Summer of Food (and Work?)

So on the shuttle down to NYC tonight, I started reading Julie & Julia. (About a woman named Julie who decides to spend a year cooking all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.) It's actually much more entertaining than I'd expected, and as a pesca-vegetarian who loves to cook, I find her more lurid descriptions of meat preparations -- excavating the marrow from a cow bone, for example -- both horrifying and fascinating. Like the food memoir equivalent of watching a car accident.

But I have a point. And it's almost related. The point is this: Maybe I won't cook my way through a famous cookbook this summer (okay, it's definite), but I'll certainly eat my way through some of the best restaurants in the city. So I am going to pick up blogging again, because how could I not? And the best part? As a summer associate, the majority of these meals will be paid for by my firm!

Stay tuned . . .

minibar redux

Last night we went back to minibar. While my first trip since last summer, it was Adam's third of this summer...including having gone the night before! I know I wrote about it last summer, but despite some repeats, there are lots of new things and also pictures this time! It's the same six seats, though we were the first party to have actual chairs (apparently cast offs from Zaytinya) instead of the annoyingly-backless stools. Quite a comfort improvement.

We started with the "passion fruit 'tequila sunrise'" cocktail. Ryan, the chef at our end of the bar (Michael, who served us last year, was at the other end) said that real tequila sunrise is oj, grenadine, and tequila. This one had a lovely fruity foam on top, a few sprinkled passion fruit seeds, and a sort of thickened grenadine syrup at the bottom. Didn't really taste tequila-y, but I don't really like tequila, so not complaining. Tasty.

Next we got two little crispy snacks, one new and one a repeat. The "crispy apples" were basically thinly sliced, dehydrated apples, one lined with saffron and the other with fennel seed. Simple but clean flavors, very nice. The "tumbleweed of beet," the repeat, was as I remembered - intense beet flavor, fun texture.

The "olive oil bon bon" was one of my faves from last year, still great this year (though I think a little smaller). Sweet shell with the oily (mmm) center. I asked how they're made, and apparently they take a layer of the isomel (or whatever it is), place it over a little ring mold, and then the weight of the oil droppered on top pulls the sheet into the drop shape. I mentioned that I vaguely remembered Marcel on last season's top chef doing something similar, but it didn't work. Ryan sort of smirked and pointed out that it was humid in DC and they managed to make it work, and said that Marcel ought to come learn how to do the techniques from the people who know how. Apparently the minibar chefs had gone the Aspen Classic (or whatever it's called) and met the Top Chef candidates. Sounds like Marcel is, as expected, sort of an arrogant jerk (as is Ilan), who doesn't really know how to do the technical stuff as well as he fronted (which makes sense, given how often his attempts seemed to fail). I complained that I'd never liked Ilan, and all his best "creative" ideas were just off the Casa Mono menu anyway. Ryan said that Sam was apparently very nice, which was cool, since I love him for being talented (not to mention hot).

Anyway, back to the courses, since I'll go on a tangent again soon anyway. Next we got the "mojito" (another repeat, but a good one), which used the spherification technique and was vaguely sparkling when it exploded. I was commenting to Alex and Dina that I'd bought Adam the Texturas chemicals for his birthday last year (so, more than seven months ago), but that we hadn't used them yet b/c don't have an electronic scale. Ryan offered that there's a shop on 12th where I could get one...as well as porno and a tattoo (apparently it's actually a head shop). He was really nice and full of useful tidbits. :)

The next course was "bagels & lox," which was a crispy cone filled with a light cream cheese (chived, I think) and salmon roe. Good, but as Alex pointed out, not as good as the NYC-original and partly suffers from the inability to get all the flavors in each bite. Dina, who doesn't eat seafood, got some sort of tomato cone that looked pretty good (possibly better?).

The "cornbread" was the first new-this-year dish since the apple slices, and it was surprisingly light! A very light, slightly crunchy layer on the bottom, then a corn cream, then little bits of crushed corn chips (Fritos!) on top. Alex was the first to ask if they were Fritos, which Dina and I cautiously echoing that we'd thought the same.

Next came the "cotton candy avocado," a substitution for one of the minibar signatures, the cotton candy foie gras. Good, but again mostly exciting for its cotton candy content. Ryan said the best place to get a little home cotton candy machine would actually be ebay (hint hint, my birthday is in November).

The "conch fritter," a staple order when we eat brunch at Cafe Atlantico, was as good as ever. Alex is also a big fan, having had them as a dinner appetizer there. Fried dough outside, liquid conch chowder center.

This was some sort of "ravioli"...while I remember really liking it, I can't remember what was in it. It was a substitution, so the menu was no help at all. The ravioli skin was mango flavored (it could have been thinly sliced mango, but don't think so). I feel like the inside was some sort of seafoody cream or foam. Ugh, I have a bad memory. Edit: Adam says that the seafood used was anchovy, which sounds right now that he mentions it. Surprisingly good, not excessively anchovy-y at all.

I don't remember having liked the "salmon-pineapple 'ravioli' with crispy quinoa" as much last year as I did this year. The bits of cooked salmon were covered in a sliver of pineapple. I believe the green foam was avocado, and then supremes of orange. The quinoa was sprinkled on top. Eaten all together, each bite was delicious.

Next came what's probably minibar's signature dish, the "deconstructed glass of white wine." The flavors on the wine gelee, from right to left (the order in which we were instructed to eat) were: lemon zest, orange zest, apple (I wasn't sure between pear and apple, and others had thought pear - oops), coconut, mint, pineapple, passion fruit, almond (we didn't get this, though it was obviously nutty - walnut was the favorite guess), pomegranate (Kathy was the only one to correctly guess this one - the rest of us were guessing berries), cinnamon, and vanilla. Lots of fun trying to guess everything.

The "zucchini in textures," like the salmon ravioli, was something that I had last year and had remembered not loving. Gelee of zucchini water on top, soft suspension of zucchini seeds next (apparently the zucchini is steamed, and then they hand pick uniformly-sized seeds!), and then a zucchini cream on the bottom. The dish was clearly zucchini-flavored, but also a lot creamier than I'd remembered it being last year, which made it much more delicious for me. I asked Ryan if the recipe had changed, but he said that it hadn't. Who knows.

The "'sun dried tomato' salad" was one of the best of the new dishes we tried. The "tomatoes" were actually spherified sun dried tomatoes, which were then dehydrated so they had an intense tomato flavor but not the bursting, liquid center. The white spheres (no dehydration on these) were greek yogurt, and the air was lemon. Apparently air is so light that when you turn a spoonful of it upside down, it won't fall off (unlike a foam). So, of course, we all had to test this, and it's true. The little purple blossoms on top were chive blossoms, which have an intense chive flavor, in addition to being very pretty.

The deconstructed "ceasar salad," another repeat, was eaten sushi-style. Little lettuce rolls, topped with shavings of parmesan on one stack and a raw quail egg yolk on another. Fun twist on familiar flavors.

The "egg 63 degrees with caviar" had been one of my favorites last year, but I actually think that Dina might have gotten a better substitution - hers was covered with a layer of black truffle shavings instead of the caviar. Ryan peeled the very softly-boiled quail egg with a knife, without puncturing the egg inside! Very impressive skills. Attempts at home to boil an egg at a low temperature have never worked properly. The picture is after I'd taken a bite, breaking the yolk inside. I thought it was a cooler picture than just the layer of black caviar in the dish.

The "sea urchin 'ceviche'" was not one of my favorites. The air on top was hibiscus (so Adam tells me, I hadn't remembered), which was sort of fun to eat, but the urchin in the bottom didn't make much of an impression. Beautiful, though, in it's lovely glass bowl. I love the dishes and utensils both here and at El Bulli (which, in some cases, were the same).

