GASTROMONDIALE

Arpege

Is Alain Passard a near magician who can cook with his left hand, so to speak, and still concoct absolutely perfect dishes?  Probably. Few can compete with him to create such elegant and amazingly harmonious dishes, which look simple on the plate but reveal so much intensity and complexity with each bite without losing focus.  His Fin gazpacho a la moutarde onctueuse d’Orleans,  Homard des Iles Chaussey “Arpege”, and Turbot de Bretagne  are all culinary masterpieces. They are masterpieces because the raw materials are perfect or near perfect (somehow the lobster meat had perfect texture but lacked the sweetness we associate with great blue lobster), the balance between acidity, nuttiness and sweetness in each dish is optimum, and all of these dishes are original and express the inimitable style of a great chef in bringing out the full range of flavors hidden in his ingredients without torturing them or subjecting them to senseless experiments with texture, as many Passard  imitators do. In fact, when he prepares a risotto du potager with various root and other vegetables from his garden, one feels that all our preconceived notions about luxury and “grand dining” can be laid to rest for a while. Sometimes the most simple (but not simplistic) is also the most decadent.

Stravaganza Mediterranea

When in Campania I usually lose track of time and space wondering if the sirens are actually echoing in my head. The environment is surreal. This time, about a month ago, I was invited to an event which also sounded surreal. My friend ENZO CALDARELLI brought together the icons of the “New Spanish Cuisine” who cooked for two days (June 12 and 13) before a select group of journalists, friends, and sponsors of the event. This extraordinary event took place in Michelin two star Don Alfonso restaurant in Sorrento whose chef and owner Alfonso Iaccarino and his elegant wife Livia turned out to be most hospitable, generous and engaging hosts. The participants ın the event included Alberto Adria of El Bulli, Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz, Alain Passard of Arpege,  Pedro Subijana of Akelarre, Santi Santamaria of Can Fabes, Martin Berasategui of the eponymous restaurant, Joan Roca of Can Roca, Claude Bosi of Hibiscus, and Oriol Balaguer.  Chefs, such as Heston Blumenthal, Gianfranco Vissani, and, probably my favorite under 30 years old chef in the world,  Fabio Barbaglini of  Café Groppi in Trecate, were among the guests.

Alain Ducasse in New York

During the last three months or so I had meals in some of the temples of Haute Cuisine in the US.  Notably Michel Richard’s CITRONELLE and MAESTRO (at the Ritz Carlton in Tyson’s Corner) in Washington DC,  DUCASSE, JEAN GEORGES, and PETER LUGER steakhouse in New York,  MANRESA, CHEZ PANISSE, OLIVETO, FRENCH LAUNDRY in Northern California and URASAWA and CHINOIS ON MAIN in Los Angeles. All but one of these meals had their merits. That is, apart from CITRONELLE  where the chef is serving almost a caricatural form of ersatz haute cuisine for the unsuspecting, lack luster clientele (although the staff is cordial and the wine steward one of the best in the States), all of these restaurants strike high points and I would recommend them for different reasons. I hope to review at least some of them in the coming weeks, and I now start with the Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in New York.

La Pergola and Vissani

In a past post I had inquired whether Da Vittorio and Le Calandre were the two best restaurants in Italy, awarding both 18 on the gastroville scale.  This was before I had dined at La Pergola. In my last year’s post I had also lauded La Pergola and awarded it 18.

L'Astrance: At the Crossroads

I recently had my second meal at this deservedly celebrated restaurant after a hiatus of two years. My first meal had revealed the courage of a young chef who was so ingredient focused that when he came across some outstanding cherries and strawberries he did not shy away from offering them in their natural format as a pre-dessert course with no manipulation.  At the same time, the chef, Barbot’s, desire for minimal treatment of ingredients and his determination to eliminate sauces as binding elements in his dishes embodied some risks. That is, his cuisine seemed very dependent on the quality of the raw material and their proper execution, and any single mishap on these counts would prove more disastrous for this chef than for some other celebrated French chefs. In addition, elimination of binding elements implied that Barbot’s cuisine was very much dependent on the synergies between the dominant ingredient of a dish and the supporting elements.  In that regard, although it was clear that Barbot was a painstaking researcher, he had not reached the maturity level and instinctual assuredness of his mentor Monsieur Passard of Arpege.  I was very curious to try the restaurant a second time, and when I called, Monsieur Rohat, the co-partner and manager of the dining room, graciously granted my request, adding that they no longer served an a la carte menu, but a menu surprise for the whole table.  "Is there anything you don’t eat?" he added.

Cordeillan Bages

I have been intending for some time to share my very positive impression of this gem with readers, but had not gotten to it. It is better late than never. Indeed my early fall (October 11) dinner at this chateau was one of the highlights of a 16 day trip to France and Spain. Other highlights included Mugaritz and Etxebarri in the Basque region of Spain, Con Fabes and Can Roca in Catalunia and L’Ambroisie in Paris. At Bras and Troisgros, on the other hand, we had less than stellar meals. My wife and I have also made a number of excellent new discoveries among one star and no star restaurants (Ca L’Enric and Ca Nasia in Catalunia and Pont de l’Ouysse and L’Esplanade in Dordogne—I hope to summarize them in an upcoming review).

