Restaurant experiment: Aldea

Aldea

31 West 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

New York, NY 10011

212-675-7223

http://aldearestaurant.com

Since it was Stacy’s birthday, she was hosting a “splurge” dinner, and the venue was to be Aldea, a Portuguese restaurant suggested by her friend Mark.  Our group of eight was seated on the top floor of Aldea.  The restaurant is on the narrow side, and the table doesn’t exactly leave much room for spreading out.  But the space is modern and svelte, attractive.

All of us were going for the $85 tasting menu with five courses.  I opted out of the wine paring.  I looked over the cocktail menu but was not enamored of anything.  Eschewing the booze, I went for the homemade lemonade ($5) which was just my speed and was just like how I would have made it: tarty with a sliver of sugar.  Ended up guzzling two of those over the course of the meal.  Esther and Stacy kindly shared their wine parings with me so I was able to partake somewhat.

The meal started off with bread choices.  I had the baby baguette; I’m a sucker for mini-breads.  It was what you’d expect.  Cornbread and olive rolls were some of the other options.

Next was a raw oyster on a bed of salt with a cup of warming soup, maybe mussel soup?  Ugh, memory failure.  Do I need to start taking notes?  Anyway, I do recollect both treats being well worth eating, or slurping, in the case of the oyster.

A highlight of the tasting menu was the fingerling potato soup with sea urchin and shaved truffles.  I am not a truffle sort of person, so I could do without.  Esther agrees that truffles do not rock her world, but she is of the camp that the aroma of earthy truffles enhance the meal.  I could see that though I am not 100% in agreement.  Anyway, the urchin and the soup steal the show.

Cuttlefish and foam?  Some sort of multi-appendaged sea beast.  It was all right though I’m just over this whole foam thing.  Eh.

Now here we have a seared scallop with microfine squash shavings which the waitstaff emphasized were not saffron strands, but squash.  Interesting.

Looking back, I find the arroz de pato one of the most memorable dishes.  Since I dig duck in general, and rice too, I loved how there were generous amounts of the water bird mixed with the rice, and the rice was crunchified as well…I’m a sucker for crunches and near-burned foodstuffs.  There’s a lot going on here, not just duck and rice, but also chorizo, olives, and even clementines, so says the menu.  Wonderful.

Dessert was a citrus sorbet with ginger enhancements.  The fruit was so fresh and flavorful.  I could do without ginger, but overall, I could use several more mini cups of this.

And finally, complimentary petit fours.  I usually do not find petit fours to be worth discussing.  There were fine but superfluous, ending with the sorbet would have been exiting on a higher note.

It was nearly midnight when I left Aldea.  What a long meal!  The service was accommodating; when Steve had to leave, they boxed up his dessert so he could have it to-go.  Also, everyone (including Belinda and I who were no gos on the wine pairing) were given the final pairing, a shot of a light-colored port.

Restaurant experiment: The Breslin

The Breslin

16 West 29th Street at Broadway

New York, NY 10001 

212-69-1939

http://thebreslin.com

For Stacy’s birthday, we were invited to gather at The Breslin for food and drinks.  I’ve been to the hipper-than-you Ace Hotel twice already: once for drinks in the lobby and once for Stumptown coffee.  The Breslin is a new venture from The Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield.  You have to arrive early as no reservations are accepted.  Poo.  Even just shy of 5:30, The Breslin was bustling.  At the bar, I tried the Rush of Blood to the Head cocktail (all the speciality drinks are named after rock albums).  I find it amusing I dug this drink, as I dug the Coldplay album it’s named for and I personally feel that those lads peaked with this release.  The $12 cocktail blended Prosecco with blood orange liqueur, hibiscus syrup, and lemon zest.  Yum yum!  You can see it in the upper right had corner in the first picture.

Our large group was seated upstairs.  Looking at the menu, all I had to say was meat paradise.  Crazy meat paradise, as there were pig’s feet, beef tongue, and oxtail all listed.  There are only about five mains on the menu, plus some specials, and the rest are appetizers or snack.  Dave and I shared a small terrine board ($25), and Stacy and Josh did as well.   This board contained the following:   

Guinea hen with morels

Pork pate

Rabbit & prune

Headcheese [One of my favorites, unfortunate name though.  Wikipedia tells me it is “meat jelly made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig.”  Wow, that’s not something you want to share with your vegetarian pals.  It’s the brown rectangle with white swirls.]

Liverwurst [Also a top pick, unlike the liverwurst you get at the deli counter.  It is the circle in the photo.]