The "corn on the cob" was another tasty repeat, and Ryan pointed out that everything in the dish was corn. Baby corn on a corn liquid, crunchy little kernels on top. Even the corn shoot along side had a light but clearly corny flavor.

The "guacamole" was another fun repeat. A tomato sorbet was piped onto the thinly slice avocado, which was then rolled around it (kind of like making sushi). It was garnished with tiny diced tomatoes, crushed Fritos, micro cilantro, and more of the chive blossoms (where can I get some of these?!).

I think I liked the smoked "smoked oyster and apples" reasonably well, though I don't remember that much about it. I do remember that the oyster had a bit of an odd flavor (as though it wasn't entirely raw), and I loved the bits of smoked oyster on top. Tasted kind of like bits of bacon (love the smokiness), which I miss greatly (c'mon food scientists, grow me some pork fat in a lab!).

Instead of the "New England clam chowder," which contained bacon, we got a liquid potato tortilla. Apparently they could have just done the chowder without the bacon, but since Adam had tried it the night before, they were nice enough to give him (and consequently Dina and me) something different. The so-called tortilla was very tasty, so I wasn't really disappointed. The foamy top layer tasted an awful lot like the potato foam from the brunch menu, but as I love that dish (which vanilla), I certainly liked it again. Basically, imagine the lightest, creamiest mashed potatoes possible. The bottom layer was a sort of roasted onion paste or puree, and it was garnished with tiny diced potatoes and what I think Ryan said was chive oil.

The "breaded cigala with sea salad" was one of Alex's least favorite, because he objected that it was too salty. I think I liked it more than he did, though the seaweed/sea bream salad was, obviously, salty. The cigala itself was nicely cooked, and I continue to love the smoked sea salt on top (though it only made this dish more salty). Apparently they smoke the salt in house in an electric smoker. Another excellent potential gift for me. :)

The last savory dish was the "philly cheesesteak." The crispy cone was filled with a soft sort of cream cheese (not sure exactly what kind of cheese), and our version was covered in a layer of shaved black truffle instead of the wagyu beef. I liked this last year, and I liked it this year. Alex, who lived in Philly for many years (Penn undergrad), gave this his cheesesteak-loving stamp of approval (though he did confirm that the best authentic version should use what is essentially cheese wizz, as I remember from my childhood NYC street fair cheesesteaks). Mmm, processed cheese product (cheese-in-a-can is an under-appreciated trashy treat).

The first dessert was the "pistachio-beets and mixed berries." In addition to being vividly beautiful, it was delicious. The little rectangles of light, crunchy beet flavor had a great texture. Apparently they make meringues, then dehydrate and slice them. Dehydration was big on this year's menu (and Ryan said they're trying to move away from spherification). Delicious, creamy pistachio flavor on the bottom layer, nice (raspberry?) sorbet on top, plus a bit of fresh blackberry on the side. Pistachio nuts added a harder crunch.

The "thai dessert" was one of my favorite dishes of the entire meal. It was absolutely fantastic! Coconut sorbet sat under a peanut wafer, a squiggle of not-too-heavy peanut butter, and chopped nuts. The tamarind swirl ringing the sorbet added a slightly sour, citrusy contrast, although wikipedia informs me that the fruit is actually a pod-like legume. A sprinkling of cayenne pepper on the edge of the plate added a powerful kick to any bit that included it. I think the micro herb was cilantro, but I don't remember. So amazing, though.

Unfortunately, the printed menu told us that we had missed out on the "matcha ball." When we asked, Ryan said that it couldn't be made in the humidity. Apparently it would have been a sort of ball of cotton candy rolled in matcha. Sounds really cool, and I was sorry to have missed it.

The little petit fours at the ended included a "saffron gumdrop," "maracuya marshmallow," and "pina colada injection." The gumdrop was good, with the expected jellied texture. Maracuya is another name for passion fruit, and a bit of passion fruit syrup was injected into the marshmallow (lovely soft texture) before serving. Dina was excited to finally get the pipette, which we had seen through the glass all evening. It really tasted like a pina colada, with the pipette contents being heavily coconut flavored and mixing well with the fresh pineapple. A much better end than last year's cough drop lollypop.

<-- picture of Ryan

While we were waiting for/paying the check, we were chatting

with Ryan some more. I could see some micro herbs growing on the window sill, and he told us that one of the plants (which was flowering near the top) was something that he'd been growing for fun, called stevia, although they hadn't used it in anything. He told us that it was a very sweet herb, sweeter than sugar, and let us try the blossoms. It was extremely sweet, though with a bit of a slightly bitter aftertaste. Very interesting though.

One of the nice things about having all six seats is that I didn't feel worried about disturbing others with the camera. Random other pictures taken throughout the evening:

Alex and Dina -->

<-- Paul and Kathy. Aren't they adorable? (correct answer: yes)

Adam, and Alex -->

Good company + fun food = great evening. Can't wait to go back! (Maybe can arrange a dinner during fly-out week, which I imagine will take me to DC?)

Holiday in Spain Finale: El Celler de Can Roca

Unfortunately, thanks to restaurant closures on Sunday/Monday, we didn't have time to do both Can Fabes and Can Roca. On the advice of eGullet responders, we decided eat lunch at Can Roca and skip Can Fabes for this trip. It turned out to be a great way to celebrate the Fourth (insert bad pun about culinary fireworks? no, let's not). Since we'd decided to drive back to BCN for our last night, we'd made the earliest possible lunch reservation - 1:00PM, oh late Spain hours! The restaurant is tucked behind a small front garden, small and unassuming (especially given the rep). Although we arrived about 15 minutes late (a few wrong turns), we were one of the first tables to be filled. We asked to sit in the back room (with views of a small pool and garden), which we had all to ourselves for the first few courses.

We were soon served a (presumably complementary, since served before we ordered anything) glass of cava (Cava El Celler de can Roca Albet i Noya) and offered a selection of breads. The large rectangular basket must have held at least 8 choices, although I only remember the ones we tried - olive (Adam), tomato (me), and onion (both). Once verifying that substitutions could be made, we ordered the most extensive tasting menu and asked for wine pairings. Since the printed menu we were given at the end included descriptions of the (surprisingly few) dishes for which we substituted, I'll include the descriptions for interested carnivores.

The "snacks" included: crunchy cod chips (which, while clearly fishy, were surprisingly good), "peanut caramel" (essentially a very good, fancy peanut brittle), "black olives crunchy" (a ripe olive in a sweet tuile - a great contrast, really delicious), "cucumber with vinegar" (according to the menu - I'm pretty sure it was actually squash, vinegar gelee, just okay), and "carrots with coconut and orange" (very Stone Barns-y, but the non-carrot flavors could have been less subtle so that it seemed less like just eating a raw carrot). Our menu listed "parmesan biscuit," but the cod chips seem to have been a substitution for that. In case it's not obvious, the descriptions move clockwise around the photo from the top.

The "tapas" course was the only place that we had substitutions for meat dishes. The best of the tapas was a sort of play on a tomato salad - tomato water, vinegar sorbet, some sort of gelee on the bottom, but also with apple flavor (maybe that was the gelee? can't remember). I do remember loving the hint of apple sweetness, and this dish was great in general. A sort of herb custard with one raw clam was good (though same raw shellfish apathy made this less enjoyable). The brownish gel was so fishy that I didn't want to finish it. I could have sworn that it was described as a mussel dish at the time, but the menu listed a "fennel veloute with see water [sic] and barnacles," which it could easily have been. We didn't receive either the "pigeon parfait, Bristol Cream, orange and spices" (sounds interesting) or the "fig's terrine with bitter tender almonds and foie gras." I believe this is where we got the Palacio de Otazu 01, which was a very interesting, big chardonnay.

