Perilla Nyc

Hi all

This is just a little thing I wanted to add on to the blog even though it really belongs a few months earlier. When we went to New York a few months back another restaurant we hit for lunch was Perilla which is Harold Dieterle’s restaurant from Top Chef Season 1.



Barbara had a Spicy Duck Burger which she liked a lot but was a bit to spicy for me. I had a Chicken Parmesan sandwich which was darn good. It was a nice lunch and the small restaurant had a great feel to it. I just wish we would have had the time to go to dinner. We sadly did not take pictures of the food but here is an outside looking in picture of the restaurant.



Numbers and such: The website is www.perillanyc.com. And the cost of our lunch was around $30.00.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jonathan and Barb

Per Se

This was our last day in New York and also our best meal. This meal is the one all other meals will be judged by from here on out because this was just about perfect all the way around. A few notes before I get started if you plan on dining here you need to call 2 months to the day before you plan on eating at exactly 10 am est. If you do not do this you dont stand much of a chance of getting a table. They do require a jacket here and it does feel kind of odd walking into a mall dressed to the nines but once you get to the third floor and see the famous blue door and the little garden out side of the restaurant the mall fades away. Though this was a very formal place the feel was more realaxed and the wait staff went out of their way to make you feel comfortable and at home. Your menu is customized to each customer and ours had mention of our birthday on them which was cool,you also get to take those home with you if you wish. The menu here changes every day and 2 times a day when they serve lunch. One thing that is very different here is that thereis only 2 menus the chefs 9 course tasting and the 9 course tasting of vegtables. There is no ala cart at all. With the pictures and posts following I am not going to go into great detail beyond listing what they were just due to the fact they were all Fantastic and YUM if something was even better than the rest I will mention it but other that that I will let the picture and description speak for itself. The Chef here is Thomas Keller though I do not believe he was in the kitchen that night. Website is www.perseny.com


Starter



This was the first dish served basicly little cheese balls the outside crust was nice and crisp and the cheese inside was still hot and molten.




Amuse bouche



This is the 2nd thing served and where our meals seperated with Barb having the vegtable tasting and myself the chef's

These were little sesame cones stuffed with creme frece and topped with very thinly sliced tuna for mine and chick peas for Barbs. They were very pretty to look at but a bit hard to eat to get all the elements in at one time.

Jonathan course 1



Oysters and pearls
Sabayon of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and sterling white sturgeon caviar

My first OMG of the meal the taste and texture here was just amazing. I finished this and wanted more of the buttery dish of heaven.
I left the picture of the spoon in there because it is made out of mother of pearl because they say a metal spoon would change the flavor of the caviar.


Barbara course 1





Sweet carrot sorbet
Terrine of greenmarket carrots cilantro coulis and young ginger
For me when the Waiter described this I was thinking carrot ice cream EWWW but as everything here it was great.


Jonathan course 2



gateau of hudson valley moulard duck foie gras
pistachio genoise Black winter truffle-madeira gelee, white wine poached rainier cherries , pickeled ramps and celery branch with toasted brioche.
I really wanted to not like this one just because what it was but WOW WOW WOOOOOOOW this was so incredible it just plain and simple blew my mind Barb and I finished this up and I for one was hoping the next 7 courses were more of this. I think this is the single best tasting piece of food that has ever crossed my lips.


Barbara course 2




salad of holland white asparagus
croutons de pain de champagne confit of lemon supremes and latiues sauvages with sauce gremolata


Jonathan course 3




sajuteed fillet of ghiga island halibut
olive oil braised green garlic, pattypan squash pesto and parsley shoots with nicoise olive oil

Up till here I had not had a dish that I could compare to other dishes I had previosly eaten but I can say in all honesty best halibut I have eaten anywhere though Barb thought it was at about the same level as the halibut she had the day before at Le Bernardin ( which is saying alot)


Barbaras course 3


Globe artichoke fritta
celery branch, carmelized spring onions, yukon gold potatoes and black winter truffle with cipollini onion fondue.

Best way for me to describe this is to say my comment after trying this was if I had this kitchen to make my food I think I could become a vegatarian WOW. If a food dish could make you dream about it this would!


