NEW YORK, DAY 2: CITY BAKERY AND PER SE

Do you ever have those days where it feels like the longest day ever? And you look at the clock and realize that you still have 4.5 hours left at work. So why not blog? Especially before I forget all the food that we had at Per Se last Saturday night.

But first, let me start with a review of City Bakery, since I actually took pictures of that meal, and I know that you're all really here to look at pictures of food. We had finished up at the Chocolate Show and were pretty hungry. Luckily, City Bakery was just a block down, so we headed there to fill our tummies and grab a quick lunch. We we entered, the place was already packed, and they were just switching food over from breakfast to lunch, so luckily, we got a nice pick of food just fresh out of the kitchen. We all wanted to be pretty moderate with our lunch, knowing that we had that big dinner at Per Se coming up in a few hours. After picking up our food and paying (it's cafeteria style at City Bakery) we headed to the second floor where we were able to snag a table. So here's what I got:
What you're looking at are two little sandwiches and a bowl of miso mushroom soup. The sandwiches were small and at $3/ea, they weren't cheap. But all was forgiven due to the high quality of the ingredients. I had a smoked salmon and avocado sandwich, and they were super generous with the avocado and a gruyere sandwich (my favorite cheese!). The miso mushroom soup didn't really taste like it had any miso, but it was still packed with mushrooms and pretty tasty.

Tom got a plate of mixed veggies and some smoked tofu. He definitely enjoyed his roasted brussel sprouts and the tofu.And Juliet just got a plate of roasted veggies. Her favorites were also the brussel sprouts and thai eggplant.
We didn't grab any of the famed City Bakery pastries, cause like I said, we were trying to save our tummies for dinner, but they certainly looked great.

After an afternoon of running errands and visiting a couple of chocolate shops (Max Brenner is huge, but was also packed) we got ready to go to dinner. As I had told you in a previous post, when I made my reservations at Per Se, we didn't have much choice about the time. We were given a choice of 6:15 or 9:15, and I chose 6:15 since I didn't want to be eating dinner until midnight.

Here's a pic a got when we arrived at the Time Warner Center, right outside the doors of Per Se. And yes, this is your last picture today.So when you enter Per Se, they have a huge set of fake doors. To the left and right of those doors, there are actually automatic glass doors. When we entered, the entry way was empty, save for the hostess stand, where we were greeted by two nice ladies who took our coats. Behind the hostess stand was a long entryway/lounge area where you could sit and have cocktails while waiting for your reservation or for the rest of your party to arrive. Since Sue Min was running a bit late, we decided to have a seat in the dining room at our table to wait for her.

We were lead into a dining room with very high ceilings and huge windows that faced out onto Central Park and Columbus Circle. Unfortunately, we were seated at a table towards the back, so we couldn't look out the windows. Juliet and I also quickly noticed how cold it was inside the restaurant, and I regretted not bringing a shawl or something to drape over my shoulders. All the tables at the restaurant are pretty widely spaced out, so conversation from other tables won't interfere with your dinner. And of course, as I explained in a previous post, it was very dimly lit inside, so I quickly realized that it wouldn't be possible to take any photos.

So at Per Se, you get to choose from 3 different set menus, every one costs the same, $210. The first has 7 courses, the Chef's tasting has nine courses and there's also a vegetarian menu with 7 courses. If had heard that the portions on the Chef's tasting were smaller than the 7 course menu, but this is absolutely not true. If you can get the Chef's tasting, go for it. Prior to seeing the menu, I had already decided that I was going to get the chef's tasting, but after scanning that night's offering, I also realized that I wouldn't eat about 2/3 of the items on the menu (no oysters, beef, pork, etc etc for me). So I decided that the best thing for me was to go with the 7 course menu. Everyone else at the table got the 9 course. Our waiter was super nice. He took our orders without writing them down, and was very accomadating with our requests to change certain items, but Juliet and Sue Min had so many different requests in changing their set menus, that he had forgotten a number of changes and had to return to clarify it.

Just like at Enoteca the night before, it's really the small touches that make the difference with service. Our water glasses were constantly refilled, without our asking or even noticing. We had one waiter, but several different servers. Actually, I think there were enough servers on the floor to match the number of diners. And with every single course, they explained to us what we were having. Ok, so I'm going to have a hard enough time remembering what I had, so I'll try to reconstruct that to the best of my ability and throw in what I remember from the Chef's tasting menu. I do know that the rest of the table started with the oysters and pearls, which is a famous Keller dish. It was served in a little pot, with two perfectly round oysters set in caviar and tapioca (which mimicked the texture of caviar) and eaten with tiny spoons made of mother of pearl. Everyone at the table loved it. Meanwhile, I started with a not as spectacular dish, a shrimp tempura type thing, which was well prepared, but nothing exciting.

