Bouley

Filed under American, West Village + TriBeCa · Print This Post

120 West Broadway on Duane Street
212/964.2525
$175 for the tasting menu with wine pairings, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

There comes a time in your life when you have an awesome meal with good company and you think back the next day without regrets because you realize you deserve everything. Unfortunately for me, I think that way 80% of the time, but I recently read that desire is never a mistake. For my birthday this year, my good friend Miriam and her fiancé, Eric, showed me that you have to allow yourself to want things, even if that means a lot of them. And boy, Bouley was the perfect place for it.

The night started off with the scent of apples in the foyer. Ever since I stepped in Bouley a couple of years ago to check out the menu, I have known that smell. It’s of the holidays, of cider, and of something warm and cozy inside. The small bar at the receptionist’s counter was a different matter. Our table was for 8pm, but it seemed like the entire New York Japanese population was also waiting to be seated. It had been drizzling outside and the coat check lady was flustered with requests from customers who have already eaten and from customers waiting to be relieved of their coats. We started afresh as soon as we were seated in the dining room.

The ambiance reminded me of Daniel and Le Bernardin, though it isn’t as expansive as Daniel’s and the crowd around us was less older than that of Le Bernardin’s. The jacquard chairs and the tassels on the lamps belong more in Versailles than the TriBeCa neighborhood this incarnation now stands, but you know to expect that the food will be as polished and refined as any old New York institution.

Below is a list of what I ate with their wine pairings:

1. Phyllo-crusted Florida shrimp, Cape Cod baby squid, scuba-dived sea scallop and sweet Maryland crab meat in ocean herbal broth with Pouilly Fumé Domaine Lebrun 2006

Restaurants need to cook shellfish more this way: you don’t have to force the meat; they just give. The baby squid was a spoonful of tenderness that softly went “squish” in my mouth.

2. Potato-crusted Mediterranean rouget with a mung bean saffron risotto, rose-olive sauce and Parmesan cloud with Viognier, Alban Vineyards, Edna Valley, California 2006

The potato gave the fish texture and the olive sauce gave it a bit of tart that harmoniously fused with the delicate touch of cheese. I could have enjoyed this even without the very yellow risotto. Extra points for calling the cheese a “cloud”.

3. Organic Pennsylvania rack of lamb baked with rocket salad, fava beans, sage and a purée of zucchini and mint with Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine des Vins de Vienne, Rhone Valley 2005

The best of all the racks I’ve had this year mainly because I wasn’t inebriated by the time this course was served. I thoroughly enjoyed the juiciness of the meat and couldn’t have enough. The touch of zucchini-mint was just right. The greens wonderfully matched. Just like the risotto with the rouget, I could have done without the gnocchi.

4. Texas pink grapefruit soup infused with green cardamon, star anise and Tahitian vanilla with Campari sugar and fromage blanc sorbet with Moscato D’Asti, Francesco Coppo 2006

The three of us all had this “soup” as a palate cleanser. I could have ended our night here with this flawless dessert. This is the kind of dessert I aim to make someday.

5. Warm passion fruit and blueberry meringue with caramel sauce, huckleberry coulis and Provence lavender ice cream with Muscat de Rivesaltes, Domaine des Schistes 2006

I loved the lavender ice cream, but I thought the meringue was too sweet with the caramel sauce.

Talk about decadence, but hey, I am allowed to want things. Happy birthday, me.

Related post/s:
My birthday last year was with a larger group at Blau Gans
The year before at La Esquina after its opening
A delirious experience at Daniel
A younger menu at Le Bernardin

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P*Ong

Filed under American, West Village + TriBeCa · Print This Post

150 West 10th Street off Waverly Place
212.929.0898
about $145 for one tasting menu and two extra dishes, with two drinks, with tip
♥

Where do you go on a first date? If you feel unsure about the other person, you may want to go to a small bistro where the fare would be safe and expected. If you’ve known the other person for a while and feel comfortable enough to eat with a very sharp knife, you may want to go to a steakhouse. If you want to be playful but still slightly impress, you might go to P*Ong.

It’s hard not to think about desserts as soon as you step inside P*Ong. The first whiff you catch is of a bakery’s. From the red wall down to the glossy paper used for the menu, the Dr.’s first reaction when we sat down was, “Are we eating precious little things?” He was skeptical and he was hungry.

I went over the short menu and bravely ordered the suite which consisted of ten savory dishes. They are adventurous, yet well thought out. No one lackadaisically combines the ingredients like chef Pichet Ong does at P*Ong. Who else would think of a stilton soufflé encrusted in crushed walnuts and then pair it with a basil-arugula ice cream?

A fava bean and sugar snap pea dish sprinkled with thinly-sliced almonds and dusted with Parmiggiano reminded me of summers in Vermont. The sweet Maine crab with tarragon, lemon and chives was matched with green apple mousse, while the shrimp ceviche was flavored with Thai chili and mango purée. They were my two favorites even though I could have used more of the natural taste of the shellfish. Both were bright and cooling on the tongue. The bigeye tuna was overpowered by the olive dressing. I wanted to taste more of the fattiness of the tartare. The Wagyu carpaccio was biting with the arugula and the maldon salt gave it some extra texture. I barely had room for the goat cheese and the peaches served on a bed of smooth ricotta and brittled aloe vera. I was full and drowning in whimsical adjectives in my head.

The Dr. selected two dishes a la carte after the kitchen allowed us to order only one tasting menu. He loved the smooth polenta covered in a generous serving of morel mushrooms. A foie-gras brulée started off beautifully and interestingly until the smell of burnt sugar reminded him of something else in the hospital. Unfortunate and unpleasing, I know, and not to be blamed on the kitchen, but this was when the watermelonade cocktail worked its magic.

The Dr.’s skepticism dissipated as it got late and the house music was upped one level. P*Ong is certainly not the place you take your father to, but if your companion thinks stilton has some sexiness to it, you may just have to go out on a second date.

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