Tag Archives: prix fixe

June 14, 2010 · 2:35 am

Marea

Marea Marea Marea. Everyone talks about Marea. Now I understand why! I rarely venture up to the Upper West Side but upon reading another review of the place, I felt compelled to give it a shot. Most importantly, one of my best friends was in town, and after a weekend of eating solely bagels, chips, bean dip and sangria, we were looking for a delicious and hearty meal.
Marea is a sophisticated spot, but it’s versatile. You could dress up to go here, but you could also, like I did, wear Jeans and a nice top and feel comfortable. You can tell that every detail in the surroundings was very carefully chosen, down to the utensils and place settings. It’s really a beautiful place, and the food is amazing. Below is a picture of Sophia, me and Sara, obviously really excited about our meal.
The servers wowed me from the start. Not only did they come around immediately after we placed our order with a wide selection of breads in a basket, but they brought an amuse bouche of delicious cubes of raw salmon to the table. I love freebies, especially when they involve seafood and are delicious. GOOD ONE MAREA!

I could have ordered everything on the menu, and being the indecisive person I am, it took me about 10 minutes of interrogating the waiter to finally decide. Thankfully I loved every bite and left without regrets. We started with the Chickpea and Seaweed Fritters, which were fried doughy goodness, and sardines, which I didn’t touch. They have a great selection of little sharable bites, so I definitely plan to try something new next time around.

I am rarely wowed by pasta. To me, hot carbs with tomatoes and oil and a few other random ingredients is hard to mess up. Bur Marea’s lobster ravioli with salmon roe was incredible. Ravioli especially tends to be dry, over or undercooked, but this ravioli was not, and the ratio of filling to pasta was perfect – rather than skimping on the filling, as most restaurants do, Marea literally stuffed these little dumplings to the brim with lobster goodness. The best part of the pasta, though, was the light buttery cream sauce. I could have made a meal out of this and the bread, along with the salmon roe that bursted with flavor with every bite. This ravioli may have been some of the best I’ve ever had.
I expected to be disappointed by the next pasta dish I tried, but fortunately I was wrong. The spaghettini with bone marrow and squid, which Sophia ordered, was up there with the ravioli. Such a rich, intense meaty flavor really deepened the flavor of what could have been a bland tomato sauce, and surprisingly coated the squid perfectly. I was in pasta heaven.
For my actual main course, I ordered the swordfish, which was delicious as well. Simple and delicate, it was the perfect main dish to follow the rich marrow pasta.
And of course, for dessert, we ordered the Gianduja with cocoa nib crem, hazelnut chocolate, and fior di latte gelato. Eating this after having consumed two bottles of wine, I have to say I wasn’t in the best state to fairly judge, but, it was awesome. And as if I wasn’t filled to the brim already, the waiter topped us off with a selection of hand crafted chocolates that I devoured. AND THEN, as we were leaving, they handed us a lemon poppy seed muffin for the morning. I told myself that I wouldn’t be able to eat again until the next evening. Of course that was a lie, and the lemon poppy seed muffin turned out to be the perfect breakfast meal.

Thanks Marea – you get an A in my book (but please move further downtown if you can).

Grade: A
Address: 240 Central Park S
Website: http://www.marea-nyc.com

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Filed under Business Meal, Erin's Favorites, Italian, Parents in Town, Romantic Date, Seafood, Sex & The City Swank, Special Occasion, Upper West Side

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May 12, 2010 · 11:34 pm

Corton NYC

Corton has been praised as one of the best new restaurants in New York City, but based off of the descriptions of its delicate and refined food, it didn’t strike me to be a potential favorite. While it may seem like I only dine at expensive, snooty places, I don’t. I’ve just had a lot of reasons to dine at special occasion restaurant recently (birthday, new job, etc.). In fact, going to Corton wasn’t even my choice – it was my manager Eileen’s choice, since she and my two other managers kindly offered to take me out to celebrate my birthday. And in retrospect, I am SO glad we followed her suggestion!

The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous – with a white, pristine, Japanese-zen feel, and background noise so low you could almost hear a pin drop, it felt more like a wellness center than a typical New York restaurant. But everything about the restaurant coincides. The food is clean, beautifully and perfectly presented and combines pure, fresh, simple ingredients to create intense and complex flavors. The service is subtle and impeccable as well – calm yet attentive, and not overzealous in the slightest. Quite an artful place.
The *only* complaint I would have about the restaurant is that they do not allow photos of their food. Out of snobbiness or respect for their guests (I was sitting a table away from Matt Lauer), Idon’t know; nonetheless it made me discouraged to write this blog. However, with constant flashbacks of the wonderful food I consumed at Corton, I couldn’t help but distribute a stellar review to my (3) avid fans.

