The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Milk Bar Midtown
B’day cake truffles
Pistachio Croissant with pistachio-almond paste and whole pistachios
Cornbread with butter, pickled jalapenos, corn kernels, and cotija
Le Grenouille
French Baguette and Multigrain with Iced Butter
Duck Confit with Fava Beans, Spring Peas, Duck Jus
Rosemary Sweetbreads with Pommes Puree and Broccoli Rabbe
Asparagus with Poached Egg, Spring Vegetable Pistou, and Mushrooms
Pike Quenelles with Lobster Sauce and Saffron Rice
Dover Sole with Mustard Sauce and Haricot Verts
Pistachio, Vanilla, and Caramel Soufflés with Crème Chantilly
Caramel Tuilles, Fruit and Nut Cookies, Madelines
Coffee with Pralines
After a debacle involving a late night at Blue Hill at Stone Barns followed and issues with subway closures en route from Union Square back to Brooklyn led to a 3am bedtime I slept in well past my normal waking hour and rising at 9:00am for a morning run with lunch plans at Le Grenouille just after 1pm I knew I would have little time for breakfast; a quick stop at the Whichcraft in Bryant Park for an Iced Coffee followed by a visit to Milk Bar Midtown for a few pastries enjoyed in the sun on a particularly warm afternoon. Impressed by much of Christina Tosi’s work on my previous visit to the LES Milk Bar this outing focused on newer items I’d not experienced prior and much like the last time every item selected was a modern spin on something classic – the truffles like a pop-in-your-mouth funfetti cake and the dense cornbread savory and spicy with a great gossamer finish from the salty and cornmeal-like grain of the cheese. The pistachio croissant, another dynamic taste due to the heft of the butter and smokiness of the pistachios, was also quite good but to me a bit mislabeled largely because the phrase ‘croissant’ makes me think of a crunchy shell while this was more like a dinner roll – under a different moniker and different expectations I think I would have been more impressed (though I certainly would not hesitate to order it again or to recommend Milk Bar because of it.)
Moving on to lunch proper; Le Grenouille had always been on my ‘to-visit’ list of grand ol’ restaurants in Manhattan for at least two years but given the cost of admission, requirement (or at the very least, request) for jackets both at dinner and lunch, plus a stoic menu it never made the final cut until this impromptu visit to New York largely because this would be my first visit to Manhattan without any other notable “French” restaurants on the agenda. Admitting from the start that this reservation was debated literally up until the last minute due to cautionary tales of stuffy service and stodgy food from palates I trust my primary reason for finally deciding to enter Le Grenouille’s doors was the assertion from my two dining companions that, at the very least, the food and company would be excellent while the classical room and beautiful flowers were well worth seeing; the later certainly true but the former a mixed bag (though, as always, the company was lovely.)
Beginning first with the bread – cold and served with colder butter – it was obvious from the beginning that Le Grenouille would not match my meals in Paris, but moving through the three course prix-fixe things would definitely improve; the appetizers each immaculate with the sweetbreads intense and creamy, the duck crispy and teaming with flavor, and the asparagus perhaps the best of the group with the yolk of the runny egg acting to temper the otherwise hefty earthen notes. Moving next to two entrees as my companions both opted for the Dover sole while I selected the Pike Quenelles both fishes would miss the mark for me – the Sole excellent but the sauce far too mustard for my personal tastes (my friends and many others raved it) while the quenelles were under-flavored and overcooked thus relying on the sauce to prop them up…a perfect bite, however, being a mix of the Sole with the lobster sauce, something clearly unintended by the kitchen.
Progressing to the sweets, perhaps the most fabled part of Le Grenouille’s menu, I’m sure there were other options available but none of those really mattered – if you choose to dine here you need to order the soufflé – in our case three different flavors and although difficult to distinguish by eye as all stood tall, fluffy, and proud each distinct and perfectly paired with a complimentary sauce; the caramel version particularly lovely with a slightly ‘burnt’ taste and salted caramel added to the Chantilly to further accentuate the effect and unlike the majority of the savories every bit as good as the ones served in French kitchens thousands of miles away.