L'espalier Review

Last Wednesday I treated myself to a feast at L'espalier in Boston. I was lucky enough to get a spot at the chef's table and have an experience that will never be forgotten. Executive Chef Frank Mcclelland and Chef de Cuisine Shane O'neil run one of the best kitchens in the northeast. It is organized, clean, and well-managed. The cuisine is primarily French with accents of New England produce. All of the members on staff are dedicated and passionate professionals. They know what they are doing.

Eating at the chef's table is more than a meal, it is an experience. Chatting with the cooks was a blast and I got to see how the restaurant functions. Eating alone was not awkward what so ever. The staff made me feel welcome.

Service was the best I ever had. One person's job was to wait on me, that's it. I had my own personal server! He was very knowledgeable about every course that was served to me and answered all of my questions. When I had to use the restroom I was escorted to the bathroom, which made me laugh a little. When are you going to be escorted to the bathroom? I was treated like a celebrity in the kitchen, it was a surreal experience. To put it simply I was pampered and loved it.

Since there were sooooo many courses I will not comment on all of them. If you have any questions about any course that I did not comment on don't hesitate to ask.

When they say that you eat in the kitchen they are not kidding. Look at that view!

Torchon of Foie Gras with Candied Kumquats, Cocoa Bubbles, and Toasted Brioche

Goat Cheese Gourges

The Goat Cheese Gourges was light and airy, yet still decadently cheesy. It was a magnificent morsel of food. The foie gras was equally as delicious. The rich foie gras paired well with the bitter cocoa bubbles and sweet kumquat. So far an incredible start.

Island Creek Oyster with Cucumber Salad and Cucumber Foam

This dish was light and refreshing. The pure flavors of the oyster and cucumber shined through in this simple preparation. The addition of liquid nitrogen looked really cool, but did not add anything to the flavor of the dish.

Lemon and Lime Fizz

The lemon and lime fizz paired perfectly with the oyster dish. The bright lemon flavor and the cool cucumber was a match made in heaven.

Pretzel and Foccacia with Apple Street Farm Butter

The foccacia was good, but the pretzel was fabulous. I have been craving the pretzel ever since I left L'espalier. It was doughy, salty, and just right.

Baby Red Beets with Compressed Strawberries, Rhubarb Mousse, Vermont Chevre, Cabernet Sauvignon Vinaigrette

This plate of food showed a lot of finesse. Aesthetically it was gorgeous; the vivid colors were strikingly beautiful. Everywhere on the plate there were big flavors, especially the compressed strawberry. It was fresh and intense.

Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Pear and Rutabaga Puree, Celery Leaf, and Sweet Pepper Emulsion

Due to the butter poaching the lobster was really tender. The smooth puree of pear and rutabaga had a great body and was super flavorful. The clean celery flavor from the under utilized leaf was a nice touch. The monotonous texture was a small fault in this tasty dish.

Blood Sausage with Potato Bilini, Duck Egg, Truffles, Roasted Tomato,  and Hollandaise

This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The blood sausage was astounding on it's own. The potato blini added the comforting flavor of mashed potatoes in an elegant fashion. As I have stated before in this blog, "Does a runny egg ever fail to delight? I don't think so.". The luxurious addition of the black truffles gave this dish a depth of flavor.

Virgin Bloody Mary

A Virgin Bloody Mary was spiced accordingly and well suited for the "breakfast" course.

Roasted Foie Gras with Pineapple

Roasted Foie Gras was lush, meaty, and well seared. The savory flavors of the foie were so tasty with the acidic and sweet notes of the pineapple. However I felt as if this dish needed another garnish, something to bring the foie and pineapple together.

Housemade Gingerale

This drink was delicious and nothing like the commercial ginger-ale found in supermarkets. The ginger flavor was not over-powering, it was subtle and refreshing.

Lime Sorbet

The lime sorbet was served with the foie gras and helped to balance out the fat from of the foie.

Coconut Linguine with Candied Olives, Coconut Powder, Lime Fluid-Gel, and Roasted Pineapple

I have to say this dish emphasized technique over flavor. Nothing on the plate was offensive, or delicous. The olives were cut too big and tasted pretty weird with a gel and powder of coconut.

Rhubarb Fizz with Strawberry Explosion

Roasted Amish Chicken with Spring Vegetables and Apple Street Farm Maple Sap Nage

This might sound strange, but this chicken tasted like chicken! When you get a great product, like L'espalier does, the flavor is so much stronger than the enemy's (Purdue). The vegetable garnishes were simple and tasty. This was another favorite of the night for it's simplistic deliciousness.

