I celebrated my birthday by eating my way through a selection of NY’s finest – Le Bernardin, WD-50, & Masa. While i haven’t sampled the great kitchens of Europe (or the rest of the world for that matter), my Le Bernardin meal was easily the 2nd or 3rd best of my life.

The Ingredients
I was shocked and amazed by quality of the ingredients. I am a very serious sushi fan (see my previous sushi blog entries) and the quality of Eric’s ingredients rivaled (and, at time, surpassed) the very best sushi bars in America.

Some of the highlights are listed below:

White Tuna Poached in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sublime. Transcendental.

This might be the single best ‘dish’ i’ve ever had in my life. The tuna was warmed (not cooked) on the outside with the very middle just a touch of warmth; the temperature of the fish accentuated the butter-like texture of the fish. My mouth has never felt a better temperature/texture combination; the only analogy that might describe it would probably be pornographic.

“Egg” Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme w/ Caramel Foam, Maple Syrup, Maldon Sea Salt

Magical.

This was the best dessert i’ve ever ate. Ridiculously good, I should’ve forgotten about modesty & decency, and implored the chef for a 2nd “egg.” The caramel/maple/milk chocolate concoction was divine enough, but an alchemist would envy the transformation the dish underwent w/ the addition of 1 crystal of the maldon sea salt.

Shrimp Raviloi
Ravioli of shrimp and mushrooms w/ foie-gras truffle sauce. This sounds amazing on paper, but I was shocked on my first bite. The sweetness of the perfectly-cooked-just-warm-in-the-center shrimp did not match the earthiness of the other ingredients. We both thought “are we missing something?”

On the 2nd bite, it made sense. “Oh, i see” we both said, “that makes sense. Not sure if it makes sense in the context of our tasting menu, but it’s not a disaster.”

On the 3rd and last bite, we looked at each other in disbelief. “That is what he meant” with bulging eyes of disbelief.

This was the strangest culinary experience – 2 people, in tandem, go from utter confusion (and dislike) to utter disbelief at how delicious a dish transformed in 3 bites. We had nothing else (wine, bread, butter, etc) to influence our taste buds, but somehow, this combination of ingredients does a 360 in 3 simple bites.

Caviar Sea Urchin and Shellfish
This was an exquisite presentation; a ragout of scallop in a sea urchin shell. It was topped w/ Iranian osetra caviar. The scallop was, again, perfectly cooked – sweet, succulent, and just a touch of warmth in the middle.

These guys are trained well
Every piece of fish & shellfish was excellently prepared. Nothing, not one bite, was sloppy. I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced cooks so skilled at their craft.

Overall
This was the pinnacle of fine food. While i would rate Jean Georges as my all-time favorite dinner, Le Bernardin was just as good in every regard – a dining experience of the highest order.

Sublime. The tastes slowly teased your taste buds, caressed them, suggested what was to come, mind and body converged on the essence of each dish.

Complete Tasting Menu
1. wild alaskan salmon carpaccio w/ grated yuzu and marinated baby turnip salad

2. white hawaiian escolar tuna slowley poached in extra-virgin olive oil w/ petit salad of lettuce hearts and tomato confit

3. caviar-sea urchin & shellfish; warm ragout of scallop, langoustine and clam nested in a sea urchin and topped with iranian osetra caviar

4. lobster choucrote; slowley braised sauerkraut in reisling, smoked bacon, juniper berries, and pineapple

5. shrimp ravioli of argentinian shrimp & wild mushrooms; foie-gras-truffle sauce

6. crispy chinese spiced black bass in a peking duck bouillon scented w/ maitake & enoki mushrooms

7. egg; milk chocolate pot de creme, caramel foam, maple syrup, & maldon sea salt

8. dark chocolate, cashew & caramel tart, red wine reduction, banana malted rum milk chocolate ice cream

- chuck

Official Site: www.le-bernardin.com