Following Gothamist’s lead once again, I suggested going to Knife + Fork for a chef’s tasting menu after this positive article was run in the online rag. StB and HB were both game, so off we went this past Tuesday night.
We began the meal with a dense, chewy loaf of bread made with O’Hara, a beer our served likened to Guiness, giving the bread its dark coloring. The bread was slightly nutty from the beer, made even better with the butter and sprinkling of sea salt over the top. A nice beginning.
Our first course was cured salmon over a seaweed salad, wasabi creme fraiche (in the top part of the picture), passion fruit juice, baby pear, and a [decorative?] schmear of squid ink. The salmon was melt in your mouth delicious, with the seaweed salad adding a touch of sweet crunchiness to counter the soft salmon. I found the wasabi creme fraiche a little too much wasabi, too little creme fraiche, but HB liked hers.
Unfortunately, since this was a tasting menu and I encouraged my friends to dig in without waiting for me to take pictures,… and I was busy taking notes, writing down the names/components of each dish… I forgot to photograph the next two courses. An unfortunate mistake… (which led to an interesting discovery: I asked the very kind server, who explained every dish carefully and would come over to clear our dishes and change our knife+fork after each course, then ask us if we enjoyed the food… well, I asked him if I could possibly photograph someone else’s course 2 & 3, since I noticed a few other people around us ordering the tasting menu, but he informed me it would not be possible because each table gets a different tasting menu; the chef just chooses at random. We saw many other dishes being brought out for other people, actually.)
Our second course was a baby octopus and coriander over wild crab, with a spicy broth poured in at the last moment. (Click here for what the bowl kind of looked like and what it reminded me of… another dish at another fancy tasting menu restaurant) Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of this dish. The baby octopus, which was in all its glory, was good, chewy, but biting through its head freaked me out a little (yes, I did also eat baby octopus whole here). The broth was also a bit too spicy for me, so I just ate all the extra stuff and avoided the broth a bit. Oddly, though, HB loved the broth even though she and I usually have the same feelings on spicy things. (StB really likes spicy things.)
It is so unfortunate that I did not capture a picture of the third course, as it was my and StB’s favorite course. I wanted to try to draw it out for you guys, but I have such terrible drawing skills that it would wind up looking like a dog. (I used to draw horses constantly; one time I drew one I was particularly proud of and showed my dad, who looked at it thoughtfully and said “That’s a pretty good drawing of a dog!” and when I told him it was a horse, he took the pad and drew a horse for me. It had depth; mine lay flat and boring on the page.)
In any case, the third course was a confit of Berkshire pork belly over roasted red pepper ribbons- *swoon* right there- red onion puree, escargot in a garlic cream reduction, aged balsamic vinegar and a ginger carrot puree. The Berkshire pork belly was soft, a bit difficult to cut (the whole thing was so tender, it would almost smush down a bit first), and stickier than I’d expected it to be. The pork fat was melty and juicy and delicious, with the roasted red pepper ribbons and red onion puree it was even better. I enjoyed this part of the dish duly.
But the real star, in both StB and my opinions, were the escargots. Plump, juicy, soft, in a decadent cream that tasted almost like a garlic puree, but thinned out a little with cream, these were absolutely heavenly. Snips of chives were in the sauce, brightening it a bit, just enough to elevate the delight that is garlic. Mm. I loved how these just popped into your mouth and brought smiles to your face.
I actually put my fork in the next dish before taking a picture, because I was so excited. Lisa had just mentioned skate on her site, so I was so eager to try it, when suddenly I blurted out “Oh my gosh, I haven’t been taking pictures!” and StB and HB both laughed at me (and it was almost painfully amusing- only in hindsight- to see how upset I got about it later).
The fourth course was skate wing with black bean, poached pineapple and cauliflower puree. Interestingly, looking at the picture, I thought that was balsamic vinegar… although that explains a few things. (As you can see, I was really enjoying dinner and the conversation…) The skate wing was really interesting because it does look like a wing, though it’s a fish, and as Lisa points out on her blog, it “flakes” differently. The flakes are long and across, whereas most fish have short flakes, up and down. The meat itself was tender, moist, but not particularly full of its own flavor. The cauliflower puree had the delicate flavor of cauliflower, but I found myself dipping the fish liberally in the black bean sauce to give it a bit more punch.
Our fifth course was venison drizzled with a chocolate raspberry sauce, with parsnip puree and a fig reduction on the left. (We figured out it was fig ourselves.) I found the venison’s crust to be a bit too peppery, but otherwise, it was venison; while extremely soft and tender, it had the overt game taste that is the reason many people avoid the non-run-of-the-mill meats. The fig was delicious, and the parsnip puree, well, if you like parsnips, you’d like this (I’m not a huge fan). I thought the chocolate sauce was interesting because it wasn’t overly sweet; it had the texture of a thin chocolate sauce but it was not overpowering, rather a supporting player in the main attraction.
Our sixth and final course was “chocolat du jour” which turned out to be a pot de creme. Dense, thick, and chocolatey, this was good though nothing unusual or striking overall. We’d hoped to try the coffee pannacotta, but this was satisfying nonetheless.
Overall, I felt the meal was extremely enjoyable, and eaten at a relaxed pace (the entire meal took about 2 to 2.5 hours). The servers were attentive, and though the restaurant was empty when we arrived at 7, by 9 there were plenty of tables with people at them, all enjoying themselves and taking their time. The food was worth the money- in fact, the tasting menu was well worth the money, as all the entrees are in the mid-$20 range and the appetizers are all around $14-16 (not sure how much the desserts are). I would definitely go back (and hopefully catch more pictures!), though I’m not sure I’d order a la carte since the price varies so much and trying all the new dishes is so much fun. I would love to be able to order an entire dish of the escargots in garlic cream, though; the salmon also is on my list of things I’d order again. Yum.
Yvo says: You should definitely go here, although check their website, I know they are closing for two weeks soon. The tasting menu is well worth the $45 price tag ($45 for 6 courses, bear in mind), and the service is friendly, with a relaxed, cozy atmosphere. The food is slightly innovative, but where it fails to be innovative, it is still delicious. I would love to go here again soon.. and probably will.
highly recommended
For StB’s perspective, click here!
Anonymous says
sorry, but asking to photograph someone else’s food? outta line!
miss beancurd says
Hey! I know the review you’re talking about- my friend was the dining companion of the writer/review that night! They loved it and I’m glad you did too! I’ve been meaning to go myself after they came back with such positive feedback.