Amuse bouche: fluke tartare with lime cream, carrot soup with pea puree, crostini with creme fraiche and radish (if I remembered that all correctly). They were all good but the soup was my favorite - perfectly warm and smooth with just the right amount of seasoning. I wanted to stick my fingers in the glass and swipe it clean.
Bruleed foie gras with rhubarb juice, pineapple raisins and peppercorns. I love a good piece of foie gras and not that the quality was subpar, but the portion size was a little too generous and there was not much to contrast the extreme richness after I finished the accompanying crostini.
Crispy soft shell crab with shiso-yuzu mayo and Boston lettuce.
Broiled shrimp, mousseron mushrooms, herbal infusion and lime.
I'm not typically a lobster fan but this sounded too good on the menu to pass up. Maine lobster, potato dumplings, and pickled chilis.
Grilled beef tenderloin, creamed basil, fava beans, and crispy onions.
For dessert, guests are to pick a theme on the menu (Rhubarb, chocolate, citrus, or garden) and within each theme 4 samplings of a dessert are served. I loved this idea and the presentation was beautiful, but for the most part each dish was just okay. I would have preferred a solid single dessert.Rhubarb
Rhubarb and frozen yogurt.
Strawberry rhubarb soup with passion fruit, mango, and yuzu (my favorite).
Warm honey rhubarb tart with crystallized rose petals, strawberry foam.
Frozen aerated rhubarb, creme fraiche custard, and buckwheat streusel.
Garden dessert
Chocolate cremeux, mochi, blackberries, hazelnut.
Bitter almond macaron, sweet pea ice-cream and green almonds.
Carrot cake, rum raisins, cream cheese froth.
Sparkling raspberry, melon, vanilla-birch cream.
Post dinner sweets, rose petal macarons and handcut marshmallows, chocolate truffles and fruit pate. Servers bring a big glass jar of the homemade marshmallows and cut squares for each table. Another impressive presentation however I've never been a fan of a marshmallow unless it was totally charred and smokey but these did have a delicious texture. Like biting into a sweet and delicately powdered cloud.
After dinner I had made plans to go to the LCD Soundsystem afterparty and as I was getting ready my doorbell rang and I was surprised with the most gorgeous cake and a bottle of champagne by my friends :) so sweet! All I wanted to do this year was have a low key birthday and dance all night (which I did) Made the smart decision to wear flat sandals.