The "oyster with Champagne, apple, cumin, curry and species bread," paired, unsurprisingly, with another glass of the cava, was a slightly interesting take on a classic combination. In addition to the actual champagne liquid poured over the dish, the green, bottled shaped dish was lined with a gel and studded with bits of apple. I don't remember cumin or curry, and I could have sworn there was some ginger, but I can't be sure. No particular bread was served alongside.

The "Spring mushrooms could [sic] soup with avocado and pines ice cream" was a very cool concept, but the flavors left a bit to be desired. Despite the menu, I'm almost positive that the mushrooms were described as (and tasted like) white mushrooms. While the clear gel had a very distinct mushroom flavor, it would probably have been amazing if more interesting mushrooms had been used. The thin ribbons of avocado also tasted a tad underripe. Still, a good, creative vegetarian dish, if not outstanding. I think this is where we got Lustau Oloroso Abocado 89, a sherry that seemed a sort of odd pick for early in the meal, but I remember thinking that the pairings were well thought out and surprisingly successful throughout.

When the "Mussels with Riesling" arrived, I'll admit I was a bit disappointed--not more raw shellfish!--but this one was really excellent. Which is saying a lot about raw mussels, from me. Similar to the minibar deconstructed white wine, the concept was that the underlying flavors of the reisling were each emphasized individually (but where minibar used gelee, Can Roca used mussels). The flavors, from bottom to top (the order in which we were instructed to eat) were bergamot (vaguely like eating perfume), apple (tasted like a bright, not too sweet applesauce), citrus, something fruity (peach, I think?), salt (for the "mineral" in the wine), and white truffle (a rich foam that tasted strongly of white truffle - and not just truffle oil - heavenly) . Like with the oysters, the wine pairing was obvious, an A.Chrissman Konigsbacher Idig 05 (semi-sweet, not at all syrupy, paired nicely).

Like the mushroom and avocado dish, I really wanted to love the "artichokes with sunflowers and orange," but it fell a bit short of its potential. While I did enjoy it a lot, the sunflower puree was a bit overpowering for the artichoke puree. However, the crispy artichoke slices were good and the citrus of the orange supremes cut the rich creaminess of the purees very well. This course was paired with the Edetaria 05, which was an extremely interesting, very nutty white wine. I would love to be able to find it in the States.

For the next course, a glass dome was removed at the table to release a thick, white cloud of smoke, which had the familiar, comforting smell of a campfire. The smoke cleared to reveal the "white asparagus souffle on embers." This was one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip. A picket fence of thinly sliced white asparagus encased a luscious, soft asparagus souffle. While this sounds simple enough, it was just amazing. I scrapped every bite off the plate that I could, and stared enviously at the table next to us when they received their own souffles a while later. We got another pour of the Edetaria, which was actually great since we'd enjoyed it so much.

The "hot veloute of prawn with cacao onions and mint" was the sort of rich dish that one would expect to eat in a more traditional, French restaurant. However, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it in a French restaurant and certainly did so here. The shrimp were covered in a thick, rich sauce, but what made this dish really excellent (instead of just overpoweringly creamy) was the puree of caramelized onion at the bottom of the bowl. When all the components were eaten together, it was more balanced and absolutely delicious.

The "noodles prawns 'fideua' topped with young garlic museline" was probably my least favorite of the savory dishes since the oysters. I guess I just felt like the ingredients didn't mesh well into something particularly interesting. The "noodles" were a bit sticky and didn't really have a strong flavor. The shrimp were well cooked but not particularly flavorful, though better w/ some of the thick foam. Overall, this one just didn't leave a strong impression, either positive or particularly negative.

I enjoyed the Can Roca skate, which they called "ray fenouil and green olives," much more than I had enjoyed the skate at El Bulli the night before. Although I couldn't really taste the fennel, the tan sauce had an intense green olive flavor that was delicious. There were also bits of sea bream and some greens garnishing this dish.

The "codfish with pumpkin and red paprika oil" was probably my least favorite of the savory dishes, which made it a disappointing place to end. I think this was more a function of the fact that I don't love codfish all that much, especially the texture (too dense?), than any fault of the cooking. I did think it was very cool to discover that the "pumpkin," which I had thought was just chunks of pumpkin meat cooked soft, was actually a pumpkin-flavored gel pasta. I'm not sure the pumpkin and other ingredients, which were on the sweet side, really went all that well with the cod.

The "lactic dessert ("dulce de leche," sheep milk ice cream, sheep cottage cheese foam, sheep's yoghurt and lactic cloud)" was my favorite of any dessert we ate in Spain. The components got more dense as I ate my way from the cotton candy "lactic cloud" on top, to the icy salmon-colored sliver, to the yoghurt and foam, and finally to the dense, rich caramel layer on the bottom. When I was little (maybe 8 or 9), a Brazilian friend taught us how to make ducle de leche by boiling a can of condensed milk (which I loved). That is exactly what the dulce de leche in this dessert tasted like, scoring nostalgia points as well as flavor points. It was great to be able to taste the distinct milk flavor in so many different forms, and the slightly sour flavor in the yoghurt and the lightness of many of the parts kept this dish from being too sweet.

The second dessert was a "roses souffle with chocolate and pistachio's ice cream." It was a very interesting dessert. The "souffle" wasn't really a souffle so much as a sort of foam being confined within a fine, cylindrical (edible) shell of some sort. It was sort of like eating airy perfume. The combination of rose, chocolate (sort of like a brownie), and pistachio was good, but I was too full to finish it. I really liked that neither dessert was too heavy (or overwhelmingly chocolatey), given how full (and borderline drunk) I was.

After the Edetaria, there was a Ino Masia Serra N.V. Garnatxa (I believe it's a local varietal in the region), Martin Berdugo 03 tempranillo, Muscat Rivesaltes Ambre, and an Albersweiler Latt Auslese 02. In case it wasn't obvious, there was a LOT of wine paired with the meal. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly where the last few paired (I was feeling the first, oh, four or five glasses). By the end, we were waiving away the waiter and leaving glasses half-filled. Because Adam had to drive, I actually don't think he finished a single glass. The picture is from the end of the meal, after about half the glasses had been finished (by me) or cleared half-finished (Adam).

The petit fours included a little citrus (I think) gelee, candied raspberries, chocolate covered poprocks (I always get a kick out of poprocks in haute food), and some sort of meringue (can't remember the flavor. The watermelon lolly pops looked like solid rock candy, but were actually melon balls covered in a thin, gelled layer (giving them the hard candy sheen). I think I would have preferred real lollies, if only because I wasn't quite ready for the meal to end and the real melon was too quickly eaten.

This was a great end to our food-centric vacation. The eGullet posters who steered us here were definitely right, especially given the fish-heavy menu. Looking over the photos from El Bulli and Can Roca later, we loved the reminders of excellent meals from the trip.

Holiday in Spain - The Big Show: El Bulli

July 3rd, the day of our reservation, had finally arrived! Our reservation was for 8:30, but we left Mas de Torrent at around 6:00, intending to stop to see something touristy along the way. However, after three trips through the same roundabout near Pals, we gave up on seeing its medieval city. We arrived outside the Dali museum in Figueras at around the time (7:45) of the last entry, at which point we turned around and headed for Roses. While the directions on the El Bulli website were pretty useless (we never saw the street/location signs they indicated), we finally saw a few El Bulli signs that directed us the right way. We turned up a winding road just past the second El Bulli sign, whose few adjacent buildings quickly became farther apart, until the only buildings to be seen were across the water, on other mountain peaks. I wasn't prepared for this last leg of the drive, which, if Rhonda (what Adam inexplicably named the car's GPS) is to be believed, was a 7km mountainside climb that would its way up and then slightly down steep, curvy roads. The views of the opposing peaks and open water below were breathtaking, but from my seat, the road seemed to drop steeply off into nothing for much of the ride, making the view also a little nauseating. From a few minutes into the drive until we finally saw the El Bulli sign at the end, we were half convinced that we had made a wrong turn and would be late. I kept thinking that if we veered off the road, we would most definitely plunge to our deaths. Adam loved driving it, of course, and we arrived with five minutes to spare. Here's the view from outside restaurant...imagine it from high on railingless road.

