A Night at Le Bernardin with Chef Eric Ripert (and Diana's Family)

Last night, Diana's family took me to Le Bernardin to celebrate her graduation from grad school. I had first heard about this restaurant from watching Top Chef, as Le Bernardin's chef Eric Ripert was a frequent guest judge on the show (Here's Chef Ripert). For those of you who don't know about Le Bernardin, it is one of five restaurants in NYC with a four star rating from the New York Times, along with Daniel, Jean George's, Masa, and Per Se. Zagat's rates the restaurant a 28/27/27 for food/decor/service. Simply put, it is the number two or three best restaurant in NYC, if not arguably number one.

Overall, the meal consisted of a six course prix fixe, primarily focused on celebrating the freshness of seafood. Prior to receiving menus, an amuse busche (a one or two bite appetizer to whet your appetite) was brought out for us, which featured bits of lobster and potato in a ginger sauce. The next three courses were categorized as, "almost raw", "barely touched", and "lightly cooked" in order to accentuate the freshness of the fish and how little one needs to do to make fresh fish taste good.

While we were deciding on what to order I noticed that Chef Ripert was standing at the table behind us. I immediately recognized him from TV. As he approached our table, Diana's mom jokingly told him that we were confused about what to order. He quickly smiled, and in his french accent said that everything was good or it wouldn't be on the menu. Soon after, he returned to the kitchen. I have to say that the guy is very charismatic- you can tell why he is on TV. Now that I know he was at the restaurant that night, I like to think that he was the one preparing our meals.

For my almost raw course, I ordered the "Tuna" which featured a layer of thinly pounded yellowfin tuna, blanketing a strip of foie gras which was affixed to a toasted baguette. Shaved chives and extra virgin olive oil decorated the plate and enhanced the flavor of the fish. The fish was perfectly fresh, and the richness of the foie gras and the crispiness of the baguette were divine.

My choice for barely touched was the "Calamari"- sauteed calamari stuffed with prawns and wood ear mushroom. The dish was served in a bowl, and when presented, a waiter poured a calamari broth around the food. While the calamari was delicious, I did find that the broth slightly dulled the flavors. If I could do it over again, I would order what Diana had, which was peekytoe crab in a black truffle sauce, served with sliced cauliflower. I tried hers, and it was fabulous. Luckily, she was already getting full and I got to have 1/3 of her dish as well.

To conclude the savory portion of the meal, I ordered the "Skate" as my lightly cooked course. The skate was described as "au bambou", referring to the spiced bamboo broth that was poured around the fish similarly to the calamari course. The fish was cooked perfectly- incredibly moist, and served with cellophane noodles and wood ear mushroom. The broth was so packed with flavors from the Asia-Pacific region that I almost felt like I was on vacation.

Once we completed the "lightly cooked" portion of the meal, our table was cleared and dessert menus were provided. I ordered the "Chocolate - Peanut", which was a dark chocolate, peanut, and caramel tart, served with a meyer lemon puree, peanut powder, and a small serving of praline - citrus sorbet. So read that again and take a shot in the dark about whether or not you think I liked it. Amazing. The intensity of the chocolate and the slight sourness of the citrus sorbet was magnificent and perfectly complemented one another.

Just when I thought that the meal was complete, the waiter brought out a small plate for each of us featuring four bite-sized desserts. At this point I almost blacked out, but I am pretty sure there was a cream puff, a dark chocolate truffle, a salty caramel tart served in a pastry shell, and a small almond cake (tasted like marzipan) served over a white chocolate wafer. Keep in mind that each one of these was easily no bigger than a quarter. When I say bite-sized, they were bite-sized for everyone, not just for me. Each bite was incredible, and after the salty caramel tart, I almost started laughing it was so good. A perfect end to an excellent and memorable meal.

You know, this type of food isn't for everyone. Some people may read this and think to themselves that they would much rather have a cheeseburger and fries. I think that a meal like this needs to be appreciated for what it is- a display of creativity and art through food. The course names and flavor pairings created a unique culinary experience unlike anything I have tried before. While some days I would prefer a burger and fries, I had been looking forward to this meal for a week and it went beyond meeting my expectations. One four star restaurant down, four to go. Thanks Chef Ripert!

Congrats Diana!

After 2 1/2 years of being a grad student at NYU, Diana officially graduated yesterday. Despite having the excellent luck of graduating during the worst job market since the Great Depression, she still managed to find a job! She is now officially a speech pathologist at City Sounds NY.

Congratulations Diana and good luck in the workforce!

Today's Forecast: It's Sunny

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been watching past episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on hulu.com and fxnetworks.com. I started with one or two, but I have now completed all of Seasons 1, 2, and 4. I started by watching season 4 on TV this fall, and then began watching online with Seasons 1 and 2. Let me just say that I think this is a fantastic show. I think it takes a certain sense of humor to appreciate, but if you like Arrested Development or Curb Your Enthusiasm, you will love this.

