Tiny Urban Tidbits #1

Baked Alaska at the Oceanaire

I've decided to start a series called Tiny Urban Tidbits where I share with you some insights, "tidbits", or just random encounters from the week.  I carry my camera with me everywhere I go, and I love capturing photos of interesting things that I discover.  These may include new dishes from a restaurant that I've already reviewed, updates on what's going on locally, or encounters I've had in the kitchen.  It could even include a beautiful sunset, a funny sign, or just stuff I find amusing.  Think of it as snapshots (literally!) of my weekly experiences with food - intertwined with stories, of course.

A beautiful dessert that resulted from a dramatic presentation (see above) at The Oceanaire.

Will Gilson changes his menu at The Garden At the Cellar frequently.  We go here all the time because it takes us less than 3 minutes to walk to his restaurant.  Here is his recent creative interpretation of the very traditional French salad, Salade Nicoise.

Muqueca in Cambridge (another one of my favorite restaurants) recently moved to a bigger space right down the street.  They now serve alcohol and have a slightly expanded menu.  The ambiance is still charming (although not quite as intimate as the old space) and there is a lot more seating.  The service is still a bit slow, but the food is just as fantastic.  Prices have gone up a bit, probably to account for the new space and the liquor license.

I learned that tea eggs and Japanese egg molds don't work that well together . . .

Had a refreshing fruit that reminds me of my childhood. Anyone know what fruit this is?

Have a wonderful weekend! Look forward to another Giveaway next week!

Teflon Pan Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Teflon Pan Giveaway is . . .



Ophelia from The House Poet!  Ophelia said

"Oh, what a great recipe and pan! :) I love eggs so much-- I think my favorite egg recipe would have to be an omelette with sharp cheese, green onions, and chicken apple sausage! I would definitely be making those with that pan!"

Congratulations Ophelia!  Please e-mail me your shipping address and I'll have Teflon send you your pan right away.

Enjoy those eggs!

Hei La Moon

I grew up in northwestern Ohio, where there really wasn't much Chinese food available. At most, we had our share of not-so-authentic Chinese buffets and Chinese take-out joints. In fact, my resourceful mom learned how to make all sorts of Chinese/Taiwanese specialties from scratch at home because she had no access to these dishes locally.

One of my favorite food memories growing up was our road trips to Windsor, Canada. Only an hour's drive away, Windsor was a totally different world.  Windsor was filled with Chinese food. Chinese dim sum, Chinese supermarkets, Chinese bakeries. Dim sum was always a treat, and such a fun experience for a kid!  Imagine it: waitresses pushing around carts full of delectable steamed buns, shrimp dumplings, and fried taro balls.  The excitement of being able to pick what you wanted to eat from the cart.  And every single dish being so delicious, so much better than anything we could get in northwestern Ohio. Oh, I loved it. We always finished with a stop to a Chinese grocery store, and of course, the Chinese bakery.

Going to Hei La Moon this weekend totally brought back those memories. You definitely get the authentic experience at Hei La Moon, complete with the big round tables, harried waitresses pushing carts around, and a sea full of Chinese people.

Case in point: if the place is completely packed with Chinese people, odds are that the food is pretty good.

I love being able to pick out my food from carts being wheeled around.  It's such a fun experience!

Here is a dish full of fried stuff! One of my favorites is the deep fried sesame mochi ball (lower left corner).  Chewy, sweet, and totally satisfying!

We got a bunch of things, and all of them were quite tasty. A lot of dim sum dishes have either shrimp or pork. If you don't eat one or both of these meats, you might have a hard time finding food to eat. One of my favorite dim sum items is Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll shown in the upper left photo (chang-fen). I have always loved the texture of rice noodles and the flavor of the brown sauce, which is like a slightly sweetened soy sauce mixed with oil.  Pork and Mushroom Dumplings (shumai)  is also a classic (lower left), as are BBQ Pork Buns (char siu bao) shown on the lower right.

Shrimp Dumplings (har gao) are another must-get if you have dim sum. I personally liked the Shrimp and Leek Dumpling (lower right) a lot too.  Spareribs (lower left) are another classic.

For the brave, you can try Chicken Feet (left) or Tripe (cow stomach - right). Although I can eat chicken feet, I don't particularly enjoy it. The flavors are great, but I just don't love the texture of stewed chicken skin, which is essentially what you are eating. I do love tripe, and I thought it was very good here.

We got some Pan Fried Vermicelli to balance out all the meat we had.  I thought this was only average.

Of course, you have to end with a dim sum classic, Chinese Egg Tarts!  I love these, and have even tried making my own, although I must admit that the restaurant ones were much better (probably because they use lard for the crust!)!