However, my next dish was my favorite thing of the night, and I can still recall it to this moment. I think I'll remember it for quite sometime. It was a chestnut agnolotti, which seems so simple, but was so good. It was basically a homemade pasta with a chestnut filling, but the filling was amazing. So creamy and flavorful, and it just burst when you bit into it. Ahhhhhhh, yummy. I would've gladly eaten a plate of just that. The second course for the Chef's tasting was supposed to be some pineapple and ham thing. Juliet ordered it at the suggestion of our waiter, but she didn't love it. Sue min got the same dish I had gotten and Tom splurged and got the $30 fois gras supplement. You may have heard of Thomas Keller's famous fois gras torchon, the Amateur Gourmet wrote about it recently and it takes like 4 days to make. That's what Tom got. It was a pretty large serving and it was served with freshly toasted brioche. The cool thing was that when Tom was halfway through is brioche, they brought him out a new, fresh toasted slice cause the previous slice had gotten cold. (He didn't ask for this, they just did it)

Meanwhile, we were also given our choice of freshly baked bread, and that was served with the famous butter that Thomas Keller gets. The unsalted butter came from CA, the salted butter (which I've read about) came from some dairy farmer in the Northeast. I can't remember her name, but the butter was fantastic. I think I sat out the third course, while the rest of the table had fish. Well, Juliet had squab, but was unhappy when I told her the squab was related to pigeon. That ruined it for her, but I was in love with the little salad that was served with the fish. Again, I don't remember what it was, but it was amazing. Another high point of the meal for me.

There was a pause in the meal as we were each served a little roll of bread, that is baked fresh for each table. I slathered mine with butter and gobbled it down. I think I also sat out the next course, while the rest of the table had lobster. The lobster was very sweet, but certainly not anything better than the fresh lobster we got in Maine during the summer.

And the meal continued. I got my fish course, which was allright, not my favorite thing, while the rest of the table had lamb? I think that was it. At this point, I was starting to figure out why someone would order the vegetarian menu, since everything I loved so far didn't involve meat. Oh wait, now I remember, the guys on the 9 course also got a chicken cooked sous vide, which was also something I was excited about. Sue min wasn't overly excited about chicken, so she gave me most of hers, and to be honest, it wasn't anything spectacular. It was juicy and tender, but not all that flavorful.

Moving on, I got my duck course, that was served with a piece of seared fois gras (I gave that to Sue Min and Juliet to split, the actually liked it more than the torchon). I think i've lost count at this point as to which course we're on. We filled in the holes with more bread. And we were quite full at this point, but the food kept coming. Actually, I wasn't as full as the 9 course people, but I think that was a good thing. Did I mention that dinner took 3.5 hours? Ok, so during my bathroom break, it was also really cool cause our waiter noticed that that's where I was headed, and he actually escorted me. At this point in the meal, I actually thought about it. With the quality of food and service, (and given that the service is included in the price) maybe this is more of a deal than people think. I mean, $210 is a big number, but I've been to a number of expensive dinners that have come close to that per head (given I've never actually paid) and really, the quality didn't come close to this meal. Anyway, something to think about.

I'm moving on, though. Ok, we were given a cheese course, served with its own bread selection, of course, but i didn't love it, cause it was a soft cheese. I ended up trading Juliet for her cheese, but hers was semi-soft, too, and I'm much more of a hard cheese fan.

Next was our sorbet (palate cleanser) course. I had a grapefruit sorbet, while the rest of the table had an amazing guava sorbet. I wish I'd had that. It was so intensely flavored and simple, yet delicious.

And we ended (almost) with our dessert course. I got a deconstructed smores while Juliet and Tom got a deconstructed snickers. Sue min didn't want either, so they made her some tropical dessert, which she liked a lot. Now I'm not a big fan of deconstructed desserts. I liked my smores cause the homemade marshmallows were excellent, but I wouldn't have minded something a little more traditional. After dessert, it was time for petit fours. First, we were present with a selection of chocolates made in house. We were allowed to have as many as we wanted. I had 2 while everyone else got 3. They were pretty well made. The quality of the chocolate wasn't top notch, I would've preferred something with more depth, but considering it was made in a restaurant kitchen, it was great. We were then given a little candy dish caddy thing with caramels, nougats and homemade truffles. I stole all the caramels, I have them hidden away somewhere, and haven't even eaten one. And we were given a bowl of chocolate covered almonds, that were delicious. I ate a ton of those. And finally, finally, they gave us each a little tower of macaroons to take home with us... The macaroons were ok, certainly not as good as the ones we'd gotten in Paris, but it was a nice touch. When you threw in the tax, the entire bill ended up being $240/person. (Juliet paid a little extra for her $17 martini)

All in all, it was an amazing meal. Not something I'll be doing again any time soon, but certainly a wonderful once in a lifetime experience. I can't wait for dinner at the French Laundry, one day.