The show centers around the daily life of four degenerates as they run an Irish pub in Philadelphia. The primary crew includes a brother, sister, and two of the brother's friends. Additionally, Danny DeVito is introduced as a character in Season 2 (by the way, he has to be the world's smallest man that isn't a midget, right?). The show is completely politically incorrect, oftentimes bordering on offensive. I just looked the show up on imdb.com, and its tagline is "It's Seinfeld on crack". I couldn't agree more. I urge all of you with my sense of humor to watch this show- it is an absolute treasure.

Why I'm Protesting the HoF

Who the hell are these Hall of Fame (HoF) voters that say their childhood heroes have more of a right to be in the Hall of Fame (HoF) than my heroes? I have been meaning to write about this for awhile, and today I'm finally going to get my thoughts down on the subject.

For those of you who don't know, players are currently inducted into the HoF through election by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). (Veterans Committee too, but that is neither here nor there). Being inducted into the BBWAA is fairly arbitrary, and is for established sports writers. In order to vote for the HoF, you must be a member of this organization for ten years. So basically, no one under 35 years old votes for the HoF, with probably the bulk of voters 50+.

The heart of this controversey is whether or not players who have been linked to steroid use should be admitted into the HoF. Voters initially ruled in on this by striking down Mark McGwire's induction a couple of years ago. Now I understand that other than maybe Jose Conseco and Barry Bonds, McGwire is the worst offender of them all. But how do you differentiate between players? There just isn't enough proof out there to start putting the scarlett letter on these guys (unless you were actually suspended by MLB, which is another story).

So these crusty old writers don't like that the guys I grew up watching have shattered the records of the guys they grew up watching. It is a bunch of jealous kids on the playground. They say that by inducting these steroid-tainted players, we will be destroying the sanctity of baseball statistics and records.

The sanctity of the records? Well who is looking at baseball records that doesn't know about the history of the game? If you are looking up who is 7th on the all time RBI list at 3pm on a Wednesday (don't ask), I think you probably know a bit about baseball. And if you know anything about the game, ANYTHING, you know which players played during the steroid era and that you need to view them with a bit of skepticism.

Guess what? Players have lied and cheated in the past (pine tar, scuffing, throwing games), just using different methods. A generation of white players never had to face black players, diluting the quality of play. The equipment has changed over the years. We still elect guys that played in these distinct eras into the HoF. It is part of history, and people know that you need to view the numbers in the perspective of the time in which they were generated. Just look at the dead ball era! Think of the steroid era is the opposite of the dead ball era, and it makes sense.

The point is, anyone who cares about these records understands that what happened was a part of baseball history. We can't pretend that it didn't happen, because it did, and it was wrong, and tremendous strides are being taken to prevent it from happening again. But it is history, and to turn your back on it is sickening.

These guys played. I know, because I was there- Bonds, Sosa, Maddux, Bagwell, Piazza, Clemens, McGwire, Pedro, Thome. They played with heart, and watching them has shaped my life. I used my allowance to buy baseball cards. My family used money to take me to games. Baseball as a business boomed during the steroid era for these reasons. The league wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for the revenue that the home run chases generated. Hey Bud, give me back my revenues and then you can pretend like none of this ever happened.

My generation is the future of baseball. Not these old writers who are deciding which memories need to be celebrated and which need to be stricken from the record book. I am one of the biggest fans of the game I know, and I will not be visiting the HoF if the players I grew up watching aren't there. If they don't go, I don't go. Call it a protest, a boycott, whatever. I'm not going until this is made right.

I am Now a Citifield Ticket Holder

As of this morning at 9:17 am I am proud to call myself a Citifield Ticket Holder. I purchased a 15 game weekend package from Mets sales representative Pedro Urbaez. Per the Mets site, this package consists of the following:

Three (3) Friday, three (3) Saturday, three (3) Sunday, and six (6) weekday regular season games to be played at Citi Field -starting April 15- and features three battles with the Phillies, plus matchups with the N.L. West Champion Dodgers, Cubs, Rays and the final regular season game against the Astros.

My seats are in the Promenade Reserve Infield- Section 519, Row 15, Seats 9 and 10. These are very close to home plate, between home and 3rd. Although they are in the 3rd from last row of the stadium, I still think they will be great as I find being close to home plate is what is most important. I can't wait to see this new stadium and I hope that this package will allow me to get to know the stadium better and quickly allow myself to find my way around. Can't wait to see the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the brick with my family's names on it out front, the Blue Smoke/Taqueria/Shake Shack, and the new home run apple!

If there is a specific game that you have interest in, let me know now so that I can reserve your seat!

Welcome Scott's Fans

I would like to welcome fans of Scott Korf's rival blog to my blog. Yes, it is true that critics have been praising my blog while shunning Scott's. However, I disagree with these critics. Scott's is great as well. I will let you decide for yourself: http://coolguy100.blogspot.com/

A Bro-Tastic Show

I need to say a few words about Bromance, starring teen heartthrob Brody Jenner. Teenie-bopper girls across the country swoon at the very sound of his name. However, in this show, the only people swooning (and crying I might add) are adult males between the ages of 20-30. Yes, you read that right. Grown men are crying over Brody Jenner.

In the past episode I think literally every single character cried. Whether it was for having the opportunity to stay, having to leave, talking about family, friends, moving, vodka, losing a sex doll blow up race- they all cried. Numerous times, hysterical, struggling to hold back tears. Please watch this show. You owe it all to yourselves. The whole thing is mind blowing.

