Dinner at Blue by Eric Ripert

Day 5 of this 2017 Cayman vacation got off to a rocky start... literally, as the prior day's storm kicked up quite a bit of surf all over the island. The side least affected was the south sound, so I packed up my gear and headed 25 minutes south to Red Bay dock to rendezvous with my dive boat. Waves were 2 feet out of the the southwest, which made for a bit of a bumpy morning dive session.

Coming back to the condo around noon, I relaxed all afternoon before getting ready for our 8 PM reservation at Blue, by Eric Ripert. Located at the lovely Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman, in the heart of Seven Mile Beach, Blue is a partnership between the Ritz Carlton and Chef Eric Ripert, known for his 3 Michelin Star signature restaurant in NYC: Le Bernardin. The restaurant is located on the lower level of the inland side of the hotel (seven mile beach road runs between part of the hotel located on the beach, and part of the hotel located inland).

The Madre and I dropped off the car with the valet at main reception, walked through reception and down a flight of stairs to find the restaurant entrance at the foot of the stairs. Walking through the front door, one is greeted by a hostess station next to a bar area featuring a round wooden bar. The hostess led us around the bar, into the main dining area to a table towards the back of the establishment. As the hostess made her leave, a server stepped forward to offer us a "Before Dinner" menu... ironic as it was already past 8 PM, and both of us had no intention of dragging out dinner any longer than necessary. Nonetheless, I took a look at the menu and marveled at the thirty grams of Beluga caviar for KYD 280 prominently displayed at the top of the menu. Thanks, but not thanks.

After politely declining the the "Before Dinner" course, our server brought us the Dinner menu and gave us some time to look it over. Blue offers three options, all of which have to be ordered by all those present: 1.) A six course "Blue" tasting menu, featuring local in-season fare; 2.) A seven course Eric Ripert tasting menu, featuring dishes blending Caribbean ingredients and preparations from his esteemed restaurant in NYC; and 3.) a four course a la carte menu featuring a wide-range of options in both the raw, somewhat touched (somewhat cooked), touched (cooked), and desert categories. Wine pairings were also available, including a master pairing featuring many of the finest wines in the cellar for only KYD 328! Upon discussing the options, the Madre and I opted for the six course Blue tasting menu with wine pairings. And so this is how it unfolded.

Tonight's amuse-bouche
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

Surprise second amuse-bouche!
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

First to come out of the kitchen was our amuse-bouche. From left to right (see picture right): scallop with sea urchin foam, tuna tartare with cucumber relish, and octopus in a chipotle aioli. With each taste, the flavors grew from subtle and sophisticated, to bold and beautiful. The scallop had nice saline notes, while the sea urchin foam lent those creamy uni flavors. The tuna tartare offered classic tuna flavors, with the cucumber relish providing bursts of freshness. And finally, the octopus embraced the smokey chipotle flavors, all the while still conveying that buttery steak-like taste. So far we were off to a great start! The amuse was served with a complimentary glass of Riesling from Wachau, Austria. Not too sweet, the wine paired nicely with the various flavors offered with the amuse.

The second amuse-bouche was an oyster with mustard seed, fried leek, and I believe a vinaigrette. I consumed the oyster in one fell slurp, and was impressed with the various flavors on my palette. The oyster had clean, saline flavors with a touch of butter. This complimented the earthy tones coming from the whole mustard seed, while the vinaigrette lent nice acidic flavors. Finally, the fried leek was a nice touch, adding nice flavor while providing yet another texture change similarly to the whole mustard seed. Impressive that so many flavors and textures can be gained in such a small little bite.

Tuna-foie gras
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

Still sipping my glass of Riestling, next up was technically off the tasting menu, but we ordered it a la carte because it looked so good: tuna-foie gras. We were presented with a palm leaf-sized piece of tuna, pounded to paper-thin consistency, sitting over a wafer-shaped cracker topped with foie gras. Chives and cumin sea salt were then added atop of the fish. 

This course was fantastic. The tuna provided its signature saline notes, complimenting the rich and creamy flavors coming from the foie gras. The cracker the foie gras was topping was still crunchy, demonstrating the fact the kitchen had to have just recently combined the two ingredients, and further demonstrating contrasting textures. The chives and cumin sea salt rounded out the flavor profile by adding their respective fresh and smokey tones. Simply outstanding.

Scallop slivers
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BYI

With the tuna-foie gras finished, we were back on the menu with our next course: scallop slivers with iberico ham chutney, chives and croutons. This was served with a glass of Ladoucette pouilly fume 2015, a delightful Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire valley.

This course may have been tied for my favoite. The scallop was sweet saline in flavor. The iberico ham chutney provided smokey sweet notes, and the chives yielded burts of fresh herb flavor with each bite. Finally, the crouton enhanced the dish's depth of texture, pairing nicely with the soft scallop and firm bits of iberico ham.

Pasta
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

Following the outstanding scallop course was a pasta course: fresh tagliatelle with lobster, king crab, truffle butter and topped with a shaved black truffle. While this course was still very good, it may be my least favorite of the evening. 

