Monday, May 28, 2012

Finest Binge: Next el Bulli

I already had planned a pair of 3-star dinners in New York when tickets for Next went on sale, so the purchase became an easy decision when the Friday following those NYC meals showed as available.  The stage was set for a great week.  I carried high hopes for the el Bulli dinner at Next.  I loved the Paris 1906 meal a year prior, enjoyed Ferran's biography, saw him speak a few months earlier, and was intrigued by the chronological perspective of the meal.  I read as little as possible about the menu and individual dishes so as to take in surprises as they came.  We were rushed to get to the meal on time, which guaranteed that minimal time was spent discussing, speculating, or anticipating--we sat down excited & happily uninformed.

A waiter explained a few finer points to us, outlined the available beverage options (I took all wine, she took the wine/beer/tea route..we both preferred the latter), and told us to get ready.  Our reservation was a bit on the early side, so only a few other tables were occupied.  Our spot was in a corner, where we had limited view of other tables' dishes--a good thing, in my mind, to preserve the element of surprise.  Small bites started showing up in waves.  The iconic spherical olives lived up to their fame; the iberico sandwich & golden egg were both delicious presentations of familiar flavors; and the carrot air with coconut milk was a blend of liquid & air in which the combination of flavors exceeded either individual component--a great dish.  My favorite of these early courses was the black sesame sponge cake.  It made me question: why aren't savory cakes used more often?  Least appealing to me was the smoke foam.  I typically enjoy smoke in all dishes, but a dish of only smoke flavor was overpowering & uninteresting.

The next 9 dishes came from earlier years (1987-2001) and began to showcase the interesting evolution of el Bulli's food.  A cauliflower dish & red mullet dish each showed explorations in creative plating; hot crab aspic & tomato ice were early signs of pushing the boundaries of texture.  While I didn't enjoy the tomato ice, it and the dishes around it carried a similarity: flavors true to their source.  The trumpet carpaccio showcased earthy mushroom flavors.  The nasturtium dish with eel & marrow was mind-bending in a challenging way that stayed with me for days.  A suquet of prawns was fantastic--my favorite dish of the night--and tasted more like prawns than anything I've tasted before or since.  A rabbit dish from 2000, included to feature the first ever hot jelly, perfectly balanced hearty rabbit & tart apple flavors.  By this point in the meal I was more than impressed.

Several of the following dishes featured interactive elements: cracking the ice of a mint pond, breaking apart a gorgonzola ball, guessing at ingredients on a plate of spices, and digging for marshmallows under waving inflated hands.  Some earlier dishes utilized interactive elements, and many bites throughout the night were taken without utensils, but these later ones stepped up the involvement.  The hands-on nature of these dishes was purposeful and--my impression--created to be fun for the diner (successfully).

The Saturday prior we visited the Guggenheim museum and saw 3 Picasso works in one room, all from distinctly different periods of his career.  This meal was that exact experience, displayed on plates instead of canvas.  I came out feeling like I had learned something about Ferran Adria & culinary history.  All told, this was the most enjoyable meal of the week and among the best of my life.  Each dish was thoughtful, the interaction was enjoyable, and the sum of the dishes was cerebral.  It provided benchmarks that I'll compare against future meals.  I'm glad I had the chance to enjoy Next's el Bulli; it was both a culinary education and memorable dining experience.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Finest Binge: Bon Soiree

A couple of weeks before my trip to New York, Shin Thompson of Bon Soiree tweeted that he needed a creative night out for Valentine's Day and would offer up a 5 course dinner for two as reward for the best idea.  He liked mine, so it only seemed right to fit it into the week of great meals.  We upgraded to 9 courses and set the reservation for a few days after we arrived back in Chicago.  After the highlights in New York & with the anticipation of el Bulli at Next (the night after Bon Soiree), we didn't spend a lot of time discussing or building up the night out in Logan Square.  In the back of my mind I knew it had a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with other great meals of the week, but didn't mention that until the cab ride; I wanted us both to come in without expectations (though I'd been a couple of times previously).

The small, clean dining room is always welcoming.  Even though the room was less than half full when we arrived, the music & staff gave it an upbeat feel.  We picked a table & our waiter came by to open the wine I'd brought (Lallement Champagne & an 08 Rivers-Marie Summa Old Vines Pinot Noir, both were delicious).  Courses started coming:  "Consumer Advisory" sashimi, a seafood stew, and a wagyu short rib all brought "oh, wow" with their presentations & smiles with their flavor.

Three of the next four courses were plates of multiple components, built from a focus ingredient (shellfish, duck, lamb).  The scallop & crab motoyaki, duck roulade with pork belly, and lamb loin were highlights--all were among some of the best dishes of the week--and almost everything was great (one exception: a lamb sausage that was a bit dry).  While each plate centered on a single ingredient type, it seemed a bit odd to have both warm and cool pieces on the shellfish plate; similarly, the duck roulade & tongues could have justified separate plates.  Shin could have easily stretched this menu to 15+ courses.  Not a negative, but at minimum, interesting that so many unique bites were worked into the meal.

The last couple of courses were both fantastic.  Cheese with a "candied gooseberry ornament" was a delicious contrast of textures, bitterness, and sweetness.  Then came dessert: "8 presentations of chocolate."  A perfect, fun plate that took us a bit of time to work through and discuss--it was interactive and educational to compare the various forms & flavors.  Chocolate spaghetti was my favorite, but all were delicious & fun.

An incredibly humble Chef Shin came out front to chat with us.  He seemed to take little pleasure when we told him that his performance equaled or bettered the New York meals we had recently enjoyed.  His only reply was, "those are great restaurants, I'm glad you liked your meal here."  That soft-spoken humility belied the confident, creative, well-executed food we had just experienced, but it fit the restaurant's simple decor, BYO beginnings, and off-beat location.  Bon Soiree clearly reflects Shin's personality, showcases his wealth of culinary talent, and should be considered among Chicago's best restaurants.