NJ/NY

April 6, 2012

I went to NJ for a work trip in early April and spent a week in Nutley and Hoboken. I love staying at the W Hoboken, as it has a great location on the Hudson River (love running along the waterfront) and easy access to the PATH rail to get into Manhattan. I also rented a car to do the daily trek to the Nutley site for work, so I'm getting to know the NJ traffic a little.

Check out the awesome magnetic mural of Manhattan at the W by Ann Carrington:

On Tuesday night, I went for dinner with one of my teams to Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in the meatpacking district:

Dinner is served family-style, so check out all the different amazing dishes we had below. I was also a big fan of the passion fruit sangria and the ginger margarita too...

Lobster summer roll with citrus-dill gelee and sriracha emulsion:

Crab dumplings with sugar snap peas and aromatic spices:

Black pepper shrimp with sun dried pineapple:

Salmon tartare with so ginger dressing, avocado and radish:

Spiced chicken samosas with cilantro yogurt:

Spicy Thai fried chicken wings with asian pear and mint:

Spicy Shanghai soup noodles with chilled silken tofu, garlic and herbs:

Steamed lobster, butter fried garlic, ginger and dried chili:

Coconut sticky rice steamed in banana leaf:

Vegetables in green curry:

Char grilled chicken with kumquat lemongrass dressing:

After dinner, a few of us took a stroll on the Highline at night, and caught a nice view of our hotel across the Hudson.

The rest of the week was full of work, and on my last night, I went to Bin 14, a great wine bar and restaurant in Hoboken. I met up with Katherine first:

After a drink with Katherine, I was joined by some of my team in Nutley for dinner. We shared a gaggle of dishes for dinner, check out the pics below.

Three kinds of bruschetta: 1) Tuna tartare with jalapeno, scallions and capers, 2) Lobster club with crispy prosciutto, and avocado, 3) Salmon tartare, ricotta, basil, chili-orange marmelade

Pizza with prosciutto di Parma, fig and ricotta:

Mushroom risotto with truffle oil and shaved parmesan:

Macaroni and cheese:

Fried chicken with corn bread:

I headed home on the Friday, but it was a great week out east. I'll be heading out there more often in the future (once a month or so), so it's nice to get to know the area more.

fun.

March 29, 2012

Will was out of town on a backcountry ski trip, but he had bought tickets to see one of our favorite bands (fun.) many months ago. So, I got to go with Key instead, yay!

On Wednesday night, Key and I grabbed dinner at Bar Crudo, and then went over to the Independent for the concert. The lead singer of fun. is Nate Ruess, previously of one of our other favorite bands, The Format. He has a very distinctive voice and writes some great catchy songs. Fun. has found recent success with their single "We Are Young" from their second album, which is all over the place and topping the charts. Frankly, both their albums are fantastic, and I was excited to see them live again.

The opening band was Avalanche City, with a charismatic lead singer from New Zealand. I really liked what I heard and it's always exciting to discover a new band in concert.

Fun. time:

Such a great concert, so glad that Will got the tickets, even though he couldn't come! It was also nice to run into Pete and Woody. Fun.!

Joel Robuchon

March 12, 2012

A grown-up "sophisticated" trip to Vegas includes some really upscale dining. Thankfully, AFC (Asian Foodie Club) was on board and Key booked us in at Joel Robuchon. This flagship restaurant of the famous french chef holds many awards. As stated on the restaurant website:

Winner of Michelin's Three Star, Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five Diamond, and Wine Spectator's Grand Award, Joël Robuchon has redefined Las Vegas fine dining. Joël Robuchon was named France's Chef of the Century by the esteemed Gault Millau restaurant guide. Coming out of retirement to open his first restaurant in the United States, Joël Robuchon caters to a sophisticated palate that features a menu of his finer specialties.

After the day spent poolside at Aria in a cabana, we got gussied up for the marathon dining experience. Joel Robuchon goes all out and they pick you up in a car (we had a black SUV going there) and drop you off in the quiet back entrance of the MGM private residences.

The dining room and decorations are bright and opulent. After reading many reviews, we were still trying to decide between the various menu options, and it was really trying to choose the four- to six-course option, or the very decadent 16-course "Degustation" menu.

After a lot of hemming and hawing, I rationalized that this was a "once in a lifetime" visit, and I should just go all out and do the 16-course degustation menu. Key and Sue Hee opted for the other menus, and I committed to staying away from the infamous bread cart.

At the beginning of service, the butter "sommelier" presents a mountain of butter from Brittany, France. He shaves shards of butter with a sprinkle of sea salt. I think if we weren't all together, Key might have eaten the butter straight.

The infamous bread cart:

The pictures below concentrate on the items from the 16-course degustation menu (Key and Sue Hee had other dishes with their menu).

#1: "L'Orange Sanguine", an emulsion of blood orange on a wild berry gelee

#2: "Le Foie Gras", haricots verts, mimosa salad with shavings of foie gras and parmesan

#3, #4, #5: "Le Caviar", maki of thin cousous, chilled corn veloute with croutons, salmon tartar with shiso sprouts

#6: "La Truffe", crispy black truffle tart with onion confit and smoked ham

#7: "La Saint-Jacques", pan seard scallops with fregolas pasta and coral emulsion

#8, #9, #10: "Les Crustaces", truffled langoustine ravioli, grilled spiny lobster in green curry, "chaud-froid" of sea urchin on fennel potato puree with anise citrus

#11: "Les Fevettes", savory scented fava bean veloute with sweet onion foam

#12: "Le Bar", sea bass and artichoke cooked in cocotte, barigoule jus

#13: "Le Boeuf", beef rib eye with condiment and baby chanterelles

#14: "L'Epeautre", sault farrow prepared risotto style with gold leaf

Thankfully, my menu didn't include the insane and amazing cheese cart, but Key's did. It was pic-worthy.

#15: "L'Ananas", pineapples infused with vanilla, gingersnap cookie crumbs, pumpkin spice cream

#16: "Le Chocolat", Poire Williams mousse and cookie crunch hidden beneath a dark chocolate sphere.

I had finally made it to the end, it was a fantastic meal and really amazing experience. My comrades in AFC made this a really fun experience. My favorite dishes were the courses with "Le Caviar", "Le Crustaces" and "Le Boeuf".

Sue Hee wanted some tea, and at Joel Robuchon, they do it big time. Fresh grown herbs cut right from the pot and steeped hot water. She chose spearmint, which is great for digestion.

Nothing says "big french meal" without mignardises. Of course, it's another cart with an insane amount of choice.

Alas, about 5 hours later, we were food drunk and we roll out of the restaurant.

We got a ride back to Aria in a gold limo:

A little take-away for the ladies, dark chocolate bar with gold leaf to remember Joel Robuchon.

Thanks to AFC for an amazing meal and fun night!