Saturday, April 21, 2007
Lunch at Per Se, New York, NY
Per Se has been on our list for a while now. It's Thomas Keller's (of French Laundry fame) NY place which is, oddly, located on the 4th floor of a mall at Columbus Circle. The decor was both interesting and classic, the waitstaff friendly, if not entirely invisible, and the view of central park was very nice. The meal was $250 per person, including service.
Puff Pastries Stuffed with Gruyere
The perfect, tiny, first bite.
Marinated Salmon on a Black Sesame Tuile Cone Stuffed with Creme Fraiche
This was absolutely delicious. Maybe the best bite of the meal.
Cauliflower Panna Cotta with Caviar
The texture was a bit too firm, but you can't go wrong with caviar.
Butter produced on a small farm from only 6 cows.
More butter, this one unsalted.
Salad of Hearts of Palm, Beets, Granny Smith Apples, Young Lettuce and Horseradish Fritters
Artfully plated and pretty good. The fritters were the stars though, not the hearts of palm, for which the dish was named.
Torchon on Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Green Almonds, Ramps, and Peach Gelee
The gelee didn't do much for the dish, and we never understand why a place would serve torchon rather than seared, but it was still good.
Brioche (served with the foie)
The funniest service experience we had during this meal what when the waiter silently replaced Giao's barely touched brioche with a fresh, hot plate of it.
Tuna Tartare with Avocado, Mango, Cilantro and Amarillo Spiced Potatos on a Yuzu Aioli
This would have been much better without the potatos. They were unnecessary and added an unpleasantly gritty texture to the dish.
Grilled Cobia with Carrots, Compressed Cucumber and Sorrell
The fish was fine (with beautiful grill marks) and we've learned from Thomas Keller that compression is a great technique, as we saw in the compressed apples at Ad Hoc. The compression makes the texture crunchier and somehow intensifies the flavor.
Langoustines with Potatos, First of Season Asparagus, Morels and Langoustine Foam
The foam deflated unpn serving, but these langoustines were so tender it didn't matter.
Pork Belly with Pickled Blackberries and Carmelized Salsify
The pork belly could have been a bit more tender and the blackberries didn't taste very pickled, but it was a solid dish nonetheless.
Pan Fried Veal Brains with Quail Egg and Polenta
These brains were like custard, so insanely smooth.
Lamb with Artichokes, Tomato Confit and Olives
The lamb was so tender and so NOT gamey that the rest of the ingredients were almost beside the point. We could have cut this lamb with a butter knife.
Fleur de Maquis Sheep's Milk Cheese with Onion Marmalade, Onion Rings and Maple-Bourbon Reduction
This was the weirdest texture we had ever tasted in a cheese. You had to eat it with a spoon and it had odd chunky bits in it. But the flavor was mild in its intensity, if that makes any sense.
Coconut Sorbet with Hibiscus Foam and Black Sesame Nougatine
The sorbet was very creamy and the nougatine was strangely like crushed oreo, although it didn't taste like chocolate.
Milk Chocolate Cremeux and Hazelnut Struesel with Condensed Milk Sorbet and Sweetened Salty Hazelnuts
The cremeux was creamy and perfectly chocolately and the nuts added a nice texture contrast. There wasn't much going on flavorwise, other than sweet, with the sorbet.
Madagascar Vanilla Creme Brulee
This was the only thing that wasn't that good in the whole meal. The texture was not creamy enough and the sugar to custard ratio was off.
Fruits of the Forest-Yogurt Pot de Creme
Very good. Not too sweet, a little tangy. A beautiful play on fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt containers. Alexis could eat this every day for breakfast.
House-made Chocolate Truffles
Very interestig flavors. We had grapefruit, ginger caramel, fennel (which was intensely anise-y) and bourbon.
Chocolate Covered Almonds
Not sweet at all, Giao really liked these.
Chocolate Lemon Candies (the texture of a soft caramel, but tasting intensely of lemon and chocolate), Nougat (standard) and even more truffles (the caramel one was particularly tasty).
Puff Pastries Stuffed with Gruyere
The perfect, tiny, first bite.
