"Worst of" Tasting Menu
The majority of meals eaten over the last year have been very good. Even in a good year, there's a good chance that some courses will turn out to be real stinkers. Based on these dishes, here is a tasting menu from
hell, 2011 style. To make this meal work best it should be serve in lighting based on The Dandelion, Philadelphia where you lose the ability to actually see your food after the sun sets.
The canape would have to be the green onion from Alkimia in Barcelona. The only bad part of a lovely 17-course tasting menu.
The canape would have to be the green onion from Alkimia in Barcelona. The only bad part of a lovely 17-course tasting menu.
Bread is toast from the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Garden Inn in Indianapolis. As soon as whipped butter was spread onto the toast, it became limp and inedible.
First starter is a small plate from Aldea, New York. I sat at the kitchen bar and watched the Sea Urchin Toast with Cauliflower Puree, Mustard Seed and Sea Lettuce being prepared. Not much love went into their preparation as the components were dolloped onto a mini-toast. At $10 for a single toast it was a massive rip-off too.
First starter is a small plate from Aldea, New York. I sat at the kitchen bar and watched the Sea Urchin Toast with Cauliflower Puree, Mustard Seed and Sea Lettuce being prepared. Not much love went into their preparation as the components were dolloped onto a mini-toast. At $10 for a single toast it was a massive rip-off too.
First starter - Lightly Cured Arctic Char, Razor Clams, Sea Beans, Aleppo Pepper & Lime Puree from Perilla, New York. The cured char was so delicately flavoured that It barely registered. But no worries, the lime puree totally dominated everything anyway. Flavours were completely unbalanced.. No photo because of the "subdued" lighting.
Next up the laughable Scallop BLT from Octagon in Groton.
Next up a fish course from a restaurant in decline. I've eaten at Maze and Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York numerous times and have had some phenomenal dishes. My first meal at Maze was a complete revelation on how good food could be.
The restaurants at The London on W. 54th opened in 2006. Financial difficulties within Gordon Ramsay holdings meant that they passed on ownership in 2009, assuming a consultancy role instead . It was interesting to see how the change in role affected the quality of the restaurant.. A visit in 2010 indicated that standards had been maintained. The same could not be said after a visit in May 2011. Quality of service had slipped badly, cost had increased markedly and the food was not worthy of the prices. Slow cooked cod with oysters and pig tails crust, beluga lentils, celeriac and smoked bacon jus sounded far more interesting than it turned out. Cod had little flavour but some other parts of the dish were fine. The lentils were awful and did not actually work with the other components of the dish. They were served separately in a second pot to add at the table but there was enough lentils to go with 3 or 4 of these portions. Overall, just very poor.
The restaurants at The London on W. 54th opened in 2006. Financial difficulties within Gordon Ramsay holdings meant that they passed on ownership in 2009, assuming a consultancy role instead . It was interesting to see how the change in role affected the quality of the restaurant.. A visit in 2010 indicated that standards had been maintained. The same could not be said after a visit in May 2011. Quality of service had slipped badly, cost had increased markedly and the food was not worthy of the prices. Slow cooked cod with oysters and pig tails crust, beluga lentils, celeriac and smoked bacon jus sounded far more interesting than it turned out. Cod had little flavour but some other parts of the dish were fine. The lentils were awful and did not actually work with the other components of the dish. They were served separately in a second pot to add at the table but there was enough lentils to go with 3 or 4 of these portions. Overall, just very poor.
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Next up another fish disaster. Unfortunately there is no picture to show just how dreadful it was. The Heights Cafe in Ithaca used to be a wonderful restaurant but as it has expanded complacent. self-satisfaction has become more evident. The fish special on one visit was Dorade (or Bream). I have loved bream every time I've eaten it in the UK. Here it was served as a whole grilled fish with roasted vegetables. So far, so nice but when it turned up the vegetables were formed in a heap and the fish leant against them so it sat vertically on the plate for a really bizarre presentation. The oil from the vegetables formed a pool round the fish and it got steadily less pleasant as the dish cooled. Total waste of a lovely fish.
First meat course is the open raviolo of confit pork, ragout of white beans, pea & horseradish foam with pea shoots from L'Autre Pied. Pork was nice, but insufficient, pasta was tender, as it should be but everything else was just bland.
Staying with meat, the Breast of Duck with Carrots, Bitter Sweet Onions & Fennel was a hugely disappointing dish from Launceston Place.
Another shocking duck dish was Roasted Duck's Breast, Grilled Spring Onions, Pine Nuts & Dragon Fruit from Perilla, New York. The menu neglected to mention that the dish also included lavender. The other ingredients may have gone together well but there was no escaping that lavender & duck are not a good combination. This was the point at which I wanted to give up on their tasting menu and leave.
However, Perilla hadn't finished there. The first dessert was their Rhubarb with Almond Butter & Madeira Soaked Raisins introduced to take advantage of the seasonal rhubarb. Can only assume that this was a play on Ants on a log (celery, peanut butter and raisins) but with the exception of the Madeira soaked raisins this was a very flat joke. Not sure who they thought would be impressed by this,. Despite the poor light, this is a photo worth sharing to show how rubbish it was.
However, Perilla hadn't finished there. The first dessert was their Rhubarb with Almond Butter & Madeira Soaked Raisins introduced to take advantage of the seasonal rhubarb. Can only assume that this was a play on Ants on a log (celery, peanut butter and raisins) but with the exception of the Madeira soaked raisins this was a very flat joke. Not sure who they thought would be impressed by this,. Despite the poor light, this is a photo worth sharing to show how rubbish it was.
To round off everything,the final dish was another spectacularly poor use of rhubarb, this time courtesy of Gordon Ramsay at the London. Meyer Lemon Cake with Compressed Rhubarb, Strawberry Meringue, Rhubarb Jam & Champagne Sorbet. It looked like it had been thrown together and taste-wise it was overwhelmingly sweet, especially the strawberry meringue.
Here's hoping that these types of dishes don't cross my path in 2012.