On my honeymoon to New York City, I had the fantastic opportunity to eat at Restaurant Daniel, ranked number ten in the world by San Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It was a pretty incredible experience.
Let me start from the beginning. I was originally recommended Per Se, Thomas Keller’s “urban interpretation” or his restaurant, French Laundry. I tried making a reservation through Opentable.com, but it kept coming up as unavailable, so I thought I would try the phone. I suppose that Per Se is a popular restaurant, because I got an automated answering machine, and listened to classical music for 20 minnutes. After a second attempt later in the week, I gave up. Perhaps trying to make a reservation at Per Se a mere month in advance was foolish of me. I decided to try Restaurant Daniel.
I made the reservation over the phone, and instead of getting a machine, I got an extremely helpful and friendly lady on the other end who made my reservation and informed me of the “jackets required” rule. Excellent. That week, after making a trip to H&M to buy a reasonably priced blazer, we made our way to the restaurant. The exterior was (of course) clean and classy, with a revolving door.
After entering the restaurant, I was immediately impressed with the interior. Five huge “Chandelier” type lights hung from the ceiling, softly illuminating the dining room. We were seated in a plush seat along the wall with a nice view of the rest of the restaurant, complete with little pillows behind us.
After being greeted warmly by a smiling waiter with a French accent, we were presented with a rather large wine list and Janice (my wife), ordered a glass of 2008 German Riesling (of which I cannot remember the name) and it tasted marvelous. After the wine was poured, our menus were presented to us and we decided to order the six- course tasting menu.
For each course, you have an option of two dishes, so Janice and I ordered alternating dishes on each one for the purpose of tasting everything we could. But before anything else happened, we were presented with the amuse bouche of the night-A tasting of parsnips.
It did exactly what an amuse bouche is supposed to do. Which is to say it didn’t take my breath away. However it teased my palette with some interesting textures and flavors. I particularly liked the middle, a parfait of parsnips.
Next, A bus boy brought out a basket full of about 8 different kinds of freshly baked bread. I chose the mini baguette. It was still hot and crispy!
Unfortunately, for the first course, I didn’t get a picture. Mostly because I was pretty excited to eat it. Mine was a Duck liver and foie gras terrine with macrona almonds, apple confit, and mache salad. I was so excited to eat this that I forgot to take a picture. But it was served with two pieces of toast. I suppose this is kind of an upscale take on a classic bistro item. My wife got a foie gras terrine with marinated bok choy, which was equally delicious.
The second course, which was by far my favorite as far as presentation goes, and possibly taste (although I am undecided on the matter) was fantastic. First, my selection was that of crab salad, avocado, heirloom tomato jelly, shaved vegetables and crostini, finished with a drizzle of a delicious Tuscan olive oil. I am a huge fan of avocado and crab, so this hit the spot. And you could tell that the heirloom tomatoes used for the jellies were fresh, and perfectly ripe.
My wife got the Thai snapper ceviche, which was equally as good if not better, and was finished with a delicious Jus of Fennel and avocado, and topped with caviar.
Third Course: sea scallops. Sliced very thin and served over Hawaiian hearts of palm and an avocado tomatillo coulis and pickled peppers. This dish was rich but refreshing in a way, and gently warmed. Very nice.
Janice got the squid ink and artichoke ravioli with clams and shrimp and saffron cream. Need I say more?
Fourth course. This one was awesome. It was halibut so tender that it melted in my mouth, served with an almond foam, which I thought was awesome. I mean honestly….who FOAMS almonds? Seriously though, I was impressed. So much so that I forgot to take a picture. Janice got a Wild Alaskan king salmon with black musto oil. it was also served with a stuffed zucchini, which was quite nice.
Fifth course. The entrée. Janice got the trio of veal, which consisted of a classic red wine sauce, spooned on tableside by the waiter. I don’t quite remember, but I think that it was veal loin, sweetbreads, and braised veal cheeks. The cheeks were especially nice since you don’t often see veal cheeks being used (or at least I don’t) that often, and they were done perfectly. I got the duo of beef, which was a tenderloin, cooked to a perfect medium rare, and was, without a doubt, the best piece of meat I have ever eaten in my life. There was also a nicely braised short rib paired with an eggplant puree. Both were served with bordelaise sauce and a potato crisp.
Before the dessert course was brought out, our waiter brought out the behemoth you see before you, as congratulations for our getting married. I was bummed that we didn’t get to keep the chocolate sculpture, but we did get an additional dessert.
Our tasting menu desserts were lemongrass poached pineapple with sorbet, and chocolate soufflé served with milk sorbet. After we were done with that, the wiater then brought out a tray of petit fours (dessert hors d’oeuvres) and a basket of freshly baked madelines. And I’m talking hot out of the oven. Round it off with our after dinner coffee and I was in dessert heaven.
One of the best parts of the whole experience was seeing the kitchen. I have worked in a few very different kitchens myself, but I had never seen anything like this. There were literally 20 line cooks, all scurrying about, being directed by 2 chefs and about 5 sous chefs. All of the hot food was prepared on separate parts of the line, and then passed down to the sous chefs or chef to be plated and sauced. I guess that’s what you need when you have three Michelin stars.
Looking back at the experience, I can say without a doubt that Restaurant Daniel is the best meal I have ever had in my life. If I am ever in New York again and have a spare five-hundred dollars, I want to go back. The price might seem high, but the level of service that we got was outstanding and the food was even better. Perhaps one day I will have a better meal, but I don’t think that it will happen anytime soon.