I and the rest of my group opted for the three course meal – along with 2 amuse bouches, a delicious selection of bread rolls (with two types of butter and fleur de sel), the various accoutrements the come as surprises with each dish, and a chocolate truffle and macaron tasting, it was more than enough food. To start, I ordered the “From the Garden” salad. While it sounds dull, it was probably the best, most inventive and artful “salad” I’ve ever tasted. Bright and beautiful young vegetables with edible flowers doused the plate on top of hidden of root purrees and flavored oils. Really light and clean, but totally satisfying. We also decided to split an “in between” course that was incredible – “Early Spring,” which consisted of four separate plates: a scallop, sweat pea ravioli, a delicate crab salad, and a beautiful piece of rare quail. Of course I’m butchering the image of each course with poor descriptions, but you should know that each plated dish was as beautiful as food could be – a painting on a plate, with complimenting colors, textures, heights…it was almost surprising that it tasted as good as it looked!

For my main course, I had the halibut with morel mushrooms. Of course, it was perfectly cooked, light, comforting, and wholesome, but the best part about it was the heavy portion of freshly cooked green risotto served in a steel pot. I also managed to try the Angus beef, which was actually a hearty size. At that point in the meal, I was perfectly full (not only off of food, but off of probably close to a sweet bottle of Pouilley Montrachet burgundy), and felt so fortunate to have had one of the most intricate and spectacular meals of my life with three of the people I most admire.

Dessert followed the trend of the rest of the food – it was pure goodness. I ordered the “gold bar,” which is Corton’s version of a dense yet creamy, chocolate caramel layered cake. If I were to return, I would order a dessert with less intensity considering all of the wine and collectively-rich food I consumed, but no complaints in retrospect.

Grade: A+
Address: 239 West Broadway @ North Moore
Website: http://www.cortonnyc.com

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April 27, 2010 · 2:28 am

Daniel

It’s 10.28pm and I just returned from a truly memorable dining experience at Daniel. My fellow foodie friend, Erin (a.k.a Ketel 2), and I sat down to our table at 6.15pm. Yes, we sat for four hours – but dining at Daniel revolves around so much more than just food. It’s about service, experimentation, conversation, gluttony, luxury…just about everything I love in life! Truly indescribable, and on a entirely different level than most restaurants I’ve tried.

The setting is absolutely stunning: ornate, yet subtly so. Gorgeous, bright red fresh flowers adorn the space, surrounded by smooth oak vaults of aged wine, and long glossy columns supporting the adorned vault ceilings. Round tables evenly disperse the dining room, each with exceptional views spanning the entire restaurant – not one bad seat in the house. In fact, the host positioned Erin and me in a somewhat remote corner of the restaurant, but we could still view the mastery of the servers collectively tending to each table.

Before even attempting to decide on my main course, I was forced to choose a cocktail. With a long list of intriguing and never-before seen ($20+) cocktails, I decided to follow the advice of our (one of five) servers and have a famous white cosmopolitan made with St. Germain Elderflower Liquor, Lime Juice, and White Cranberry Juice. The long stem glass came holding a tennis-ball shaped ice cube enclosing a vibrant purple flower. The cocktail itself went down a little too easily, and reminded me of a subtler, more natural version of a starburst fruit candy. I loved it.

The waiter was amazingly accommodating, and upon inquiring about the wine, he brought out three tastings of three whites. We played a guessing game, and he asked me to pick my favorite without revealing the names of each. Considering the seemingly stuffy surroundings, I appreciated his light heartedness. His warm humor, along with the friendliness of the other waiters, proved to me that Daniel is a step above the rest of the fine dining establishments in New York – though the food and service is refined to a T, the staff and surroundings are warm, comforting, and playful. “Daniel is very much about experimentation, and trying something new..if you don’t like it, send it back, or throw it in my fave” one of our waiters joked.

As you can see already, there are many steps to the dining experience at Daniel. After ordering our drinks, we were given a beautiful amuse bouche a la lemon grass. Three tiny tastings of unexplainable lemon grass dishes gave Erin and I an idea of the remarkable journey to foodie land we were about to take.

