Fine Dining and Fine Company

Hey, remember my friend Rachel who attends Culinary school here in NYC? Well, she pretty much rocks. The other night she invited me to dinner at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village. Blue Hill is a restaurant, located in an old speakeasy, that specializes in serving fine cuisine made with all local ingredients. The restaurant has its own farm where many of the ingredients are produced. Rachel is especially interested in the local food concept so she made a reservation as a culinary student in the hopes that she might have a chance to speak with the chef. Anyway I was lucky enough to get to go along because some other foolish soul cancelled on Rachel last-minute.

Blue Hill is by far the fanciest place I've ever eaten. The dining room was appointed in leather and mirrors, with a large vase of blossoming cherry branches in the center. It wasn't very large and seating was banquette style.

I enjoyed every minute of our meal. Rachel was such good company and we discussed the flavors, preparations, ingredients and presentations of each course. I learned a lot and really savoured the whole experience.

So the food. The menu was overwhelming so I told Rachel she could order for me. After ordering food just began to come to our table. First they brought us bread which was shaped like a bread stick and served in a glass cylinder, wider than a water glass. The bread came with three little dishes on a slab; one with fresh butter, one with carrot salt and the third with arugula salt. You pinched the salt and sprinkled it onto the butter. Rachel could taste the arugula but I thought both just tasted like salt and the butter was so good I didn't bother with them after a taste.

Next we got our first 'amuse bouche'. Amuse bouche is meant to be a taste of something, that you can eat in one bite, that experiments with texture and flavor and surprises the palate. Also it helps use up things you have too much of in the kitchen. Our first was 'asparagus burgers' which consisted of an asparagus relish or spread between two pieces of brioche which is a very sweet dense bread (kind of doughnutty to me). The burgers were no bigger than a golf ball and we were served one each on a slab of slate. Delicious and they were complimentary.

Next we were served some sort of meat slices that were really fatty and melted in your mouth. One slice for each of us, about the size of your palm. It was great but not as good as that asparagus burger thing! Next we were each served four bites of Grilled Spanish Mackerel with dandelion greens and ramps. This is on the appetizer menu but we didn't order it. I am pretty sure we were getting special treatment because of Rachel's culinary student reservation. The fish was delicious. The sauce had anise in it, and I picked up the flavor immediately to Rachel's surprise. Then I got really tickled with myself for knowing and recognizing a spice. Finally we received the appetizer we had actually ordered: This Morning's Pullet Egg which was a poached egg atop ramps with spec, which is a kind of cured meat, and brioche. It was delicious and rich and wonderful. This is the kind of restaurant you see on television where they served the dishes in the middle of a huge empty plate, on top of a smear of sauce, all stacked up and fancy. It always looks so tiny and unsatisfying and silly on television but the tastes are so rich and there are so many interesting things yet to taste, you don't want more than a few bites of any one thing. I understand the small portions now, though not so much the huge plate.

For our entrees the waitress recommended the Pig and the Chicken. Rachel had the Pig and ordered the chicken for me. Rachel's came with a piece of sweet potato that was cooked in miso and peanut butter. It was decadent. I am going to have to find a recipe that combines sweet potatoes and peanut butter because that is a flavor combination made in heaven! The chicken was served with a sauce of mushrooms and raisins. The breast meat was poached in buttermilk and it was out of this world, especially texture-wise. The thigh was fried crispy and delicious. I loved it!

When we got our dessert menus I noticed that cheese is considered a dessert. Rachel says that is common in France. We both noticed that one of the cheese plates comes with a Grayson cheese from Galax, Virginia!! We weren't up for an entire cheese plate but we asked for a small piece of the Grayson because we are from Virginia. It turned out to be stinky and very strongly flavored, not in a way I enjoyed. Oh well, can't win them all! Then we ordered the coffee cream which was a layered ice cream dessert served in a green glass jar. It was so creamy and delicious. While we were eating this the hostess came and invited us to the kitchen to meet the chef. The kitchen was BUSY and very small. The chef was young and listened intently to Rachel describing her culinary school career and interests while I felt completely in the way of all those cooks and waitstaff bustling all around me. Our trip to the restaurant paid of for Rachel though: She got the chef's contact information and an invitation to work as a shadow in the kitchen, watching and learning in a real restaurant and helping with some prep work! Yay!

When we got back to our table we had been served a fancy chocolate plate that had passion fruit truffles, cocoa covered almonds and coconut crusted, house-made marshmallows. The truffles were so strongly chocolate, and so tart at the same time, that both of us made faces while we ate them. They weren't bad, but you'd only ever need one bite of it. I finished the whole dining experience with the coconut marshmallow, which was the perfect punctuation to the entire affair. Delicious and perfect. Getting the bill was an entirely different feeling. Lets just say Rachel let me keep the ticket as a souvenir, especially since cellular phones and photo flashes aren't tolerated in the dining room. Too bad because I would have taken a photo of every last dish we got!

The meal was so satisfying and the whole experience was so rich and fun that I went to sleep that night smiling, and woke up happy the next morning.

Thank you Rachel!!