Dinner @ Alain Ducasse at the Essex House – New York (USA)
On Saturday, November 12th, 2005 along with my 2 close friends, I got a chance to have a dinner at 3-star Michelin restaurant in New York, to be exact we ate at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. The restaurant could be considered as the most elegant and luxurious one in New York, or perhaps in the entire United States. The main entrance’s door is made of heavy brass and metal. Behind this door actually lies an unforgettable dining experience in the sophistication of a life style. The journey began at 6 pm even though we reserved a table for 6:30 pm. As soon as, we entered the room, the assistant manager warmly welcomed us. After she found our reservation, the maître d’hôtel (the headwaiter) of the night, Kerhir Cedric friendly walked us to the table. On the way there, we passed many artistic sculptures, photographs and antique furniture. Unfortunately, we were sitting at the back of the main dining room where we missed the real restaurant’s atmosphere and ambiance as well as the chance to sit in the restaurant’s famous orange and brown banquette (an upholstered bench) – perhaps I need to go back there someday and make sure I will be sitting on that banquette. As an exchange, we had more privacy since they were fewer people in the back of the room.
The meal began with the pre-appetizer, a delicious Gougères (fluffy cheese filled pastry). This puffy pastry shell is filled with Mornay sauce while still hot and crisp, it’s recommended to eat it in one bite as the cheese indeed melted in your mouth – hmm so yummy, I wished I had asked more at that time. No sooner had we sat down, the sommelier (wine steward), Yura offered us three types of champagne. I ordered 1996 Pierre Moncuit - Blanc de Blancs, from Champagne (France), created by Monsieur Ducasse himself according to the sommelier. Then, the captain, Johnny P. presented six varieties of bottled spring water for us to choose from – we ordered a total of three bottles of Perrier sparkling water for the night. After that, the captain offered us bread from the restaurant collection; this place has the most bread selection than any other restaurants I’ve ever been. The black olive and salted brioche (a light roll rich with eggs and butter and formed into a roll/bun) are my favorites while the mini French bread is not that easy to chew. The bread was served with both the salted and unsalted soft butter; I could see the service’s quality here when the waiters always changed the butter set and knives with the new ones despite the fact that we had not yet finished the old ones – it occurred about three times.
In this dinner experience, I decided to taste caviar: Iranian osetra caviar by “Caviar Russe”. The caviar is served with blinis (small light pancakes), toast, fingerling potato, crème fraîche; the luxurious caviar was fresh and not too salty. The menu in the restaurant is divided into four sections, appetizers, fish, meat and desserts where each section contains 5-6 dishes to choose from in addition to the degustation (Chef’s tasting) menu. The wine selection, as always, is both very impressive and expensive. Since this season white truffle’s harvest is very good and abundant, I boldly and excitedly chose menu tartufi di alba (white truffle menu) with the sommelier’s wine pairing suggestion. The amuse-bouche (a small bite before the meal begins) for my menu was chestnuts veloute (white sauce made with stock) served with tartufi di alba; it really kicked in my appetite for the rest of the night. Then, my real haute cuisine (an elaborate and skillful manner of preparing food) experience really began.
Menu Truffle Blanche (White Truffle Menu)
Saint-Jacques poêlées, crème de laitue, tartufi di Alba (Seared Day Boat Scallops, Boston bibb lettuce velouté, shaved white truffles) - The scallop was so soft and juicy; the lettuce velouté was very delicious and the white truffles certainly enhanced the overall experience of the best appetizer I’ve ever had so far.
Accompanied by wine: 1999 Marcel Deiss - Engelgarten, from Alsace (France)
Ravioli de foie gras / tapioca, céleri craquant, sauce fine au topinambour, tartufi di Alba (Homemade Foie gras/tapioca ravioli, sunchoke broth, tartufi di Alba) - The dish was unique and one of the chef’s signature dish, the ravioli was good, except I wished that they would put more foei gras inside as I did not taste much of it, but the addition of tartufi di Alba saved the dish.
Accompanied by wine: 1990 Chateau Laville Haut-Brion, from Pessac-Leognan (France)
Suprême de volaille aux pattes bleues, blanquette de légumes, sauce Albuféra (Blue foot chicken breast fillet, vegetables “en blanquette”, Albufera sauce, white truffles) - Easily the best chicken I’ve ever eaten, the meat is not juicy yet tender and pleasant, the sauce was awesome and indescribable (there were many ingredients mixed together yet the taste is still clear and distinct), and the truffles along with the veggies simply complete the overall experience of this great dish. The albufera sauce is made with duck foei gras, light cream, truffle juice and more of the white port, Madeira and cognac. The burgundy wine companion was excellent.
Accompanied by wine: 1997 Leroy - Les Fremieres, from Chambolle-Musigny (France)
Brie aux truffes (Truffled Brie de Meaux) - This matured cheese is excellent. It was soft and tender, yet not sticky; tasty and unique, yet the smell was not offensive. I could really taste the essence of tartufi di Alba in this dish, and the Sommelier made a great port pairing with the cheese.
Accompanied by wine: 2001 Antinori - Tignanello, from Toscana (Italia)
Poire pochée, moelleux aux amandes, vin jaune granité, émulsion truffe blanche (Asia/Bartlett pear, soft cake, “Vin Jaune granité”, white truffles essence foam) - The cake was soft indeed and the pear was fresh and watery. The truffles foam helped to neutralize the sweetness of the dessert as well as gave a distinguished taste. Another excellent wine-pairing choice by the sommelier; it was a light and sweet glass of wine.
Accompanied by wine: 1994 Chateau d"Yquem, from Sauternes (France)
Along the with our desserts, we also had Vanilla macarons, which were crunchy outside and soft inside as well as assorted chocolates, which were tasty and melting in my mouth. When we thought the dinner was over, the kitchen gave us vanilla sorbet with imperial tangerine. The soft and sweet vanilla sorbet accompanied by the sourness of the tangerine served a nice way to end our desserts. Following this, the captain came with a candy trolley full of tempting choices including pastries, hard candy, and an apple caramel dessert. A post dinner tasting revealed a tasty naturally flavored lollipop. I ordered the Mexican canonille tea (it was light and fragrant) to end the unforgettable five-hour dinner experience. Before we left, as requested before, the maître d’hôtel accompanied us for the short kitchen tour. Inside, we had a chance to meet and took a picture with the chef-de-cuisine, Tony Esnault and chef-de-sauce. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to see the restaurants wine cellar.
In short, this was the best dinner experience I’ve ever had in my life. The food and wine are perfectly good. The service was excellent in spite of a nearly full dining room. The staffs were knowledgeable, patient, helpful and polite as well as discrete. The wine steward made exceptional wine choices to accompany my meal and was particularly helpful and understanding. To see more details about what I and my friends ate, you are welcome to check out my photo albums.
Ratings (out of 100 points)
Food: 97
Wine: 96
Decoration: 93
Service: 94
Overall: 95.5