After a quick trip to the kitchen (where Ferran was standing front and center - I've never seen such a clean, orderly kitchen), we were shown to our table against the back wall. We sat side by side, where we could see most of the other tables in the room. After verifying that they remembered out dietary request (no meat/juices), the courses quickly began arriving. Unfortunately, some of the pictures are kind of blurry - in my eagerness to eat, I often didn't pay that much attention to how the picture looked on the little camera screen. Oh, and in case it seems weird to be taking pictures in a restaurant, two of the three tables surrounding us also pulled out cameras!

The "gin fizz" looked normal enough, but the foam (which was squirted out of a whipper tableside) started steaming a bit when it was added. I assumed it was because it was so cold, but when I took a sip, it was warm! The bottom, liquid layer was cold, with tiny ice crystals. While the gin flavor was pretty standard, the texture and temperature contrasts made the starting cocktail one of my favorites of the night. I have no idea how they managed to make the foam warm, since my experience with nitrous canisters is that they turn the canister (and its contents) cold.

The "spherical olives," while delicious, were functionally identical to the "olives" we'd had at minibar last summer, except that minibar gave us both green and black olives. Because of that, they lacked the element of surprise that we'd felt at minibar when the sphere's thin skin exploded into liquid olive. I think our familiarity with the molecular gastronomy techniques made many parts of this meal less wowing than it otherwise might have been, and I think both Adam and I had tried to keep that in mind (essentially, we didn't want to be less impressed with Adria for the effects of other restaurants' imitating his style). Given that we still thought it was a great experience, despite few really surprising dishes, we seem to have done so successfully.

The "golden nuggets" were essentially crunchy parmesan croutons in some sort of shiny coating. In fact, they weren't described as golden nuggets when they were served, but as some sort of parmesan thing, but I'm assuming from the printed menu. I am a fan of anything made from cheese!

The next few little bites were served at the same time. The "salty 'catanias'" looked like chocolate bonbons dusted in cocoa powder, but collapsed into a liquid center. Kind of cool, but I don't love the taste of bitter cocoa powder. The "parmesan 'airbag'" was essentially a hollow cracker dusted in sesame seeds. Adam's reading of egullet forums seems to suggest that these were our vegetarian replacement for some sort of pork rind snack. I didn't love this one, especially after the nuggets, which had a much stronger parmesan flavor. The "beetroot and yoghurt meringues" were my favorite dish since the gin fizz, light and very crunchy, with a clear, slightly sweet beet flavor. The printed menu listed "LYO fruits" as the dish before the golden nuggets, but as we didn't receive anything at that point and googling seems to indicate that LYO refers to some sort of freeze-drying, I'm assuming that this is the name for the pineapple sticks (which otherwise weren't listed on our menu). They were crunchy, with an intense pineapple flavor, very delicious. The "salty chocolate with cassis, yoghurt and pistachio" weren't actually chocolate at all, although molded to look like mini chocolate bars. Intense flavor, a bit sour (especially the cassis), and I was left with the impression that they were a bit gritty in texture. The yoghurt was my favorite.

"Tangerine bombons [sic], peanut and curry": the little disk tasted like a tiny peanut butter wafer with a hint of curry powder, very tasty. The bonbon exploded into a liquid tangerine center. Delicious.

The "pistachios sponge cake with acid milk mousse" seems to be a bit misnamed. The cake was crunchy, with an almost biscuity taste under the pistachio flavor, and not at all spongy. The mousse tasted like a sour yoghurt (and I believe might have been described as such). We were instructed to put a dollop on top of the cake. While delicious, it crumbled immediately on the first bite. Might have been better as a smaller, single-bite dish, to make it less messy. Still ate (almost) every crumb.

The "sesame sponge cake with miso," unlike the pistachio cake, was extremely spongy and light. I have no idea how they gave it such an interesting texture, which made this dish very interesting despite an as-advertised flavor.

The "flowers paper" was essentially tangy, edible flavors in a flattened layer of slightly sweet cotton candy. Not baffling as to how to was made (as some of our favorite dishes were), but very beautiful.

I really enjoyed the "rasberries [sic] fondant with wasabi and rasberries vinegar." The sweet raspberry was warm inside its sugar coating, and melted in my mouth. We had been advised to eat half of the raspberry, drink the spoonful of vinegar, and then eat the rest of the berry. The first bite was very sweet, and the second bite (after the sourish vinegar) less so. I don't remember really tasting the wasabi, and I'm generally very sensitive to spicy flavors. My one complaint is that I think this dish might have seemed better placed as one of the dessert courses.

The "tiger nut milk flowers" came out on a beautiful metal platter with rippled edges (they sell the platter, we bought two as gifts), with a layer of ice on the bottom to keep the flowers from melting. They begin melting almost as soon as you touch them (I transferred the photographed one to my plate, and it appears a bit melted along the edge from my touch). The flowers had a bit of a nutty flavor, but were actually kind of bland. They brought out the nuts for us to see, as well.

The "oysters yoghurt with px in tempura" was probably my favorite dish up until that point in the meal. The glass mug contained a creamy, slightly seafoody soup. The "px" stands for Pedro Ximenez, the varietal commonly used to make sherry. The tempura essentially tasted like a deep-fried sip of sherry, very surprising (I was expecting a more solid grape) and very delicious.

I was not a fan of the "mussels with lemon and fennel." The tiny balls (at the top of the picture) each tasted different (fennel, lemon, maybe something else?), and we were advised to eat an oyster and then a ball. While the balls were surprisingly strongly flavored, the raw mussels were stronger. In fairness, I don't really like raw shellfish, especially since my first raw mussel experience (at an old, well-regarded Boston restaurant, no less) gave me the worst food poisoning I've ever had. I imagine people who do like raw shellfish would have liked this one.

The "Fever-Tree tonic meringue with strawberries and lemon" was lovely to look at, but the tonic taste (of which I'm not really a fan, without vodka or gin to cut it) was very strong. The bottom of the dish had bits of what tasted like icy lemon sorbet, which made the bites that included it much better. The freeze dried strawberries taste like what comes out of my cereal box. The best bites included bits of everything (including the micro mint).

The "dashi with miso caviar" was the only dish to use the fake caviar technique that I've read about. It's a very cool technique, but tasted like a bland miso soup with interesting texture. Yet another example of Spanish restaurants seeming newly-enamored of Japanese ingredients (see description of tartar at Bar Mut). I would much preferred to have gotten to try a fruit caviar, but am looking forward to attempting our own with the Texturas chemicals I bought for Adam for his birthday.

The "fresh pine-cone and pinions dacquoise" tasted like a very fancy, crunchy, slightly different peanut butter sandwich on white bread. The table next to us got this dish shaped like a large ring, which was sliced into wedges tableside.

The "pine-nut shell" was edible and cold, and started to melt as I ate it. The pine nuts inside were very soft, and sat in a clear gel. Basically, it was pine nuts in textures. A bit bland in flavor, and we'd had so many nut-flavored things already that it lost some of its effect.

