Julian Niccolini (Co-Owner, The Four Seasons), Mauro Maccioni (Co-Owner, Le Cirque), Chef Daniel Boulud (owns too many restaurants to list), Fabio Trabocchi (Chef, The Four Seasons)
Alex von Bidder (Co-Owner, The Four Seasons)
Wednesday, October 28th was the best night I have had in quite a long time, possibly the best night (speaking as a food writer and enthusiast) that I've ever had. Actually the entire week was pretty damn good and almost all of these deserve their own blog but I've been busy with the Winter dining section for Promenade Magazine among other myriad projects and have had almost no time for my own food musings. Here's the week in review and then - the unbelievable story of Wednesday night, October 28th.
Saturday, October 24th:
Dinner at Zarela (953 2nd Ave. between 50th & 51st Sts.)
Travis, the only friend I've had for more than two decades, his girlfriend Carrie, Alicia and I, devoured a bevy of small plates including an Arroz con Crema that Food Network Star Aarón Sánchez (Chopped) says is one of the best things he's ever ate (you may have seen the show). It was good, but the fact that it's his mom's restaurant may have made him a little biased. We then dashed into the rain hailed a cab and headed pell-mell to Mercury Bar (East) for the Michigan State game (Alicia is a die-hard Spartan in case anyone reading this hasn't met her.)
Sunday, October 25th:
Lazy day + beer + wings + football = good day at the House of Brews
Monday, October 26th:
Dinner at Daniel (60 East 65th St.) with Eli (my boss)
Obviously Daniel is good, actually pretty f-ing great. I've eaten at Daniel three times now and this was the first time that I've had a bad course, it was the first course: Tai Snapper Ceviche w/ Persian Cucumber, Shaved Raddish, Tapioca Pearls, and Dill Oil. There was definitely a strained, bitter flavor as a result of the snapper not being sweet enough to haul all of those bitter ingredients back into harmony. The tapioca pearls, though giving it an interesting texture layer actually made it even more bitter. Eli's however was delicious, big chunks of foie gras & quail ballotine in Jerusalem artichoke soup w/ hazelnut and salsify custard. The highlight of the night was when the somilier hauled out a bottle of '97 Bordeaux saying "this ess going to go per-fect-ly with your next course" I didn't know what the next course was going to be at the time but boy was he correct. The gamy masculine flavor of the wine made me feel like I was back in the woods hunting with dad, and then they served up: foie gras stuffed Scottish grouse w/ celery, caramelized salisfy, beets, and walnut-calvados jus. What a sublimely paired meat course, I was in foodie heaven. Eli's meat course was a standby that has been on Daniel's menu for over a year that I know of:
Tuesday, October 27th:
City Guide & Promenade Concierge Night for Trattoria Dopo Teatro & the Broadway Show Oleanna.
Wednesday, October 28th:
Hang on a sec. I'm getting there.
Thursday October 29th:
Dinner at The Firebird with Travis - This will be a separate blog entry.
Friday October 30th:
Dinner at Fishtail by David Burke.
Alicia and I decided to forgo early Halloween festivities in lieu of stuffing our faces after 10pm at Fishtail. David Burke has actually extended his Octoberfest Menu which I mentioned in the Discount Dining Blog Entry through the end of November. Alicia and I had a tuna burger, a beef burger, three bottles of Sam Addams Octoberfest, fries, and dessert for $40. (I’m not sure if it’s a constant but they had live music as well.) It was like a good-looking restaurant had turned into a bar and taken the prices down with them. Truly a New York City Experience.
Our Octoberfest Dessert at Fishtail - I don't remember what it was called but I'm calling it the pumpkin - creme brulee, Burke-o-lantern.
So, back to Wednesday October 28th.
I had already RSVPed for the cocktail party at the Four Seasons for their newly appointed Chef Fabio Trabocchi when I got a press invite from Georgette Farkas (the PR Director for all of Daniel Boulud’s restaurants) for the new “hotel bar” Bar Pleiades which is located in the Surrey Hotel. Daniel already had Café Boulud situated there and figured why not put a specialty cocktail bar in as well. The drinks were good although certianly a little sweeter than I usually like. I would reccomend the "Southern Fashion" with an awesome candied-pecan-infused burbon. Personally, I don’t think Boulud has nearly enough restaurants or money yet, and I’m sure he feels the same way, so I'm happy to see another DB property... By 2020 it will jus be him, Danny Meyer, and Drew Nieporent with 33.3% ownership of all Manhattan restaurants. However, unlike Danny Meyer and Drew Nieporent, I like Daniel Boulud.
