To celebrate my daughter's 17th birthday, we went yesterday to Ai Fiori, Michael White's new restaurant in NYC. The place is huge and is very nicely appointed. The service was very good, although the sommelier seemed confused by my request for Ligurian wine and tried to explain Arneis to me. We finally figured it out and ended up with a delicious bottle of Pigato, a white floral, full of mineral, wine from the Italian Riviera.
On to the food itself, the portions were quite small, but that really is not a problem because the food is so fucking rich! I know restaurants are there to cater to my taste buds with total disregard to my cardiologist's advice, but this is ridiculous.
I will not go into a description of the dishes, they were all very tasty, but in all honesty, I would be happier with a simpler trattoria menu, this was just overkill for me.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Mascarello Monprivato
I have tried the 1997 and the 1993 Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato Barolo the last week, off the excellent wine list at the Kittle House. We really are lucky to live so close to this excellent restaurant with one of the best wine lists anywhere.
The 1997 is obviously the better wine, better fruit, structure and finish but it's more of an intellectual effort. The wine is very far from being ready, the tannins are harsh and mask the fruit almost completely, and it needs a lot of swirling to coax anything out the glass at this point.
The 1993, on the other hand, is a bit diluted and watery with a sour acidity and yet, paired with food it transforms itself into a delicious friendly wine. This for me is how Barolo should be - yes, tar and violets on the nose, that's obvious, but more specifically, after the 10-30 years time to shed the harsh tannins, a food friendly wine should emerge. Complex and interesting as opposed to fruit forward like the new wave wines.
To sum up, the 1996, I will absolutely love in ten or fifteen years, and the 1993 I love now with food, but I will drink Mascarello Monprivato Barolos from any year anytime.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuscan wines at the Kittle House
We have upped the ante at the Chappaqua Wine Club yesterday with a fantastic tasting of Tuscan wines and a wonderful tasting menu.
To start the proceedings, David very generously brought a 1996 Pierre Moncuit. A lemony, yeasty sparkler with refined bubbles and a great structure. This one could stand up to any dish, but was also a perfect aperitif.
On to the Tuscans:
The 21st Century Brunello
2003 Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino; nice and juicy, a bit diluted in the mid palate, finish is long and sweet.
2003 Ciacci Piccolomini Pianrosso Brunello di Montalcino; better. With gobs of great fruits and a nice structure. good acidity. Not bad for a 2003
2001 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino; earthy and barnyardy, my wine of the flight. Better structure than the previous two wines, my guess is that by the end of the evening all three wines would have improved a lot but we needed to move on to the next flight.
The Super Tuscans:
2001 Masseto; Holy Cow! This is amazing! Structured and powerful with layers and layers of in your face flavors. No subtlety but a very balanced package. Awesome! Group's WOTN, my second
1999 Ornellaia; Here, the texture and the nose are much more elegant, a silky, refined, delicious well-structured wine. My WOTN for the refinement alone, group's second.
2006 Ornellaia; Young and unbalanced at this point, but the underlying fundamentals are all there. It's fascinating to see what the 1999 was at a young age and what the 2006 will be in five years.
A 1990s Medley:
1999 Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino; Oaky and yummy, but has very little in common with Brunellos. I actually love this wine and the style and voted this my third WOTN, but the 2001 Poggio Antico and the 2004 Fuligni were for me a better expression of Brunello di Montalcino. Still, call me a names, but I like the wine a lot.
1997 Antinori Tignanello; Flawed, I don't know if it was corked or just dead, but this was undrinkable.
1997 Felsina Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva; Earthy, fruity, very very nice. What CCR is supposed to taste like at 12 years. Both food friendly and juicy.
A 2004 Medley:
2004 Saffredi Maremma; Very impressive, an excellent Super Tuscan that is drinking very well for its young age. I can't see how it will improve much but it is so good now. The nose is of spices and black forest cake, the texture is lush and the flavor doesn't disappoint. Really really good.
2004 Fuligni Riserva Brunello di Montalcino; Excellent Brunello, a little young but the structure is there, the earthiness is still in the background but this has a lot of time ahead of it.
2004 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva; A very good CCR, very food friendly and will age beautifully for years.
That was an epic tasting, some of the better wines really did perform very well but surprising almost everyone, were the two Chianti Classico Riservas which for a fraction of the price of the Super Tuscans were both delicious and food friendly.
Our next tasting is on Monday March 14. The theme is Napa and the idea is to start with 3 Chardonnays and have Cabs or Cab blends as the remaining flights.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
WD50 Molecular Gastronomy or Flavorless Food?
Dinner for four yesterday at WD50, after the obligatory bad table that I get at every restaurant, I am now tired of complaining and we just sit down in a corner booth, totally isolated near a wait station.
The food should be the main reason to go there though and we soon order; the appetizers are nice, very imaginative and taste good, but have some serious issues. The pictures are from the restaurant menu.
The aerated foie gras has a nice mousse like texture even though it looks more like a sponge, the accompaniments though are all wrong; beets? a cornichon? We need a sweet jammy like flavor to complement it, a thicker piece of brioche to spread it on, and instead we get a charcuterie platter accompaniment.
The cold fried chicken is actually my favorite appetizer, but it is mainly due to the fantastic drop of tabasco honey that adds a little bit of flavor to the crunchy texture of the chicken.
I like the corned duck, nice presentation but is is mainly a charcuterie item with decent mustard.
The eggs benedict are everyone's favorite, the yolk is vibrant, the hollandaise sauce is enclosed in English muffin crumbs and deep fried. Delicious all around. The evening's winner!
