Chanterelle

When my parents gave me the birthday present of any restaurant in the city, one word popped into my head.  Daniel.  I know that many of you think that I am crazy, and that I am posting about the wrong restaurant, but I'm not.  Stick with me here.  So when I was thinking about Daniel, I thought about four things: food, service, who to take and the cost.  With the stock market failing and all, I thought about going to a restaurant of the same caliber, but that would not cost as much.  I was about to give up when my mind began rambling as it does about every other minute, and this time I began to think about mushrooms, all kinds of them, Shitake, Chanterelle, Crimini, wait, and then I remembered the simple restaurant in downtown Tribeca.  The name evoked fragility, and thus as we began our eight and a half block cab ride, I began to think.  Would I be stunned at the holy goodness, of this simple yet extraordinary french outpost, or would I be disgusted by the rich taste of a french cuisine that I had never experience of my life.  As we entered the restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the simplicity of the decor.  It was almost completely plain, except for the most exquisite bouquet of flowers on the wall.  As we sat observing it, our waiter came and asked if we wanted anything to drink, my best friend Parker and I ordered a virgin cosmopolitan that was very good.  Then the appetizers came.  I ordered a quintette of oysters.  I chose to substitute the fois gras oyster with a second pickled ginger oyster that tasted like sushi.  For my other three, I got an olive oil and fennel infused oyster, a fried oyster, and a trout roe and wasabi oyster.  It was by far the best appetizer I have ever had, other than the risotto at Cafe Grey.  For my entree, I ordered the scallops, which were far too rich for me, but they were still delicious.  And the service was just flawless, our waiter was extremely nice, and helpful, but also enthusiastic and excited to help.  For dessert, my father, Parker and myself all agreed on the same thing.  The chocolate-raspberry mousse.  It was simply heavenly.  I believed that after the first bite, I had an epiphany.  Simple wonderful.  I would love to go back again, even though the meal took almost three hours.  Simply stated though, it was one of the most amazing three hours of my life.  I give Chanterelle a 9.3 out of 10.