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Went out to a really lovely dinner last night at p*ong in the West Village. Not cheap, but highly recommended. We did the tasting menu, which was full of delicious and creative things.
We started with a roasted pear and field greens salad, with pecans and chevre. Standard, but well executed.
Then there was a squash soup with coconut and walnut amaretti swirled on top. Really ethereal texture.
Next was escargot and tapioca, with peas, edamame, and slices of roasted garlic. Very strange - I've never had tapioca in a savory context before. But amazingly good.
Then there was house-cured arctic char, on a little puff pastry, with this incredibly vivid dark sauce whose only ingredient I can remember is fennel. Wow.
A lamb empanada with fall root vegetables and Japanese curry was probably my favorite of the entire set.
Then started the desserts. First, vanilla-roasted pineapple with coconut sorbet (this was Chuckro's favorite). Then a chevre cheesecake. I've never had goat cheese cheesecake before, but this was amazing. So creamy and rich and with a depth of flavor you don't get from cream cheese or ricotta. Finally, there was a date pudding with fig and cranberry chutneys. Not incredibly creative, but really satisfying.
Apparently the waiter had heard us debating about the fact that if we did the tasting, we wouldn't be able to get the apple hand pie with bacon caramel. He brought it to us anyway, on the house. It was really good, although not as bacon-y or salty as I would have hoped. But free. And awesome. And the chef (a cute, kind of shy Asian man who we saw at the chocolate show a couple years ago) stopped by, and mentioned that if we liked bacon desserts, they had more next door at the bakery. (We weren't terribly interested at the time, being stuffed to the gills, but will probably go by some other time.) Very nice man. I suspect the fact that the restaurant was pretty dead had a lot to do with the personal attention (it was Thursday, and snowing, and there's a recession on and all).
We won't be regulars - that's out of my price range for a random night out - but I'd totally go again. Really, really good food. Also, conveniently close to a PATH station. Yay not having to walk more than a couple blocks in last night's weather?
We started with a roasted pear and field greens salad, with pecans and chevre. Standard, but well executed.
Then there was a squash soup with coconut and walnut amaretti swirled on top. Really ethereal texture.
Next was escargot and tapioca, with peas, edamame, and slices of roasted garlic. Very strange - I've never had tapioca in a savory context before. But amazingly good.
Then there was house-cured arctic char, on a little puff pastry, with this incredibly vivid dark sauce whose only ingredient I can remember is fennel. Wow.
A lamb empanada with fall root vegetables and Japanese curry was probably my favorite of the entire set.
Then started the desserts. First, vanilla-roasted pineapple with coconut sorbet (this was Chuckro's favorite). Then a chevre cheesecake. I've never had goat cheese cheesecake before, but this was amazing. So creamy and rich and with a depth of flavor you don't get from cream cheese or ricotta. Finally, there was a date pudding with fig and cranberry chutneys. Not incredibly creative, but really satisfying.
Apparently the waiter had heard us debating about the fact that if we did the tasting, we wouldn't be able to get the apple hand pie with bacon caramel. He brought it to us anyway, on the house. It was really good, although not as bacon-y or salty as I would have hoped. But free. And awesome. And the chef (a cute, kind of shy Asian man who we saw at the chocolate show a couple years ago) stopped by, and mentioned that if we liked bacon desserts, they had more next door at the bakery. (We weren't terribly interested at the time, being stuffed to the gills, but will probably go by some other time.) Very nice man. I suspect the fact that the restaurant was pretty dead had a lot to do with the personal attention (it was Thursday, and snowing, and there's a recession on and all).
We won't be regulars - that's out of my price range for a random night out - but I'd totally go again. Really, really good food. Also, conveniently close to a PATH station. Yay not having to walk more than a couple blocks in last night's weather?
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 06:01 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 06:05 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 09:01 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 09:20 pm (UTC)From:(How would this work? Two opposing pyramids? Pong with springs? A diamond in the middle you hit the ball down by using paddles on either side?)
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Date: 2009-01-17 01:04 am (UTC)From: