I prefer haute couture to haute cuisine. No, let me be clear. I adore haute couture. I have a growing distaste for haute cuisine. How could this be? Maybe the discrepancy is based in the fact that I have never been, in the flesh, at a fashion show. I have only viewed them in their photographic and cinematic formats. But restaurants I have been to. Lots of them. And with no shortage of the high class ones. And I am starting to realize that all that immaculately shiny crystal, the attractive but disdainful waitstaff, the new set of flatware every time I even think of taking a bite, that all of that takes away from the joy of eating. And is not the point of a great restaurant to enjoy a meal?
I started on this train of thought after dining for the first time at Perry St this weekend. It was my first ever Jean Georges restaurant experience and it was lovely but all together missing something essential: joy. I wondered later, how can this be? The food was mostly delicious save for an over vinegar-ed sauce on the salmon and - this one is sort of a deal breaker for me - frozen strawberries out of a bag on the sorbet. And this in the heart of strawberry season no less! But I digress. My point is, that the slow cooked salmon itself was wonderful.
And that the chocolate cake was delicious enough to make up for the pre-packaged fruit topped sorbet.
The meal began with a shot of strawberry and basil gazpacho that was inventive and yummy - and free!
And for an appetizer I had an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad that was beautiful and gone in moments, a true sign that food is well prepared.
But yet, the experience as a whole lacked joy. Why? I think it had to do with the new set of flatware that I received three times during the meal. Does that sound silly? Well I know I wasn't the only patron that felt this lack of that last essential ingredient; a few glances around the room at all the forlorn faces confirmed this. Maybe it was the abundance of white leather. Maybe it was the three course minimum on the menu. Does all of this glitz make a restaurant chic, or does it just make its' patrons feel cramped?
An inconclusive post but certainly a topic I will be exploring more in the future. Until then, I'll keep dining out reporting back here.
I started on this train of thought after dining for the first time at Perry St this weekend. It was my first ever Jean Georges restaurant experience and it was lovely but all together missing something essential: joy. I wondered later, how can this be? The food was mostly delicious save for an over vinegar-ed sauce on the salmon and - this one is sort of a deal breaker for me - frozen strawberries out of a bag on the sorbet. And this in the heart of strawberry season no less! But I digress. My point is, that the slow cooked salmon itself was wonderful.
And that the chocolate cake was delicious enough to make up for the pre-packaged fruit topped sorbet.
The meal began with a shot of strawberry and basil gazpacho that was inventive and yummy - and free!
And for an appetizer I had an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad that was beautiful and gone in moments, a true sign that food is well prepared.
But yet, the experience as a whole lacked joy. Why? I think it had to do with the new set of flatware that I received three times during the meal. Does that sound silly? Well I know I wasn't the only patron that felt this lack of that last essential ingredient; a few glances around the room at all the forlorn faces confirmed this. Maybe it was the abundance of white leather. Maybe it was the three course minimum on the menu. Does all of this glitz make a restaurant chic, or does it just make its' patrons feel cramped?
An inconclusive post but certainly a topic I will be exploring more in the future. Until then, I'll keep dining out reporting back here.
Funny you should mention the joy in dining out. I wish we had restaurants in NY a bit closer to this model - http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2010/05/15/lunch-at-the-fat-duck-restaurant/ - even if the food ends up being too much of a stretch into the molecular gastronomy end of things at least the experience is a truly unique one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that with me. I have yet to try molecular gastronomy but I do really want to. Maybe you'd be interested in trying WD50 with me one of these days? It is my impression that even if the food is too weird to be considered delicious, we would at least have fun eating it.
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