Four Seasons 2012 (NYC)

2_PoolRoom_FourSeasonsRestaurant

They did it again.  2nd “Meal of My Life” at the Four Seasons Restaurant.  My hat goes off to everyone involved!

Let me first describe the setting.  If you’ve not been to the Pool Room before, you need to experience it.  At lunch, it is an airy, high-ceilinged, light-filled room that immediately instills a sense of calm.  At night, however, it feels like a temple in some far off land.  The lighting, the pool bubbling away in the middle, the subtle ripple of the ‘blinds’ on the long vertical windows, the plantings suspended magically in the air in front of each window, and the gentle hush of a room filled with eager diners enjoying themselves.  The bustle of the highly professional and attentive people working in the room with an unparalleled level of precision is all part of the experience.

Our lovely hosts had assembled an amazing group of college friends and their spouses in honor of a visiting authority in the art world.  Ten of us sat at a round table nestled in the corner for one of the best meals ever.  Even Julian stuck around late to ensure that no need was unfilled.  And, the master of food service, Giuseppe was operating at a level that even surprised our host.

Amazing room.  Old friends.  Tremendous service.  And then the food:

  • Dishes of olives and pickled elephant garlic cloves to snack on (the cloves were insane and have been added to the Ultimate List)
  • Vegetable crudite
  • A sampling of snacks which included the famous new potato with creme fraiche and caviar
  • Crispy skinned grilled dourade wrapped sushi-roll style around tuna and salmon sashimi
  • Kobe beef sashimi
  • Crayfish in a boat of puff pastry
  • The greatest duck in the world; nothing compares; perfectly cooked with tender, rich meat and crispy, glazed skin
  • Side of sauteed ramps
  • Side of morels
  • One of the best cheese plates I’ve encountered in the U.S.
  • Chocolate and Grand Marnier souffles
  • Cotton candy with fresh strawberry ice cream

A classic meal.  Perfectly executed.  Everything you could want in a meal.  So happy to have experienced it!

Let me double down here!  While this was the best dinner you could ask for, I also have to describe one of the best lunches I have ever eaten.  In celebration of a friend’s birthday, the same person who engineered the dinner described above also engineered the following menu:

  • Bluefin tuna sashimi pizza on puff pastry with miso mayo, thinly sliced jalapenos and microgreens
  • A wonderful white burgundy who’s name I cannot recall
  • Beluga caviar service with house smoked salmon, creme fraiche, toast points, capers, minced onions and egg
  • 2007 Ornellaia
  • Handmade fettucine with white truffles
  • 2007 Screaming Eagle
  • Australian Kobe strip steak with waffle cut fries
  • 2008 Harlan Estate
  • Cheese plate
  • Chocolate souffle with oreo creme anglaise