The "tomato cous-cous with oil-olives, basil and parmesan cheese" was a mostly excellent dish. The glass of clear liquid was richly parmesan flavored. I would love to know how it's made. Parmesan stock reduced and filtered? The red "cous-cous" tasted like little chilled crystals of Campbell's tomato soup concentrate. While very good, I think it would have been amazing if it tasted like fresh tomatoes. The oil-olives looked like regular olive oil, but had the intense olive flavor of the fruit. We were told not to mix the ingredients, but they tasted even better together (not sure if the instruction was a mistake?). The only disappointment was that the basil sorbet, which I've had many times on appetizers or desserts, was actually pretty bad. It didn't have a strong, fresh basil taste, and marred an otherwise outstanding dish. Beautiful, rich colors.

The "gnocchi of polenta with coffee, safran yuba and daisy buds" was one of my two favorite dishes. The gnocchi was very soft and light, sitting in a rich sauce containing capers and bits of egg. My only complaint (well, besides the fact that the serving wasn't huge) was the sprinkling of coffee powder on top, but that's just because I don't like coffee at all. Even with the subtle coffee flavor and the capers (which I often don't love), I still savored every bite. I recognize that most people would love it even more. However, this didn't seem like a very technically complicated dish...it could have been on any creative Italian menu.

The "Padron ravioli" were another great dish, like a variation on classic fried, salty tapa. The thin, clear skin contained a course filling that tasted like a dice of peppers and seeds. Bits of sea salt brought the dish alive. I could have taken or left little dots of licorice flavor (another food I don't like). Another egullet poster described this dish as very spicy, but ours wasn't, a product, I assume, of the variation in the spiciness of the peppers themselves.

The "razor clam with seaweed" was by far my least favorite dish (didn't even bother to eat more than one). Perhaps if I liked raw shellfish more, I would have finished this dish. It reminded me of swallowing too much salt water at the beach. Very fishy/seaweedy/salty. However, the very vocal American at a nearby table (who told a waiter to call him "Big Jim") loved it. I overheard the following: "We all love to eat the ocean. . . . I on [didn't catch the name] beach, looking out. I love it!" At which point, I'm pretty sure someone at the table shushed him. When the waiter returned, Big Jim said "I feel like I am a whale, riding in the ocean, dreaming of mermaids." It took a great deal of self control not to laugh out loud.

The printed menu indicates a course called "enokis to cream" at this point, but nothing like that was served. Very disappointing, since sounds like it would have been delicious. I'm not sure what happened to this dish, but very weird.

The "codfish with 'topinambour'" was the other of my two favorite dishes. Chunks of sunchoke and a luxurious layer of shaved white truffles sat on the cod skin (no actually cod meat). I don't remember what the cream on the side tasted like, but I remember this entire combination was rich and absolutely delicious.

The "skate" wing was accompanied by a hazelnut foam and some noodles of either soy or seaweed (I can't remember which - definitely salty). I'm not sure this combination worked all that well together. The feta noodles at minibar were a far better use of the flavored noodle technique. The skate dish was fine, I certainly ate it all, but wasn't a standout. Pretty sick of nut flavors by now.

The "sea cucumbers with 'roes' - sea lettuce and salicornia," however, was a outstanding. I've never had sea cucumbers before (and A suggests that they are endangered, which makes me iffy on eating them in future), but they were delicious! The roe stuffed inside them looked like salmon roe, but without the overwhelming saltiness that makes me less than enthused about it. While a waiter we asked said that it was, in fact, roe, the menu quotation marks suggests that they were another synthetic caviar. The "lettuce" was some sort of thin green layer (couldn't tell if it was an actual cooked green or some sort of jellied layer) wrapped around individual pieces of sea bream. Whatever was in this one, we loved it.

At this point, we transitioned into sweet courses with "eggplant to the honey," which served as a sort of bridge between savory and dessert. It was very interesting, but I didn't love it. The chunk of deep red eggplant tasted sweet (as though marinated/poached in honey), and looked vaguely (unappetizingly) like a chunk of meat. Light yoghurt and a smear of sesame paste finished the dish. For some reason, the contrasts didn't quite work for me.

The "sweet frost fruits" were blackberries in a crisp meringue, accompanied by a pipette of berry juice. We were instructed to squirt the juice into the meringue before eating, which didn't work so well. The juice kept dripping out, no matter how centered I positioned the pipette. In the end, I ate the meringues and squirted the pipette directly into my mouth. Very tasty, not overwhelmingly sweet.

The "orchid" was an amazing dessert, but unfortunately I can't remember many specifics beyond my lingering impression of amazement. I had expected the trail of chocolate to be bittersweet, but it was surprisingly fudgy. I loved it! I believe there was a saffron ice cream, some sort of moist bite of cake, plus the orchid itself. I can see some other bits in my photograph, but can't remember what they are! Very frustrating.

At this point, we were asked if we wanted to move to the terrace for coffee and the remaining desserts, which we did. We hadn't sat outside before dinner as some diners had, so it was a nice change of scenery. In the dark, we could only hear the waves lapping against the beach below. The weather was perfect. An absolutely lovely setting to end the evening.

The first of our "Morphings...." was a strawberry with vinegar: a wonderfully ripe strawberry with a little round of vinegar (same technique as the olives) that exploded in my mouth. Or, in Adam's case, slid off the top of his strawberry to splat on the table. Luckily, the waiter graciously fetched a replacement.

The final offering was a sleeve of styrofone containing "paper candy," which was essentially a wafer-thin, sugary confection. Very sweet, cool technique, but not as amazing in flavor as many of the other things we ate.

In terms of wine, we started with a Remelluri Blanco 04, which was fine but unremarkable. Looking for something a little more exciting (and eyeing the golden white on Big Jim's table), Adam then ordered a bottle of Batard-Montrachet Lemoine 02, which was very big and apricoty. Really lovely, but unfortunately, we had to drive back, so Adam couldn't drink that much, and I figured he'd rather a soberish navagator. We took the remaining half of the bottle to go, but other than Adam's one glass nightcap later that evening, we didn't get a chance to finish it. Sadly, thanks to no liquid security regulations, we had to abandon it when we left.

Overall, we had a great time, and would definitely go back (though preferably with more people - I imagine it's more fun with a group, especially with friends who haven't eaten this sort of food before). In terms of pure food enjoyment, we probably liked minibar more, thanks to the novelty and some really outstanding dishes. However, the El Bulli food, location, and the effect of knowing we got a sought-after, almost-impossible-to-get experience all made the night great. Unlike some stories I've heard, we didn't leave hungry (nor stuffed, which is also good). The service couldn't have been better, and the drive is certainly a fitting dramatic prelude. Luckily, the return trip was a lot less scary in the dark!

Holiday in Spain - first night

Just got home from our long weekend in Spain last night, feeling like I'd done nothing but eat for the previous five days. I'll be sure to blog extensively (with photos!) about elBulli and El Cellar de Can Roca (since I'll probably post on egullet as well - I've recently joined), but figured I devote a bit of space to talking about other places we ate as well.

Our first night, we ended up napping for awhile and didn't make it down to the concierge to talk about dinner until around ten (maybe later?). We'd asked about doing tapas (Cal Pep or similar), but a few quick phone calls determined that waits were prohibitively long (or the restaurants weren't even taking more customers) at a few popular places. We ended up going to a seafood restaurant on the recommendation of the concierge. She described Neyras as a casual place, as though apologizing for its lack of pomp, which led us to expect a little authentic hole in the wall (sounded perfect). The restaurant turned out to be a nice bistro-esque place, with a more casual-looking front room and a nicer back room (where we were seated). Both were almost entirely empty, which was disconcerting. We were handed menus in English, which is also a bit disconcerting. The food actually was decent, though pretty expensive for what it was (~150 euros, no dessert, and a decent bottle of house white was only 17 euros). Ended up feeling as though we'd be steered to a place that caters to foreign tourists who pay for the English fluency. Not exactly what we'd wanted.