[Wee] Pickles, piccalilli, & [zingy] mustard

As my main, I ordered one of the specials, lamb necks.  This ended up being $29.  The cuts were so moist and tender, laying on a bed of whipped potatoes, soaking in a pool of gravy.  This dish had so much potential but was marred by an egregious amount of salt!  Seriously, I thought I had chugged a salt shaker.  Salt is wonderful, but who honestly thought patrons would enjoy this quantity?  Bummer.  The salt issue wasn’t limited to my necks since Josh and Stacy thought their cassoulet was on the salty side, and Dave’s lamb burger, while exceptional, was pro-salt.

The Breslin redeemed itself with dessert.  Nearly all of the $9 desserts sounded delightful to me, but Dave and I opted for the brioche doughnuts which came with three dipping sauces: maple butter, caramel, and chocolate.  The maple butter was easily the least liked since it was basically butter with a dash of maple.  The caramel and chocolate were off the chain however.  Doughnuts weren’t best for sharing since I wanted to be a hog and eat all of them.

And from our second story perch, we could peek into the open kitchen as we sipped on post-meal coffee (decaf for me) which I bet is from neighboring Stumptown.  The chefs ding a bell when a whole suckling pig is served.

We departed The Breslin by exiting into the lobby of the Ace Hotel which was hopping and happening.  Out of the sidewalk, a bouncer was denying guests entry.  I’ll admit it was kinda cool to egress in this fashion.  So trendy.

Restaurant experiment: Volt

Volt

228 North Market Street

Frederick, MD 21701

301-696-VOLT

http://www.voltrestaurant.com/

Normally I wouldn’t write about a restaurant outside of NYC, but since Volt has attained fame on a national level, I thought I would blog about it.  I don’t even watch Top Chef but I know a lot of my friends do.  All I knew beforehand was that there were two brothers Voltaggio on the show.  One won and the other was the runner-up.  The latter, Bryan, runs the kitchen at Volt in Frederick, MD.

In historical downtown Frederick, Volt resides in a stunning warm red brick building that used to be the home for six spinster sisters.

Top Chef enthusiast Esther had snared the private dining room for our larger group.  This dining room was a solarium.  While this sounds pleasant in theory, on a sunny afternoon, it’s not so desirable.  I was sweaty and blinded and considered donning my sunglasses.  Maybe some blinds would be wise.  On the upside, at least there was oodles of light to help my pictures look pretty.

Our server was on point and very professional.  The service was just like any starred restaurant in NYC.  We all had the $55 lunch tasting menu.  Complimentary sparkling or still water was served.  A couple of folks had bloody marys and highly recommended them.

I’m going to cobble this together from various menus posted on the website.

Breadsticks: the spice choices were a little harsh for such a simple item, but that’s just my thought.

Bread: a basket of options came round.  I picked the chive biscuit.  I think you were supposed to pick one, but a few of us tried two.  I had a bit of the chocolate croissant, fantastic.  The Vermont butter pushed the biscuit into lip smacking good territory.

Tuna tartare amuse bouche: nothing to say except that this was exceptional!  I wish this were one of the courses instead of the other fish dish.

Tasting of Tuscarora farm beets: as anti-beet person, I can’t admit I loved this dish.  But I learned that there are different varieties of beets, of different shades of the rainbow.  Out of all the colors, I liked the dark purple beet the best.  The meringue beet (the violet styrofoam-like cylinder) dissolved on your tongue.

Cherry Glen Farm goat cheese ravioli: the general consensus was that this course was one of the showstoppers of the meal.  If this were a Broadway musical, this would be the part when the diva finishes her big number and the audience leaps to their feet to applaud.  The squash sauce was a yummy pairing.  I don’t know about all this foam business though; sage foam didn’t really add much to the overall effect but look like dishwashing bubbles.  Though I did like the little maitake mushrooms.

Fish: The beans look like caviar but are definitely not fish eggs.  Were the cauliflower dyed or naturally those hues?  I guess we’ll never know.  White fish rarely dazzles me.  This sturgeon was fine but nothing to put you in a pleasure stupor.

Meat: solid steak.  Unfortunately this one left less of an impression, not because it was bad, but maybe since it came towards the end of the meal.

Goat Cheesecake: for me, goat cheese is a little too caustic for cheesecake; I simply prefer more mellow cheesecake (hello, cream cheese).

All in all, $55 well spent.  Volt is at full capacitance and electrically charged.  So when you hear Volt, don’t think about Chevy’s lame new car but about this charming, fantastic gem in old Frederick, MD.