And as if that weren’t enough, Mr. Bread-melier came out with a basket of 7 selections of bread – french baguette, sourdough baguette, rustic sourdough slices, butter rolls, olive rolls, parmesan garlic rolls, and seven seaded loaf. Between Erin and me, we were able to try almost every type of bread. The bread, along with cold french butter, made my entire experience at Daniel worth my while.
After bread service, and about 45 minutes through the meal, we were ready to order. The servers were receptive to our requests for suggestions, and their decisiveness was refreshing. Per their recommendations, I ordered the Maine Peekytoe Crab Salad, split an extra course of the Artichoke Raviolini in Saffron sauce with clams, squid, and cuttlefish, and decided on the Black Sea Bass with Syrah Sauce for my main. The crab salad was served in rolls of thinly sliced apple, and a lightly sweet granny smith apple dressing. The gorgeously plated dish was light and refreshing, with bursts of different flavors and textures.

The raviolini was a seafood lovers heaven – tiny green ravioli with generous portions of mussels and squid lay amidst a velvety saffron seafood broth, with stunning organic flavors.

I even snuck a taste of Erin’s foie gras…velvet in my mouth!

Picking one fish dish among the four listed was definitely a feat, but I was very happy I decided on the bass. The mysterious syrah sauce tasted more like a salty, rich caramel sauce, and while it sounds uncomplimentary, it accompanied the simple, delicate white fish just perfectly. The crispy potato parmentiers adorning the plate were also delicious.

Erin’s Duo of Wagyu beef was also delicious – the short ribs were like butter and the filet was perfectly cooked.
The dessert course could have been a meal (or two) in itself. Of course I skipped the entire 5-item long “Fruit” section and went straight to the “Chocolate” section. Erin ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache with caramel ice cream, while I had my “go-to” dessert: warm chocolate cake (aka Warm Guanaja Chocolate Coulant) with milk sorbet. Both were exceptional, and as expected, beautifully plated. The chocolate cake came out as a mini bundt, and upon being punctured, oozed out with hot chocolate liquid – just as a molten chocolate cake should!

Erin’s dessert was my favorite – with a thin, crunchy, somewhat salty peanut butter layer and a mound of dense chocolate mousse, it tasted similar to what I would imagine a sophisticated candy bar to taste like.

In addition to these two desserts, the staff brought out a dessert on the house for my birthday (thanks to Erin!): the Coconut Lemongrass Soup with poached Pineapple and Coconut Rum sorbet. Not necessarily my dessert of choice, but I could still appreciate it for its beauty, creativity, and summery flavors.

And then…as our buttons bursted, we were given a dish of petit fours. And then, warm Madeleines. And then…a chocolate truffle course. Of course I had to taste a little bit of everything, but at that point I was so full it was hard for me to truly appreciate the flavors of each.

Once I thought the night couldn’t improve any more, Erin 2 decided to ask about the private dining space, called the sky room. The sky room sits adjacent to Daniel Boulud’s office, and directly above Daniel’s kitchen. The room has glass windows, so the special party of four reserving the space can watch every move of the kitchen staff as they glide through an 8 course meal. Fortunately, Erin’s interest led to one of the servers encouraging us to take a look, so upon finishing our meal and signing the bill, we were escorted a la VIP to the kitchen. While the private space, with a big window overlooking the kitchen, was awesome, it was the kitchen itself and the art and dance occurring inside of it that truly amazed me. The focus and determination in the eyes of each chef was breathtaking – to see a team of people, so driven and so dedicated to their work and the flavors and beauty of the plate after plate was truly inspiring. I could have stayed and watched for hours. The fact that each chef was a good looking french man may have played a part as well :)

Dining out for me, regardless of where I go, is an experience in and of itself. It’s like going to see a show, or going to see a baseball game, or taking a hike with your family. It’s an experience that allows you to interact, engage company, activate your senses, bond with your loved ones, bond with new friends, and release whatever tension you have built up inside. But dining at Daniel…not only is that an experience, but it is truly an EXPERIENCE. An Experience with its own definition; an Experience in its own right. And you must experience this Experience to know what I mean…and believe me, it’s worth it.

Grade: A+
Website: http://www.danielnyc.com
Address: 60 East 65th Street between Park and Madison

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