This place has all of the bells and whistles of a haute cuisine fine dining experience. A…read moregreeting at the door by 4 staff members. It was all smiles and polite courtesy.
The dining room was in an atrium: lots of dark wood and glass. Very striking in appearance.
We opted for the 7 course tasting menu with wine pairings. What we didn't realize was that this tasting menu would be tantamount to going 12 rounds in a boxing ring.
Here's the blow by blow.
First they bring you an amuse bouche: a piece of bread that tasted like it had hints of cheddar and bacon.
Ok, I feel good. Round 1 and I've been training for this all my life.
Then they hit you with a trio of 3 MORE AMUSE BOUCHES! One was thinly sliced radish wrapped like a tortilini stuffed with cream and a veggie purée. Another was a thin cracker exterior filled with goats cheese but it looked like a toasted marshmallow. The last was a green tube of magic stuffed with panna cotta.
Ok, sucker punches aside, I'm still doing well. I'm still light on my feet. I let my years of food training kick in.
Now that the amuse bouches are out of the way, they fucking hit you with a motherfucking FIFTH AMUSE BOUCHE! Who hurt these people? 5 of them? The fifth one was a prepared mussel with a cream and wine sauce.
That fifth amuse was like a left jab that caught me funny. I shake it off, get back in there.
So, finally, the first course was caviar with teeny tiny blinis. The caviar was on top of this seafood gelée and a cauliflower purée. Never thought of caviar and cauliflower going together, but they do.
Now I'm feeling a bit cocky. That dish weren't nuthin! I'm bobbin and weavin.
2nd course: frog legs and onion ravioli. The frog legs are the specialty of this place and I see why. The onion ravioli were a real surprise as I didn't see it in the description.
I'm still loose. I'm jabbing and floating.
3rd course: pumpkin tart. Ok, this tart was much bigger than I thought it would be. It was tasty but that pastry was rich enough that this thing was deceptive.
Still feeling ok, but realized it's the 5th round and I thought it was the 7th. Just gotta keep going.
4th course: sea bass with black truffle, Jerusalem artichoke and "devil jus". Delicious but very rich. Wasn't expecting a fish course to be heavy.
I'm taking a few hits, but it ain't nuthin. Keep my gloves up and I keep going.
5th course: roasted deer tenderloin with a deer & blueberry jus and compressed sweet potato cut into thin slices and layered one after the other to create 2 perfect cubes. Deer was cooked to perfection. The compressed sweet potato was exquisite.
Ok, ok. Took some knocks, but I'm in the 9th round and I know I'm gonna be able to go the distance.
6th course: Cheese. They wheel out this cart that has about 20 cheeses in it ranging from kinda stinky to stinky to fully green mold. When they open up the door to this display case you are getting hammmered by the scent of either the finest of French cheeses ever imagined or a terminal case of foot fungus. I make my choices including a classic Camembert and a super French blue cheese. There was one that was close to an aged gouda, one that had a ribbon of ash in the middle and the last was described by the waiter as "very strong".
I'm taking some serious body blows. My gloves keep dropping and now I'm taking head shots. I'm dead on my feet. I'm praying for death. This cheese is so fatty and rich. I wasn't ready for this. This cheese was watching my old fights, it knew my weaknesses.
Then, a palette cleanser of grapefruit sorbet shows up.
It was the whiff of ammonia salt I needed to get my second wind. This meal ain't gonna beat me!
7th course: Diced green apple, poached apple pieces, shiso ice cream, and panna cotta. Truly delicious. Not heavy. Thank buddha.
I think I can make it. I can't hear my trainer. There is no sound. I'm functioning on muscle memory.
They ask us if we want coffee. I see people at other tables getting espresso shots, but it comes with a plate of candy coated pretzels and what looks like cinnamon sugar coated sheets of ginger bread. We avoid coffee to avoid the extra food.
Secret course 8: They bring out a plate of 5 dessert pieces: A candied orange peel, a compressed tangerine gelée piece, a mini pice of layered orange cake (I swear by Christ that a shrink ray was used to make this), a chocolate truffle, and a mini financier cake.
Through the drunken haze of a food coma and partially out of sheer terror, I ask for the check. I pay and practically sprint out of the building before they try to cram a dinner mint into my mouth and results in my body exploding.
This meal was truly a great experience and highly recommend this place.