Restaurant experiment: Flex Mussels

Flex Mussels

174 East 82nd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues

New York, NY 10028

212-717-7772

http://www.flexmusselsny.com/

After my lobster roll initiation at The Mermaid Inn recently, I have been fixated on satisfying my lobster roll fix.  While Luke’s is high atop my list, I suggested Flex Mussels to my gang as it was convenient, it has the endorsements from Zagat and Michelin, and you could make a reservation.  I was dismayed that I couldn’t book a reservation at 8pm on a Thursday night on OpenTable, and then I resorted to calling Flex Mussels and could only make an 8:30 or 6 pm reservation.  8:30 it was then.

As those reservation-making blips would imply, the restaurant was packed.  When I walked in to meet my dinner companions, I had to smush into a host stand so that other people could get by.  The front room containing the bar and some seating was full of folk.

We were seated at a round table in the back right corner.  We started off with an Australian (sounded like) waitress who might have been a trainee as she was often accompanied by a genial, affable, more confident waiter.  What is neat is that Flex Mussels offers complimentary sparkling water.  And they make it or filter all their water themselves or something.

Belinda, Stacy, Julie, and I ended up going the family-style way, ordered several dishes and sharing them.  All I knew was that I wanted lobster rolls and made this clear to the other three.  No problem.  I ordered a Québécois beer, Unibrou, called Ephemere which was very granny smith-y, as it was supposed to be.  The label helpfully X-marked a champagne flute and suggested pouring the bottle into a goblet.  What did Flex Mussels give me?  A flute.  Rebels!  Anyhoo, it was decided that we would get oysters, mussels, and lobster rolls.  Yummy.

Free bread made an appearance.  A pleasant bread basket.

I slurped the oysters first.  Fresh and slimy-good!  I regret that I cannot recall the names of the bivalves but all you have to know is that I approve.  Personally, all I want is a healthy squeeze of lemon over my half-shelled friends, though there were plenty of topping options for others unlike me.

There were two lobster rolls to share amongst us.  The menu describes the roll as “meat from a 1lb. lobster, citrus aioli, celery, lemon, toasted bun, flex fries” for $27.  The fries were hot but a little too salty.  The pickle was extremely sour though Stacy and I agreed that this was fine, and it turned out that she and I had to fight for the pickles.  We both ended up with one.  I must say that I give The Mermaid Inn the win over Flex Mussels’ lobster roll.  Let me say that this bread was killer!  I adore baguettes and their kin, so toasted and buttery!  I’m in heaven.  The lobster salad’s flavors were tamer.  And it was slightly awkward to eat crustacean rolls like a Nathan’s hot dog.  Not bad, Flex Mussels, but not out-of-this-world.

Flex Mussels has over 15 options of Prince Edward Island mussels to pick from.  There were basic options like butter and garlic, and there were also other fancier selections like chorizo, lobster, Thai, and so forth.  Julie voted for the funghi and was not voted down because who could refuse “wild mushrooms, double smoked bacon, garlic, cream?”  This was $19.50.  The bacon was cubed pork…oh so delicious.  Pig and mussels, whatta pair!  Julie and I utilized the broth in other way, me sopping it up with leftover bread.

Initially I planned to be cheap and resist dessert.  But for a casual seafood joint, Flex Mussels has some tantalizing creative sweets.  Continuing the sharing of food, we ordered the chocolate cream pie on its side for $10, consisting of “61% valrhona dark chocolate pudding, whipped creme fraiche, salted chocolate shortbread and creme fraiche ice cream.”  That description makes me want to pull a Homer Simpson and just start drooling dreamily.  The other dessert was a peach bread pudding.  The peach bread pudding was unique and delightful which is hard for me to say because I do not like bread pudding.  The outside was fried and crispy, and there were wee peach balls dotting the spherical structure.  Pretty.

The chocolate cream pie on its side totally stole the show though, like a cuter younger sister.  When our waiter set this bad boy down, the first thing we noticed was that it sparkled.  Literally.  There was an edible glitter atop the cream fraiche swirl.  Cool.  Oh, the valrhona dark chocolate pudding was happiness in a chocolate shell.  Our waiter then revealed that the pastry chef, Zac Young, is going to be on Top Chef Just Desserts which excited the Top Chef fans at my table and a fan at the neighboring table.  Despite me never having seen the show, I thought that was pretty darn cool and had to tell my Top Chef fan friends about that.

Post-check, I looked at my watch.  Wow, dinner was two hours.  Food worth talking about (well, the lobster roll was just aight), warm company, what more could you ask for?  More chocolate cream pie on its side!