Overall Thoughts
Having had Chinese food in both LA and all throughout Asia, Bryan and I both still agree that Boston is not yet up to par as these other places when it comes to Chinese food. Nevertheless, I think the food at Hei La Moon is very good, and it's probably one of the best, if not the best, dim sum place in Boston. The experience is totally authentic. They have the huge round tables (which means you might share a table with strangers), great cart action, really good food, and the festive atmosphere of a true dim sum restaurant. I was surprised that I did not see some dishes that I typically see (e.g., fried taro balls, turnip cake) but I think it's because we arrived a bit later (1:30PM) and dim sum was winding down by then. It's best to go early, like around 11AM, to really see the action!

If you've never had dim sum before, I would highly recommend trying it. It's a really unique and fun experience, and I think Hei La Moon is a great choice!

Prices & Parking
At the beginning of the meal you receive a sheet of paper that waitresses stamps every time they give you food off of the cart. Prices were quite reasonable. I think we paid $12 a person total (including tax and tip) for the meal shown in this post (6 people for all that food). There is parking in a garage right above the building. You pay in full first ($11) and then you pay Hei La Moon $6 to get it validated. You then bring the ticket back to the garage attendant for a full refund. The parking garage is a little confusing. There are a lot of tandem spots. You can park in them as long as you give your car key to the attendant.

There is also a pretty good Chinese supermarket, C-Mart, attached to the same building. It's great to go there after lunch because you have validated parking already!

Hei La Moon
Chinatown
88 Beach St
Boston, MA 02111

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Teflon Pan Giveaway
By the way, it's still not too late to enter the Teflon Pan Giveaway. This is a 10-inch Tramontina nonstick pan with Teflon Platinum technology, which can withstand use with metal utensils! Drawing will occur at Thursday, April 22, 2010 at midnight. Good luck!

Oven Baked Taro Chips

If you haven't noticed by now, I've been having tons of fun making all sorts of chips in the oven. From simple oven baked sweet potato chips to more exotic kale chips and sunchoke chips, I'm starting to think there's no limit to what you can bake as chips!

I happened to be Chinatown this past weekend, so I stopped by the Asian grocery store.  I love taro in so many things, so it was not hard to decide to pick one up. Of course, deciding to make chips took no stretch of the imagination.  Unlike sunchoke chips (which I just sort of made up off the top of my head), taro chips are actually marketed and sold. Those chips are fried though, so maybe there's some novelty to this recipe?

In any event, these chips are crunchy with a mild distinctive taro flavor.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on top, and you won't be able to stop eating them.

Here's a picture of a taro root (in case you don't know what one looks like).  You have to peel off the outer, rough skin before slicing it.  I used a Mandolin slicer to make nice, even, thin slices.

Spray with a vegetable oil mister and lay across in a single layer on a pan.  I used a toaster oven, so I could only make a few chips at a time.

Bake at 400 degrees.  They will begin to curl up, and will eventually brown on the edges.

Oven Baked Taro Chips
1 Taro root
vegetable oil spray
salt
Mandolin slicer (optional, but very helpful!)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Using a peeler, remove the rough outer surface of the taro root.  Using a mandolin slicer (or a cleaver), slice the taro into very thin and even slices. Spray both sides of each slice with an oil mister.  Bake for about 20 minutes (or until the chips turn golden brown).  Let cool, and enjoy!

Notes: I made this in a toaster oven.  Ovens vary, and the thickness of your slices will vary  as well, so use the time as a guide, but definitely keep an eye on the chips. Otherwise, they will turn black!

It's best to bake similar sized "chips" together, as they will have similar cooking times.  Otherwise, it will be a pain to take some chips out but leave others in there because they are not done. The window of opportunity between not-quite-done chips and burnt chips is only about 5 minutes, so definitely keep an eye on those chips!

Enjoy!

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Teflon Pan Giveaway
By the way, it's still not too late to enter the Teflon Pan Giveaway.  This is a 10-inch Tramontina nonstick pan with Teflon Platinum technology, which can withstand use with metal utensils!  Drawing will occur at Thursday, April 22 at midnight.  Good luck!

Tamagoyaki (Japanese Omelet) + Giveaway!

I love sushi, and those who know me know that I typically shun most "cooked" sushi, opting instead for beautiful cuts of raw fish.  There are a few exceptions that I make, and tamagoyaki is one of them.  For some reason, I love the simple, slightly sweet, slightly savory taste of this Japanese omelet.

In Japan, they sell square pans for making these omelets.  I wondered whether I could make it at home with a normal non-stick pan.  Coincidentally, the folks at Teflon contacted me and asked whether I would like to test out one of their new non-stick pans.  According to the Teflon spokesperson, Teflon has been doing a lot of research the past few years, and the new coating is much more durable and will not flake off over time, unlike the previous generation of pans.  This particular pan is made with Teflon Platinum, Teflon's most scratch resistant coating to date.  There is an added midcoat technology that protects the surface from being scratched. You can actually use metal utensils on these pans! Better yet, they offered to give one away to a lucky Tiny Urban Kitchen reader (details at the end of the post).