For appetizers, I ordered a salad of cheese, tomato, and black truffle. It turned out to be very similar to an Italian caprese (though the cheese - not sure what it was - wasn't quite mozzarella), very un-trufflely (despite the black slivers), and very un-Spanish. The tomatoes weren't super-ripe, but it was fine. Adam got a lentil stew, which was more soupy than the thickness I expect of a lentil stew, but it was pretty good. The entrees were much better. I got a sort of paella made with black squid ink and seafood. Ever since a memorable black ink risotto eaten on the Croatian coast, I can rarely exist ordering inky rice dishes. Adam got fideos (crispy noodles instead of rice - though it was spelled differently - I assume the Catalan spelling). Both dishes had a similar assortment of clams, shrimp, and fish, and both were tasty (though I would have assumed the fideos would be crispier, but never having had the dish before, this could just be my expectation).

Certainly a generally tasty meal, and had it been half the price and seemed like a more authentic local restaurant, I would have been very happy. But by the end, we were full and exhausted, ready to go home and sleep.

Best. Review. EVER.

Okay, okay. I haven't eaten here. I don't even eat steak. But I found this Times review to be HILARIOUS.

http://events.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/dining/reviews/28rest.html

What time is it? It's Valentimes!

Once again, it's V-Day, perhaps the most overrated food day of the year. Besotted (or perhaps just obligated-feeling) couples trek to fancy restaurants, where they are forced to order inflation-priced tasting menus full of expensive ingredients like caviar and truffles. When I'm out for a special meal, I want to be able to pick what I want off the full menu (or at least have the option), not have what the restaurant thinks is "romantic" forced upon me. But oh well. I like the chance to try somewhere new. I'm pleased that Adam made time to have dinner with me on a random Wednesday, which happens to have been the worst weather day of the winter so far. We awoke to a blanket of fluffy, white snow (yay!), only to have it turn into wind-driven, freezing rain by the time I headed to class around 1:00 (pain!), only to turn once again into rain and the accompanying slush by about 4:30 (gross!). Perhaps the most romantic thing to be done on a day like this is to curl up somewhere inside, but that's not really celebratory, is it?

Anyway. Adam and I made a last minute reservation at Craigie Street Bistro, which we've been meaning to try for awhile. Typically, their regular menu was replaced by a $130, "5-course" menu. Although some of the courses only had one fish course (we checked the menu online), I assumed before going that they would also have a vegetarian alternative. What restaurant, in this vegi-friendly day, doesn't? Craigie Street Bistro. The chipper waitress informed me vaguely apologetically that they no, they didn't really. She seemed momentarily worried that this would be a problem for me, but since I'd eat the fish, I let it go.

I listed the number of courses is quotes because this count included the amuse (who does that?), which the waitress did not warn me (after having told her I didn't eat meat!) was sliced duck breast and lardo. We discovered this when someone else put it down on our table, and we sent it back. No effort was made to apologize, substitute something we would eat, or discount the cost of our meal for the missing course. The glasses of wine we'd ordered both arrived too cold, though Adam's red was noticeably less cold than my white, as though an attempt was made to chill them differently. Weird. My white was fine, nothing distinctive (though it was described as similar to a Reisling w/ a hint of nutmeg), but Adam actively disliked his. Not off to a great start.
The "second" course was the only one in which there were two seafood dishes. Adam ordered the "Pastis- and Citrus-Cured Salmon: baby potatoes, fennel, preserved lemon, mache." The combination was good but nothing at all original. I would have preferred something light and creamy in the dish to lighten the flavors. If you're going to serve me a cliched combination of flavors, go for all the elements of the cliche. In fairness, Adam thought it was fine as is. I ordered the "Just Warm Wiley Maine Oysters: oyster and oyster mushroom veloute, American Osestra caviar." This was probably my favorite dish of the meal. While that's not exactly high praise, this was genuinely very enjoyable. I normally don't love oysters (except for Keller's heavenly Oysters and Pearls), but this was essentially a lovely, smooth, rich mushroom soup w/ an appropriately salty, sea flavor from the oysters and caviar. We wiped the bowl w/ the bread.

The next course was "Curry-Poached Dayboat Cod Cheeks: fresh Maine shrimp, celery cauliflower, blood orange emulsion." I think I liked this one more than Adam, though neither of us loved it. I'm just not a fan of poached fish in general (it's a flavorless texture thing, I think), unless the sauce is really something special to compensate. This combination reminded me a bit of a sort of sour, citrusy relish. Eh.

The final savory dish was "Butter-Poached Nova Scotia Lobster: pink peppercorns, radishes, Macomber turnip puree." I enjoyed this dish, as it was as rich and buttery as one would expect. It was very classic French, nothing new there. While it was delicious to eat, it was disappointing in its lack of any originality. When we'd first ordered, the waitress had extolled the virtues of the black truffles (available on this course for a $25 supplement), which apparently had been flown in from Italy, having been collected the day before. Adam ordered the supplement, and his lobster arrived with three or four slices of black truffle on the top. The truffles were disappointingly mild, having almost no discernible aroma or flavor. Emblematic of the overpriced blahness of this meal, perhaps?

I ordered the "CSB Profiteroles: maple sugar ice cream, red chile-Valrhona chocolate sauce," mostly because I figured it was a waste not to try both options and it generally falls to me to order the chocolate option in such cases w/ Adam. I couldn't taste any particular flavor in the ice cream, despite my efforts to isolate the maple flavor. The chocolate sauce did have a discernible hint of chile, which was a welcomed contrast to its otherwise overwhelming richness. Fine as profiteroles go, I just don't tend to love them (or really any overly chocolate dessert). Adam got the "Organic Sour Milk Panna Cotta: blood oranges, candied fennel, raspberry coulis." The panna cotta, while lacking the normal elegance of presentation (rather than a nicely-shaped sloping cone, it was a square cut out of a larger pan), was very delicious. I do like a nice berry coulis.

After some unmemorable "mignardises" and the presentation of a single red rose w/ the check, Adam and I headed back to Gannet. Sadly, class work doesn't respect Vday. While this whole post might make it seem as though I had a horrible Valentine's Day, I actually didn't. I love having dinner with Adam. The food and service weren't bad, just disappointing in its expensive uncreativity and the general feeling of lack of eagerness to accommodate, respectively. It just goes to show how disappointed expectations can leave a bad taste (no pun intended) in one's mouth w/ regard to what's otherwise a perfectly adequate experience.

I miss NYC!!!

Dean Kagan refers to Harvard as the "New York of law schools" so often that it's become something of a campus cliche. While HLS has been pretty great so far (caveat: I have not yet gotten any grades, so we'll see if I revise that opinion), my new town can't hold a candle to NYC food-wise. Cambridge has a couple of good restaurants (Rendezvous and Oleana are two faves), but in general the variety and quality leaves something seriously to be desired. So, when unhappy circumstances led to a last minute trip to New York yesterday, we decided, at the very least, to take culinary advantage. Korn is always game for a good meal (at least since he started having money to burn) and we convinced Chilton to come along with promises of red meat on the menu. Anyway, we finally got around to trying Scott Conant's Alto! Seeing him on the Top Chef finale* recently had reminded me that I wanted to try Alto, and it's been awhile since we've had really good Italian, so ended up there for a 9:15 reservation on Friday night.