Jonathan course 4



Butter poached nova scotia lobster
split english peas and green market carrots with mousseline gingembre


Barbara course 4



Fried green tomatoes
persian cucumber, pickled ramps and frisee lettuce with sauce gribiche

I would say this was the least favorite of the evening not to say it was bad the taste was still very good just not a stand out at all. Really it comes down to when you are eating the best meal of your life and something comes out that is just very good it seems a let down.


Jonathan course 5



Four story hills farms milk fed poussin
rillettes de cuisse beech mushrooms purple top turnips and field mizuna with whole grain mustard jus



Barbara course 5



herb roasted abalone mushroom
compressed asian pears, heirloom radishes and mitsuba with nikiri dressing

mmmmm mushroom very very tastey ! I love mushrooms and this was a wower for sure.



Jonathan course 6




degustation of eden hallow farm's spring lamb
rissolee of yukon gold potatoes, wilted arrowleaf spinach and young leeks with spring lamb jus

STEP AWAY FROM MY LAMB
Ok must admit a bit of greed overtook me here only course I did not want to share with Barb, the rack piece was the single best tasting piece of meat ( any meat and I was never a big lamb fan before") I had ever tasted. the shoulder,neck, and sausage were very good but that darn rack it almost killed me to let Barb have some lol



Barb course 6





Salvatore brooklyn rocotta agnolotti
spring pole beans wirth piccolo basil and olio verde extra virgin olive oil



Jonathan course 7




gabietou cheese
slow baked beets candied walnuts and frisee lettuce with red beet vinaigerette



Barbara course 7





cabra romero cheese
cauliflower florettes, wood sorrel and rosemary sable with lemon verbena aigre doux
another good cheese but the stand out was the cauliflower florettes yum


Jonathan course 8





apricot sorbet
nyons extra virgin olive oil pate de fruit with tellicherry pepper sable breton

YUM and re yum great sorbet and pallet cleanser


Barbara course 8





guava sorbet
tamarind genoise , goma nougatine and cream cheese foam




Jonathan Course 9



glace a la fraise

strawberry biscuit toasted almond panna cotta and mint syrup with tristar strawberry ice cream

wow ( yes wow again) a perfect ending to the meal ( or so I thought)



Barbara course 9






crepe souffle
carmelized bananas creme patissiere au chocolat and banana crunch with toasted walnut ice cream



Post meal 1


Ok from here on flying on memory alone these are unlisted courses and not sure why not every table got everything we did saw one other that did but other tables just got one or two items. ( mind you I could not see all of the 15 tables but not sure why we got all of this). This was a panacotta and it had a wonderfull creamy texture and there was not a bit of it left when I was done even though my belly was just stuffed.


Post meal 2


creme brulee

Ahh the reverses of fate Barb did not want to share with me ( of course she did though )this was so good pays me back for my lamb gluttony lol


Post meal 3




Coffee and donuts

Freshly made warm cinamon donuts with cappachino ICE CREAM this was once again a big WOW so very good so even though we were full could not leave it be.


Post meal 4



cocco covered hazel nuts

I have run out of words was to full to try more than 1 but it was great


Post meal 5




Then came a huge plate of chocolates we had several choices and picked a few different ones each and nibbled on them I can remember a very rich chocolate and the apple one but the rest are a blur of tastey goodness



Post meal 6



Bottom of dish truffles 2 choclolate and 1 coconut the coconut was like a coconut creame pie exploding in your mouth and the chocolates were just divine. The next level was nougat we were to full to touch them but we put a few in our bag to take home the same with the toffee above ( all are made in this kitchen we were told. Post note ate some of them the next day YUMMY


Post meal 7







Hand spun hard candy done in the kitchen which we took out several with us.



Post meal 8




They give a little bag of cookies to take home We did not have these till a few days after we made it home but once again amazing. They hit just about everything on your tongue.



In overview Per Se was the Best mealof my life then and so far reigns supreme. It was not just the food or the room or the service that made you feel both comfortable and special but the perfect blending of all three. The total cost of this meal was staggering and we did not even have any wine. But this is a once in a life time meal and I cant say it any better that even the vegtable course seemed worth the money and Barbara and I are far from wealthy so this was a huge extravagance. Total price tip and tax included ( the tip is included in meal cost) 628.58 GASP but even now I say was worth it. In fact I was so impressed with the over all experience I added another $20 on the tip even though I was facing severe sticker shock.


