Le Bernardin...

As part of graduation gluttony, I'm topping off a week of Reyarnd's, Kefi, Lincoln, Ai Fiori....with Le Bernardin lunch!

I have to say, service and cooking is immaculate--that's a good piece a fish ya knowhaddamean? Sauces were great, tasted asian-y is as best as I can put it. I don't remember much other than some kind of black garlic persian lemon sauce with my black bass, and pata negra emulsion with the roasted monkfish. Escolar was delicious with kaffir lime-lemongrass scented mariniere and sea beans + nori. Desserts were good. Everything was nice, just not mindblowing. Strangely enough I salivate more thinking of Tchoup Shop than I do Le Bernarin. Still, an experience to be had. I think so far on this level of fine dining, I still like Marea much more than the rest.

ONWARD!!

Oysters to start (Albie's)--assorted west coast/east coast including kumamoto and others I didn't pay attn to :)

I had the poached escolar. Sauce. was. amazeballs. Really dug the lemon grass and kaffir lime. Subtle!

Salmon rillettes--not a big fan of salmon, but I liked it enough to eat a significant chunk!

Roasted monkfish! monkfish was meh, sauce again was delish. Morels = <3.

Black Bass--tasty, cooked perfectly, wish there was a little more going on with this tho. Maybe some veggies!

Desserts--refreshing, light, nice...nice. no exclamation marks. :)

Yuzu:

Hazelnut-vanilla marshmallows:

...and...financiers & coffee to finish!

Crawfish!...

I've had a thing for crawfish and crawfish boils for a while now--my bro has been doing them @ our house back in CA for some time but...now I've got the fevah, and the only cure is more cowbell! er...crawfishies!!! ^_^ woohoo!

Very much into eating seasonal and I hope to sweet jebus that it's crawfish season--sorta. Summer...boiling...i dunno. BUT it's here!! This wkd I went with Albee to the Ninth Ave International Food Festival in midtown--just a glorified street fair, but a couple more cuisines than usually at these things. The only place that had the crawfish was the Delta Grill booth (also based in midtown, 48th & 9th ave). WEEEEE!!

Nummy num num. There was rice and...i don't know to be honest I didn't pay attention. There was jambalaya--the pic abouve is of the sausage, rice, crawfish boil, and crawfish etouffee--which I must try for another time b/c me likes etouffee and that whole smother everything over rice concept :)
There were 2-3 carribean food joints that were pretty good--I wanted to try some conch fritters but 1. you know it's not fresh conch, and 2. it wasn't ready yet :P. Didn't pay attention to where I got this from :(

This was the oxtail & rice we had--complete w/ plaintains and some pickled cabbage-y stuff that was...decent. I thought the oxtail should've been more tender and be of the "fall off the bone" kind of texture and yumminess but alas. The sauce itself was pretty good--but I think had the oxtail been simmered longer that sauce would've had a creamier consistency and more intense flavor as well. Can't complain tho! mmmmm nummy nummaaaay. Plaintains were simple--i think just sauteed with some garlic and that was it!

BACK TO CRAWFISHIES!!

This makes is evocative of some...great crawfish battle that seems to have transpired--a la the Zach Snyder film 300. Except u know--instead of Spartans, these little critters tried to fend off the mighty hordes and dieeeeeeeeeeed! Their teeny little carcasses stacked up in the wake of the most nom-able epicurean war.

Also makes me want to quote Braveheart :D HEhehehehehe...

"Make haste, Dilios! Back to Spartaaaaaa!" ......................"Okieeeeeeeees!"

All right--one more with a caption and whatnot cuz...it's fun to play with your food and I was far too behaved as a wee littl'un to have used or fathomed making my critters prance and speak with accents--or switch nationalities and storyline mid-food-'n-play :P...

"Mah nem eez Claude! I am ze damn crawfeesh! Un'and meeh! Zut alors stoopeet countrayman! I am go-eeng to keel you! Mon dieu you ahr 'eartless, I am how you sey...veray deddd!!"

:D I haven't been much of a fan of sucking on the crawfish brains but--I get it for the most part. It's the juiciest bits and soaked up most of the seasoning during simmering...that and dammit if u're paying that much for boil and let's be honest, the damn tail meat is meager in terms of shell/mass to meat ratio, you bettah make the most of its bits to make it worth it!!!

How might one--"de-husk" a crawfish, per se? Wellssssss....I like to pinch it lengthwise and crack the shell along its back. Then I hold it with its underbelly towards me then I splay it backwards...against that initial cracking if u will. This then thrusts the tail meat out in tact as u peel back the broken swimmerettes and all!

et voila! ze crawfeesh! eet eez ready for ze consumption!

And that's not grease btw--it's just how the seasoning stains your hand a bit cuz you hafta get all up in the crawfishies and dismantle them and all.

That was pretty much it :) Albee wasn't much a fan but ohhhh I still am. Unlike with ramps, my singular fixation with crawfish has not waned (and far from abruptly :P).

Oh...and we had "the best cannoli" from the Fortunato bros (which I hafta say...is pretty damn good). Not too sweet, had some mini chocolate nibs inside.

I def prefer this over Ferrara's cannoli's since F-bros' are made with ricotta! Hate the pastry cream filling otherwise!! booo! Also had some forgettable greek sweet, and savory pastries which were soggy and cold (and a bit bland) from...wherever. WHATEVER. :)