Our table wasn't quite ready, so we clustered around the smallish bar, ordered cocktails and generally (apparently) made asses of ourselves. Adam got some slight variation on a Negroni, which was done in the classic style, singed orange peel and all. Andrew and I ordered the zenzero, which had white tequila, honey, ginger, and lime (I think?). Very delicious, but when the indecisive Chilton decided that he wanted one, the bartender told him that we'd gotten the last of his ginger. Since it was pretty obvious that Chilton was looking for an easy-drinking cocktail, the bartender offered to make a unseasonable cocktail that was currently off the menu. Gin, sugar, lemon, and lots and lots of fresh basil! The G&B Combination (or something like that) was fantastic! Apparently it's so popular that he keeps the ingredients around all year, because people will ask for it even when it's off the menu. Anyway, here we were--the guys all in suits since we came straight from the wake--making jokes about unsavory (i.e. potentially disease-ridden) ex of Chilton's current gf, and generally questioning whether it would be wise of us to share drinks w/ Chilton as a result, when the bartender asked how we all knew each other. After the moment of slightly sheepish silence that always accompanies this question, we said that we'd all been debaters. The bartender sort of chuckled as though this was what he'd expected...apparently he'd gone to Stuy years ago and had known the debate coach/team there. Here's to fulfilling stereotypes so many years after graduating from high school...oy.

Anyway, we're seated soon after, and quickly decide that the four course prix-fixe is the way to go. Andrew looked enthused over the tasting menu, but as all but one course had meat in it, Adam and I were not so keen on the idea. In the end, because we ordered two raw fish dishes and one cheese course a la carte, it was functionally a six course meal. So, finally, to the food...

The "Branzino Tartare: avocado, gremolata, and preserved lemon vinaigrette" was very good, nicely lemony, but the "Yellowfin Tuna "Susci": preserved truffles, baby watercress and sea salt" was amazing. The deep red tuna was rolled around the fillings, and it was so rich that it was practically meaty in its intensity. Even Chilton really liked it, and he doesn't generally like fish (much less raw fish).

For our real appetizers, I got the "Puree of Curried Butternut Squash Soup: whipped burrata and guanciale." I was assumed that the stock was vegetarian (which seems rare), but the soup was delicious. The "Seared Diver Scallops: caramelized potatoes, mushrooms and sunchoke puree" were also very good, basically as described. The boys liked the "Wagyu Beef Albese Style: shaved parmiagiano and picked baby mushrooms" and the "Slow Braised Short Ribs of Beef: vegetable and farro risotto," though obviously didn't try them.

For the pasta course, since I'd asked about vegetarian options, the waiter offered a polenta with mushrooms and some sort of semi-soft cheese which melted into the dish. It was absolutely fantastic! I have no idea why it wasn't on the regular menu. By far the best of the pasta course, in my option. The "Chanterelle and Braised Lumache Ravioli: truffled watercress puree" were good (didn't really taste snaily), but the watercress puree, though a lovely vivid green, could have been less intense...maybe something else in the sauce to cut the cress a bit? Adventure-averse Chilton ordered the "House Made Spaghetti: fresh tomato and basil" (the vegi pasta on the menu), which, while an excellent version of what it was described as being, was nothing more than that. The waiter had recommended it highly, but how could he think it could compare w/ the polenta? Korn got something with meat...can't remember...

For entrees, we got the "Imported Turbot: caramelized leeks, onions, endive, salsa verde and lentils" and the "Poached Dorade: caponata and golden raisin-pignoli mostarda." Both good, but weaker than the amazing tuna and polenta. Korn and Chilton both ordered the "Grilled Dry Aged Ribeye of Beef (18oz): hen of the woods mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, truffles and parmigiana." I'll admit, I tried the things underneath, which were sort of all stuck together w/ the melty parm, and it was sooo great. I'm sure it was soaked in meat juice or something, but I'm going to ignore this.

For dessert, I got the cheese, which included some sort of fresh cheese (a ricotta salata?) w/ figs, parmesan with truffle honey (SO GOOD), and something else...can't remember. Too busy remembering black truffles suspended in sweet, golden honey. Mmm...and the parmesan was good too. However, definitely enjoyed this board. I whined about two people wanting to get the "Apple "Tatin": muscovado gelato, dry fruit compote," convincing Chilton to order something else for variety, which was probably a mistake. This was the best of the desserts. The pumpkin creme brule with an espresso granita (I think) and the cardamum panna cotta with grapefruit (in sorbet, supremes, and foam) were both fine, but not nearly as good as the apple dessert. I can't remember anything in particular about the subsequent petit fours, except for one. Chilton (reaffirming his discerning palette) tried a chocolate one, said he liked it but couldn't identify the filing, so I tried it and discovered it was coffee-filled. I choked it down, unwilling to spit it out in my cloth napkin and making faces at Chilton the whole time. He was then like, "yeah, you're right, it was coffee!" Bad Chilton.

Anyway, a really fantastic meal, probably one of the best we've had in awhile. The service was friendly and attentive in the non-stuffy way we enjoy. Even if the dishes weren't all equally strong, all were at least enjoyable and some were outstanding. Definitely on the list to revisit! Why can't Boston have restaurants this good?

*Random side note: I love this show! Adam (and Korn) ate at Casa Mono about a month ago and saw Ilan still working the line, which led him to assume that this meant Ilan didn't win...but I guess he proved the old saying about what happens when you assume...Anyway, last week, Adam and I were sitting around Gannett w/ the gf of the VP, who told us that she's known Ilan since they were 14 and she's the one who, having been a big Season 1 fan, suggested he try out for the show! Now Ilan is Top Chef, I'm the VP gf, and Adam will likely become even more imaginary...

Don't call it molecular gastronomy!

So I haven't posted in (gasp) almost a year. It isn't that I haven't been eating anywhere, so I will blame it on a combination of severe laziness and the business of starting law school. However, last week I got news that most foodies worldwide would kill to get...I HAVE AN EL BULLI RESERVATION. Next July 3rd, Spain, here I come! I can tell how much my friends value food by their reactions to this news ("HOLY GOD" from Helen to "wait, you're going to Spain just for dinner?" from various skeptical law school friends, with degrees of enthusiasm in between). I'd sent my email request on October 14th (almost midnight, Spain time), so every week that passed without word made me more excited. The email came Tuesday morning, which was a perfect way to purge the ickiness of the previous week's stress. Funnily enough, Adam still has an outstanding email request...could you imagine if we got two reservations this year? I realize the odds are astronomically small, and we wouldn't go twice in one year, but still an amusing musing.

Anyway, given my upcoming El Bulli reservation, I figured that this would be as good a time as any to finally blog about a meal from this past summer. Adam was working DC for the summer, which meant that I was spending a lot of my weekends down there, and of course we did a lot of eating. His Penn Quarter location put us smack in the middle of three of Jose Andres's restaurants (Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo, and Zaytinya). We ate at all of them multiple times, and they each have their charms, but hands down the best of the meals was at minibar in Cafe Atlantico. Apparently Andres and some of his chefs have all trained w/ Adria in Spain, and Adria's influence is openly acknowledged. However, we were told not to call the type of cuisine "molecular gastronomy." Anyway, here is the menu for the evening...as this meal was a few months ago, I don't remember details on everything, but what I do remember is correlative to what was memorable.