I will leave this entry with a few pictures of the restaurant and at least the next several entrys will be on restaurants in my native Colorado. My wife and I have decided once a month we will try to go to a local restaurant finances willing. If you have any questions feel free to ask and thanks as always for coming by!




The famous blue door and the little garden outside



The view from Per SE

Degustation

Ok this was Day three in New York City and we went to this restaurant based on the rave reviews from chowhound new york ( www. chowhound.com). The chef of this place is Wesley Genovart and he does a great job. What makes this place unique and fun especially for a "foodie" is that there are only 16 spots to eat here and they are aligned around a bar that looks into the very small kitchen. While you are dining you can watch the chefs make your food and see how they go about plating. There is very little room left in the place outside the bar and kitchen but even with the small space you dont feel cramped ( at least untill you try to make it to the rest room). With a place this small I was a bit worried that service may be spotty but it was great and very attentive and the captain was just as helpful and cheerful as you could ask for. While the food was not all home runs but there were several on the other side there were 2 big misses. The over all experience however was wonderful and I woudl highly reccomend it to any heading out that way. They dont have a website but here is the phone number: 212-979-1012


Amuse bouche




Snails , orange, mint croquent
This was our first taste of snail. I found it to be very tender with a very nice flavor. Barbara found it to be a bit chewy but liked the taste ok.


Course 1




Fish and chips

Kaupachi, artichoke, garlic potato chips and chives

WOW WOW one of my two favorite dishes here the combination of the fish and the chips was just incredible ! The tastes just blended well adn popped in your mouth. I wanted more MORE


Course 2




Sunchoke and javion serrano soup
KABBBOOOOOOOOM
This was one of those dishes that you clean the plate then look around for more and the next day keep wanting more. And really a month latter I still want more. At this point I was thinking oh my this meal is going to just crush the other 2 we had tasted in New York and had it managed to keep these high notes it would of but sadly the next course was like a splash of cold water.


Course 3





Cured sardine,pickled onion, apple foam and micro cabbage. Sardine sandwich with sweet herbs tarter sauce fresno peppers and micro radish.
This was one of 2 clunkers of the night I enjoyed the sandwich ok but the cured sardine neither Barb or I cared for at all and in fact the cured sardine was more of a ewww and the sandwich was like the lunch you get packed for school where its not great or really what you want but you eat it because its whats there. I do want to say my pictures in here are pretty rough was low light and the plates were very close sue to the size of the bar so sorry about that.


Course 4




Carbinero, amarath, crab stock lobster coral
Twas clunker number 2 food and picture was bascily a big shrimp in a think soupish thing and honestly to me it was just blah and Barb felt the same. Ok do you remember the old game show press your luck I felt like I just pulled a double whammy and was now atthe point of going oh crap we have how many courses left. From the high of the high to the low of the lows luckily from here on out it evened out.


Course 5





Poached egg, Gauniale bread crumbs,Laiubs quatus mustard greens
Ok I looked at this and went well its a egg sigh. Boy I was wrong this combined with the bread crumbs and the sauce was just incredible another dish that left me thinking the next day. I still dont know why this worked so well but it just did the taste was great the textures fantastic and left a lasting impression so much that the next time I saw a poached egg my taste buds jumped up immediately and stood at attention.

Course 6



Seared scallop, oatmeal saffron ristto, uni jauio serrano, shieo
The scallop was good for a scallop. As you can tell I am not a scallop fan and Barb pretty much hates them but we forgot to say this at the begginging so no biggie. The rissto however was very good and had a nice texture I still remember well.


Course 7




Soft shell crab, Fuai chili suace micro green salad
When they brought the crab out and cleaned them right in front of us then dropped them in the fryer both Barb and I were like hmm can we eat it or not after seeing that however BIG BIG YUM! The people next to us were lucky I did not grab theirs off the plates by far the best crab I have had if you look at the picture you can see it is a bit mangled as soon as the smell of this hit me I started in forgetting to take the picture till Barb prodded me !


