Le Bernadin
Le Bernadin is one of my favorite restaurants on this earth. I am convinced that Chef Ripert is perfect. No matter how many times I eat there — regardless of my food choices — my meal is sublime. The décor is elegant, yet understated. I always feel comfortable in their dining room and occasionally find celebrities or New York socialites dining next to me.
The first time I dined there had to be about two years ago. I had a business lunch with an old friend and prominent photo industry journalist whom also appreciates fine food. I remember the meal as if it took place yesterday. We called ahead (the restaurant requires 24-hour notice) and ordered the salt encrusted whole red snapper for two. We drank a half-bottle (it was lunch after all) of 1994 Pougny-Montrachet from Louis Jadot.
I began with a lobster, langoustine, and shrimp ravioli, which arrived as an open round of pasta that folded over a luscious seafood mixture that suspended itself in a truffle sauce. Bert ordered the fluke ceviche in four musings. He received a plate with four small cups, each hosting a different marinade ascending from "simple" to "complex." This Picasso-esqe appetizer transformed my perceptions of fine dining into a true understanding of cuisine as fine art. I became immediately aware that I indulged in the works of a culinary master, a seafood Rembrandt.
We finished that meal with a rose mousse topped with raspberries. This mousse embodied the essence of a delicate, fragrant, English rose. With each bite, I transported back in time to a 19th century British walled garden. Unfortunately, Le Bernadin has since taken the rose mousse off their menu. To this day, I am haunted by that desert.
Last night, I arrived at the restaurant prior to my dinner companions (they flew into town just hours before and their flight was delayed). The hostess served me some peanut-encrusted cheese sticks that were made from puff pastry. I happily nibbled away at these delightful delicacies while patiently waiting for my companions.
"Is Chef Ripert in the house this evening," I asked, making small talk. "Yes madam. He is here tonight," the host replied as he brought me a drink.
They seated us in a cozy, yet not completely tucked away, table in the far side of the dining room. As usual, my dinner companions asked me to choose a wine. Now, when someone else is taking me out to dinner and they present me with the wine list, I face a conundrum: what is the best wine to complement our meal without spending too much of my dinner companions' money? In a fine dining establishment such as Le Bernadin, one could conceivably pay a small fortune for a great bottle of wine if not careful.
I perused the white burgundies and found a Premiere Cru I had never tried before. While all the other Premiere Crus ranged from $150 – 3,000 per bottle, they listed this bottle at $70. So, I asked the sommelier about it.
"This wine is an excellent value," she explained. "In fact, I keep a bottle of it in my fridge." That was all the endorsement I needed to order the 2005 Domaine Marc Morey Rully, 1st Cru Rabourre. The wine first struck me with a buttery, jasmine, and wild flowers note. Not heavy and overpowering like a
We began with an Amuse Bouche that resembled an elegant shepherd's Pie. The bottom layer consisted of lobster and Peruvian red pepper in a truffle sauce topped off with a soufflé of mashed potatoes.
(I waited too long to take this photo)
Now, dinner at Le Bernadin consists of four courses that ascend from almost raw, to barely touched to lightly cooked and ending with something sweet. They had a black bass tartar appetizer that I simply had to try as my raw course. Served with shaved basil and lime, each flavor stood out separately yet played harmoniously well upon my palate.
As a second course, I ordered the lobster with sweet peas and verbena grapefruit sauce. There is something heavenly about a perfectly cooked lobster. This plate arrived with one claw and several slices of tail meat lying in a bed of the verbena grapefruit sauce with the sweet pea crème strategically positioned in the center of the plate. One of my companions tried the black truffle tagliatelle with preserved lemon and aged parmesan, which just looked rich and wonderful.
For my entrée, I veered away from seafood (just having two fish courses) and chose the pan-roasted squab stuffed with truffle, soft polenta, and
Next we sweetened our taste buds: I chose the passion fruit cream enrobed in white chocolate, ginger caramel, mandarin sorbet, while one of my companions chose coconut sorbet, and the other opted for the dark chocolate, peanut and caramel tart, Meyer lemon purée, peanut powder, praline-citrus sorbet.
We lingered, chatting while drinking (cappuccino for me and chamomile for my friends) for another 20 minutes or so, and then called it an evening.
Once again, I enjoyed another extremely elegant yet calmingly comfortable evening at Le Bernadin dining on Chef Ripert's master cuisine.
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