Eleven Madison Park

I’m not that big on Valentine’s Day in general, especially the zoo that the restaurant industry becomes around that day.  This year, it fell on a Sunday, and it disturbed me that a certain Batali restaurant had a special menu for that day which cost xx, but also offered the same ‘special’ menu on Friday and Saturday before Valentine’s Day… for half that price.  I just think that’s rude!  It was blatant and out there… not cool.  (Admittedly, at least one other Batali restaurant had no special menu at all for Valentine’s Day, which boosted my opinion of that one EVEN MORE… I’m sure you can figure out which place that is, based on my high opinion of them already!) 

But I’m not one to say “no” when the BF wants to take me out to eat at a fancy place.  I mean, honestly, it wasn’t just to celebrate Valentine’s Day, it was more for him to take me out and ‘spoil’ me which yes, he does like to do, and to show me off.  What a great guy 🙂  In any case, I wound up planning ahead and reserved Eleven Madison Park for the Thursday before Valentine’s Day (although it didn’t appear EMP had a special V-day menu, either).  I’ve heard about EMP many times over the years but the “New American” tag kept pushing it further down the list; I rarely have New American and am truly impressed or amazed.  Either case, when we showed up to EMP that Thursday, we were both pleased with the ginormous place – the ceilings are super high, giving the restaurant a really cavernous feel, while the tables for two were generously spaced… no one sat on top of me and I couldn’t hear anyone’s conversation but our own. 

Of course I’d read that EMP was the word on service and hospitality.  Danny Meyer is known for hospitality, but I have to say that this place by far exceeded my expectations or even what I thought excellent service might entail.  As soon as we were seated, our own personal hostess came over to ask us if there was anything she could get us.  While she was incredibly pleasant and smiling, BF and I were both a little creeped out by her Children of the Corn forced smile mask.  She came over frequently to check on us, but didn’t intrude.  More on that later…

While we perused the menu, we were brought warm gougeres.  I love gougeres and these were fluffy, airy and cheesy, really damn good.  BF and I munched happily on them; when we were done, we were offered more, but had to decline because neither of us wanted to fill up on bread. 

A few minutes later, we were brought this tray of hors d’ouevres.  At this point, we’d hardly ordered – we may not have even seen a menu yet, actually, which really surprised me – so much food and we’d yet to actually see what we ordered.  I also will point out that the menu was either a grand tasting menu (which we declined; after Blue Hill at Stone Barns, I’m not sure I’ll ever convince BF to do another tasting menu again, the timing and just so much food… he’s not into it), taste of winter, or a 3 course prix fixe.  We opted for the 3 course; before anything arrived, BF remarked that he didn’t think $88 was too expensive.  I’m inclined to agree that for three courses at a Michelin-starred establishment, $88 is not exorbitant by any means. 

From left to right: heirloom beet marshmallow; black truffle celery gelee black pepper sable; meyer lemon goat cheese galette; green apple foie gras macaron; tube of sweetbreads. 

I popped the beet marshmallow in my mouth and found it incredibly soft, and tasting wonderfully of beets.  BF thought it tasted tangy and didn’t like it, but I questioned him on his feelings for beets, and he admitted he didn’t like beets to begin with.  The celery sable was very mild in taste, and BF didn’t eat his. 

The meyer lemon galette was alright… and the tube of sweetbreads, well.  The exterior was super crisp, and the insides were earthy and delicious.  Funny enough, BF hadn’t been paying attention when each was being explained to us, so he reached down and plucked it up, then stuck the whole thing in his mouth.  I almost gasped and he said, “What? What did I just eat?” and then bit down.  He supremely enjoyed his bite, saying that it was really meaty and tasty.

And the green apple foie gras macaron.  How do I put this?  The perfect macaron; light and airy crackly crust; biting into it yields that wonderful chewiness… and the intense fatty burst of foie gras in the middle.  That’s how I’ll put it.  I bit into mine and moaned out loud, it was so good.  (Luckily, since there’s so much space between each table, no one heard me but BF, who watched my face intently.)  As I slowly and sadly finished my bite, I announced, “I want these at my wedding.”  BF immediately allowed it, telling me, “Sure, we’ll have EMP cater our wedding.”  My response, in true Yvo fashion, was sneered with intense scorn: “Don’t be stupid; I haven’t eaten anything else here, who knows if I’ll like everything else?”  Then we both laughed and smiled at each other; EMP has this amazing atmosphere that is not straight romantic, but cozy and wonderful and happily hazy. 

