Showing posts with label Memorable!. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memorable!. Show all posts

New York City: The Aviary (March 2018)



My spouse and I visited The Aviary for drinks and dinner on a Saturday evening in late March 2018. We used the www dot tock dot com reservation system to purchase our spots to dine and drink. (Tock requires you to pre-pay for your reservation, in amounts from $20 to $200+, depending on the experience that you want. Although you cannot cancel after you book, you can transfer/sell your spot to another guest.) The Aviary is open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, and in-between.

The Aviary is located on the 35th floor sky lobby of the Mandarin Oriental at Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side. (The space was previously called the Lobby Lounge and MoBar.) The Aviary was designed by Chicago Chef Grant Achatz and modeled after the original Aviary in Chicago. (The New York outpost opened in 2017, whereas the Chicago version dates back to 2011.) The glass-fronted “Drink Kitchen” creates craft cocktails that feature molecular mixology with names like “Cloche Encounters of the 46 Kind" and "Science AF", and “How Snoop Dog Uses Lemongrass”. 

The restaurant seats about 95 guests, and nearly every seat has stunning panoramic views of Columbus Circle and Central Park. Sister speakeasy The Office seats about 45 guests but does not offer the same views. The Aviary space features trendy tables, booths, and banquettes at which you can enjoy your drinks and food. Because we booked the “Kitchen Table”, we expected it to be in the actual kitchen (or bar) as we have experienced at other establishments. However, at The Aviary, you are seated at one of two high-top tables in the far corner of the dining room, just adjacent to the mixology kitchen. The height of the tables permits a better view of the action, although you are removed from it.

At The Aviary, you can order drinks and small plates a la carte, but you can also choose one of their tasting menus: 3 drinks with food for $110 per person, 5 drinks with food for $165 (with about four choices for each course), or you can splurge on the 8-course Kitchen Table experience like we did for $215. (We think that our menu included 10 courses rather than 8.) All prices are assessed an automatic 18% gratuity. When you order from the menu, take note of the tiny bird symbols next to the signature cocktails: the number of birds indicates the theatrics of the drink, and the farther away from the menu option (in other words, the farther the “bird” has to “fly” signifies the most surprising presentations. Our Kitchen Table experience included the following drinks and food: 

1.        “In the Rocks” (a hollowed out ball of ice formed by freezing a water balloon in a super chiller, then uses a syringe to inject it with alcohol, then placing it atop a granita, served with a slingshot device that is positioned over the glass to break the ice ball)

Osetra caviar with crème fraiche, foam, and colorful flowers (Bachelors Buttons, Yaris blooms, Coriander blooms)
2.       “The [insert our last name]” (a yellow-hued fruity drink made especially for us and served in a bird glass with two bites perched on its wings)
Crispy pork skin, tempura Hawaiian shrimp (togarashi aioli, yuzu picked pear)
3.       “How Does Snoop Dogg Use Lemongrass” (lemongrass swizzle stick, Peychaud’s, ginger beer snow, vodka)
Frozen corn custard (char roe, mango, yellow tomato tom yum snow)
4.       “Micahlada” (a spin on the Mexican Michelada [slightly renamed to reflect the creator’s first name, Micah], with soy, coriander, hot sauce, calamansi syrup, yuzu, Japanese whisky (Suntory Toki), Evil Twin beer Bushindo [a Berliner Weisse-style])

