la folie
i went with ntan1, aleffert, feis, and slizyboy to la folie.
slizyboy brought his camera; i really need to get one of my own, if i hope ever to get better at plating (here's looking at you, masqueradestar).
we arrived in jack's van and climbed out to greet the valet in our assorted "business casual" wear. when we said we were here for la folie, the valet took another look at the van and made a priceless "ooooookay..." expression.
amuse bouche (not pictured)
a tomato "salad", which was a peeled small tomato with its skin, fried, on the side, in a vinaigrette that had some sort of alcohol in it. the tomato was, unsurprisingly, extremely good. i was very much a fan of how various liqueurs featured as an ingredient in several of the dishes.
amuse bouche 2
"poached" egg yolk, in shell, with a potato "chip" and brioche. i imagine if i got sous vide equipment and quality eggs, i could produce an egg yolk just as good - i.e., outstanding.
the plates appeared to be... custom-made for just such a dish?
snails
served inside of a veal shank bone, with gratin of the bone marrow thereof on top, with parsley foam (my expectations: slightly played with). usually i make the waitstaff's job easier by moving to take the plate so they don't have to reach all the way to put it down in front of me, but with this one the waitress insisted that i not - "i'd hate for it to fall over!"
the snails were also made with pernod in the lemon butter, apparently, which i didn't notice explicitly, but those snails were damn good, so it must have helped.
while describing some of the dishes, especially some of the appetisers, the waitress talked about how we should "build different bites" using the different things on the dish (e.g., one bite of foie with bitter greens, another bite of foie with sweet berry sauce). this was refreshing to hear, since in many places the arrangement of stuff on the plate seems less careful on the kitchen's part, almost as though they don't think the diner will know what to do with all of it. i enjoyed that the guys here instead communicated the "intended dining experience" explicitly.
goat cheese tatin
the best presentation i have ever seen on any food item ever. i mean, look at that.
the composition of this was incredible. no single ingredient stood forward to ask me for a dance, but they were all excellent in their own right, and they worked as a team in harmonies that mozart could only dream of. (okay, so that's stretching it.)
i'd say this is the sort of thing i hope to see, aspire to learn, in vegetable-centric cooking, but really it was such an ideal example that i could only watch in awe at its coming and going.
lobster risotto
at the beginning of the meal, the waitress showed off a huge black truffle that was apparently in season, and passed it around for us to smell. she recommended it particularly with this dish, so i obliged (to the tune of $10 extra), and did not regret it. the risotto came with leeks and porcini mushrooms, and also lobster foam. thoroughly the best risotto i've ever had - coca cafe, eat your heart out.
rabbit trio
pieces of loin wrapped around carrot and spinach, leg stuffed with porcini mushrooms, and rack, with veggies. i think porcini mushrooms must be in season (they also featured in krieger's salmon and steak).
i ordered it partly to compare against the rabbit from NaCl long ago. i think the latter was more innovative in preparation, though here was certainly higher quality meat. the vegetables were also top-notch, but if you handed me some of the same raw, i could probably prepare them almost as well.
the rack meat was amazing, though. i had no shame in picking up the ribs with my fingers to get the last of it.
at some point after the main course the head chef came out for a chat. while the service overall was solid but nothing spectacular, i was quite flattered by the attention and care that this gesture showed.
"the sunset", a chocolate fondant
the crisp on top here was somehow strawberry-imbued; the fruits on the side are brandied, and the sauce is vanilla bean creme anglaise. i confess that while i ordered it for the creme anglaise (and also for the name), i was too full already to properly appreciate it.
all the same, a solid implementation of the standard goo-filled chocolate cake dessert template, but nothing mind-boggling. (i want to keep exploring ways to make chocolate more submissive in pastry-craft. it isn't easy.)
not pictured (just imagine "green"): akiva had a similar but different chocolate cake dessert, which came with an especially good gelato of olive oil and basil. i keep facing these temptations to get an ice cream machine...
now i will talk about some of other people's food.
dorade (not pictured)
i only tasted the fish itself in passing, but it came with this... squash blossom filled with lobster with uni (sea urchin) foam besides. it completely blew me out of my seat, easily the best single thing that appeared on the table that evening.
kobe
in addition to the normal "make your own {3,4,5}-course menu", we were also given a pre-chosen tasting menu with some special items. also, we were allowed to swap items from the fixed menu into the do-it-yourself menu if we wanted (and though only the "tasting" menu was said to come with amuse-bouches (i want to say amuses-bouche), there were some for those of us who didn't choose it, so i'm not sure what this menu was other than a recommendation).
in any case, on the tasting menu was an extra-special kobe beef option for their usual steak dish (which came with several sides, including a bone marrow custard(!), and a sauce of - if my taste for herbs is right (which i didn't bother verifying) - tarragon). krieger shelled out exorbitantly for it, and we all got to taste. it must have been more marbled than michelangelo's david, and the flavour from the fat was intense. i had never had, and may never have again, such an astonishingly good piece of meat.
apricot sorbet and yuzu granite
krieger's dessert. the yuzu granite also had some sort of alcohol in it, which i couldn't place.
