Archive for the 'Fine Dining' Category

Del Posto – New York City

Published by Gastronomer on July 18, 2011 in Fine Dining, Italian, New York City and Restaurant Review. 8 Comments

My grandma once remarked (in Vietnamese, of course) that in New York City, money is spent as freely as water. From dining to shopping to transportation to entertainment, it’s dangerously easy to drop some serious change exploring and reveling in everything the city has to offer. While bargains may not be the norm in these here parts, there are still some great values to be had.

Take for instance lunch at Del Posto, Chef Mario Batali and restauranteur Joseph Bastianich‘s four-star Italian restaurant. Dinner here starts at $115, but a three-course lunch complete with amuses and mignardises can be had for just $29. Now, that’s a deal that even my penny pinching Bà Ngoại would approve.

The Astronomer and I lunched here the afternoon following our feast at Eleven Madison Park. We were seated at a table fit for four in the center of the dining room. The crowd of lunching ladies and powwowing business types spoke mostly in hushed tones, adding to the formal ambiance that I found too stuffy for this time of day.

After placing our orders, a server brought over a trio of amuse bouches. There were lobster and caviar finger sandwiches, a tomato soup with bread crumbs around the rim, and small bundles of sauerkraut wrapped in speck ham. All three bites were perfectly nice, but none were particularly wow inducing.

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Eleven Madison Park – New York City

Published by Gastronomer on July 15, 2011 in Fine Dining, New American, New York City and Restaurant Review. 21 Comments

Following our wonderful travels in Montréal, The Astronomer and I headed stateside to New York City! The moment we stepped off the train at Penn Station, we booked it to Eleven Madison Park for dinner. I would’ve preferred a later reservation in order to freshen up at the hotel, but the first seating was all I could snag a few weeks in advance. We arrived at the restaurant slightly sweaty from the heat, but ready to be swept away by one of the city’s finest establishments.

Opened in 1998, Eleven Madison Park is owned by restauranteur extraordinaire Danny Meyer. Chef Daniel Humm was brought on board in 2006, and under his care, the restaurant received four stars from The New York Times in 2009. Chef Humm was named “Best Chef: NYC” by the James Beard Foundation in 2010.

We were seated promptly upon our arrival along the row of tables situated toward the back of the restaurant. Our seat offered lovely views of the room’s grand windows and larger than life floral arrangements.

At Eleven Madison Park, diners can choose either four courses ($125) or a tasting menu ($195). Since I had to fit into a bridesmaid dress at the end of the week, we played it safe and went for four courses.

In place of a traditional menu, diners are presented with a 4×4 grid containing 16 ingredients. Each row represents a different course, and diners are asked to choose the ingredient that fancies them most. After years of eating tasting menus where my preferences were never considered, I appreciated this innovation greatly.

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El Celler De Can Roca – Girona

Published by Gastronomer on August 14, 2010 in Fine Dining, Girona, Molecular Gastronomy, Restaurant Review and Spanish. 19 Comments

After The Astronomer and I left the sunny shores of Valencia, we hopped a train to Girona, where our only order of business was to dine at El Celler De Can Roca. Even though this was our third three-star Michelin meal in the span of two weeks, I eagerly anticipated it as if it were the first.

Founded in 1986, El Celler de Can Roca gives new meaning to the term “family restaurant.” The place is run by three brothers [Joan Roca heads up the kitchen, Josep Roca is the maitre d’ and head sommelier, and Jordi Roca is the pastry chef], but the food is far from homey, and the space is decidedly modern.

In 2007, the restaurant relocated a hundred meters from the original grounds. Here, the chefs work in a state-of-the-art kitchen cum lab, while the sommelier manages a wine cellar that offers customers an audio-visual journey through five key wine regions.

In the custom-built space, diners are treated to a gorgeous dining room with an abundance of natural light pouring in. The miniature arboretum in the center offers a tranquil and understated view. As The Astronomer and I settled into our table and perused the menu, we were served complimentary glasses of Cava (Finca Viladellops 08 D.O. Penedes).

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Arzak – San Sebastian

Published by Gastronomer on June 23, 2010 in Fine Dining, Molecular Gastronomy, Restaurant Review, San Sebastian and Spanish. 15 Comments

The Astronomer and I dined at Arzak on our final evening in San Sebastian. Of the trio of high end modern restaurants on our itinerary, I was anticipating this one the most. Juan Mari Arzak, the restaurant’s chef and owner, is regarded as one of the great masters of New Basque cuisine. I’ve been gawking at photos of his food for years, so it was extremely exciting to finally step into his den and let the magic begin.

The building where the restaurant is located has been in the Arzak family since it was built in 1897. Constructed by Juan Mari’s grandparents, the space was initially used as a wine inn and tavern. Juan Mari’s parents eventually took it over and converted it into a restaurant specializing in celebratory banquets.

In 1966, after completing his education and a stint in the military, Juan Mari returned to the kitchen where he grew up and began developing his signature cuisine alongside his mother, whom he credits as “the one that revealed all the secrets of gastronomy.” Under Juan Mari’s watch, Arzak became the first Spanish restaurant to earn three Michelin stars in 1989. Today, kitchen duties are shared between Juan Mari and his daughter Elena, and all three Michelin stars remain intact.

While the restaurant’s exterior is a bit dated, the interior is black, white, and modern all over. Each table was adorned simply with a single white iris.

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Akelarre – San Sebastian

Published by Gastronomer on June 4, 2010 in Fine Dining, Molecular Gastronomy, Restaurant Review, San Sebastian and Spanish. 34 Comments

Spain really was the perfect place for us to honeymoon. While The Astronomer enjoyed practicing his rusty Spanish and whooping it up at rowdy futbol games [See: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid], I had the pleasure of taking in some spectacular art and eating at the world’s greatest restaurants. Of all the places on our culinary itinerary, it was a trio of thoroughly modern restaurants that I was most stoked about. I’ve always adored the playful, innovative, and twisted genre of molecular gastronomy, and experiencing it on its home turf was a dream come true.

Our first stop on the cutting-edge cookery tour was at Chef Pedro Subijana’s 35-year-old restaurant Akelarre in San Sebastian. Located high above the Bay of Biscay, Akelarre boasts a magnificent view. Taking in the ocean in between bites made the dining experience all the more wonderful. A table by the window is a must.

The dining room was comfortable and understated, while the service was efficient and quite friendly for a 3-star Michelin rated restaurant. I love fine dining but hate stuffy atmospheres. Akelarre hit all the right notes to make me feel at ease. I also appreciated that there were a handful of English speaking staffers who could answer my questions (sometimes cryptically) about ingredients and techniques.

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