New York City Le Fooding Event: Apres Event Parties

The Dutch

We all packed into the large booth at one corner of the bar, and the staff knew who we were, and brought some wine. Andrew Carmellini had other plans, but twittered he was sorry he missed us and let the staff know we were coming. Most of us had not eaten much all day, and were hungry, so I asked our waiter to just feed us, to let the cookstaff decide our menu. More or less one of everything came out during our 3 hour feast. First a 3 tiered seafood platter with crab (east coast version), octopus, calamari, sea urchin roe, even west coast head-on spot prawns! Then crackers with eggplant dip, oyster sandwiches, and Asian white boy ribs, followed by barrio tripe, burrata with figs and escarole. After not much of a pause, out came striped bass with lemongrass curry, grilled bigeye tuna with chorizo, roasted duck with pecans and rice, lamb shank tagine with citrus couscous, giant ribeye steak, and glazed bone out pork chop with chard and roasted apple. All of this was accompanied by amazing french fries, a cornbread that Blaine and the rest could not stop talking about, spaghetti squash with walnuts and sage, yummy mashed potatoes, and broccoli raab with garlic and lemon. Wow, the food was so good that Michele and I dug right in for dinner #2. Even dessert was irresistible: pepper chocolate cake, sweet corn panna cotta, sundae of frozen yogurt, grape sorbet, figs, baklava, and rosemary granite, and the piece de resistance, a deconstructed blueberry pie that was undeniably the best I have ever had. This was the best meal of the trip, due not only to the food and lack of stress, but also the fun and camaraderie shared by our staff and Carmellini’s staff. They were showing their stuff, and it was good! Michele and I headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep, and everyone else headed up to 15^th st for dancing. Ah, to be young again.

Per Se

Because Blaine and crew missed their flight Friday, a reservation at 11 Madison Park, one of Zagat’s top 10 restaurants in New York, had to be cancelled, much to the disappointment of everyone. After all, part of being in New York is eating at legendary restaurants. Luckily, Aaron, who had worked there, managed to secure a reservation at Per Se, Thomas Keller’s New York version of the French Laundry, and rated #2 in NYC by Zagat, for Sunday night, our last night in New York. Anticipation was high as Sunday brought blue skies and warm weather. Since only Jesse had a sports coat, the rest of the staff had to borrow jackets from Per Se’s cloakroom, all matching brown, some better fitting than others. Michele and I arrived a little early, and waited in the “bar” area, a formal seating area of small couches and matching chairs. I asked for a flute of champagne, (no prosecco at this place!), and it was a nice Billecart Salmon Rose. Michele asked for the wine list, and an i pad was placed in her hands. They do have a huge wine list, and I can see why they went to this technology 6 months ago. Unfortunately, we found the champagne I was sipping, at $42 per glass. We decided to share.

Finally everyone arrived, dressed beautifully, and they found seats around our coffee table. From nowhere 7 flutes of Billecart were set before us. I gulped, knowing the price. Oh, well, nothing to do. We sipped the flutes and set them down, and were shown to our seats. Following behind us were 4 servers, each with two of our variously filled flutes in hand, who set them down in front of each of us in exactly the right position. I knew that we were in store for special service. Bottomless bottles of Billecart Salmon Rose came from the wings unbidden, as we pondered our menus, with me cringing with each round. At $42 per glass, we were rushing into forbidden economic territory, even at Per Se. I consoled myself that WE serve bottomless prosecco with our first snacks, and perhaps this was their prosecco, and that because I first ordered Billecart that was a signal to the staff to serve Billecart as our starter. This turned out to be the case, and I congratulated myself on my good choice!

There were two menus available, each at $295 per plate. One was the tasting menu, and one was the vegetarian menu. There were a few substitutions, and we ordered every variation they had. Michele ordered vegetarian, I asked for gluten-free, and the rest ordered omnivore’s delight. See both menus here. In all, the experience was delightful. Each plate was perfectly beautiful, and served with grace. There were 4 service missteps, which surprised all of us, since Per Se is rated #1 in service in all of NYC, as vegetarian plates sometimes went to others, and caviar and foie gras substitutions were switched. We all felt that the flavors were not as big as we had grown used to on Lummi Island, and the textures were not very toothsome. Blaine became obsessed with their pretzels, one of the bread selections that were constantly replenished, so much so that soon jokes went around the table about “Wetzel’s Pretzels” being the next business venture. We asked the sommelier to decide on wines for us, at a moderate price range, and he chose 4 beautiful pairings, one of which we bought for $420. We were not at Per Se to be frugal, and wanted the whole experience, and certainly got it. The bill came to $4022.94, for 8 of us, service included. We finished at 10:30, a 4 hour feast, and after dinner the staff gave us a complete tour of the kitchen. There were no walk-ins, just a few reach-ins, and a special chocolate-making room. Everything, including the floor, was spotless. The staff still there working late was large. We saw the famous video link with the French Laundry’s kitchen in Napa, where it was only 7:30. Strange to ponder. After dinner we walked to Times Square, just to see it. It was like drinking 10 cups of coffee at once.