---
the whole affair took a little over 3 hours; i sort of wish it could have taken even longer, since there was hardly time to taste everything, finish, and reflect on each dish before the next one came out.
more pictures and bonus brief descriptions here.
now i will fly back to pittsburgh and eat cheap pasta forever in atonement.
slizyboy brought his camera; i really need to get one of my own, if i hope ever to get better at plating (here's looking at you, masqueradestar).
we arrived in jack's van and climbed out to greet the valet in our assorted "business casual" wear. when we said we were here for la folie, the valet took another look at the van and made a priceless "ooooookay..." expression.
amuse bouche (not pictured)
a tomato "salad", which was a peeled small tomato with its skin, fried, on the side, in a vinaigrette that had some sort of alcohol in it. the tomato was, unsurprisingly, extremely good. i was very much a fan of how various liqueurs featured as an ingredient in several of the dishes.
amuse bouche 2
"poached" egg yolk, in shell, with a potato "chip" and brioche. i imagine if i got sous vide equipment and quality eggs, i could produce an egg yolk just as good - i.e., outstanding.
the plates appeared to be... custom-made for just such a dish?
snails
served inside of a veal shank bone, with gratin of the bone marrow thereof on top, with parsley foam (my expectations: slightly played with). usually i make the waitstaff's job easier by moving to take the plate so they don't have to reach all the way to put it down in front of me, but with this one the waitress insisted that i not - "i'd hate for it to fall over!"
the snails were also made with pernod in the lemon butter, apparently, which i didn't notice explicitly, but those snails were damn good, so it must have helped.
while describing some of the dishes, especially some of the appetisers, the waitress talked about how we should "build different bites" using the different things on the dish (e.g., one bite of foie with bitter greens, another bite of foie with sweet berry sauce). this was refreshing to hear, since in many places the arrangement of stuff on the plate seems less careful on the kitchen's part, almost as though they don't think the diner will know what to do with all of it. i enjoyed that the guys here instead communicated the "intended dining experience" explicitly.
goat cheese tatin
the best presentation i have ever seen on any food item ever. i mean, look at that.
the composition of this was incredible. no single ingredient stood forward to ask me for a dance, but they were all excellent in their own right, and they worked as a team in harmonies that mozart could only dream of. (okay, so that's stretching it.)
i'd say this is the sort of thing i hope to see, aspire to learn, in vegetable-centric cooking, but really it was such an ideal example that i could only watch in awe at its coming and going.
lobster risotto
at the beginning of the meal, the waitress showed off a huge black truffle that was apparently in season, and passed it around for us to smell. she recommended it particularly with this dish, so i obliged (to the tune of $10 extra), and did not regret it. the risotto came with leeks and porcini mushrooms, and also lobster foam. thoroughly the best risotto i've ever had - coca cafe, eat your heart out.
rabbit trio
pieces of loin wrapped around carrot and spinach, leg stuffed with porcini mushrooms, and rack, with veggies. i think porcini mushrooms must be in season (they also featured in krieger's salmon and steak).
i ordered it partly to compare against the rabbit from NaCl long ago. i think the latter was more innovative in preparation, though here was certainly higher quality meat. the vegetables were also top-notch, but if you handed me some of the same raw, i could probably prepare them almost as well.
the rack meat was amazing, though. i had no shame in picking up the ribs with my fingers to get the last of it.
at some point after the main course the head chef came out for a chat. while the service overall was solid but nothing spectacular, i was quite flattered by the attention and care that this gesture showed.
"the sunset", a chocolate fondant
the crisp on top here was somehow strawberry-imbued; the fruits on the side are brandied, and the sauce is vanilla bean creme anglaise. i confess that while i ordered it for the creme anglaise (and also for the name), i was too full already to properly appreciate it.
all the same, a solid implementation of the standard goo-filled chocolate cake dessert template, but nothing mind-boggling. (i want to keep exploring ways to make chocolate more submissive in pastry-craft. it isn't easy.)
not pictured (just imagine "green"): akiva had a similar but different chocolate cake dessert, which came with an especially good gelato of olive oil and basil. i keep facing these temptations to get an ice cream machine...
now i will talk about some of other people's food.
dorade (not pictured)
i only tasted the fish itself in passing, but it came with this... squash blossom filled with lobster with uni (sea urchin) foam besides. it completely blew me out of my seat, easily the best single thing that appeared on the table that evening.
kobe
in addition to the normal "make your own {3,4,5}-course menu", we were also given a pre-chosen tasting menu with some special items. also, we were allowed to swap items from the fixed menu into the do-it-yourself menu if we wanted (and though only the "tasting" menu was said to come with amuse-bouches (i want to say amuses-bouche), there were some for those of us who didn't choose it, so i'm not sure what this menu was other than a recommendation).
in any case, on the tasting menu was an extra-special kobe beef option for their usual steak dish (which came with several sides, including a bone marrow custard(!), and a sauce of - if my taste for herbs is right (which i didn't bother verifying) - tarragon). krieger shelled out exorbitantly for it, and we all got to taste. it must have been more marbled than michelangelo's david, and the flavour from the fat was intense. i had never had, and may never have again, such an astonishingly good piece of meat.
apricot sorbet and yuzu granite
krieger's dessert. the yuzu granite also had some sort of alcohol in it, which i couldn't place.
---
the whole affair took a little over 3 hours; i sort of wish it could have taken even longer, since there was hardly time to taste everything, finish, and reflect on each dish before the next one came out.
more pictures and bonus brief descriptions here.
now i will fly back to pittsburgh and eat cheap pasta forever in atonement.