To honor the sweet sweet blessing of dating for 3 whole years, Jeremy and I decided to celebrate in style at
Eleven Madison Park. I probably don't have to tell you the countless awards this place has received, or the "best of" lists it has topped, and I was excited to see if it lived up to the hype. I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos, I was trying to be discreet and not use my flash :)
I was a bit wary when Jer received a call that morning saying the AC was broken and it may not be fixed by that evening. Knowing what we were spending to enjoy this meal, I wanted to make sure I was not going to be sweating and uncomfortable (since it was close to 90 degrees that day). However, we waited 28 days for this reservation (since they only open their books 28 days in advance), so I did not want to lose it. So we went, and it was warm, but tolerable. We were focusing on the food anyways.
The service is top notch from the second you walk in. They were ready and expecting us and did not even have to check a list before they led us to our table. We were offered a cocktail list after a few minutes, but I had to request the wine list (which I thought was weird). I ordered a glass of Pinot Noir and Jeremy ordered the Manhattan Cart. This was pretty cool. They wheel over this cart of ingredients for a Manhattan cocktail and provide a menu that is based on the neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Each neighborhood had an iteration of the cocktail and the cart guy explained the differences (spicy, dry, etc). Jeremy settled on a spicy style Manhattan, which was the "Little Italy" iteration. All diners must participate in the chef's tasting menu, and we were asked if there were any ingredients we did not want included. I said cilantro obviously, and Jeremy said raw celery. We also were given the option for lamb or duck for our main course, and we decided on the lamb.
Our first four courses were smaller plates. The first thing arrived in a white pastry box tied with a string. Inside was what looked like little black and white cookies, but were actually savory and made with cheddar cheese. We think the black and white part was actually made of butter and the second you picked it up it started melting because of the warmer than average temp in the room. Aside from that, they were buttery and cheesy and fine. More cute than anything.
The second item was sea urchin "snow" (basically dehydrated) with smoked canteloupe and conch. This was definitely an innovative and interesting bite. It had a fishy taste from the urchin (which I actually have never tried and always wanted to), but the snow was a weird texture. I actually choked a little on it ha, it kinda got stuck in the back of my throat. Anyways, not our favorite, but definitely showed off a cool technique and an interesting blend of flavors.
Next up was the tomato gelee with summer beans (snow peas) and saffron oil. This dish was half some type of foam and half the tomato gelee. Pretty cool that the gelee held the tomato flavor but was clear in color. The peas were super fresh, sweet, and flavorful. I think gel is always a weird texture, but this was enjoyable.
The last of the smallest plates was a turbot in a sabayon with chive oil, which is a frothy sauce. It was served inside an eggshell. How did they cut that egg open so perfectly!? This was one of our favorites. The turbot was salty and savory and the combination of ingredients worked very well together. That was some tasty froth.
Then out came smoked sturgeon, literally on a mini smoker with woodchips. This dish was a cute play on bagels and lox. The sturgeon was accompanied by cream cheese topped with caviar in a tin, everything bagel crumble, pickles, lettuce, pickled onion, half of a quail egg (over hard), and a thin piece of toast. You had the ability to mix and match and make your own combination. I basically just spread the cream cheese and caviar on the toast, topped it with the sturgeon and added the egg, pickles, etc. This was not only a delicious dish, but it was fun and creative. Each ingredient was of high quality and contributed in its own way.
To take a break from the "courses," they served us rolls, aka buttery croissants, in a sack, with a cream butter and a lamb infused butter. Yes, that is correct. Lamb infused butter. I think this was a teaser for our main course, or maybe I'm just over thinking it. Anyways it was super interesting and I didn't hate it. We were basically putting butter on a buttery roll, but who cares? It was delicious.
I wish we had known what was next, because we would have saved our bread. It was a foie gras terrine with black truffle and asparagus. I have never had creamier, richer foie gras in my life. And there was so much of it! Mixed with the black truffle, it was one of the richest dishes I have ever had (come to think of it, it reminded me a lot of the richness and flavors you get from the chicken at
NoMad). We actually asked for more bread to spread the foie gras on, because it just did not feel or taste like something that should be eaten alone. We received more of the buttery croissant rolls, so I was really praying for my arteries after this one. The asparagus actually was great for cutting through some of this richness. Of course, we HAD to eat it all, but I would have been fine with half of the amount provided. Needless to say, it was really divine.
