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Saturday, October 25, 2014

NYCFWF day 2 and Le Bernardin

 For me, going into this trip, Saturday was the day I was most excited about. Being featured by Extended Stay at their booth, doing interviews, demo-ing my dish and getting to chat with Sunny was such an honor and I truly felt like I was in a dream.
Christa, the gorgeous girl next to me, had prepped my dish for me and it looked so beautiful we had to take a picture with the sandwich!
 As always, I was nervous when I first got there seeing all of the camera people setting up, but once we got rolling it was so much fun!
 I was interviewed by Real Food Real Kitchens and as soon as they post the video I'll share it!
Family, food, culture and history; these are the essence of Real Food Real Kitchens, a cooking series that goes into the real kitchens of everyday people and explores one of their most cherished traditional family dishes.
Real Food Real Kitchens tells the intimate story of a person, their family, and their culture and how food creates an emotional bond that connects them all together
 
 Sunny, as usual, was beautiful and so sweet. She totally lives up to her name!
 I didn't even realize until looking through all of the pictures that we matched!
 In the afternoon Rachel Ray was on the stage right behind our booth and her demo was packed! I just love her!
 After the Festival closed we made it back to the hotel and got ready to go to Le Bernardin for dinner
The inside of the restaurant is absolutely stunning and very serene. Please forgive the quality of the pictures but I was trying to not make too much of a scene while getting shots of each of our dishes throughout the meal. They started us off with an amuse bouche trio of goat cheese filled crisp topped with roasted beet, a tuna tartare sweet potato crisp and a shot of velvety carrot soup topped with a yuzu foam
 Louis started with the Tuna and looked like he was going to lick the plate at the end. Layers of Thinly Pounded Yellowfin Tuna, Foie Gras and Toasted Baguette, Chives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
 My starter was the King Crab Medley with warm Matsutake Custard and Seaweed-Shiitake Broth. I had to laugh when our waiter explained the dish to me and then said "be sure not to eat the seaweed under the bowl". Uuummmm, ok? I wasn't planning on it but thanks anyway!
Y'all that custard came straight from heaven. There is just no other explanation for how good it was. If you ever decide to have dinner here GET IT. I promise, it was the highlight of the night!
 Next up for Louis was the Olive Oil Poached Escolar with Niçoise Olive, Grilled Maitake Mushroom and Citron Vinaigrette. We have had escolar before and really love it so it was no surprise how good this one was.
 My next choice was the Sautéed Langoustine with Truffles, Chanterelle and Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette.
If I see truffle on a menu 9 out of 10 times I will order it. I just can't help myself so let's pause a moment and look at the large slices of truffle on top of my dish. Total delicious decadence. The langoustines were so tender and perfectly cooked it really reminded me of a scallop, the sauce was one of the best butter sauces I've ever tried and even though I usually don't like frisee, it was the perfect bitter bite to cut the richness of everything going on on the plate
 Louis' entrée was the Poached Halibut with Razor Clams, Aki Nori and “Sweet Corn Chowder”
While the dish was very good, neither of us were blown away by this one. The deconstructed chowder vegetables and broth were beautiful, but overall I think we would order differently next time.
 My entrée was the Pan Roasted Monkfish with Tarragon Scented Pea Purée and Armagnac-Black Pepper Sauce. While I loved the way the monkfish was cooked and seasoned I felt like the rest of the dish just fell flat. I didn't taste any tarragon, and while the Armagnac sauce was delicious I wanted it to be thicker so it would cling to the fish better.
 Louis chose the Hazelnut Praline dessert with Flourless Hazelnut Cake, Gianduja Mousse, Orange Curd, Praline Ice Cream
I didn't taste much of Louis' so I can't say exactly how it was but there was nothing left on the plate when he was done, so he must have liked it
  I got the "Maple" - Maple Candy Cap Crémeux, Maple, Huckleberry Confit
I adored the huckleberries and the crisp wafer on top. I felt that all of the pieces worked really well together and nothing was overly sweet which I really appreciated 
 As a sweet surprise from the kitchen our waiter brought us this gorgeous Kataifi Filled Squash Cremeux, Bourbon Sabayon, Candied Cranberry, Spiced Ice Cream
The little bundles are crisp phyllo strands that are fried and just shatter when you cut into it. It was fall on a plate!
 To end there were gold chocolate and peanut butter truffles, the most divine light and airy lemon macaroon I have ever had, a guava gelee and a square of puffy light and airy raspberry chocolate cake
We left stuffed and utterly happy


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