Final dinner in NYC at Restaurant Daniel

The final full day in NYC turned out to be a busy one, as the Madre and I criss-crossed midtown Manhattan from A to B to C, back to A, then to B, until finally heading back to A. Highlights include enjoying the wonderful Gustav Klimt exhibit at the Neue Galerie, doing a little shopping in Midtown, back to Restaurant Daniel in the upper east side for dinner, and capping it off with a wonderful night at the theater.

Unobtrusive, yet elegant entry to Restaurant Daniel

Restaurant Daniel is Chef Daniel Boulud's two Michelin star winning restaurant located on 65th street in the heart of Manhattan's fabulous upper east side. Upon arriving, one sees an unobtrusive yet elegant front of glazed windows adorned with brass accents and brass bars. Past the revolving door, one is treated to a long foyer, with elegant bar to the right, and down the hall, a hostess station at the entry way to the main dining room.

Main dining room at Restaurant Daniel

The main dining room consisted of an outer section of dining, separated from the open inner atrium space by pillars and a quarter wall. The motif was cream walls and lighting, accented by dark brown and bronze touches. The artwork appeared to be a collection of portraits in profile of James McNeill Whistler's mother with various patters and colors.

Canapés of sweet potato
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

The Madre and I were seated at a four-top for two right in the heard of the inner dinning area. After a brief chat with our server, the 7 course prix-fix meal was selected, and so our culinary odyssey began. The first course was a canapé course centered around sweet potato. From left to right, this consisted of sweet potato and salmon with olive oil, a sweet potato mousse with pumpkin seed oil, and a prawn with fine brunoise sweet potato over top a rich white sauce (honestly I cannot remember what it was, but it was fantastic!). Each morsel was delectable, and showcased the versatility of the sweet potato, while complimenting the sweet and earthy notes with different layers of flavor.

Poularde
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

Next came a foie gras course. Poularde (fattened chicken) and foie gras mosaic accented with Burgundy truffle, rutabaga, birch poached Asian pear, with vinaigrette and hazelnut toast. This course was full of complimentary flavors:the fatty flavor of the poularde, rich notes of the foie gras, earthy delight of the truffle, sweet hints from the Asian pear; it all worked with each bite spread on hazelnut toast.

Fluke
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

Bating second for tonight was a fish course: key lime marinated fluke, with sea urchin, fennel confit, sea buckthorn coulis, anise hyssop salad, and white sturgeon caviar. The fluke was incredibly thin, and the marinade yielded an elegant yet light citrus flavor. This complimented the bite of the fennel, and the richness of the sea urchin, which practically dissolved when touched.

Abalone
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

The fish theme was continued with the next dish: abalone à la plancha with leeks, white sturgeon caviar, vodka hollandaise and salty fingers. The abalone, after being grilled, was put back in its shell, which was secured to the plate by a piece of dough! All the ingredients worked. The abalone was not the most flavorful crustacean on its own, but took on the flavors of the other ingredients so well. The leeks and vodka hollandaise added great flavor, which contrasted with the saline quality of the white sturgeon caviar.

Turbot
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

One final fish dish followed up the abalone: roasted wild Atlantic turbot, with sunchoke confit, red pearl onions and sauce meurette (red wine reduction sauce). The turbot was roasted with a rice crust, which gave it excellent chew and mouth feel. The meurette sauce complimented the fish notes of the turbot, while the sunchoke bits and red pearl onions complimented the dish by providing earthy vegetable flavors.

Pig trotters
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

The turbot concluded the fish course, and next the Madre and I were treated to a wonderful taste of pig trotters with flageolet fricassée (think similar to cannellini beans), black trumpet mushrooms and lemon thyme cream. This was also served covered by a Parmesan crisp. The pork feet were rich and buttery, which complimented the earthy notes from the flageolet beans. Flavor notes from the mushrooms and thyme cream rounded out the dish's palette.

Red Deer
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

The final dinner course was then served: red deer with sumac, black mission figs, kapot pepper, confit fennel, and sauce "Joel Buchman." The venison was cooked to a perfect medium rare, with its beautiful game notes melding nicely with the rich wine-reduction of the sauce. The sumac, which provided a crust to the deer, lent its earthy notes along with the fennel confit, while the figs provided the requisite sweet.

Cranberry-red currant sorbet
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

That wrapped up dinner, but thankfully there were two deserts that the Madre and I were able to split and savor their unique flavors. The first one up was cranberry-red currant sorbet with pomegranate, served on top of voatsiperifery pepper meringue, with pine needle chantilly. The sorbet burst with tart berry flavor, which complimented the sweet meringue notes and earthy pine needle flavored cream.

Peruvian dark chocolate-espelette cream
2016 Restaurant Daniel. New York City, NY

The other desert dish was a Peruvian dark chocolate-espelette crémeux with a cocoa moelleux, and blackberry-range blossom sorbet. Once again, we have a dish that balances out tremendous varieties of flavor. The dark chocolate infused with a little Spanish pepper paired nicely with the sorbet.

All in all, one couldn't ask for a better outing. It was the rare conflux of elegant atmosphere, attentive service, and outstanding cuisine. One couldn't ask for a better cap to a fun day, and an amazing long weekend in New York City.

On a side-note: this meal was probably the hardest experience to critique since I started my little restaurant reviews. Usually I take copious amounts of notes and ask tons of questions to better facilitate my reviews. With this dining experience, the service was so prompt given we were trying to make a show, and the ambiance so majestic. I actually took off my amateur critic cap and just enjoyed the experience. It really makes me wonder how professional critics keep their minds in the zone while critiquing these amazing places!