After this was cleared, someone came over with a grinder and clamped it down on the side of the table. Hmm...
Then, some fresh carrots with the tops still on and individual trays were delivered with 9 mini dishes of ingredients. A waiter came over and ran the carrots through the grinder to make carrot tartare. He explained the origin of the carrot and how it was grown in the finest soil in a place where a lake once existed. We then took the tartare and were instructed to mix in the ingredients to create the final dish. We added wasabi cream, sunflower seeds, quail egg (over easy), smoked whitefish, dried chives, mustard seeds, horseradish, peas, and salt to taste. They provided carrot puree and mustard oil in squeeze bottles and rye bread toast to spread the tartare on. This was the coolest presentation of the night. Again, it invited us to mix and match and select the combination we desired. I basically added everything in varying degrees. The consistency is exactly what other tartare feels like, but it was only carrots rather than a protein. I thought this was very good, fun, creative, and was a good transition from the rich foie gras.
Our next dish was poached lobster with snap peas, morels, and crispy sweetbeads. The lobster was a nice size portion and my first bite I thought was cooked perfectly. Then, I had real issues cutting the rest of it. First of all, I was using a butter knife (which is what they specifically provided for this dish), that was the dullest knife ever. Like, you couldn't even injure someone if you were sawing back and forth. So, in my desperate attempt to cut the lobster into human size bites, I basically destroyed it and it was getting all stringy. I couldn't even bite through it, it was a one shot deal. I don't know enough about cooking lobster to tell you what this means about how well it was cooked, but I do know that I was struggling and it was disappointing because the lobster really looked beautiful before I got my hands on it. However, the crispy sweetbreads were salty and savory and delicious. Just the right size for a perfect bite. They also had these awesome morel mushrooms that were soaked in a creamy sauce and even Jeremy enjoyed them (he hates mushrooms normally). So good!
The next dish was back to veggies with creamed nettles, fingerling potatoes, drops of goat cheese, and some kind of foam (I never know what the foam stuff is). I feel like nettles are the latest trendy vegetable, taking over for kale and ramps. They had kind of a bitter taste, but the creamed preparation cut that and the potatoes provided for a nice balance. The potatoes were actually made three ways: mashed, roasted, and possibly pickled (I am not totally sure). I liked everything in this dish, especially when I mixed in the goat cheese with the nettles.
Next was what they called a "salad," but it was really one piece of lettuce with radish, some crispy ramps, and a crispy ball of goodness (not sure what was in that, but yum..tasted like the sweetbreads from before). I don't have much else to comment about. It was fine and I ate it in two bites.
Finally, the main event. Three different pieces of lamb (from varying parts) made with crisped leek, Bibb lettuce and Meyer lemon. It was served with freekeh (an ancient grain), mint, and leek. One piece was tenderloin, one was leg, and one was belly. All of it was tender, juicy, perfectly cooked and delicious. The belly was really interesting, like lamb bacon. It had that fatty yet crispy texture and was salty in the best way. The freekeh was amazing. I have never had this before, so I don't know if I found my new favorite grain or if they made it with some magic (probably the latter). The yogurt and lamb jus was great to mix with each bite. The flowers were pretty too.
Now we move on to the final rounds, starting with the cheese course. This was the cutest presentation ever. They placed a picnic basket down and sort of said here you go, we'll be right back. So we sat for a few minutes not sure if someone was coming over to explain...and then finally just opened it up ourselves and unpacked it.
It contained 2 white plates with ridges to make it look like those paper plates, a wooden box, a bottle of beer, a soft pretzel stick, and two jars. Just as we laid it all out, someone came over to explain each item. The beer was specially brewed for Eleven Madison Park and made with flavors specifically to pair with the other ingredients. The wooden box contained Greensward cheese from NYC's famous
Murray's Cheese (but we were told EMP washed it with the beer, so it would not be the same if we were to go buy it there). The soft pretzel was made in house by the pastry team, and the jars contained pickled strawberries and homemade honey mustard. So we had a little "picnic" and shared the beer while tasting the Greensward cheese. It was definitely a pungent cheese, and creamy on the inside with a tougher rind around the outside. The pretzel was crispy outside and soft inside. We liked the homemade honey mustard and ate most of the pretzel with that, since the cheese was a bit overwhelming. I liked the pickled strawberries, which is not surprising since I like most pickled things. All in all I thought this was such a cute idea and I really appreciated all of the details and thought that went into this course.
