I would come back here in a heartbeat.
We've eaten in many Michelin starred restaurants, but this is probably my favourite meal. I love the idea of a passport that covers fourteen cities. By the end of dish two, I thought I could make it. By the end of dish seven, I was worried I wouldn't make it home.
The sommelier is fantastic. He doesn't recommend a sweet wine with the foie, and it soon becomes apparent why -- the foie is a macaroon. I'm (sadly, guiltily) a fan of foie; having had extraordinary Quebec and Paris foie meals, I can still say this is by far the best foie I've ever had.
The Madrid course forced me to fight back tears. It was one of the best things I've had in my life. We have lived in New York, London, and eat in France and Italy on a regular basis. We have many dishes we love, and for which we will travel. But this meal was an experience on its own. To me, it was better than three-starred meals I've had.
There were a few dishes I would change. The Bodrum dish is great, but its tastes clash a bit with what is before and after. The Tokyo dish is a little forgettable. The Barcelona dish, many people's favourites, has a bit too much salt for me -- as does the Milano. With that said, the Paris, Madrid and the New York dishes made me want to cry with joy. When I read that a single French fry accompanied the New York burger, I was intrigued. In fine dining as in martial arts movies, the less of something, the more you can expect; 100 villains do no damage, but expect a lot from a single villain. The same was true of this French fry. It came coated eight times -- ketchup, wasabi?, mushroom, and raspberry??, each twice. Salty, but unbelievable. I read a review where the person thinks one can get these in New York anywhere. We lived in New York; you can get these at the places reserved three months in advance.
Some critics think a restaurant must have no errors to be perfect. I disagree. To have some flaws is human -- and also a matter of taste. Some of the dishes could be overhauled (Tokyo, Milano). But some of the dishes I find too salty -- eg Barcelona -- are many critics' favourite. I don't rank this experience based on (lack of) flaws, I rank it based on my peak moments. And it had so many. The Madrid dish alone made me fight tears. And so many flavours made me this experience unique. It had the intensity of love of food we often look for in two and one-starred restaurants. It had the intensity we expected but didn't find in three-starred experiences. I would give this restaurant three stars for making me remember why I fell in love with food in the first place. The lows (Milano) don't take away from that. I am grateful to a restaurant the makes me feel this level of love. I suppose that's all one can ever ask.
And the menu is perhaps the most challenging we've seen a chef set out for themselves. I believe it takes growing up in a city to understand it. Indeed, we've been to all but two of the fourteen cities, but would have no idea how to create local flavours for most of them. Surely enough, some dishes were too western to be Asian -- Tokyo and Shanghai come to mind (Bangkok nailed the fish sauce perfectly). Yet Shanghai was one of my favourite dishes. So how does one evaluate the experience? Again, I fall back on my peaks and troughs. And the peaks make this a moment I want to relive in my life. I wish I could say the same of most famous dishes in the world.
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