Blood Orange Bubble Tea

Veal Sweetbreads with Confit Ox Tongue, Pickled Shimeji Mushrooms, Fava Beans, Horseradish Cream

This dish was beyond amazing, bordering perfection. Every bite was explosive in flavor. I wanted this dish to last forever, but sadly it couldn't.

Roasted Dry-Aged Lola Duck with Sweet Onions, French Breakfast Radish, and Poached Green Garlic

Oat-Crusted Loin of Lamb with Roasted Garlic, Escargot and Asparagus

A perfectly cooked piece of lamb loin was grassy and moist. The nutty oats brought out a distinct flavor in the lamb that I had never tasted before. This dish was interesting and new. I loved it.

Painted Hills Beef Tenderloin with Chanterelle Puree, King Oyster Mushrooms, Bearnaise, and Crispy Potato

Raspberry Fizz

Selection of Nine Cheeses

The highlights on the cheese board were the Azeitao Dop from the Arrabida Mountains, which suprisingly tasted like booze, and the tartufo flavored cheese, which had an intoxicating aroma of truffles.

Raspberry with Sorbet (Forgot Flavor), Dehydrated Pineapple Filled with Granola

Fromage Blanc Curd with Compressed Rhubarb, Strawberry Balsamic Tuile,  Pink Peppercorn Sable,  Pineapple Sorbet

                                         

Petit Fours

A common criticism of L'espalier is that it is good for Boston, but not good for New York. I am a huge fan of the NYC dining scene, but I would have to disagree with that statement. My meal at L'espalier was the most consistent meal I had ever had. What I mean by that is that everything was good, there were no major flaws.

I left L'espalier happy and stuffed. It was one of the best meals of my life, and I look foward to coming back.

Before the Modernist Cuisine Event.....

I don't voyage out to the city enough, so I had to take advantage of my time there this past Wednesday. I wanted to hit a lot of NYC's casual and relatively cheap places (John Dory Oyster Bar, The Breslin, Momofuko Ssam Bar, and Momofuko Milk Bar).

I started off at the John Dory Oyster Bar, which is run by Chef April Bloomfield. Only until recently have I been able to eat oysters, or all shellfish for the matter (A couple years ago I finally got tested for my allergies and it turned out I wasn't even allergic to shellfish, just fish with scales. This was a complete revelation for me. My whole life I had been living a lie....Ok maybe that is a little too extreme). The first couple oysters I had eaten weren't exceptional, just good, not great. I wanted my first oyster to taste "like the deep sea" and transport me, but it didn't. However the oysters at The John Dory Oyster Bar did.....I finally know what the whole hype about oysters is about.

Roasted Peanuts with Garlic and Rosemary was the perfect bar snack. The peanuts were a tad bit salty, but that is done to encorage the ordering of more drinks.

A parfait of chilled crab and avacado was honestly perfect. The sweet crab was light and played off well with the rich avocado.

After my snacks at The John Dory Oyster Bar I walked right over to The Breslin, which is also run by Chef April Bloomfield. I started off with the chicken liver parfait with madeira jelly. This tasted like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on steroids. I can't describe in words how good this was, you must taste it yourself.

The well renowned lamb burger and thrice cooked fries blew me away. Bite after bite my mouth was flooded with fatty, lamby goodness. The slight gaminess was a great match for the rich feta cheese. The "bun" was reminicent of ciabatta bread and did not interfere with the star, the burger. The fries were addictive on their own, and did not need the cumin mayo.

After my marvelous meals at Chef April Bloomfield's places I took a quick cab ride to Momofuko Milk Bar, which is owned by Chef David Chang.

When you think David Chang two main things come to mind - Ramen and Pork Buns. I got to try the latter and to be frank was disapointed. Maybe I was too full to appreciate quality food, but I did not enjoy the pork buns. The belly was fatty, which is a great thing, but there was nothing to cut the fat. It was too heavy and made you feel gross.

I should have invented cereal ice cream. My whole life I would devour bowls of cereal and then gulp down the sweet, sweet milk that was left over. It was pure heaven, and still is. Christina Tosi however was the one to come up with this cereal ice cream. Hers was much more subtle then I expected. There was an over-arching flavor of grain and corn that was not for me.

 

On the other hand Chef Tosi's compost cookie was awesome. The salt from the potato chips and pretzels really brought ought the sweet flavors of chocolate and butterscotch. I could have eaten my way through a sea of these cookies. However one thing I must point out about the cookies is the ingredient list, it is rather large and contains hydrogenated oils, which I was very shocked to see. But for the cookie's sake the end justified the means.

