Veritas
43 East 20th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10003
212-353-3700
Eight people commanding a restaurant. Kind of cool but kind of not since Veritas was on the empty side. Almost creepy. It’s nice to have attention lavished on you, but a few more full tables would have been nice. Holiday weekend? A shame regardless.
It was AmyL’s idea to check Veritas out. Even though the chef associated with the place has since departed, it’s still noted for its cuisine (one Michelin star) and mammoth wine list.
We sat around a figure-8 shaped table which sort of segregated our group into two factions. After some discussion, it was agreed to try out the nine course tasting menu. Yikes. I’ve never done a tasting menu that large before…have I even done a tasting menu? Don’t think so.
Armed with glasses of riesling, here’s what we had. It was too dark in the restaurant for perfect pictures; we must make do with a small smattering. The kind employees gave us menus to take home so we could remember all the dishes we tried. Perfect!
- Amuse bouche–asparagus soup with croutons, thumbs up.
- Lemon marinated langoustine–mmm! One of my favorites since I’m partial to raw shellfish, and it came with caviar. Langoustine is also known as scampi and the Norway lobster, as I looked up just now. Ah, now Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi makes sense.
- Foie gras mille-feuille–mmm again! Foie gras with pineapple was a rather unconventional pairing, but it worked.
- Lobster nage–eh. Lobster soup with white asparagus.
- Fresh white asparagus roti–the yolk from the egg attacked Stacy! The egg was somewhat bland, but that was balanced out by the saltiness of the jamon.
6. Sauteed frogs legs–this had to be the most talked about platter during the meal. The bone was pulled out in such a way that the meat turned into a lollipop. Plus you had a special dish of water with which to wash your fingers. What fun! Mini-chicken drumsticks with green dipping sauce.- Wild turbot–another eh.
Barbary duck breast–while I did praise this, I was become stuffed at this point and couldn’t enjoy it as much. Bummer. Nectarines (whoops, I said peach) and figs were delightfully warm and sweet. - L-Ossau-Iraty–cheese!
10. Chocolate mille-feuille–again, I was too stuffed. They sure do like putting gold flakes in the food.- 11. Bonus dessert–marshmallow and Earl Grey truffle and something that I forgot and ate before I took a snapshot. The other two were not of note, but I drink Earl Grey like nobody’s business, so the Earl Grey chocolate was just my style.
Nine course tasting menus could be a bit of a mixed bag. I don’t think any one dinner guest of mine was vehemently infatuated with all eleven courses, but we all liked a lot several and were neutral or didn’t like several. It all evens out.
Healthy debates–err conversation, good friends, fun food. And that’s the truth that I found in the wine.
The weekday lunch special is a mere seven bucks and includes an appetizer and entrée. For $3 more, you can add a mimosa to your lunch. But I went the boring safe non-alcoholic route with chicken satay, pad Thai, and a Thai iced tea. The iced tea comes in a tall skinny glass with a straw that is too short. Long straws please! The chicken satay was fine (I liked the mini salad in the bottom of the square ramekin), and the pad Thai was pretty palatable as well. AmyL got two appetizers (shrimp in fried skins and spring rolls) and was satisfied as well. Go Klong!