As we discussed our wine choices, the sommelier came over to ask us if we had any questions.  After informing him we wanted a German Riesling that wasn’t syrupy sweet nor too minerally, he suggested this bottle.  I’m not sure how much was just him ‘selling’ it and how much was truth, but he said this was his favorite Riesling.  He also told us the origin of this bottle’s shape (which he mentioned before bringing it to us) – before glass-making was perfected, wine was often kept in a goat’s bladder; this bottle’s shape imitates that.  Pretty cool.  He didn’t recommend the most expensive nor the cheapest wine, though I couldn’t tell you how much the wine was.  We both liked it sufficiently and it didn’t interfere with our food, which I appreciated quite a lot. 

After we’d placed our orders, we were each brought a small covered bowl with a bite next to it.  I jotted down the name and started eating before I remembered to take a picture – sorry! – but this was explained as our amuse bouch; porcini veloute with a parmesan & black pepper brioche alongside.  At first look, the veloute seemed very airy and light, foamy, but as BF dug in, he noted how thick it was.  I began eating and realized it was indeed very thick, coating my tongue; almost as though porcinis were super-blended into this dense ‘liquid’ with the teensiest bit of broth or water.  It was intensely earthy, and if you like porcini mushrooms, this was incredible.  (I love mushrooms of just about every kind, so I was very happy.) 

Closest to me is salted goat’s milk butter, from Northern California; further is unsalted cow’s milk butter, and the dish in the middle holds fleur de sel. 

Traditional French baguette and piccolini olive ficelle.  At this point, we’d been eating for quite a while but still hadn’t received any of the dishes we’d ordered.  Pretty awesome, no?  The bread was awesome; I have this soft spot for baguettes properly made, and this definitely was.  Ficelle is another style of bread I like, so both were appreciated; BF was actually inhaling the goat’s milk butter surprisingly.  I was surprised because he and I tend to dislike goat milk products, since they’re usually kind of tangy and metallic.  I pointed this out and he said he actually liked the tang and how it worked with the olive ficelle.  Mmm, it was pretty good.  (Point to note: they offered us more bread when we finished ours, and I declined.  However, BF asked for and quickly received another baguette.)

BF’s first course: Lynnhaven Farms Goat’s Milk Ricotta: Gnocchi with Artichokes, Taggiasca Olives and Bacon.  He bit into one and was really impressed and happy.  I tried one and found it quite delicious as well (though I note the goat’s milk ricotta was not tangy/metallic in a bad way at all!).  Soft pillows of cheese, with marinated artichokes… yum! 

My first course of heirloom beets, nasturtium (yes, the flowers; I ate them, they tasted like… not much); graham crackers and creme fraiche.  A mixture of regular and golden beets scattered across my plate, I really like beets and these were no exception.  Clouds of creme fraiche with the crunchy graham crackers, juicy & sweet beets really came together into a wonderful appetizer. 

BF’s main course: Black Angus Beef; bone marrow crusted with braised root vegetables and sauce bordelaise.  This is going to gross you out (this is why I’m fat): I started eating the sauce in the bowl with my fork, big heaping forkfuls just shoveled into my gaping maw, that’s how good it was.  In my defense, there was a meaty substance on the bottom – dark brown in color (I think it was oxtail, to be honest) – that was just so awesome, I couldn’t stop myself!  His beef medallions were super succulent, tender and delicious.  He was very happy with his dish, though he got so full at this point he had to stop eating.  That didn’t stop me from eating some of it, though… nommmmmmm. 

I was really torn between the lamb or the sweetbreads, but my affinity towards sweetbreads had not yet waned.  Unfortunately, I found these a bit chalky.  I think I’m going to give up on sweetbreads for now; out of the 5 times I’ve had them now, only the first time was truly exellent, and every time since has been varying levels of chalky.  I mean, these were tasty enough – not overwhelmingly chalky – but chalky enough that I just didn’t find myself interested unless I mopped them in sauce.  The accompanying tidbits were yummy though. 