Modernist Cuisine Event at The Institute of Culinary Education

I was very fortunate to have been invited to The Modernist Cuisine Gala at The Institute of Culinary Education in NYC. I was one of the first to arrive, and was happy to see the book on display. I flipped through some of the pages and all I have to say is, WOW! Everything you would ever want to know about savory cooking can be found in the book. A notable guest list included many of my idols - Johnny Iuzzini, Michael Laiskonis, Paul Liebrandt, Marcus Samuelson, Gail Simmons, Nate Appleman, Marcel Vigneron, and Stephen Shaw.

Nathan Myhrvold gave us a quick overview of the book and then took some questions. Following this we were escorted to the 14th floor to enjoy some truly fantastic food. The corned beef was my favorite dish of the night; I have never eaten meat so tender in my life. The acidic sauerkraut tingled my tongue in the most pleasant way. A close second was "the most creamy" polenta I ever had that was paired with a strawberry marinara. Pretty cool stuff. The only dish that did not blow me away was the carrot soup, which was too sweet and heavy for my tastes.

This book is going to change food for the better; techniques like nitro-shucking and centrifugal seperations will revolutionilize food. I have already started saving up.......

Roasted Corn Elote
freeze dried with N-zorbit, brown butter powder, lime and ash powder

Oyster Cocktail
cryo-shucked kusshi oyster, centrifuged pear juice, shaved foie gras

Mushroom Omelet
constructed egg stripes, steamed in a combi oven

Polenta and Marinara
pressure cooked in mason jars

Caramelized Carrot Soup
 pressure-cooked with baking soda

Pastrami, Sauerkraut, Cognac Mustard
cooked sous vide for 32 Hours, precisely cured, brined, and fermented

Goat Milk Ricotta and Peas
fresh ricotta, centrifuged pea juice layers, essential oils

Cooking Sous Vide

Every project I get I try to spin it so it can involve food somehow, so for my chemistry project I wrote about sous vide cookery! Read on!

Sous vide is a method of cooking where food is placed in a vacuum sealed bag and cooked at very low temperatures for a very long time (usually). This new cooking technique was developed by Georges Pralus in 1974. The equipment involved in cooking sous vide includes an immersion circulator and a cryovac. The immersion circulator is placed in a water bath and controls the temperature of the water to .01 degrees of what you set it at.  A cryovac takes all of the air out of the bag by using a vacuum. This produces food that is cooked uniformly throughout. When you traditionally cook a steak you would sear it over a very high temperature and the resulting product will be overcooked on the exterior and under cooked in the interior. When a steak is cooked sous vide the whole piece of meat from top to bottom is cooked to a perfect medium rare (55 degrees C). Food cooked sous vide is more flavorful and as well more nutritious. When you blanch broccoli for instance lots of the nutrients leach out of the broccoli (diffusion and osmosis) to try and form equilibrium. When broccoli is cooked sous vide nothing leaches out of the broccoli because the bag that it is placed in is vacuum sealed. Furthermore, cooking sous vide prohibits the growth of aerobic pathogens because there is zero air in the bag when it is sealed properly. Sous vide is the most efficient way to transfer thermal energy from water to your food. Sous Vide cookery is used in 99.999% of all of the great restaurants. The only place where to my knowledge it is not used is at Le Bernadin, where Chef Eric Ripert does not like the effect it has on seafood. Cooking sous vide eases service at restaurants because fewer things need to be prepared or heated a la minute. Braised meats can be held sous vide at temperatures lower or equal to the desired doneness because the product will not overcook in the period of a service, but if held too long the proteins will start to turn into mush.  Some products are cooked for days sous vide (short ribs are cooked for 3 days). Typically traditional short ribs are overcooked, but the collagen turns to gelatin and remoistens the meat. Cooked sous vide short ribs can be served medium rare and the collagen is also denatured into gelatin.