We also had a peekytoe crabroll that was very good. No picture is available.
On to the mains:
The above dish is a Cod, peas-n-coconut, nori, carrot dashi, visually, it is dramatic and magnificient, taste wise, I am still looking... the cod is flavorless, the only evidence of peas is some green color, I taste no coconut, the carrots have their flavor steamed out of them and the nori pasta is just weird. We ate it but really more out of hunger.
Venison chop, freeze dried polenta, fennel, asian pear; the venison was very well prepared but I can get a good medium rare venison chop anywhere, thefreeze dried polenta had no flavor or texture and I have made better fennel salad in my sleep, how about a little olive oil? maybe some acidity? Nothing in this dish has any flavor save the chop.
Duck breast, apple, cheddar, kimchee-cous cous: again, a well prepared slice of duck breast, and again, that's not why we're at WD50. The kimchee broth doesn't pair well, the Israeli couscous is swimming in the broth and cannot absorb it, the duck apart, the flavors are beyond boring.
The fourth dish was a Parsnip tart, quinoa, hazelnuts, bok choy (no picture), I like the bok choy but I can steam/boil/saute baby bok choy anywhere, the parsnip was bland, the tart crust was a crisp slice of something boring but at least the quinoa and hazelnuts provided a nice contrast in texture.
On to the desserts:
Licorice custard, sake sorbet, bartlett pear: is not much better, a hint of liquorice but the sake sorbet has no consistency or taste of sake
Milk chocolate, black bean, plantain, soy, peanut: is slightly better but that's because of the chocolate flavor.
A third dessert of Grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus, sorrel was more intriguing because the grapefruit was distinguishable and the flavors were actually a little bolder than usual.
We put a check mark on WD50 and promise ourselves never to set foot in the place again. Maybe we are used to bolder flavors but I don't think that's the reason we dislike it so much. Rather, it is the lack of any flavor per se that made it such a waste. The chef Wylie Dufresne has interesting techniques and a flair for the dramatic, now if he could only combine those with some flavorful food, and add contrasting textures we may have something.
The meal cost $450 with tax, tip and an $87 bottle of wine (one of the cheaper on the list.
The food should be the main reason to go there though and we soon order; the appetizers are nice, very imaginative and taste good, but have some serious issues. The pictures are from the restaurant menu.
The aerated foie gras has a nice mousse like texture even though it looks more like a sponge, the accompaniments though are all wrong; beets? a cornichon? We need a sweet jammy like flavor to complement it, a thicker piece of brioche to spread it on, and instead we get a charcuterie platter accompaniment.
The cold fried chicken is actually my favorite appetizer, but it is mainly due to the fantastic drop of tabasco honey that adds a little bit of flavor to the crunchy texture of the chicken.
I like the corned duck, nice presentation but is is mainly a charcuterie item with decent mustard.
The eggs benedict are everyone's favorite, the yolk is vibrant, the hollandaise sauce is enclosed in English muffin crumbs and deep fried. Delicious all around. The evening's winner!
We also had a peekytoe crabroll that was very good. No picture is available.
On to the mains:
The above dish is a Cod, peas-n-coconut, nori, carrot dashi, visually, it is dramatic and magnificient, taste wise, I am still looking... the cod is flavorless, the only evidence of peas is some green color, I taste no coconut, the carrots have their flavor steamed out of them and the nori pasta is just weird. We ate it but really more out of hunger.
Venison chop, freeze dried polenta, fennel, asian pear; the venison was very well prepared but I can get a good medium rare venison chop anywhere, thefreeze dried polenta had no flavor or texture and I have made better fennel salad in my sleep, how about a little olive oil? maybe some acidity? Nothing in this dish has any flavor save the chop.
Duck breast, apple, cheddar, kimchee-cous cous: again, a well prepared slice of duck breast, and again, that's not why we're at WD50. The kimchee broth doesn't pair well, the Israeli couscous is swimming in the broth and cannot absorb it, the duck apart, the flavors are beyond boring.
The fourth dish was a Parsnip tart, quinoa, hazelnuts, bok choy (no picture), I like the bok choy but I can steam/boil/saute baby bok choy anywhere, the parsnip was bland, the tart crust was a crisp slice of something boring but at least the quinoa and hazelnuts provided a nice contrast in texture.
On to the desserts:
Licorice custard, sake sorbet, bartlett pear: is not much better, a hint of liquorice but the sake sorbet has no consistency or taste of sake
Milk chocolate, black bean, plantain, soy, peanut: is slightly better but that's because of the chocolate flavor.
A third dessert of Grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus, sorrel was more intriguing because the grapefruit was distinguishable and the flavors were actually a little bolder than usual.
We put a check mark on WD50 and promise ourselves never to set foot in the place again. Maybe we are used to bolder flavors but I don't think that's the reason we dislike it so much. Rather, it is the lack of any flavor per se that made it such a waste. The chef Wylie Dufresne has interesting techniques and a flair for the dramatic, now if he could only combine those with some flavorful food, and add contrasting textures we may have something.
The meal cost $450 with tax, tip and an $87 bottle of wine (one of the cheaper on the list.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
scallops, latkes, guacamole
In the late eighties, I remember cooking this dish countless times: a potato latke topped with some guacamole and a seared scallop. I have since tinkered with the dish so many times that the original has been lost forever. I can still remember how good the dish tasted at first, and I still have not found a way to recreate it.
I tried again on New Year's Eve with a risotto cake, avocado dip and a seared scallop. I served it on a little tomato coulis for acidity, it turned out watery and flat. The quest continues.
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