I spent the last few days of February and first weekend of March on a business and pleasure trip to New York to Boston to New York. A few food and wine highlights of note:
United, the Airline
UA's P.S. service provides meals, gratis. This is confusing, maybe because I can be easily confused; I've been trained to purchase meals at the airport or bring my own. The flight attendant noted that confusion is common. I chose to eat my nondescript $10 airport sandwich in lieu of an even more non-descript UA meal.
Sauncie, Boston
One of my favorite Boston restaurants disappointed, especially after delicious memories of a Sauncie meal with Amy last April. While the white winter salad was served with an incredibly fabulous slice of blue cheese and herb terrine, I tasted too much oil in the dressing. The nori wrapped salmon plate seemed more Southwestern than Japanese; I was also distracted by a dish in which the plate and half the food was blazing hot and the remaining half simply warm. After telling my French waiter that the entree was "ok", I explained that the nori wrapped salmon served with Cajun spices and pureed black beans lacking flavor. I didn't bother mentioning that the tempura dough was too heavy for the shrimp. He gently informed me that the salmon was coated with Japanese spices and the pureed black beans were actually pureed azuke beans. And to tie it all together and further reinforce the Japanese theme, he said, the reduction was miso/soy and seared shitake mushrooms were added to the plate. True, I may not have recognizedwhat I was eating, but I think I have a basic understanding of food and the flavors simply did not work together. Plus, my salmon was overcooked.
Grille 23, Boston
After Directions, I dined with a large group of colleagues at Grille 23, a well known Boston steak house. I found a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin on the wine list; Amy and I made an executive decision to get a few bottles for the table. Always one of my favorite wineries, it was fabulous, at first bursting in my mouth with a spicy complexity and then opening up nicely. The raw seafood platter was decent, although I've had better. I really enjoyed my hangar steak. When set in front of me, I realized that the waiter didn't ask my cooking preference, and I was upset when the first bite appeared too well done. Happily, the first bite was deceiving and the piece was nicely rare. Happily for me, the chef substituted a cheesey gnocchi for the broccoli, and someone ordered several sides for the table, including an excellent gruyere macaroni and cheese and gourmet tator tots (one of my junk food weaknesses). Ken gave me a piece of his kobe beef - wow!
Artisanal, NYC
I asked Gabe to make Saturday dinner reservations, and he delivered with Artisanal, a difficult to get into and hot on the NYC scene restaurant. Despite its trendy reputation, it was amazing. We began with two cheese fondues, swiss and gruyere with mushrooms. (Note, some details about this dinner may be fuzzy, due to the two drinks first at Tabla and copious amounts of the amazing wine chosen by Nilay). Bread, potatoes, cooked beef, and possibly a few other sides were used to scoop up the cheese (Ed, take a note for Christmas Eve. Some day, I will be back for the holidays). Later, Nilay ordered French Onion soup, Jason a salad, and chose a cheese plate for the table. I don't remember the cheeses, but liked almost all. Except for one, which we alternatively described as tasting like "a locker room" and "butt". Nilay was the only one that liked the yucky cheese, which we are not holding against him.
Just as an aside, Aditi, who lived with Nilay and I in the dorms at Berkeley, came up from Philly for drinks and dinner. We had not seen each other since 1996, and it was fabulous to spend some time with her. It's amazing how much we change, and how much we stay the same in a decade.
Chikalicious
While walking through the Lower East Side and SOHO, Gabe, Ruby and I stumbled across this very elegant dessert bar. We enjoyed three courses of dessert, starting with an amuse of vanilla sorbet and espresso sauce/gelee. I thoroughly enjoyed my warm chocolate tart, gushing with runny chocolate in the middle. Pink peppercorn sorbet and a artful spoonful of red wine sauce accented the tart. I also ordered the suggested port, the depth and richness complimenting the chocolate perfectly. Gabe ordered a fromage blanc island cheesecake, a perfectly moulded round of goodness accented with a creamy sauce and floated on a bowl of shaved ice. Rudy chose an almond panna cotta, sided with granny smith sorbet, some sort of gelee (whose flavor escapes me) and given a champagne bath upon serving. Mental note: use the champagne bath with fabulous desserts going forward. The final course: chocolate walnut cookies, fluffy marshmallows coated with toasted coconut and key lime creme fraiche tarts. Interestingly, when Gabe told Chika (not the owner but obviously influential) that the cheesecake was "amazing", she simply smiled smugly and said, "I know". Kind of odd for a chef - I always say, "Yes, it is delicious" or devolve into self-criticism "I think it is a bit on the tart side" or "I should have added more herbs", etc., etc.
Rudy wanted me to add the website: http://www.chikalicious.com/menu.htm
