An Evening at Restaurant Daniel
Daniel NYC
Tasted Friday, March 6, 2009 by RajivAyyangar with 662 views
Introduction
Apertif: 1998 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Amuse-Bouche: five mouthfuls, each in their own little dish. Different takes on fennel - one tasted like stepping into a cool garden, one was a light, rich, savory dollop of cream, one was a smattering of fresh greens over a raw sardine, one was a composition of jalapeno, apple, and fennel in a shot glass, finally there was a snail with some sort of slaw served on a bed of rock salt. None was strongly flavored, but they were all subtle and interesting - definitely an amusement for the palate!
1994 Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru (magnum)
2002 Comtes Lafon Meursault "Clos de Barre"
First Appetizer: Everyone ordered the black truffle risotto except for Megan - who stole from everyone and ordered the Ravioli:
Black Truffle Risotto: Risotto was simple, delicious, piping hot - the rice was slightly al dente, which added a nice touch of texture. There was a rich mushroom (a portabella stem I think) in the center which provided a nice foil to the mound of fresh black truffle they shaved on top of the dish. I think I could have eaten that risotto all night!!!
Beaufort Ravioli with green peppercorn, Black Trumpet, Brussels Sprouts, Speck Ham: It looked like ravioli. I was not super excited. Then I bit into it and a gush of liquid silky Beaufort cheese exploded in my mouth! It was like cave-aged gruyere - really really good cheese. I thought I didn't like ravioli, but I'm converted now.
Second Appetizer: Foi gras!!!
Seared Fois Gras with apples - I now know what all the hype is about. Rich, sweet, crunchy, oily, complex, savory mouthfuls of exploding fat. heaven!!! The apples were a surprise too - cooked in fois gras, resembling potatos.
Fois Gras terrine - this was delicious, but quite frankly the bread that they served with it stood out more: small slices of brioche, soaked through with butter and crisped so that they were completely non-greasy, yet ethereally buttery, light, crunchy, and soft at the bottom.
Main Course:
Wine: 1982 Guigal Cote-Rotie La Mouline
Since we had the La Mou, I ordered the Black Sea Bass with syrah sauce, Leek Royale, "Pommes Lyonnaise" . The sea bass was perfectly cooked, perfectly sauced, delicious. But what stood out most to me were the for mini amuse-bouches that came on the plate. Two were I assume fluffy napoleon-like squares of green savory leek cream. The other two looked like a brown cube with a crispy crosshatched potato chip on top - it was the lightest most airy and yet satisfying representation of potato I could imagine. It totally baffled me because I couldn't break it down - no identifiable butter taste, or bacon, or cream, or potato skins, or raw potato, or fried potato - I could tell it was potato, but I have no clue what made it so delicious.
Megan got the Crispy salmon with tarragon cream, Daikon Sauerkraut, Salsify, Smoked Bacon. Again, the fish was perfectly cooked, but what baffled me was the cream, and the crispiness on the outside of the salmon. it was just a dollop of green cream on top of the salmon, but it reminded me of visiting the japanese tea garden in San Francisco. Bizzare connection, I know.
Megan's sister ordered the Four story hill farm poularde demi-deuil, Crosnes, Rice Pilaf, Black Truffle Bouchée. I was on the receiving end of an unwanted lower-half of the poulard - two legs, intertwined, standing straight up into the air forming a sort of mini-drumstick. The meat was so tender and flavorful I couldn't believe it was related to chicken. I realized then how tasteless most chicken really is!
Around this time Megan's dad's friend retaliated by sending over two glasses just for Megan and her sister of a 2005 red burg (can't recall the appellation) made by Alix de Montille (a winemaker featured in Mondovino - she used to work for a giant negociant in burgundy but quit her job to return to strike out on her own). In another coincidence, I met Alix after dinner, and found out that she loves to drink German whites when she's not drinking burgs. The wine was somewhat modern, with a strong fruity nose ("like a guy who just comes on too strongly" said Megan) and definite hints of sawdust on an otherwise delicious palate.
Then the dessert menu came around, and massive indecision set in. We ended up ordering several more desserts than there were people, and in the resulting free-for-all I forgot which was which. Among the desserts were:
Warm Guanaja Chocolate Coulant
Liquid Caramel, Fleur de Sel, Milk Sorbet
Chocolate Brownie with Mascarpone
Feuilletine, Ethiopian Coffee Ice Cream
Tainori chocolate dacquoise with rice crispy
Lemon Curd, Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Hazelnut mousse with gianduja
Milk Chocolate, Caramel Ice Cream
Ethiopian Coffee ice cream
As I remember, one of these resembled an alien spacecraft with long chocolate wings sticking out at odd angles. One was a cylinder of thin chocolate filled with layers of crunchy, nutty, coffee, liqueur goodness. Another one was chocolate cake that oozed molten chocolate with butterscotch flavors
We finished with some tea - I loved the wine reference in the menu! "Darjeeling: Complex Black Tea from Northern India with Distinct Muscatel Notes" With the tea they served baskets of freshly-baked mini-madeleines - about an inch long each.
Since this was La Paulee weekend, we ran into Daniel Johnnes, Dominique Lafon, Alix de Montille, Paul Roberts, Daniel Boulud.
1998 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 93 Points
France, Champagne
Pale gold in the glass, with extremely fine mousse, this wine (yep, champagne is wine) had a beautiful nose of apple, pear, peach, and fresh baguette. I don't know how to explain the extra dimension but by comparison - I tasted a Veuve-Clicquot yellow label later the same night, and the crassness and lack of integration in the nose was almost offensive in contrast. In the mouth it had a perfectly elegant balance. No single component - sugar, fruit, yeast, acidity, mousse, alcohol - stood out above the rest, and as a result the flavors came through the structure with memorable clarity. It was unremarkable at first sip, then grew in complexity and deliciousness with each course, at once complementing the food and refreshing the palate.
Price: around $200 per bottle. Score: 92-94 points.
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2004 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet Flawed
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
(magnum) - this was unfortunately quite oxidized.
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2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Another white burg to replace the tragic Drouhin - it had a delicious nose, perhaps a tad oaky for my taste, and a rich, almost oily feel on the palate. Totally dry, exquisite acid-to-fruit balance, and served at a perfect temperature - a little cooler than room temp. As it was La Paulee that weekend, we met the winemaker, Dominique Lafon, after the dinner.
1/11/2011 - I'm going to add that nearly two years later I still remember the fantastic mouthfeel, perfect integration of oak, and darkly iridescent depth of flavor. Since my white burgundy awakening in the past 6 months I am sure if I tasted this now it would be in the mid-to-high 90's for me.
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1982 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline Flawed
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
The 2000 La Mou floored me (blackberries, tiramisu, and bacon). On the nose this was a little tired, but the mouthfeel was so silky and perfectly balanced, It was phenomenal to drink. In fact the balance and structure was so good that it was hard to concentrate on - everything was integrated, acid, alcohol, fruit all flowed together. It was as if the liquid wine itself disappeared and simply spoke the flavors directly into my brain. (yes, I know I'm being a bit silly).
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