Snacks:
"Mojito": one of the coolest techniques - a small, delicate balloon resting on a spoon with a tiny sprig of micromint (Andres seems a bit fan of microherbs!), its liquid center was a pretty standard mojito flavor
Passion Fruit Whiskey Sour: I remember liking this shot...not sure there was anything special beyond passion fruit and whiskey being an unusual combination
Pork Rinds w/ Maple Syrup: we obviously did not eat the pork rinds - I forget what replaced them, but I don't think we loved whatever it was
Salmon Roe Cone: fine, but sort of a poor rendition of Keller's salmon tartar cone. I never love salmon roe, just too big and salty.
Beet Tumbleweed: this dish looked sort of as you'd expect from something called "tumbleweed," a deep purplish-red tangle of airy crunch. Not super strong on flavor, but a clear beetiness and cool texture.
Saffron-Yogurt Meringue: this little bite-sized meringue was fine, not a super strong saffron flavor and its not like meringue is an amazingly inventive technique
Olive Oil Bon-Bon: OMIGOD!! By far one of the simplest and best dishes we ate the whole meal. A thin, sweet candy shell explodes into a pool of deliciously smooth oil.
Ferran Adira "Olives": like the mojito, little balloons that explode in your mouth w/ olivey essence. One green, one black. I won points for correctly guessing that these would be "olives" while they were being plated. Fantastic. Makes me glad I've forced myself to develope a taste for olives.
Crispy Fish: little fish, less than an inch long, eyes and all, fried crisp, served in a paper cone...they were salty and fishy and once you get over the weirdness of fish that small, not anything amazing.
Cotton Candy-Foie Gras: in our version, the foie was replaced by a chunk of avocado. I love cotton candy, so that's never a complaint, but the combination of cotton candy and avocado was a bit bland.

Flavors & Textures:
Salmon-Pineapple "Ravioli" w/ Crispy Quinoa: this dish doesn't stand out, I remember thinking it was okay but not particularly amazing. I do like quinoa, though.
Deconstructed Glass of White Wine: this was one of those dishes that's more conceptually cool and fun than anything. Basically a thin layer of white grape jello on which are arranged a series of flavor essences...a small shaving of zest, a tiny microherb leaf, a drop of a fruit, a sprinkle of spice. A fun guessing game to identify the flavors, and we got almost all of them right.
Corn on the Cob: I don't remember exactly, but I think they were tiny baby corns, similar to some corn dish on the brunch menu.
"Ajo Blanco": A very cool deconstruction. Top layer was white, snowish shavings, working down to a pool of garlicky olive oil. Definitely one of our favorites.
Organized Caesar Salad: a sort of salad spring roll...the lettuce is rolled up, one stack is topped with a tiny egg yoke (quail? cannot remember) and the other is topped w/ parmesan shavings. The roll was wrapped in something white and crunchy...sliced jicama, maybe? A cool take on the standard salad.
Conch Fritter: this dish is also on the brunch menu, so we'd had it a few times before, but really like it. The fritter is filled w/ a liquid center of conch (I assume) soup. As best as we could figure out, you basically freeze the soup and then batter and deep-fry the frozen cube, which melts during cooking. Definitely something I want to try at home.
Smoked Oyster w/ Apples: nothing particular stands out...I don't love oysters, so this was unlikely to be a fav
Zucchini in Textures: basically a zucchini gelee w/ zucchini seeds in it, if I remember correctly. I don't particularly love zucchini, so this one wasn't a favorite.
Hot & Cold Foie Gras Soup: we got a shot of gaspacho instead, very tasty (Zaytina and Jaleo both also do good gaspacho).
"Guacamole": A sort of guacamole sushi roll. Tomato sorbet rolled in thinly sliced avocado. It was topped with some sort of corn chip...fritos? Cool concept, tasty and refreshing.
Feta "Linguine": another fantastic favorite of the meal! Apparently the water in which feta sits (everyone who's ever bought feta can picture this, I assume?) can somehow be turned into these clear noodles. The noodles, very lightly dressed (some sort of creamy sauce), were absolutely full of flavor...I think I would have eaten a whole bowl, though Adam wondered if it'd get old after a few more bites.
Egg 63 degrees w/ Caviar: very very soft egg, topped with caviar. Good in the what you'd expect from description sort of way. I really want to learn how to properly slooooow cook an egg.
Lobster Americaine: a bite of lobster through which was stuck a pipette of containing greenish liquid. The point is to squeeze the pipette into your mouth w/ the lobster. Better not to think too much about what made the greenish sauce. Kind of eh.
New-New England Clam Chowder: I don't remember this on at all. Oh well.
Breaded Cicala w/ Lemon: don't remember this one either...perhaps the wine and food were starting to fog my brain by this point in the meal.
Philly Cheese Steak: we had something else replace the meat, of course...eggplant? who knows...can't remember...though I think I liked whatever it was.

Sweet End:
Japanese Baby Peaches w/ Yogurt: the tiny green peaches were very very cool. I like minifruits, like baby kiwis. A nice, light dessert.
Apples w/ Red Wine "Fredy Girardet": I think I remember liking this one, but can't remember exactly...I think it was little apple balls, sorbet, and a red wine gelee, but wouldn't swear...
Pina Colada: a dessert on the regular menu, but I really like it. Pineapple gelee under (I believe) coconut foam or something similar.
Saffron Gumdrop in Edible Wrapper: cool concept, sort of eh taste
Fruit Cocktail Injection: another pipette, this time through fruit, but this one was better than the mystery innards green one.
Maracuya Marshmallows: no real memory...I always like marshmallows (we'll just ignore that they're made from ground up horse hooves or something...)
Chocolate Covered Corn Nuts: can't remember...
Halls Lollipop: okay, so I understand that this is conceptually cool or something, but kind of eww...seriously, who really wants to end a good meal with the taste of cough drops?

So, end thoughts? Some things were amazing, some were cool, and some were just okay. However, the meal was not super expensive (around $100 for the food, I believe) as long tastings go, and probably the most fun nice meal we've ever had! Since it's counter seating, it was social. We talked to the couple on either side of us and were able to ask questions to the chefs as each dish was prepared/served. We definitely want to go back again...perhaps sometime next summer, so we can directly compare to El Bulli. CANNOT WAIT.

BHSB2: Return to Stone Barns

Since Adam goes back to school this weekend, we wanted to do another dinner at Stone Barns before he left. We wondered if we would be remembered from our last visit, but weren't sure how to find out. Luckily, we didn't have to do anything at all. We were seated right away, and I noticed the maitre d' who had shown us the kitchen on our last visit speaking to our waiter immediately before he (the waiter) came to our table. Since the waiter greeted us with a casual familiarity instead of the normal "so, is this your first time dining with us" routine, I suspected that the maitre d' had recognized us and told the waiter (who looked like a cross between Christian Asmar and Jimmy Kimmel). This was confirmed when the maitre d' himself came to the table to welcome us back and say that "the chef would like to cook for you tonight." We were going to do the tasting menu anyone (not realizing that the menu had changed since our last visit), but how can you say no to that? So, we specified that we don't eat meat or poultry, and without knowing what to expect from there...

Cocktail sidebar: I ordered the "carnivale" cocktail, which included some sort of pumpkin puree, campari, orange juice and vodka...at least, I think it was vodka. Couldn't really taste a lot of the alcohol, but it was very interesting, savory and refreshing (odd, I know). I could really taste the pumpkin. Adam ordered the elderflower champagne cocktail, which he had before, tasted pretty much like a slightly off (not in a bad way) champagne.

We were brought an array of amuses to start. I'm not sure if this (and the petite fours at the end) are part of the newly revamped restaurant (they were closed last week for "renovations" in the kitchen - no idea what - and the menu structure is totally changed) or a tasting menu perk. Anyway, in the order they were set down:
-celery root soup: warm, as good as could be expected, don't love celery flavor
-herbed parmesan crisps on a stick (so they looked like giant lacy lollipops): as advertised, but I'm the perfect audience for that sort of thing
-whole mini white turnip: ate the green too, plain but crunchy and fresh, better as a concept ("here! eat this lovely fresh vegi from our garden") than an actual amuse
-fresh sardine on spice bread: amazing, and I expected to think it was awful. The spice bread tasted almost like gingerbread (but with a softer, breadier texture), and you could taste the freshness of the sardine for all its fishy saltiness. Baffling, but it worked
-beet "burger": beet tartar on a mini bun, surprisingly sweet, with just a hint of mustard

The first course of our tasting was a large sardine with