Our desserts took a while to come, but how pretty!  The above is BF’s dessert: Milk & Chocolate: Dehydrated Chocolate Mousse and Dulce de Leche.  He wasn’t a huge fan of the dessert, claiming parts of it were super salty and weird.  Funny enough, while he was very full from all the other food, he kept telling me how excited he was for dessert, because “You know I judge a place on dessert!” – which, while I’m not totally inclined towards sweets, I agree insomuch that is your last impression of a restaurant, really, so it should be a good one.  He also agreed when I mentioned my best friend’s favorite saying: “I have a separate stomach for dessert; no matter how full I am, I can always eat dessert!”  Unfortunately, this was a disappointment. 

Caramel apple: toffee, walnuts, Granny Smith apple ice cream.  Something was off in the flavor profile; I wanted it to be sweeter, or saltier, or just more definitive in its flavor.  I wasn’t impressed with my dessert at all. 

As we were wrapping up and waiting for the check, our hostess appeared with a tray of macarons.  No, not more foie gras ones, but sweet ones this time.  After she laid one of each kind out on the plate for us, she turned to me and asked smilingly, “Would you like doubles of any of these so you can each try them without sharing?”  I thought that was awesome, and turned to BF to see which ones he wanted to try.  He picked out a couple, and she asked again if we wanted more, but really, if he only wanted to try those, the ones he didn’t request, I’d get to eat!  No need to be greedy.  🙂 

From left to right: toasted sesame; pb&j; meyer lemon; candied violet; chocolate filled coconut; chocolate quince; pear.

BF devoured the PB&J one and insisted I eat that one because it was so good.  I was iffy on it – the peanut taste overwhelmed the jelly, in my opinion.  But he liked it a lot.  I worked my way slowly through the tray, and found that while I adored the macaron – crackly outside, chewy inside – none of the flavors really stuck out for me.  However, BF ate his three quickly and then gave me doe-eyes while telling me how awesome the pear one was.  I took a teeny bite and handed it over; I’m not going to begrudge him a favorite!  Besides, I was super freakin’ full at this point. 

While BF was waiting for his credit card receipt, the sommelier brought over this bottle and two glasses for us, then poured us each a taste.  He said, “Just a little nightcap, please feel free to help yourselves to more.”  I sniffed my glass and decided against it, as did BF (who had driven that night, anyway).  I couldn’t handle ingesting anything more – we’d finished our bottle of wine, and eaten a LOT of food…

And the final touch?  Just before I stood up to head out, our hostess came over and handed me this little box and said, “A little something to remember us by.”  Inside was a row of jelly candies, with a label of each flavor (lime, lemon, orange, etc.).  Adorable. 

Another note on the service: impeccable.  Throughout the meal, we weren’t interrupted, but we were never ignored.  Waitstaff came by to check on us as needed; our glasses never required refilling and I never had to look around for a server (literally; there was never a moment I even needed to, but had I, I’m sure one would have been in front of me before I finished forming the thought “Where is…”).  Each time we were served a course, multiple servers came to tend to our every need, then disappeared seamlessly to allow us to enjoy our food.  I’ve been to a few upscale restaurants in my time – maybe ‘more upscale’ even – but this was by far, hands down, the most well organized and streamlined service I’ve ever experienced.  I was incredibly impressed with the overall experience: service, atmosphere, ambiance, food, everything was simply amazing. 

One last note: midway through the meal, I glanced up and noticed that Daniel Humm was standing at the table next to ours, talking to the patrons.  I wondered briefly who they were that the chef would come out and greet them, but a few minutes later, he approached our table and introduced himself to us.  BF remarked how young he looked and I shrugged; I thought it was a little odd that he spent a good bit of time walking around introducing himself to the tables.  I made sure to tell him how lovely I’d found the foie gras macaron, and BF thanked him as well.  He seemed a bit uncomfortable doing this – like perhaps he’d rather be in the back, cooking – but it was yet another little touch that the BF liked – BF hadn’t yet met any of the chefs at the restaurants we visit together. 

Yvo says: Despite not fully appreciating my main course nor either of our desserts, I still thought everything was completely worth it.  If you look at the above – $88 a person (plus tip, tax and wine) is really not expensive at all, given the level of service you receive as well as all the little extras they give you.  It was a wonderful experience, with really good food (and some amazing bites, some really good, and some mediocre, admittedly).  I wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone looking to celebrate an occasion and feel like a pampered princess (or prince)… this sincerely is the whole package.  BF had an excellent time and was duly impressed as well: he repeated several times that I’d done a good job by picking this place. 
extremely highly recommended; one of the few very high end places I definitely foresee myself returning to