New York Restos, Spring, 2013: La Mar, 11 Madison Park, Marea, Aamann's, Fette Sau, Soto.

La Mar

La Mar is a Peruvian cebicheria, a celebration of seafood, artfully crafted into a citrus, spicy, refreshing cuisine.

Long Island fluke, Peruvian corn, habanero peppers, scallions, creamy aji amarillo leche di tigre (see explanation further down).

Pulpo parillo. Grilled day boat octopus in anticucho (aji panco smokey fruity spiced red wine and vinegar) with boiled potato, fresh cheese, fava beans, yellow and chili peppers.

Fluke, blue shrimp, octopus, calamari, red onion, chocio an cancha (toasted sweet corn kernels) in a rocoto (tree chili) leche de tigre ( tiger's milk, a citrus based marinade for curing fish and shell fish for ceviche, made from the juices of the fish or shellfish, lime juice, onions, salt, pepper and chilis).

Anticucho, skewered grilled beef heart with choclo and huacatay sauce (peruvian black mint) with fried potatoes and corn.

Equadorian blue shrimp, sweet spiced aioli, toasted organic kiwicha (amaranth grain), mango and mixed greens.

Guava, passionfruit mousse, hazelnut ice cream and chilled quinoa pudding.

Tartita de maracuya, maracuya cream, passion fruit gelee, maracuya and strawberry compote served with cookie crumbs in a martini glass (no photo)

Passion fruit, mango and tamarind sorbets.

11 Madison Park

Eleven Madison Park is considered one of the best restaurant experiences in New York. There is only a tasting menu; no a la carte menu.

We began with "cheddar", savory black and white cookies with a cheese filling accompanied by apple (no photo).

Duxbury oyster with wood sorrel, buckwheat and frozen mignonette sauce.

Jonah crab salad with finger lime, cucumber and avocado.

Sea urchin custard with thinly sliced scallop, chervil and julienned apple and celery.

Surf clam with morcilla sausage and celery root; clambake with whelk (topped with chopped radicchio and couscous; "Parker House" rolls and clam chowder. Our 2005 Chablis, in the photo, was the wine for this course.

Crumbled foie gras terrine with bitter greens, pear, anchovy and black anchovy brioche.

The house made bread and two butters (one made with rendered duck fat), accompanied by Amagansett sea salt, were so good, they had a well deserved place, as a "course".

The carrot was prepared at the table (see above), for the dish presented above in the lower photo: carrot "tartare" with rye bread and condiments, including: carrot vinaigrette, mustard seed oil, green apple mustard, sunflower seeds, pickled quail yolk, chives and chive flowers, pickled mustard seeds, horseradish, pickled granny smith apples and sea salt.

Lobster poached in myer lemon butter with rutabaga, sliced black pear and lovage.

Roasted parsnip with banana and bacon and bacon vinaigrette.

Medium rare duck roasted with tartivo and marcona almond with braised duck leg, foie gras and potato and honey sauce..

A picnic basket of "greensward" with pretzel, cow's milk cheese, butternut squash mustard and grapes.

Unwrapping the basket.

The "picnic" accompanied by a small bottle of very good beer.

Malted milk seltzer, maple syrup, maple cream, maple short bread, maple ice cream, milk snow and shaved ice. (NO PHOTO).

Earl grey ice cream and a chocolate wafer.

Dark chocolate covered pretzel.

Marea

Scampi crudo with terrific, crispy deep fried heads.

Panzerotti filled with smoked eggplant accompanied by ricotta mixed and topped with bottarga.

Sliced, perfectly cooked, tender octopus topped with chilli oil, lemon and parsley. 

Shisito peppers and sea salt.

Casconcelli baccala ravioli with black trumpet mushrooms, baby leeks and black truffle juice, all topped with sliced black truffles. A great dish of wonderful flavours and perfectly cooked pasta.

Brodetto di pesce, an Adriatic seafood soup, with clams, langostino, prawns, scallops and bass., all perfectly cooked in a very flavourful soup.

On the left, garbanzo beans with leeks and saffron; on the right, fingerling potatoes with rosemary.

Torta di olio. Ligurian oil cake with roasted pineapple and green apple  accompanied by olive oil gelato.

Aamann's

This resto is the place in NY to enjoy smorrebrod.

Herring in mustard tarragon cream sauce with radish, sprinkled with crispy crumblings of toasted rye bread. Good ingredients nicely composed but the herring, although good for what it was, was the conventional "overcooked" marinated herring rather than the fresh herring I have come to frequently expect when in Denmark, Norway or Sweden.

On the right, chicken salad with mushrooms, celeriac and roasted garlic on crispy toasted rye bread. The salad was more chopped chicken than anything else.
On the left, beef tartar with egg emulsion, fresh tarragon, cornichons and capers all topped with crispy fried shallot rings and crispy potato slices. This was a very good beef tartar sandwich worth a return visit.

Fette Sau, Brooklyn

This was certainly one of the best BBQ experiences I have enjoyed anywhere. Perfectly cooked, juicy, smokey sliced brisket; wonderful tamshire pork ribs, perfectly cooked (not fall off the bone sloppy) with great burnt bark crust; sausage was ok but did not wow; baked beans with delicious burnt ends; beef ribs, again, perfectly cooked with an amazing, flavourful, burnt bark crust. There is broccoli on the tray......I had to have my greens!

Fette Sau is a must, when in NY, for any BBQ lover! It is ranked among the top 20 BBQ places in the USA.

Soto

Soto is a very good Japanese experience, worthy, but not at the very top of the Japanese experience spectrum. It is a Japanese resto worth a return visit.

Chopped raw botan sweet shrimp with fresh ginger, topped with uni all in a chilled shiitake dashi broth. A sublime dish of very fresh tasting elements.

Sliced live sea clam marinated in truffle ginger soy sauce with fresh ginger shoots.

Sea urchin with shiso, squid and white kelp topped with julienned nori.

Ika konowata: thinly sliced yari-ika (spear squid) sashimi with fermented sea cucumber intestine, raw quail egg and nori.

Lobster sashimi with ginger truffle soy sauce, served with yuzu-kimizu sauce and topped with caviar.

Crisp skin, live, early season soft shelled crab, wonderfully fresh flavour, accompanied by ponzu sauce.

Black soy milk skin filled with fresh uni, accompanied by a shiitake broth.

Anago (sea eel) broiled under a puree of sea urchin and shiitake mushroom. this dish sounded interesting but, in my opinion, missed in execution. The flavours were muddled.

Thinly sliced surf clam marinated in sweet miso mustard sauce with myoga ginger shoots and sesame seeds

Scottish farmed salmon, lightly torched on one side and chutoro tuna sushi.

Live Maine scallop and red clam sushi.

Earl grey tea, red bean, mango, strawberry and vanilla mochi, a refreshing finish.