NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 15) THE END

This is the final post of our Big Apple trip and the last for year 2012. Like finally, after 4 months! Thanks for sticking through.

It was Boxing Day and we were booked on the night flight. So we took the opportunity to end the trip on a high by treating ourselves to some serious good food. And end on a high we did. It turned out to be the best meal I had over there :)

Eleven Madison Park is a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant featuring Chef Daniel Humm. It offers a fixed menu at 195usd per person. I'm going to say it's value for money considering we were fed a total of 16 courses (might have been more actually)! Service is top notch. Very attentive and personable. Almost feel like you could be friends with them. Every element of this restaurant (the people, the food, the ambiance, the experience, the decor...) works together so harmoniously that diners, in my opinion, would find their time here memorable. I can't remember the exact taste of each course but I can say I love all of them. Let's begin.

CHEDDAR Savory Black and White Cookie with Apple
OYSTER Glazed with Wood Sorrel and Mignonette
CRANBERRY Snow with Beets, Goat Cheese, and Caraway
SEA URCHIN Custard with Baby Squid, Bay Scallop, and Apple

Can't rmb what's that eggy thing. Next was hands down the highlight:

STURGEON Sabayon with Chives Smoked with Everything Bagel Crumble, Pickles, and Caviar
It was served in a dome-shaped jar all smoky and cloudy... which is so visually exciting because you know it's something damn good but you can't see it. Teaser. We were also supposed to leave it there for awhile and wait for the goodness to soak in. When the cover was finally lifted, smoke poured out and the prized sturgeon (a fish) was revealed. Very much like a magic show.. 1 2 3... poof! Awesome. Pair it with caviar and it becomes pure heaven.

Just when I thought it couldn't get better than that, a waiter approached us and said, "Since it's your last day in New York, we'd like to better this experience and invite you on a private tour of our kitchen." Like wow. Cool. Super cool. How often do you get to tour the kitchen of a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant? Note: S had an email exchange with them beforehand so they must have made advance arrangements. So don't go there expecting to get a tour just because.

He gave a brief description of each section and introduced some chefs. It's honestly smaller and calmer than I expected. Watched too much Hell Kitchen and thought it would be the same madhouse. Cherry on top - chef prepared a alcoholic sherbet for us right there and then using liquid nitrogen. Yums.

Moving on..
SALSIFY Roasted with Bulgur Wheat, Mangalitsa Ham, and Hazelnuts
CARROT Tartare with Rye Bread and Condiments

The carrot course was fun as well. He came with this silver thing and clamped it to the table. Then he started to put the carrots in and grind them manually. Not really grind but I can't think of the correct term. Anyway, carrot tartare came out the other side. And we mixed the small plates of condiments together to form the dish. Interactive? Check.

As we were busy with our food, I had a sudden impulse to look to the side (as if someone told me to) and from the corner of my eye out the window I saw something move. I took a closer look and there it was, the snow everybody knows I've been waiting for the entire trip! This was a really sweet surprise and a perfect ending. I don't know how I sensed it but I was the first in the restaurant to notice. Couldn't contain my excitement and went out (without grabbing any coat) to take photos. Didn't last long but at least it came :p

LOBSTER (my 5th one hohoho) Poached with Leeks, Black Onion, and Shellfish Bisque
PARSNIP Roasted with Sesame, Parsley, and Millet
BEEF Grilled with Mushrooms, Amaranth, and Spinach Braised Oxtail with Potato and Foie Gras

GREENSWARD Pretzel, Mustard, and Grapes. Contained in the picnic basket I think. From this point the memory's getting a lil fuzzy :D
MALT Egg Cream with Vanilla and Seltzer. Prepared on the spot by our lovely waitress. She followed this with an entertaining card trick. Talk about having fun.
PEAR Poached with Honey and Acorn
WALNUT Sheep's Milk Cheesecake and Port
PRETZEL Chocolate with Sea Salt

It's not on the menu but a bottle of Apple Brandy came with the pretzel. We were free to finish it. Maybe they love us. Who knows. A and S seem to be extremely proud that they were the ones to polish off a good chunk of the bottle (which led to S not even remembering that she paid for the meal!).