I found the dish to lack complexity and depth of flavor, as the buttery notes of the lobster and king crab were amplified by that of the truffle butter, without the truffle butter conveying enough truffle flavor to balance the richness. In fact, when including bites of the truffle with the pasta and the seafood, there was balance. 

The problem is there was just one piece of truffle, so it's ability to buffer the richness was limited to a couple of bites. I think this dish would be exceptional if the truffle butter was more pronounced, or another layer was added to provide that depth of flavor.  Served along with the pasta was a glass of Maison Pierre Moncuit - Hugues de Coulmet brut champagne. This was a nice pairing, as the dry champagne provided another buffer to the richness of the pasta course.

Poached halibut
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

Sticking with the seafood theme, our next course was poached halibut, with radish, truffle, and parmesan emulsion. The halibut was perfectly cooked, both tender and moist. The radish, mushroom and truffle each lent their respective type of earthy flavors, while the parmesan emulsion provided richness that complimented the mild fish. Combined, these ingredients created incredible depth of flavor that worked seamlessly together.

Paired with this dish was a 2013 Jean-Jacques Girard pinot noir from Burgundy. The wine offered beautiful fruit and earthy flavors that both complimented and expanded upon those in the dish. 

Octopus a la plancha
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

Tonight's penultimate fish course was octopus a la plancha, with tomato creme, gremolata and chorizo emulsion. As was the halibut, the octopus was also perfectly cooked: moist and tender from the initial braise, then grilled to yield those smoke charcoal notes. Dehydrated tomatoes added concentrated herb-tomato flavor. The chorizo emulsion added rich, smokey and spicy tones. Finally, the gremolata and cilantro yielded fresh bursts of herb and acid, which complimented the octopus and tomato, while cutting the richness of the chorizo emulsion. Absolutely outstanding.

Served with the octopus was a glass of 2012 Quinta de la Rosa from the Douro valley of Portugal. Full bodied, this wine stood toe to toe with the chorizo emulsion, while providing balanced flavors of vanilla and mature fruit. As one who is not well versed with Portuguese wines outside of Port, I found this offering to be quite nice, and further motivation to try others from the Douro valley.

Monk fish
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

With the octopus plate retrieved, the final entrée was served: monk fish with lenti purée, squid, and paprika-shrimp au jus. The monk fish was perfectly cooked: flaky and moist. The paprika shrimp au jus added smokey notes, while the lentil purée offed earthy tones, both complimenting the buttery lobster-like flavors provided by the monk fish. Finally, the squid toast added an interesting side journey, with fresh saline flavors and a nice texture differential with the rest of the dish.

Paired with this entrée was a delightful Santa Barbara Peadrasassi Syrah. Fruit forward, this medium bodied wine provided nice blackberry and currant flavors that paired nicely with the flavor palette without overstepping its bounds.

Surprise egg desert
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

With the dinner courses complete, our server returned suddenly with a little surprise from the kitchen. Here we have a hollowed out egg, filled with a bottom layer of chocolate crémeaux, middle layer of caramel, and top layer of sea salt cream including edible silver leaf.  Such unique presentation, and after asking the server, it turns out someone on the island actually imports these hollowed out eggs for the restaurants. How people find these careers is quite fascinating.

Starting with the top layer, one gets a burst of salt and creamy notes. Digging deeper to the second layer, the sweetness of the caramel collides to create a salted-caramel burst of epic proportions. Finally, reaching that bottom layer, rich chocolate flavors hit the palette. And exceptional flavor profile meeting unique presentation, and only a surprise course; what a great start to desert!

Yuzu-lemon tart & grapefruit sorbet
2017 Blue by Eric Ripert. Grand Cayman, BWI

The final course in tonight's culinary odyssey soon arrived: Yuzu-lemon tart with grapefruit sorbet. The lemon tart was topped with the creamiest meringue that I have ever had, providing a sweet contrast to the lemon-flavored tart. It also complimented the grapefruit  sorbet, which was tart in its own right. Thankfully, the basil in the sorbet yielded bursts of refreshing basil flavor to further add flavor complexity. The final element was the orange, which acted as a nice middle element being sweeter  than the sorbet, yet more sour than the lemon tart.

Served with this course was a wine from one of my favorite Piedmont producers: 2015 Vietti Moscato D'Asti. This paired perfectly with the desert, offering sweet fruit notes that complimented the main layers of sour in this dish. For a moscato, it was incredibly balanced, highlighting the superb wine-making that I have come to expect from Vietti.

And with that final desert course, our culinary odyssey had come to a close for the evening. We were left with the check, a box of amazing wild blueberry macaroons, and an incredible gastronomic experience. Every dish offered complex pairings of flavors that hallmark haute cuisine; even the tagliatelle course, where my only critique was that those contrasting flavors could have been more pronounced.

In conclusion, Eric Ripert's Blue easily tops the summit that is the Grand Cayman restaurant scene. I look forward to coming back in the future, and seeing what seasonal ingredients the chefs deem worthy of their canvas, and how it is they wish to prepare them.