Marinated Salmon on a Black Sesame Tuile Cone Stuffed with Creme Fraiche
This was absolutely delicious. Maybe the best bite of the meal.
Cauliflower Panna Cotta with Caviar
The texture was a bit too firm, but you can't go wrong with caviar.
Butter produced on a small farm from only 6 cows.
More butter, this one unsalted.
Salad of Hearts of Palm, Beets, Granny Smith Apples, Young Lettuce and Horseradish Fritters
Artfully plated and pretty good. The fritters were the stars though, not the hearts of palm, for which the dish was named.
Torchon on Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Green Almonds, Ramps, and Peach Gelee
The gelee didn't do much for the dish, and we never understand why a place would serve torchon rather than seared, but it was still good.
Brioche (served with the foie)
The funniest service experience we had during this meal what when the waiter silently replaced Giao's barely touched brioche with a fresh, hot plate of it.
Tuna Tartare with Avocado, Mango, Cilantro and Amarillo Spiced Potatos on a Yuzu Aioli
This would have been much better without the potatos. They were unnecessary and added an unpleasantly gritty texture to the dish.
Grilled Cobia with Carrots, Compressed Cucumber and Sorrell
The fish was fine (with beautiful grill marks) and we've learned from Thomas Keller that compression is a great technique, as we saw in the compressed apples at Ad Hoc. The compression makes the texture crunchier and somehow intensifies the flavor.
Langoustines with Potatos, First of Season Asparagus, Morels and Langoustine Foam
The foam deflated unpn serving, but these langoustines were so tender it didn't matter.
Pork Belly with Pickled Blackberries and Carmelized Salsify
The pork belly could have been a bit more tender and the blackberries didn't taste very pickled, but it was a solid dish nonetheless.
Pan Fried Veal Brains with Quail Egg and Polenta
These brains were like custard, so insanely smooth.
Lamb with Artichokes, Tomato Confit and Olives
The lamb was so tender and so NOT gamey that the rest of the ingredients were almost beside the point. We could have cut this lamb with a butter knife.
Fleur de Maquis Sheep's Milk Cheese with Onion Marmalade, Onion Rings and Maple-Bourbon Reduction
This was the weirdest texture we had ever tasted in a cheese. You had to eat it with a spoon and it had odd chunky bits in it. But the flavor was mild in its intensity, if that makes any sense.
Coconut Sorbet with Hibiscus Foam and Black Sesame Nougatine
The sorbet was very creamy and the nougatine was strangely like crushed oreo, although it didn't taste like chocolate.
Milk Chocolate Cremeux and Hazelnut Struesel with Condensed Milk Sorbet and Sweetened Salty Hazelnuts
The cremeux was creamy and perfectly chocolately and the nuts added a nice texture contrast. There wasn't much going on flavorwise, other than sweet, with the sorbet.
Madagascar Vanilla Creme Brulee
This was the only thing that wasn't that good in the whole meal. The texture was not creamy enough and the sugar to custard ratio was off.
Fruits of the Forest-Yogurt Pot de Creme
Very good. Not too sweet, a little tangy. A beautiful play on fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt containers. Alexis could eat this every day for breakfast.
House-made Chocolate Truffles
Very interestig flavors. We had grapefruit, ginger caramel, fennel (which was intensely anise-y) and bourbon.
Chocolate Covered Almonds
Not sweet at all, Giao really liked these.
Chocolate Lemon Candies (the texture of a soft caramel, but tasting intensely of lemon and chocolate), Nougat (standard) and even more truffles (the caramel one was particularly tasty).
Labels: Decor: 2, Food: 3, nouveau American, restaurant, review, service: 3, tasting menu
# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 12:00 PM 
Features:
Alexis' Cookbook
Our Favorite Kitchen Tools
More Useful Kitchen Tools
SeeUsEat 2006 Awards
Roti Round-Up
Burger Battle
Fried Chicken Challenge
Video: Chupaqueso
Video: Zuchinni Lasagna
Cuisine:
Austrian
Chinese
Cuban
Dim Sum
Ethiopian
French
German
Indian
Japanese
Mexican
Middle Eastern
Noveau American
Nueva Latino
Pub Food
Regional American
Singaporean
Spanish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