2009

The following is a list of things I am looking foward to in 2009, in no particular order. Since I don't know of too many things occuring in 2009 yet, do not feel bad if I left something off that involves you. Listed below are only things that I am 100% certain are happening this year so far:

The new U2 CD, the Bruno movie, Scott's bachelor party in Vegas, Friday Night Lights returning to regular TV, dinner at Gramercy Tavern, the return of 24, the opening of Citifield and attending opening day, my fantasy baseball draft weekend, Lauren Fisher's birthday party, the new John Grisham book, the movie "I love you, man" (just read the description on IMDB), laughing at A.J. Burnett's first few starts as a Yankee, eating Anna's Taqueria at some point, the super bowl, Diana's cousin's bar-mitzvah, the first day of summer.

Sick

I currently have a cold. Too much fun on vacation and celebrating my fantasy football win. I want to give everyone some advice about buying medicine. It seems obviously, but I'm not sure if this is something that everyone knows:

When you buy medicine, the only thing that matters is the contents of the actual medicine. There are so many difference choices: daytime, nightime, fast acting, long lasting, extra strength, maximum strength, severe relief, sinus, cold, etc. It's pretty insane. So just ignore everything on the front of the box (except day/night, that is important). All that matters is the contents of the medicine. Look at how many milligrams of each drug are in it.

I went a long time looking at the fancy lingo and it is only confusing. Trust me, just look at the contents and you will get the medicine that is right for you.

Victory!

A few weeks ago I introduced everyone to my fantasy football team. Well I would like to take a minute to congratulate myself, as well as my team, for winning our league. It wasn't easy, but the final week 16 scoreboard looked like this:

Amazin' Jets
150
Favre isnt even good
131

Victory is sweet. I would like to congratulate the following members of 2008 team:

Jay Cutler, Matt Cassell, Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, Hines Ward, Antonio Bryant, Matt Forte, Marion Barber, L'Ron McClain, Kevin Curtis, Willis McGahee, Antwan Randal El, Philly D, and Ryan Longwell. It was a good fight to the finish, and I can now have dinner at Gramercy Tavern and cover some of my vacation expenses with the winnings.

A would now like to announce the 2008 MVP of the Amazin' Jets:

MVP: Matt Forte- as an 8th round pick, and a rookie at that, you averaged 18 fantasy points per game. Easily the most valuable player this year. Congratulations!

Thanks for a great year everyone. Since this is a keeper league, we are going to have some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks. I will make an announcement as soon as rosters have been determined. Have a great offseason.

Winter Break

This year, for the first time since 2005, I had a winter vacation. Not a couple of days off, but a solid 2 1/2 weeks aided by the positioning of Christmas/New Years on Thursdays. Good times.

From 12/20-1/4 I really just relaxed. My travels were as follows: NY, NJ, PA, NJ, CT, NY, CT, NY, CA, NY. The highlight of that was obviously CA.

California was great. We spent 4 nights at a Four Seasons in Westlake Village and then 2 in LA with Diana's friend Laura from high school. A few random stories and observations from my trip:

1. The fact that I didn't go to school at Pepperdine on the cliffs of Malibu is a travesty. Just thinking about the fact that I didn't even apply here is depressing.

2. Car rentals are an absolute ripoff and I'm convinced that they do everything within their power to make it as miserable of an experience as possible for you.

3. The kid sitting behind us on the return flight basically threatened our lives for reclining our seats, and even went so far as passing us a note saying that he was filing a complaint about us to Continental.

4. Nobu Malibu serves an amazing and life changing dessert called chocolate spring rolls that everyone must try once.

5. LA was similar to high school in that everyone competes with how nice their cars are. People even rev their engines and race from one stoplight to another. It was like being on Livingston Avenue, only with more lanes.

6. In and out burger is delcious and all other fast food places should be ashamed of themselves

7. We did a wine tasting tour with Wine Edventures and it was fantastic. $95 a person for a full day tour including transportation, lunch, and cover at 4 different wineries. I can't recommend this tour more. It was a really fun day and a great deal.

8. We got a deal at a four seasons through our friend Lauren who works for them. Their service is noticably the best of any I've experienced to the point where it is awkward. At a certain point I need to do things for myself. We got 4 or 5 hand written letters from them. Its like having a creepy secret admirer or something.

9. I got one souvenier from the trip (besides a case of wine from the wine tasting) and that was a burn on my right bicep from the cooking class we took at the "wellness kitchen" that was attached to our hotel. I'll tell you, there was nothing "wellness" about it. I left worse than I came in and will probably have a permanent scar now. Thanks wellness kitchen!

10. The weather is just great. Its December, and its 70 and sunny. I mean come on. The best part is that when it is below 60, everyone breaks out their winter clothes. People had hats and scarves on, and I was walking down the street in a polo and shades. They really are spoiled.

So that was my winter vacation. It was a great and relaxing two weeks. I've now been back at work for about 5 hours and it is as if my vacation happened last year. Oh yeah, it did. Happy 2009.