Saturday, October 18, 2008

Daniel

When my friends told me that they were taking me to Daniel, I nearly passed out. After all, this restaurant was the culinary masterpiece of New York City, and almost everything was impeccable. As we walked in, we were suddenly in awe of the cavernous restaurant. As my friend Max, his father Steve and I sat down, we were expecting nothing less than perfect. We were immediately served by the nicest waiters that I have ever met. We also met the GM, who was very nice, and very informative. We were served the amuse bouche, which my friend Max was blown away by. I also thought that it was delicious. It was a trio of romanesquo cauliflower, used in three different manners; it included a smoked hamachi that tasted like ham. There was also a piece of shrimp with a fragile tip of the cauliflower, and a cauliflower puree that had hints of eastern spices, and tasted like an Indian delicacy. Once they took it away we were able to fully appreciate the beauty of the space. There were large Greek pillars, along with an inside dining space, and an outer circle one. We were also amazed by the beautiful flower arrangements that lined the outer rim of the restaurant. When our second amuse bouche was served, we had decided upon two things. The first being that we had decided what we were ordering. We were going all in, and we were ordering the six course tasting menu. The second being that we were sure that it was going to be the best meal of our lives. And boy, were we right. Then second amuse bouche consisted of a phaesent consomee with a cabbage wrapped fois gras. I usually do not like fois gras, but this just blew it away. As we sat in silent wonder, the head waiter came to us with a preposition. He said that since Steve was getting a wine pairing with his tasting menu, and was already a little tipsy, why let the kids out of the fun? He asked if we wanted to have virgin cocktails with each course. Obviously, we said yes. Our favorite drinks included a cranapple explosion drink, a rose martini and a rasperry cosmo. Our first course came in, which for me was a delicious cod with vegetables, and for Max and Steve, a fois gras platter. We all thought that our first courses had intense flavors, and nice texture. Our second course was the crab that was fresh from Maine. It had some crunchy lettuce, but the smooth crab evened out the equation. However, the thing that we were the most excited about was the possibility of meeting Chef Daniel. We had heard that he was a really nice guy, and I knew that he was an unbelievable chef, so I was not exactly sure what I would do if I met him. All of our servers were very informed, even the busboys, and they all answered many of our questions, mostly about Chef daniel, to which all answers were positive. When our next two courses arrived, they blew our minds away. The third course was shrimp on a porcini cream sauce. One of my favorite foods was mushrooms, so you would think that I would be blown away by it. I was. It was the best dish of my life. The shrimp was crispy and delicious, and the cream sauce was rich, but not too rich. The fourth course was chef Daniel's specialty. It was his sea bass. I thought that it was not too fishy, but that it had the perfect amount of sauce, and that it really showed how amazing a chef can cook when he puts his mind to it. Then the steak came. Usually I am not such a big steak fan, but this one was simply amazing. It was tender, juicy in all of the good places, and it was overall a great addition to the meal. This meal was great, because I am trying to lose weight, and there were barely any carbs in the meal except for the dessert. Right before the dessert arrived, we saw the chef. He appeared very quietly, and went around to each table shaking hands with all of his customers. We were eating the cheese platter which I found smelled very badly, hen the GM came and said that the chef would like to congratulate me on my blog. my chocolate dauphoise arrived, and aI was looking at my dessert when I noticed a presence. I looked up and Chef Daniel was walking to our table. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life, since he had ben my idol for around a year, and I had always dreamed of meeting him. We shook his hand, and got his autograph. He was kind enough to stay and talk to us for around ten minutes. After he left as silently as he had come our waiter directed us to the kitchen. We were amazed by how many people there were cooking, and by how loud it was, when the restaurant had almost been silent. we saw the executive chef shouting out orders, and we saw the pastry chef, and it was almost a bit too much for me. We left the restaurant full, exhausted, but we all saw the world in a whole new way. I would give the restaurant an elven out of ten, but that would be breaching my rules. But it was that good. I give Daniel a 10.1 out of 10. Yeah, that good.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm so jealous of your meal!! It's so great that Daniel gave you so much attention! Maybe you can email him a thank you and he'll do a Q&A via email with you for your blog? xo, LvS

Anonymous said...

Julian, I am just "blown away" by your writing. I do not know how you, Max and Steve ate all that delicious food. Did Chef Daniel give you doggie bags? Also, as it sounds as if Steve was drinking dinner, I hope he did not take you on his Vespa.
Did you wear flip-flops?
Love, Grampy

PhotoBubby said...

Julian,
What a lucky boy you are, and we are, too, because reading your blog is almost like being there, eating the food - without the calories!! Thank you for sharing all these special meals with all of us. Your writing is excellent - culinary masterpiece indeed. And I think the ersatz Aristotle rings true!!
I'm sorry about the cold toes. we all learn from our mistakes, thank goodness.
I love you, your Bubster

norm magnusson said...

Please take me next time. Thanks, Norm

Alison said...

FROM MARIO BATALI:
hey julian
it seems you have a major career ahead of you in food journalism, i am sure frank bruni will be stepping down in the next few years and i will certainly suggest your name to the powers that be at the ny times food section... the
delicious detail of your writing really brings me into the dining room with you and i agree that daniel is perhaps the very best french restaurant in nyc if not
in the entire us keep up the good work and enjoy every bite it seems you already do!!!
your pal mariob

Isabelle said...

J-Man. I want to hang out with you. You sure are going to some good spots...and now that they know who you are, sounds like they are taking nice care of you. I heard a story about a SF food critic who had to wear fake mustaches and makeup so he would be treated like a regular customer and not be biased by the royal treatment. That might have to be next!!! Keep it up!
Michael