Course 8





Pomparro, artichoke, fava beans, manilla clams, salsa verde.

Really good fish very little fish taste at all was cooked just fantasatic with a crisp top and a bold non fishy flavor. Once again just a great course. This meal is a 10 course meal however the pacing and size of the portions make it so you dont feel overly stuffed.


Course 9






Squid, stuffed with short rib. Lentils chorizo carrot and onion
Something is very odd when they stuff a piece of octopus with short rib with this just seemed wrong but the taste was great and the lentils went very well with it. Barb again felt the squid was a bit chewy and this as always is a big turn off for her.

Sorbet




Sorbet with ginger and tequilla with apple foam
Wow sorbet with a kick I really enjoyed it and it truly refreashed my pallete. Barbara thought the tequilla a bit strong though.


Course 10





Spanish turija, grapefruit foam, frozen grapefruit
french toast on crack! Warm with a nice smell and great texture was a light great way to finish the evening.



The overall experience here was great. When we go back to New York one day if we are with fellow foodies we would go again just for the atmophere and how fun it was to watch the chef and crew. The cost of this meal was 150 plus tax for the 2 of us. I will leave this one off with a picture of the outside of the restaurant and a picture of the wonderful captain. As always feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Le Bernardin

Hello again!


For our second restaurant we had lunch at Le Bernardin and once again I feel we got pretty lucky as chef Eric Ripert was there in the kitchen that day. The restaurant itself is a large space with high ceilings and felt fairly minimal after restaurant Daniel. One more general note is that though Le Bernardin does not feel as "stuffy" as Daniel it did feel like the wait staff were hovering a bit.

Ok first of all they brought this to start us off.




Ok two things WOWED us here this was one. It was a salmon spread with a very nice toasted bread sorry dont have all the deep details my notes I believe are in New York city . However I would want to say I could of made a entire meal out of this and they kept trying to take it away finally after they had asked about 4 times if we were done with it we let it go. I guess it was kinda like a tuna salad but with salmon it just delighted both of our mouths.

Jonathan Course 1




Stuffed Calamari was stuffed with crab and tasted great and the fried squid in the center. This had a wonderful taste and that fried squid had a great crunch. My wife however who is very sensitive to the texture of food found the calamari to be very chewy and that was a big negative with her.


Barbara course 1





Peekytoe crab and califlower this one blew us both away I could eat the salmon spread and this dish 7 days a week and never get tired of it. I really dont have the words to describe this dish the textures blended perfectly and the taste was just delicious. As close to a perfect course as you can get.


Jonathan course 2



Monkfish with pepper and rosemary sauce and a black truffle foam. I loved the fish and for me thats a huge thing prior to this restaurant I would never really look twice at a fish item but this experience changed all of that. The sauce was so very rich however I found the foam to be a bit much for me.


Barbara course 2





Halibuit with lemon grass sauce
This was very yummy Barbara adored it. The rich lemony taste just paired great with the fish. I remember thinking I would like some shrimp to dip in it lol not sure why.


Jonathan's Desert




Rhubarb and citrus
Orange and grapefruit on a sauce of rhubab and a tastey little cracker with a coconut ice cream.
This was good but not great a little much on the tart citrus and not enough of the sweet rhubarb.


Barbaras desert



Chocolate peanut
Peanut butter ice cream and a chocloate cake. Once again pretty good but not great the ice cream wasa bit strong and the cake just did notbalance it well. I am not saying it was not good but defintly paled compared to the other courses.

Send off





Ok we saw this come out and both of us were going OH OH could it be madelines like the ones we had at Daniel but sadly no these were good but I think the incredible Madelines the night previous tainted our taste buds and we just had a nibble or two and got ready to leave.


I will end up this issue with a picture or 2 of the restaurant sadly my picture of the chef Eric Ripert miss focused and all you can see is a blond headed blur. Over all a great meal. I would like to try it for dinner and go with the tasting menu someday but I doubt that will happen as if we ever make it back to New York there are too many other places to see and eat! As always I am going to include the price in here because I think this is something you have to consider. Total price: 143.06 for the two of us.




Yes that is a blurry Eric Ripert in the background.