5.       Gin and Tonic (chartreuse, almond, house-made tonic, green apple and cucumber ice coating the inside of the glass)
Kampachi ceviche (Thai green curry, coconut, hearts of palm)
6.       “Heart of Stone” (a glass porthole bottle filled with whiskey, port, and a potpourri of spices, tea, and fruit, meant to be sampled every few minutes as the infusion grows more intense)
Tempura maitake, octopus croquette (caramelized onion, pickled ginger, bonito)
7.        Wizard’s Staff” (an allspice, pineapple, passionfruit, and tequila cocktail served in colorful ceramic tiki cups over ice that is flash-frozen [with liquid nitrogen] fresh passionfruit juice, allspice berry smoke)
Pork belly curry (banana, cashews, iceberg lettuce [the iceberg is compressed in salt and sugar for more texture], a red dollop of Fresno chili/red bell pepper for heat, and avocado puree)
8.       “Science AF” (blueberry, lemon, honey, ginger, scotch that are infused using high heat, steam, and a bubbling vacuum device)
Black truffle explosion (parmesan, romaine, black truffle), Foie gras “sandwich” (pistachio meringue, allspice gelee, and a paper-thin chip of dehydrated apple gel)
9.       “Cloche Encounters of the 46 Kind” (graham meringue, cinnamon, mocha chai, Maker’s Mark 46 bourbon)
Okinawa brown sugar ice cream (matcha, white chocolate, puffed rice)
10.   We did not have time to try the last bite and drink because we had to leave for the theatre, but multiple staff members told us that we could return at another time to finish our Kitchen Table meal. Be sure to allow enough time; our 5:00 pm reservation had us seated by about 5:20 (after a quick walk through the drinks kitchen/bar), but even two hours were not enough to enjoy the full experience.
Service was outstanding, with staff members working seamlessly together. Also worth noting is that although only one of us could drink alcoholic beverages, the mixologists graciously created a comparable non-alcoholic experience for the other guest. Nearly every non-alcoholic drink seemed to be a visual mirror image of the alcoholic variation, which shows the time and effort invested to please their customers. The non-drinker did not feel at all slighted by the “virgin” drinks, which isn’t always the case at other bars. The cost was the same for both the non-alcoholic and alcoholic variations; although “splurge-y”, we felt that the menu was appropriately priced for the quality and variety of items that we received and their fantastic presentations. Do not come to The Aviary and order a glass of wine – you will miss out on the whole point of this bar/restaurant.

We enjoyed our time at The Aviary, and plan to return with friends so that we can share the unforgettable experience.

















































New York City: Jewel Bako (May 2017)




My spouse and I dined at Jewel Bako for dinner on a Saturday evening in early May 2017. Jewel Bako offers dinner on Mondays through Saturdays (closed on Sundays). You can reserve your table using the online Open Table system, although you must telephone the restaurant if you want to reserve a chair at the sushi counter. The restaurant has held one Michelin star for the past eleven years.

Jewel Bako opened in 2001 in the East Village on East 5th Street near Second Avenue. Sister restaurant Degustation adjoins Jewel Bako. (The owners also once operated Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar and Jewel Bako Makimono, both of which are now closed.) As with other distinguished sushi restaurants in the city, the entrance to Jewel Bako is discreetly marked. Inside, dramatic, arched wood slats creative a high curved ceiling in both of the long narrow dining rooms. Closely arranged tables on either side of the dining space each share a long padded banquette on one side, with individual chairs on the other side. The back of the restaurant offers an 8-seat sushi counter, where we interacted with talented itamae Mitsunori Isoda. (This chef previously “cooked” for us in August 2016 when he worked at Brushstroke/Ichimura.) On the night that we dined, Chef Mitsunori was assisted by three other sushi chefs, one of whom was his son.

Jewel Bako serves Japanese cuisine, with an emphasis on sushi and sashimi. The restaurant offers either an a la carte menu or one of many tasting menus (sushi, sashimi, omakase sushi, omakase sashimi, or omakase tasting). Prices are slightly higher for the tasting menus when you sit at the counter instead of at a regular table. We ordered the omakase tasting menu, which for $150 per person ($25 less at a table) included some hot and cold appetizers, a sashimi selection (served all at once), two seasonal hot dishes (served together and meant to share), a sushi selection (served individually), and dessert. The chef served our sushi across the counter one piece at a time as he prepared it, but servers delivered the other courses by placing the dishes in front of us from behind.
Some of our courses follow.

·         Amuse: chef’s sushi selection topped with a maple radish
·         Edamame
·         Phyllo cup filled with tuna tartare accompanied by a pea shoot salad
·         Sashimi tasting (including toro, amberjack, clam, mackerel, salmon, shrimp, and presented on a slate decorated with a prawn head; unfortunately our server did not explain the various fish to us, but he did offer us freshly grated wasabi)
·         Two hot seasonal seafood dishes including one cooked “en papillote” (in paper)
·         Sushi (including golden eye snapper, barracuda, madai [sea bream], sayori [needle fish], chu toro, and uni)
·         Japanese custard pudding (which they called “bread pudding”, served with a fruity sauce)

Service from the regular waitstaff was slow. Our beverage glasses sat empty for most of the night without anyone offering a refill. We also waited about 15 minutes after we finished our sashimi course for the hot dishes to arrive; in fact, we thought that our meal might be over at that point, and we were ready to request our check, when the hot dishes arrived. But we enjoyed talking to Chef Mitsunori as he worked, and his sushi courses were timed perfectly.

Overall, we had a great (and extremely filling!) omakase chef’s tasting meal at Jewel Bako.