Le Bernardin

So last weekend I had the unique opportunity to eat at quite a few great NYC restaurants. My dad and his girlfriend, Pamela, had decided to come to NYC to visit; and we had some amazing things lined up to do in the city.

On friday night we had a reservation at Le Bernardin, Eric Ripert's fine dining seafood restaurant. Inside the restaurant, we were given a corner table that overlooked most of the dining room floor. The table was set with some pretty charger plates, a simple knife & fork combo, and great Reidel Glasses. Being a front of the house instructor, I appreciated the attention to detail in the initial setting, and an overall level of organization that was present in the dining room itself.

We all decided to have the Le Bernardin tasting menu, which consisted of about 7 small courses with the suggested wine pairings for each course.

Some of the highlights of the meal (since the whole thing was so good) were the Kampachi Tartare, the Bread Crusted Red Snapper (which i wish I had a picture of cause it was probably the best dish) with its amazingly flavored zucchini-mint coriander compote in a citrus tomato broth, the White Tuna Poached in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and the Sauteed Codfish with Octopus sauce and basquaise emulsion. Amazing dishes, seasoned well, and beautifully plated. My only complaint would be the lack of a starch component to the dishes.

The Chateau Carbonnieux, Pessac Leognan Bordeaux 2006 was a perfect pairing with the Snapper, and the Nuits Saint-Georges, Vieilles Vignes, Daniel Rion 2003 was also amazing. Surprisingly we had a greek wine, Assyrtiko, Thalassistis, Gaia Estate, Santorini, Greece 2008, that was very good as well. Who knew!? The wines were outstanding, supporting each dish in ways that delighted the palate.

The desserts consisted of: 

The grapefruit:

Vanilla Cream, Grapefruit Sorbet, Tarragon Coulis, Crisp Meringue

which was served with a Tokaji, Late Harvest, Oremus, Hungary 2005

and

The Hazelnut:

Hazelnut Gianduja Parfait, Caramelized Banana, Brown Butter Ice Cream

which was served with Traminer Trockenbeerenauslese No. 3, Kracher, Austria 2005

which is a mouthful just to pronounce but well worth it. (you should hear my dad correctly pronounce every letter of it perfectly)

Our service was pretty good, with synchronized service for the laying in of everything and clearing of the plates. Near the end of our meal, our dessert arrived before the wine pairing for that course, and you could see the immediate disapproval of our sommelier. Overall though, few things could have been better with the overall meal. 

On a side note however, Eric Ripert apparently doesn't believe in salt on the tables of his restaurant. That drives me crazy....plus his calamari course could have used a little extra salt.

Sauteed Codfish; Stuffed Sweet Peppers; Octopus Sauce and Basquaise Emulsion

Pinot Noir, By Farr, Geelong/Australia 2005

Sauteed Calamari filled with Sweet Prawns and Shiitake Mushroom; Calamari Consomme

Chablis, Louis Michel 2007

Kampachi Tartare; Marinated Japanese Cucumber; Aged Citrus Vinegar

Assyrtiko, Thalassistis, Gaia Estate, Santorini, Greece 2008

The standard place setting for the table which was very elegant.