When I first received an email from Ms.Georgette Farkas, the Public Relations Director for Chef Daniel Boulud, I was just thrilled. She had invited me to dinner at Daniel and lunch at DB Bistro Moderne – both in New York.
I am a great fan of Chef Daniel Boulud. I have been reading about his progress over the years and of course like most other chefs, I admire the way he has brought dining and cooking to another level in the gourmet world. Having written six cookbooks and being an owner of several finest restaurants all over the world (restaurant Daniel earned the prestigious four star rating in the 2010 Michelin Guide) Chef Daniel Boulud is certainly a mentor for many in the culinary industry. Born near Lyon in France, Daniel went on to work and was trained by renowned chefs like Chef Roger Vergé, Chef Georges Blanc and Chef Michel Guérard. These culinary gems later became his mentors. He cooks using the finest American ingredients and applies time honoured French cooking techniques when cooking. His restaurant, Daniel won several awards since the opening and is also listed in the "World's 50 Best Restaurants". This is what Chef Daniel said with regards Daniel “My dream is to give my guests a dining experience that awakens all the senses. At Daniel, I want them to leave the outside world behind and indulge in the fine cuisine, the beauty of the setting and the comfort and personalized service they have come to expect from us.”
Daniel is located at heart of Manhattan’s Upper East Side in New York. My dinner companions for that evening were my sister Kalyanni who was a vegetarian for that day and niece Sujatha. The Daniel experience started with us being treated like queens and we ate feeling like queens!! At Daniel, everyone is cared for including our handbags that got an ottoman to sit on! The well trained staffs were very gracious, attentive and yet left us privacy. It is certainly a jacket and tie for men. Jeans are banned from Daniel during dining hours but I was wearing jeans and luckily in a nice formal blouse. I guess I was excused because I was travelling the whole day.
When you walk into the dining room you are in another world. It breathes upper class money! The dining room is very architectural with columns, carved arches and draperies surrounding the main dining area with additional tables on a slightly elevated area surrounding. The dining room was dark tomato reds, pastel blues, very light pinks, gold and brocade and velvets. The restaurant was full and everyone was talking but still we were not able to hear the conversation. A classical music was played in the background and the whole place was just warm and cosy. The maître d’ showed us to the table and pulled our chairs for us and the restaurant captain Christina welcomed us and poured us Daniel’s own champagne!
We opted for the 8-course meals with wine pairings for two of us. The really charming bread basket was brought around by an equally charming waiter. We could choose from the eight assorted bread rolls. I picked the walnut raisin roll and the black olive bread. It was so embarrassing – I just could not stop eating the breads – all were baked at Daniel itself and was fresh and awesome. I had to force myself to stop eating the bread so that I have space for all that was coming.
The dinner started out with an amuse bouche that focused on beetroot. The thick beetroot velouté that was served with the tiniest – real tiny and very fragile grissini was really a work of art. The grissini even had a tiny piece of duck prosciutto at one end of it – making it look like a Q-tipped cotton bud! It made me wonder what is it that makes a restaurant one of the best in the country. I know very well that it is not just the décor or the service. It is actually the quality of the ingredients, the commitment and passion for detailed preparation and the creative presentation. Daniel had it all!
As there was three of us, between us we tasted over 20 tasting portions of Chef Daniel’s recipes. I would just have to type pages and pages! Some of the dishes we tried were the Peekytoe Crab Salad with Sweet Pepper Vinaigrette, Hawaiian Hearts of Palm, Tarragon Oil and Young Fennel; Pumpkin Seed and Speck Ham Crusted Sea Scallops Caramelized Endive, Glazed Jerusalem Artichoke and Doppelbock Beer Jus ; Roasted Daikon Radish and Black Mission Figs with Garbanzo Beans, Purslane and Aged Balsamic Vinegar; Wilted Spinach with Potato Saint Florentin, Chanterelle, Crispy shallot and Artemisia Tempura.
We also ate the Black Sea Bass with Syrah Sauce, Leek Potato Parmentier and Roasted Tempura Celery. The fish was rich, fleshy and cooked just right and the sauce was just amazing. The wine pairing was a 2008 Copain "Tous Ensemble" Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, which was the perfect match. We also had the Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Loin – Tandoori Spiced Shoulder, Minted Ratatouille Ricotta Gnocchi, Broccolini, Zucchini Flower Tempura. The way the gnocchi was presented flanking the filo pastry werapped lightly spiced lamb was very interesting. The specially selected small zucchini flower that was fried tempura style was just grease free and light– making it one of the best tempuras I have eaten recently.
I am no wine expert and therefore when a restaurant pairs the wine with my food, life was enjoyable. All the wines were specially selected and I got to taste at least about 7 types of wines including a beautiful dessert wine. Daniel’s also had a cheese tasting menu and I had one of the best cheese experiences!! The cheese board came with the appropriate dried fruits and all and one of the outstanding accompaniments for the cheeses was the honeycomb. It went so well with the cheeses.
Just before we went into dessert, I was told that Chef Daniel Boulud had invited us for a tour of his kitchen!! I just went giddy with excitement and could feel shivers of anticipatory happiness going up my spines. I was in the kitchen of a world renowned chef viewing the production kitchen, the pastry and bread making department, the coffee kitchen, the dessert plating kitchen and the whole works and departments of the restaurant. I witnessed Chef Daniel Boulud busy working in the kitchen. We had a good chat and a photo-taking session in the kitchen as well as the dining room. He joined us for a brief moment when we were luxuriating in the heavenly desserts. He also graciously went around to the tables and introduced himself and shook hands with the diners.
Dessert was to die for. Between the three of us we tried Cilantro Lime Macerated Papaya Dacquoise, Confit Buddha Hand’s Lemon, Guava Sorbet; Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ganache, Praline Feuilletine, Caramel Ice Cream butter ganache with
praliné feuilletine, and caramel ice cream... so rich and very scrumptious, the feuilletine added the nice crackling texture and of course their famous and a molten chocolate cake that was insanely good. The pastry chef Dominique Ansel had added his brush stroke of colour works of art to all the desserts.
All these heavenly desserts were paired with a dessert wine. Just when we thought everything was over, we were brought real hot from the oven mini madelines to have with our coffee and that was not the last…….a round of homemade chocolates appeared at the table!
I must say that dish after dish, it was the most exquisite meal I have ever had and it was truly a once in a lifetime gastronomic experience. Daniel truly deserves its reputation and I shall go back there again soon.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment