A night at Rich's probably leaves that sentiment with most of the diners involved. If you recall, the first time was ridiculous and now that I'm comparing the pictures/courses, it seems that this dinner even outdid that one. It's like every two courses could be a dinner in themselves, but no no, this food here was all for ONE person (not to mention I lost count of how many wine bottles were open)!
Bear with me as I try to list some of the highlights as best as I remember. The cauliflower soup with curry, cinnamon, sunchoke and crispy fennel topping had me thinking I would die happy. The polenta with truffle butter and a topping of multiple mushrooms was just so smooth and perfect, I was scraping my bowls clean at that point (licking it might have been a tad inappropriate but the thought crossed my mind). The rest of dinner went by almost in a blur with homemade chips + creme fraiche and two different caviars, razor clams, "squid" carbonara, porgy fish smoked with applewood, and Rich's take on veal oscar.
Of course he would serve no less than three desserts. Per my request, he made THE egg from Le Bernardin, even though it's super tedious. I got a second wind at this point and scraped my egg clean. Good god that was just everything I'd want in a dessert. After that came coffee panna cotta with a sunflower seed brittle and finally some panko-crusted manchego cheese (lightly fried) and blue cheese stuffed apple turnovers.
Hungry yet? :D
Five+ hours later, five of us squeezed wearily in a cab from Staten Island back to the city. Man oh man. I think I need to find a real way to physically expand my stomach before I can return for another dinner. Many many thanks Rich, for having us again, and especially for making the egg!!
Again, I am impressed. With your photography skills, descriptions, and ability to take all that food art in, and appreciate it. Food coma, indeed.
ReplyDeleteAwesome work.
oh my, so much good food, so little stomach room. :) everything sounds so delicious.
ReplyDeleteImpressive meal, especially love the egg presentation. A great feat in finishing it.
ReplyDeleteUh -- you do have six stomachs! lol -- how could anyone resist this amazing looking food?!?! Your photos capture the flavor! I can tell!
ReplyDeleteAll I can comment on this post is exactly as Todd has written so I second that!
ReplyDelete