First off all of cooking is a science. Chemical reactions are constantly taking place, whether a cake is being baked or pork is being brined. In regards to sous vide cookery lots of scientific reactions occur as well.  A cryovac works by creating a low pressure environment in and around the bag, which allows the gas to escape and the liquid to contain. When pressure is decreased at constant temperature volume expands. This expansion in volume lets the gas molecules expand out of the bag, so all of the air becomes removed. A phase change that takes place is the vaporization of alcohol. If alcohol is not evaporated before added to your bag it will go through a phase change from a liquid to a gas in the bag, which is extremely detrimental. This will both alter the temperature of the bag – cooking the meat unevenly and can lead to the spread of anaerobic pathogens. Another cool technique that can be done with a cryovac is “quick pickling”, where a brine is added to a vegetable and the vacuumed. When this happens osmosis and diffusion happen at a much higher rate. The vegetables cell walls break down and swell up with the brine. If you bag an ingredient in a cryovac its shelf life is increased by 3-5 times because oxidation cannot take place because the food is an anaerobic environment. In traditional cooking raw mierpoix (onion, celery, carrot) is added to food while cooking to add flavor, but in sous vide it does not work because the temperatures do not get high enough for the vegetables to denature and give off flavor. When eggs are cooked with an immersion circulator (not considered sous vide because the eggs are not placed in a vacuum bag) they go through a phase change from liquid to a “solid” (However they should not be cooked all the way to a solid state, then they will be over cooked. The perfect egg is cooked to 63.3 degrees

A common criticism of sous vide cookery is that there is no roasted or savory flavors. This is true if you do not sear your meat before and after it enters the bag. Searing meat inhibits the maillard reaction to take place, which involves the combination of amino acids and sugars at very high heats. The reaction itself has over 100 products, so there is no way it would fit on this brochure.

As stated before in this brochure, sous vide cookery has numerous perks (I don’t see a point listing all of them again, so I will only list a few). Cooking sous vide makes cooking much more precise and as well accurate. If you place a duck breast in a vacuum bag and cook it with an immersion circulator at 130 degrees Fahrenheit it will never cook past 130 degrees. This helps restaurants be more consistent, which is a must for a great restaurant. The storage of meats is greatly enhanced by the use of a cryovac, and makes for less space. I can go on and on…..

The one major hazard of sous vide cookery is the growth of anaerobic pathogens, mainly botulism. If food is not cooked long enough or not heated to a specific temperature it can make you very ill. The temperatures and time depend on the product and the size of the product you are using. The price of the equipment is also very expensive, both the immersion circulator and cryovac combined can set you back over $3,000.

Do benefits outweigh hazards? In short yes!!

The benefits of cooking sous vide are endless and are changing restaurant cooking for the better. I think in about 30 years housewives will be cooking a version of sous vide for the ease in using and the constant great results. The sous vide supreme debuted this year which is the first time cooking sous vide was marketed for the home cook. It is not as precise, but very close and still costs a hefty $400.  Mind you if cooking sous vide becomes too popular it will end cooking itself. The huge corporate company that decides to completely adapt cooking sous vide to the home cook will destroy it. When they start selling food already vacuum bagged in the super market and instruct you to throw it in your water bath that will be a sad day. Cooking sous vide removes some emotion of cooking, you don’t get to smell your food while it is cooking, or listen to the bubbling braising liquid. You just “throw” it into a bag. Cooking techniques like searing, braising, roasting, poaching, etc. must always still be in practice. If cooking sous vide wipes other cooking techniques from existence it will destroy food.

(Pictures I did NOT Take)

My Top Bites.....So Far

I have got to say I would think that I have eaten better than 99.999% of the kids my age. I am very fortunate to live near the restaurant mecca NYC and as well as Philadelphia. Both cities offer endless pleasures that I am just starting to enjoy. Below are my top bites, in no specific order....

1st Course: Del Posto's Amuse of Chicken Soup with Parmesian and Egg
2nc Course: Meme's Roasted Bone Marrow with Caramelized Onions and Toasted Baguette

3rd Course: Gramercy Tavern's Scallop Dish
4th Course: Gramery Tavern's Shrimp and Grits
5th Course: WD 50's Eggs Benedict

6th Course: WD 50's Aerated Foie Gras

7th Course: Eleven Madison Park's Pork Belly
8th Course: Kefi's Octopus with Cold Bean Salad

9th Course: Kefi's Sausage with Tzatziki
10th Course: Basset's Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel and Chocolate Covered Pretzels
11th Course: Springers's "Dark Knight" Ice Cream - Blackberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate
12th Course: WD 50's Rainbow Sherbet

13th Course: Bouchon's Caramel Macarons

What would your favortie bites be?

What I Have Been Reading Lately

Life On The Line By Grant Achatz

Blood, Bones, & Butter By Gabrielle Hamilton

Noma Cookbook By Rene Redzepi

Ideas and Food By Aki and Alex

These books have been occupying most of my spare time and I strongly recommend them. You will be inspired and learn more than you could imagine by delving into them.

I apologize for the recent lack of posts, and will make sure to keep more coming.