I picked Chris up at his apartment around 7, and after watching him change his shirt a few times - and experiment with tucking the shirt in vs. not, we finally headed off to dinner. We arrived at 7:15 and were promptly greeted by valet ($16). Let me just make note that good valet is key. There's nothing worse than pulling up to a restaurant, being double parked and getting beeped at, and valet is nowhere to be found. But I digress. So we walked in and were greeted by the extremely nice hostess who asked us if we would like to grab a seat in the lounge while we waited for our table (our reservation was for 7:45). Although the lounge wasn't really much to look at, the booth was comfy, and as soon as we sat down we were approached by a waiter who handed us a drink list, and returned a minute or so later to take our order. Throughout the entire night we were very well taken care of and never felt as though we were being ignored. It was a "team" service the entire night and that seemed to work extremely well, from a guest's perspective.
While Chris and I sat waiting for our drinks, a waitress came over and presented one of the gentleman we were sharing the lounge with, with a new drink. I was eavesdropping on the conversation, and was truly impressed with what a well oiled machine No. 9 Park truly was. The waitress was bringing over a fresh cocktail, compliments of the house, because she had noticed that the patron hadn't been drinking his drink. Apparently he hadn't liked the whiskey he had ordered, and told the waitress that when she asked. She relayed that to the bartender, and based on his liking of whiskey, the bartender made him a drink that, as the waitress put it, "was hopefully more to his liking." You could tell that the guy wouldn't normally have said anything, and seemed so genuinely gracious with the waitress. Sometimes you'll see a drink be given compliments of the house if a patron complains, but this unprovoked attentiveness and compassion was really great to witness. Anyway...
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| Honey & Jam |
Moments later one of the waitresses made her way over with the cheeses. She brought out a cart that had 25 or so cheeses on it, and began to go through explaining each one. It's origin, the type of milk, etc. We selected a cheese from each "group" and as we made our selections she sliced the cheese in front of us and placed it on a plate. She then quietly made her exit, and we began to dig in. In the mean time we were also brought a plate with honey, jam, grapes, and thin bread crisps to enjoy as well.
I enjoyed the majority of the cheeses, however I prefer a harder cheese, so those were my favorite. Chris enjoyed all of it - and needless to say there wasn't any cheese left on the plate when they returned with what was (technically) our first course.
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| The Cheese Dome - I was thinking of you the entire time Jan :) |
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| Cheese Plate |
served with pickled cilantro & assortment of fish
The first course was a cold garlic soup, accompanied by a barely cooked piece of salmon, a raw piece of tuna, and three shelled mussels. The flavor of the soup was incredible, and had a strong garlic essence without being overpowering. The various fish and shellfish were a perfect compliment to the dish, and the flavors married well together - but then again, what does garlic not taste great with? Also, I had never in my life had mussels before. I think the reason I agreed to eat them last night was a combination of liquid courage from the second glass of wine, and security one feels when eating dishes prepared by a james beard award winning chef - mostly the wine though.
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| Smoked Bluefish |
Course 2 - Smoked Bluefish
Cooked to perfection - meaty & tender. Great transition from the soup. The sauce offered a little bit of heat to the dish which was a nice surprise.
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| Cannelloni |
Course 3 - Homemade Cannelloni,
with ricotta, broccoli and potato.
The pasta was cooked nicely and the ricotta was perfect inside. This was, for me, the least creative - but I love pasta and I loved this. Also the presentation with the broccoli was stunning.
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| Gnocchi |
Course 4 (Added course)- Prune Stuffed Gnocchi with Foie Gras, and almonds
I mean words can't describe how good it was. Although the dish could almost be considered sweet instead of savory, the texture of the pasta was amazing - and the presentation was similar to a dumpling or ravioli rather than your traditional gnocchi. From a culinary standpoint I can say that the foie gras was tasty, however I prefer to not eat foie gras, and this dish would still have been wonderful without it. That being said, this was the most fantastic dish, and neck in neck for tastiest (#6 is definitely a contender).
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| Trio of squab |
Course 5 - Roasted Organic Squab,
served with champagne grapes and cocoa nibs.
This was a trio of squab, with one piece served over a puff pastry that was filled with the meat from the leg. The meat was the perfect temperature, and was very juicy. The consistency of the meat reminded me of duck, which is a favorite protein of mine. This was actually my first time having squab, and I didn't hate it :)
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| Add caption |
Course 6 - Prime Beef Ribeye (poached in duck fat),
served with brown butter and green tomatoes.
This is where the earlier "holy sh*t" comes in. I didn't even feel guilty about eating this dish because I know I will never have something like it again, and I had decided earlier that I would be taking the stairs at work for the next week. The only way I can describe the flavor is this - think about eating the fattiest part of a piece of bacon - how good that tastes. Now imagine if you were biting into a peace of steak, and bite after bite oozed this flavor, while still presenting itself like a regular old rare filet. I'm literally drooling while typing this.
Course 7 - Homemade Red Currant Sorbet with lime
Nice flavor, and a little more on the tart side. This came as a little shocking to my pallet after what I had eaten as the previous course.(Didn't get a picture because obviously it was gone before I thought about it - as you'll notice many times I get a picture with half the food missing - this is embarrassing that I can't remember to take a picture because all I'm thinking about it "EAT,")
Course 8 - Vannilla Cremeux,
with aged balsamic, brioche ice cream, brioche tweel, & peach
Delicious! Great texture, great flavor, amazing way to conclude the meal. And as far as presentation is concerned, it was stunning.
Overall this was my favorite collective culinary experience. The food was incredible and I truly enjoyed not only everything I ate, but the professionalism of the service, and overall kindness of everyone we encountered.
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