The next course started to bring us into dessert mode. A waiter wheeled over a cart to make us Egg Creams tableside. We got a little history lesson about the origins of the Egg Cream and why it might be called that since there is not actually egg or cream involved. It seems that in Yiddish, "echt" means real or true. So, echt cream (or genuine cream) possibly became mis-translated overtime to be known today as Egg Cream. Originally, it was made with milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer, but EMP's version was with malt, vanilla, seltzer, and few drops of olive oil on top. The seltzer is added last and creates a foamy head on top, and we were instructed to consume immediately to enjoy that. These Egg Creams were fine. Interesting to taste, but would not come back for it.
Next was sorbet. This sorbet was mint flavored, and had the most natural mint flavor I have ever tasted in a dessert. It was like they just blended mint leaves and froze it. And I say that in a wonderful way. It was very refreshing, and accompanied by Fernet Branca, chocolate ganache, and little mint meringues. We both really enjoyed this dessert and thought the flavors were spot on.
The next dessert course was sheep's milk cheesecake foam with mango (frozen or sorbet of some kind) and crushed peanuts. This definitely had the salty sweet thing going. I didn't get much from the cheesecake foam, but I liked the mango and peanuts, and the combo was surprisingly good. The waitress that brought this over all of a sudden broke out a deck of cards. She told us we were going to determine what type of chocolate we would get and had Jeremy split the deck. He then took the top part and spread them on the table. The cards each had a different ingredient on them. None of the cards on the table were ingredients we would get, she informed us, and then had Jer pick the top two cards from her stack. He flipped them over and gave me a raspberry one and he got espresso. We were both like, ok yea I can do that, but then she said the chocolates were already on the table! We lifted up our plates and underneath were *SURPRISE* the type of chocolate we just picked from the cards! Oh my, it's magic! Cute trick, and creamy, rich chocolate. Fun all around!
Almost done...next comes the chocolate covered pretzel with sea salt. We each took a bite and decided it more like a cookie shaped like a pretzel than an actual pretzel. It was very good, but we were both nearing the deep end of a food coma. We just couldn't do much more. And that is when a cute little white pastry box came out, wrapped in string. We were told there are two black and white cookies inside, but this time they are actually cookies (rather than the savory cheese "cookies" we started with). Very creative to start and finish with the same thing, but not actually. We each tasted it for shits, but really couldn't bear to take another bite, so we took the rest of the pretzel cookies and the black and whites home in the box. They also brought out a bottle of apple brandy and poured some for each of us, but left the bottle on the table and said to enjoy as much as we want. I took one small sip and that was ALL I needed. Thanks but no thanks, I'm not much of a brandy girl.
After bringing our check, the waitress came back over with a little doggy bag containing a mason jar filled with EMP's homemade granola, or "breakfast!" as she called it. She also provided nice printed copies of the menu that we had just enjoyed, which I thought was awesome so I could actually remember what everything was, and come home and blog about it. Bet you were wondering how on Earth I remembered all of these details!?
Our overall consensus is that of course this was an amazing experience from start to finish. Service was spectacular, and everything presented to us looked perfect and was made from the finest ingredients. I particularly liked how they sourced almost all of the meal locally, and played many tributes to NYC. However, we did not LOVE every single thing we ate, as you have read. It's disappointing to not LOVE everything single thing when you are spending a lot of money and waiting so long to have the luxury to do so. One should have extremely high expectations going into something like this, and I am not saying I was let down or disappointed, but I am saying that it brings you to really evaluate everything. Chef's tasting menus are hard, because you do not have the ability to opt out of something that is not a must-have, however it does provide many opportunities to try things you may have never considered. I highly doubt we will ever go back, unless it is being funded by someone else of course, but only because it is special when it is a one time experience. We have so many other places to try, we have to spread the love!
