grunt, but the next thing I know this was in front of me.

Ouef Cocotte with White Truffle ~ Chantrelle, Watercress Coulis, Mouillette

And this was sitting infront of CK

Agnelotti with Fontina and White Truffle

Classic. Tableside service. At this point, I think the other people in the dining room must have been wondering who we were because no one else we saw got this dish.

This picture absolutely can't do this next dish justice. I was way to eager to eat it and my hand were already shaking in anticipation so no pictures of it came out clearly. As i was about to put fork to plate, the waiter showed up with our buddy, the white truffle.

Stuffed Whole Dover Sole ~ Salsify, Chicken Jus, Shaved White Truffle

Un-be-lievable......And that wasn't it. There was still more to go.

"Foie de Veau A la Moutarde" ~ Celery Crossus, Red Wine Braised Shallots

Crispy Calf Head ~ Endive, Chantrelle

First pigs face, now calf head. Does it get any better? Maybe.

More tableside service. 

Woodcock with cognac flambee ~ Spinach Subrique, Cippollini Onions, Pommes Boulangere

Plated. 

The intensely gamey meat and the thick, sticky jus from the plate and potatoes made this a bit difficult to eat so deep into our meal.

After our plates were cleared the waiter swooped with our stay of execution and informed us that it was the end the dinner portion of our meal. We were offered a cheese course, but fearing what kind of onslaught that would bring upon us, we politely passed. So they decided to send us two deserts each instead.

Pumpkin Biscuit ~ Cranberry Mousse, Cranberry Ice Cream

Huckleberry and Orange Vacherin ~ Lemon-Olive Oil Emulsion

Hazelnut Mousse with Gianduja ~ Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Chocolate Dacquoise with Rice Crispy ~ Lemon Curd, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream 

So much for an abbreviated dinner or late night snacks. This meal was so epic, it threw off our entire schedule for the rest of the week.