CHOCOLATE Sweet Black and White Cookie with Apricot. Looks exactly like our 1st course except that it's sweet instead of savory. Packed in a box for us as we were obviously too full. We were also each given a jar of EMP muesli to take home as gift. Aww. We love WP's idea to send them a big thank you card when we return to Singapore. And she did just that. Hurray to an excellent lunch affair and to the end of our US trip!

Name: Eleven Madison Park (website)
Location: 11 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Expenditure: 350usd pp, incl. 2 bots of wine shared among 6

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 14)

Booked Nougatine for our Christmas Lunch. It's the casual sister of Jean-Georges, a three Michelin-starred restaurant just next to it. Arrived early...all cheery and full of anticipation. Little did we expect to be snubbed by the really snobbish lady receptionists. First they did not bother to look up or say some xmas greetings or even a normal welcome. They simply told us to wait at the side. Fine. We made reservations months in advance fyi. Second we were among the first to arrive, but the last to be seated. That's totally unacceptable and discriminatory. We waited for a good half hour, or maybe more! Mood dampener for sure.. :((

However we were determined not to let them spoil this special day for us. Glad everyone's mood picked up when the meal commenced. Food's quite good actually. Proud to have my fourth lobster this trip! I think they were serving a christmas menu so it's more pricey than usual. Otherwise their set lunches look rather reasonable.

I love how alcohol lifts our spirits. The bad service (just the receptionists, not the servers) may have prompted a bad start but by the end of the meal we'd already put the episode behind us and were purely enjoying each other's company =)

Name: Nougatine at Jean-Georges (website)
Location: 1 Central Park west New York, NY 10023
Expenditure: 140usd pp incl. alcohol

The restaurant was chosen also because it's right next to the Central Park and what better thing to do on Christmas than to take a stroll here after lunch? Goofed around for a bit before E and WP left to meet other friends. We would have loved to skate at The Wollman Rink if not for the queue. I wouldn't mind the long wait if it were snowing!

Met up again for dinner at this Japanese grill restaurant near our hotel. 2nd visit for S and I. Caught some mochi hammering action in which WP bravely participated. Great food once again although not exactly cheap for the amount we ordered. Perfect "snacks" to go with sake!

Name: Inakaya Robata Grill and Sushi (website)
Location: 231 W 40th St New York, NY 10018, United States
Expenditure: 50usd pp incl. alcohol

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 13)

Went to the SoHo area only because we had to pick up something from Balenciaga for a friend. This is supposedly a seasonal store which opened after Hurricane Sandy damaged its original store. We asked the staff for restaurant recommendations in the neighborhood and were told this mermaid place serves really good oysters. It was unfortunately closed..

Unfazed by the disappointment, we continued our search for food and voila, we found a quiet gem tucked round the corner. S stopped me from ordering this huge cold seafood platter that was calling out to me and instead got us a smaller, more manageable one. Which was good as we were able to choose different types of oysters to try. Nice. I, on the other hand, did not stop her from ordering her fav fried chix! (almost every table had one) Great food with chilled atmosphere. Fully satisfied.

Through more exploration we found that we actually like this neighborhood. Very pleasant streets lined with shopping ranging from boutique shops to high street stores.

Name: The Dutch (website)
Location: 131 Sullivan St  New York, NY 10012, United States
Expenditure: 170usd incl. alcohol 

We chose Ruth's Chris for our Xmas Eve dinner! Perfect place to be; the warm and homely ambiance  made us feel like we were having a cozy family dinner. Portions (especially the steak) were definitely meant to be shared so the meal ended up really value for money. Beef was good...as expected :)

Name: Ruth's Chris Steak House (website)
Location: 148 W 51st St  New York, NY 10019, United States
Expenditure:70usd pp incl. alcohol

We then walked to the Rockefeller Center for the much-anticipated Christmas countdown. Wondered why nobody was up for some ice skating! Great fun nonetheless especially since it was spent with friends we call family ;)