Archive
NYC: Eleven Madison Park (Feb. 2014): New Menu!
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Eleven Madison Park:
Exec Chef: Daniel Humm
Website: http://elevenmadisonpark.com/
February 23, 2014
NEW MENU! YAY!
Eleven Madison Park updated their menu in late January, which is fairly recent. I made a reservation when I got the opportunity, and I was really excited to see what new dishes and presentations they came up with—I was also curious to see what they got rid of. Devastatingly, they got rid of my beloved egg cream. Sad times. However, they added some great new dishes, like the beef pastrami course!
To start the meal, we had to open a small envelope containing two tickets. We were supposed to choose the flavor that we considered the most intriguing or liked the most by taking out the symbol. Later on in the meal, we found the flavors we chose represented in various ways! I chose maple, while Steve chose fennel.
NYC: Per Se (Feb. 2014)
Authors: Victor and Michelle
Restaurant: Per Se
Exec Chef: Thomas Keller
Chef de Cuisine: Eli Kaimeh
Website: http://www.perseny.com/
Date: February 22, 2014
My friend’s birthday recently passed, and I wanted to celebrate with her by getting lunch at Per Se. All four of us really like Per Se, so we were very excited about having the opportunity to go. We made our reservation a few weeks in advanced and waited in eager anticipation for the upcoming foodfest!
The meal was wonderful as always. The “Oysters and Pearls” were fantastic (but this isn’t really new), the poularde/hen was wonderful, and the slow-roasted carrots were unusually soft and flavorful. The desserts were also better than I remember.
Also, my friend Michelle is going to be adding her own comments for this one. They’re the best hahaha. We have got to have her commenting more often…
OC: Playground (Feb. 2014)
Author: Victor, David, and Simon
Restaurant: The Playground
Exec Chef: Jason Quinn
Website: http://playgrounddtsa.com/
February 7, 2014
General Notes:
This gastropub is really casual and laid-back, but the food is exceptional. Most of the menu changes a bit each day depending on fresh ingredients, but the maple-glazed pork chop and Black Mission fig dessert seem to be permanent.
The kitchen really seems to enjoy cooking, and it kind of shows in the experimentation of both the food and meals. They do special event meals at their sister restaurant, Playground 2.0 (from pop-ups to invitation-only tasting menus), and they also have some fun with Sunday suppers.
Regarding the meal, it was generally really good. There were some dishes that were outstanding, but there were also some that were merely good (they were simply outshone by the amazing ones). All the flavor combinations worked very well, but two dishes were way too salty (the wild mushrooms and broccolini). I’d come back just to eat the rich, indulgent pork chop or the intensely flavorful mazemen, though; they were that amazing! I really have to applaud Chef Quinn. This place is exciting!
Monte
Victor
tadv3
Happy Noms 