Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

20 Jul 2011

ChikaLicious Dessert Bar – New York City

Filed Under:

I find it nearly impossible to end a meal without something sweet to nibble on. Whether it’s a piece of fresh fruit or a small square of chocolate, my taste buds crave a hit of sugar for complete satisfaction.

Following a dessert-less family dinner at Hearth Restaurant in the Lower East Side, I dragged The Astronomer up the street to ChikaLicious Dessert Bar. While my dear Astronomer was perfectly content with the taste of braised goat pappardelle lingering on his palate, I insisted on a three-course dessert tasting.

Opened in 2003, ChikaLicious is an adorable 20-seat eatery built around an open kitchen where desserts and wine reign supreme. The restaurant’s chef and owner Chika Tillman (pictured above) trained at the French Culinary Institute and most notably worked under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern before striking out on her own.

ChikaLicious serves a three-course prix fixe menu for $14 that includes an amuse, choice of dessert, and assorted petits fours. A wine pairing can be had for an additional $8.

Chika’s suite of sweets have been described as American desserts with French presentation and Japanese portions. Even though I had eaten a hearty Italian meal moments before, polishing off all three courses was a breeze.

To start, the chef sent out a coconut cream and lemongrass soup. Every spoonful was refreshing and decadent; it was a tropical Southeast Asian dream.

(more…)

Restaurant Review

18 Jul 2011

Del Posto – New York City

Filed Under:

9 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.

(more…)

Restaurant Review

15 Jul 2011

Eleven Madison Park – New York City

Filed Under:

24 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.

(more…)