Besides the fact that Boulud is arguably the best chef in America with Daniel - certainly top five - he’s also a surprisingly nice human being. Everyone has heard about mega-celebrity chefs irreverently cussing at Royal functions, drinking heavily, doing drugs, slamming car doors on people and so on. But, to the best of my knowledge Chef Boulud has never been cited for so much as a traffic ticket. Sure he's French and therefore has a certain stuck-up air of Frenchie-ness about him but I've never had a bad thing to to say about the guy and now I really don’t. He came and said hello to Eli and I during dinner on Monday night, he does actually still cook and oversee at Daniel, which is impressive with all of his restaurants, television time and whatnot – and on this particular Wednesday night, he made a stop by Bar Pleiades. I was talking to the writer from Gothamist when he came over and said hello. I re-introduced myself (even though I had just seen him on Monday). When I did, then he remembered who I was and he took they guy from Gothamist and myself on a tour of the newly remodeled kitchen at Café Boulud. We had made it approximately four feet into the kitchen when Daniel says to a line cook frying risotto balls:
“What are you doing?”
“Cooking risotto balls Chef, we just brought the mini-fryer over here so that we could plate them and get them out fast.”
“You’re too close to the door, if any breeze blows this way they will be able to smell that in the dining room, take it under the hood.”
Boo-yah. Boulud one, line cook zero. So all three of us are talking, admiring the white truffles sitting on the counter, when Boulud looks at his watch and says:
“I have to get to the Four Seasons event soon!”
“Me too!” I exclaimed.
“What?” Said the guy from Gothamist.
We all walked back into Bar Pleiades, and a moment later, an older couple walked in and was promptly brought chairs. (No one else had chairs.) Daniel began to schmooze with the older couple (and by schmooze I mean kiss their collective asses) the woman ordered a champagne, the man iced tea.
“I must have drank half of the iced tea and cranberry juice in Manhattan.” Said the man after ordering. They chit-chatted with Daniel for a minute and after ordering my second drink I said hello to the woman next to me. She introduced herself as Nina Zagat, and the man who had ordered the iced tea was, you guessed it, Tim Zagat. I started texting Travis and Alicia that I was hanging out with Daniel Boulud and the Zagats. Travis texted back "you suck" while Alicia thought it was absolutely novel that the Zagats were real humans. I told Nina that I was headed to London over Thanksgiving, she took my card and said she would email me a list of places to eat in London, and she actually did! Thursday, October 29th she mailed me this:
Kris:
Tim and I enjoyed meeting you yesterday. We’ll send over a London guide, but in the meantime the following are a few places in or near London you might want to consider:
Gordon Ramsay at 68 Royal Hospital Road
Fat Duck -- experimental
J. Sheekey – great seafood
St. John – every part of the animal
River Café -- Italian
Le Caprice – brunch
Wolesley – breakfast or lunch
The Ivy – British celebs
Mark’s Club
Harry’s Bar -- club
Wilton’s
Nina
=======================
Nina S. Zagat
ZAGATSURVEY
Telephone: (212) xxx-xxxx
Fax: (212) xxx-xxxx
www.zagat.com
4 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
========================
They were headed to the Four Seasons as well and offered me a ride until Boulud snagged a cute blonde from the event. I’m sure she was just a friend ;-)
So, I took a cab to the Four Seasons. When I got there, my boss Eli who was already there, and was on his way out to see Hamlet (Starring the incomparable Jude Law) mentioned that Mauro Maccioni of Le Cirque (whom I had just interviewed for the back page Q&A in Promenade the week before) was there. The event was great, there was one small dish that they were serving, a "truffle cappuccino" that was absolutely sublime. It was a creamy black truffle soup with an espresso foam and a large white truffle shaving on top. The scent was amazing and it didn't taste bad either. I said hello to the owners Julian and Alex. Daniel Boulud and the Zagats arrived shortly after I did, and it was at this time that Sergio Neito, Concierge for the InterContinental Hotel got the picture that began this blog entry.
Julian Niccolini (Co-Owner, The Four Seasons), Mauro Maccioni (Co-Owner, Le Cirque), Chef Daniel Boulud (owns too many restaurants to list), Fabio Trabocchi (Chef, The Four Seasons)
Alex von Bidder (Co-Owner, The Four Seasons) In case you forgot...
Mauro invited Sergio and I to have dinner at Le Cirque and watch the Yankees game, which we did.
Mauro in the front of the dining room at Le Cirque
Le Cirque actually has a permanently restaurant week priced – $35 three-course dinner in the bar room, which is what I ate, and it was quite good. I had artichoke soup with goat cheese and ricotta dumplings, a braised short rib, and a wonderful pistachio dessert. The Yankees lost, but we all know how that turned out, so sorry Phillies (not).
In the midst of the game Julian, one of the four seasons owners, came into Le Cirque to a rousing ovation. I went over and said hello again, and told him he had to put the truffle cappuccino on the menu, at least in the bar. He said ok; so we'll see soon if they've put it on there yet...
So, that’s the story. I was full, drunk and on my way home from Le Cirque by 11pm with the best food night of all time under my belt. It was one hell of a gastronomic travel of a night, and one that won’t likely be topped anytime soon!
‘Till next time friends – cheers, eat merrily, and trust to good verses.
Loving the blog Kris!! I am so glad to see you are doing so well. We are all so very proud of you. Love you -Heth
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