Avant Garde Excellence? Mugaritz and Bras

Last month, that is in October, I had my first meals in these two highly touted restaurants. Our meals came on superb days as sunshine and blue skies put one in a great mood for exquisite dining, and the location of these two places, one in central Auvergne in France, and the other in a rural area near the French border, in the Spanish Basque countryside, could not have been more rustic and attractive. The meals, for the most part, lived up to expectations, although, overall, I fared better than I had expected (from my readings and personal conversations) at Mugaritz, and I fared less well than I had anticipated at Bras. Admittedly, Bras is the more famous and settled of the two, and the reason I compare the two is that, Aduriz, the chef of Mugaritz, clearly draws some inspiration and overall philosophy from Bras, even though he had apprenticed at El Bulli. Michel Bras, on the other hand, is now semi-retired and although he was present during our visit on October the 9th, I suspect it is now his son, Sébastien, who is at the helm. Both chefs try to deliver multiple textures and clean flavors, and they make complicated dishes look simple and natural. They are also known for the use of herbs and for vegetable dishes -- cooked to perfection. Overall, I have no qualms about these generalizations, but my own conclusions slightly differ from the current wisdom. That is, I found that the cooking at Bras was at times fussy and dishes were too complicated and lacking in a clear focus. It seemed like Aduriz had invested more thought to his dishes, and his minimalistic cooking is also, for the most part, luxurious and decadent. I also liked the fact that Aduriz is seeking out rare and luxurious ingredients, and if he can charge 25% more for his menus and if he uses even more luxurious ingredients, more Michelin stars will follow. The meal at Mugaritz progressed intelligently, like a crescendo, and our taste buds remained alert and curious throughout the meal. This is no small accomplishment. (Aduriz had concocted a tasting menu combining dishes from traditional and modern preparations, following my conversation with a great lady, Susana, who handles foreign communications. Unfortunately, Susana had a car accident and was recovering at home during our visit. I wish her a speedy and full recovery.)

Istanbul Adventures #2: Kebap Houses

If you think that kebap is simply ground and grilled meat on a skewer and that you can have it in Turkish restaurants in New York or Paris, then you are only partially correct. While it is true that kebap is grilled on a skewer, it is not ground. An authentic kebap is always hand cut with a special knife which is called zirh, and it is quite an art form, not unlike sushi, to master the trade. The meat cut with this sharp knife remains quite juicy and does not taste like a burger when grilled. I have never seen a Turkish or Middle Eastern restaurant outside Turkey which actually cares to prepare authentic kebap.

La Pergola in Rome

Last May I had a memorable meal in this celebrated two Michelin star restaurant at the end of my five day stay in this amazing city that I had not visited since my college years.  Thanks to some good advice from my friend Francesco, we had some authentic meals in Roma, and I became quite partial for various preparations of offals which are an indissociable part of traditional cooking with roots in the so called cucina povera.  I still lick my lips thinking of some of the best offal dishes I have had anywhere:  a  Rigatoni con la Pajate at PERILLI in Testaccio (bowels of the veal which have not been weaned), some mixed fritti of animelle (sweetbreads) and cervello (brain), as well top notch Trippa (tripes) a la Romana at the superb trattoria MATRICIANELLA, and also an equally successful Coratella of lamb (all offals) at the SORA LELLA which traces its origins to the Jewish-Roman tradition. All of the three restaurants were good, but if I choose one, I especially recommend Maticianella.

El Bulli vs. Can Roca -- A Lesson Learned

Having consecutive meals at the celebrated EL BULLI and the rising star CAN ROCA teach one a lesson against lumping together widely dissimilar restaurants under the same rubric of “creativity”. Indeed if this term denotes experimentation with new techniques and textures and a knack for unusual taste combinations, then both restaurants should score very high at that level. But in the case of El Bulli, Adria’s creations are mostly endless and tiring variations on some basic idea (freezing alginates with liquid nitrogen to obtain frozen surfaces with liquid or soft fillings), and despite Adria’s recent interest in Japanese cooking methods and ingredients, his cooking belies the very notion of “umami”, in the sense that, for the most part, it is neither unctuous or savory. On the contrary, most dishes that the four of us tasted on June 23 struck us as being quite artificial, repetitive and, unsubtle. This is a style of cooking which is perhaps a clever response to the declining quality and availability of our meats, seafood and vegetables in the modern age. Instead of seeking out the best available seasonal ingredients and enhancing their intrinsic qualities, Adria is on the lookout for a novel approach to cuisine which is not dependent on the availability and quality of ingredients. Ultimately, in a world where one can no longer find a good tomato or potato or wild turbot or Antep pistachios or fresh buffalo mozzarella, we may be grateful to Adria for having shown us the possibility of a third way between unadulterated and natural tastes and frozen supermarket food.