Of course, since my own non-stick pans did not really work anymore (they stick dismally to eggs!), I agreed to test this pan and also conduct a giveaway.  What a great way to try out my tamagoyaki recipe at home!

Most tamagoyaki recipes will tell you to put a thin layer of oil on the pan to prevent the egg from sticking.  Since I was testing this pan, I thought I would put it to the rigorous test of making eggs without any oil at all.

Overall, it worked beautifully.  I did not use a drop of oil, and I was able to make a pretty nice omelet.  I did need to use the spatula at the edges to start the whole thing off.  Once I had my roll started, however, the rest was pretty easy.  The pan was also easy to clean.  I used a soapy sponge and easily washed off any remaining egg bits.

Tamagoyaki
Adapted from Just Hungry

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp. mirin

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. soy sauce

Using a fork, lightly beat eggs, sugar, mirin, salt, and soy sauce together in a bowl.  Avoid using a whisk because you want to minimize bubble formation.  Heat non-stick pan to medium low heat and add a few tablespoons of eggs - just enough to make a thin layer in the pan.  Wait until the egg is mostly set and not runny  (~ 5 min).  Using a chopstick and/or a spatula, slowly roll the egg mixture onto one side of the pan.  Add a few more tablespoons of egg mixture, letting the egg run underneath the egg roll and wait for it to set.  Repeat by rolling the egg roll back, forming a bigger roll. Continue going back and forth until you use up the egg mixture (about 3 times).

Place the egg roll inside a damp bamboo sushi roller.  Wrap the roller around the egg and tighten/squeeze the egg "roll."  You can either keep it rolled up rested on a bowl to let cool, or slice and serve right away.

Note: This tamagoyaki is a little less sweet than what you might find in a restaurant.  Feel free to add a bit more sugar if you like your eggs sweet.

Presentation Ideas

The traditional way to eat tamagoyaki is to put it on top of sushi rice and "tie" it together with a thin strip of nori (black dried seaweed). But there are lots of different ways of enjoying this versatile omelet.

Serve as an appetizer!

Or as part of a healthy bento lunch!

Giveaway
The folks at Teflon were kind enough to let me conduct a Giveaway as part of this post.  This is a 10-inch nonstick Tramontina pan coated with Teflon Platinum technology (the one that can take metal utensils!).  It's perfect for making tamagoyaki without any oil.  To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment telling me your favorite egg dish and how you like to prepare it. For extra entries, please subscribe via RSS or become a fan on facebook. Please leave a separate comment for each of these entries.


Teflon Pans / Nonstick Pans

There's been a lot of debate about whether nonstick pans coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), branded as Teflon by Dupont, are safe. PTFE itself is inert and nontoxic. However, at higher temperatures (starting at 260 °C / 500 °F), PTFE begins to decompose and will release certain fumes.. Some of these by-products are carcinogenic.  The fumes can also cause polymer-fume fever (temporary flu-like symptoms) in humans and can kill birds.  Studies have shown that a lightweight, empty pan on a burner set to "high" can easily reach temperatures over 500 °F.  However, eggs cooked at medium heat will only reach temperatures of around 104°C / 220 °F.  

The other concern about PTFE was the presence of trace amounts of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) that came as a result of the manufacturing process.  The jury's still out on the safety of PFOA, although evidence points to the fact that it might have some negative health risks.  More recent studies have shown that hardly any PFOA is detected when a nonstick pan is heated, thus reducing earlier fears about this byproduct.

In short, Teflon coated pans are safe to use as long as you use them properly.  Most importantly, don't ever heat an empty pan (or even a pan with just oil in it) on high!  I plan on keeping my pan mostly for making eggs and other low-heat dishes.

Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products from vendors to review. I do not receive any payment for these posts/reviews. The views expressed in the posts are completely my own. For this post, I received one non-stick pan from Teflon to review and another for a giveaway.

Olives

The other day Bryan and I were chatting and wondering who was the most famous chef in Boston.  Boston has no shortage of local celebrity chefs, but we really wondered how many of them would be nationally recognized. We threw around a few names. Ming Tsai.  Ken Oringer.  Joanne Chang.  Todd English.  Or maybe Jody Adam and Ana Sortum, contestants in most recent Top Chef Masters.

After only a few minutes, we decided it was a toss up between Ming Tsai and Todd English.

Todd English has had questionable press lately. Between the tabloids pouncing on his failed engagement to foodies accusing him of being a sellout, things have not been the most pleasant for this once extremely popular and well-respected chef.

We wondered how true the rumors were about his once acclaimed restaurant - the one that brought him to fame.  Is it really past its heyday?  Is the food still as amazing as it once was?

Todd English opened Olives back in 1989 with his then wife, Olivia (yes, the restaurant was named after her). It quickly became locally recognized as the best new restaurant, and soon, lines were forming outside of this place.  It was impossible to get into this restaurant.  One critic said it took him a year to score a spot.  Some will even venture to say that Todd English brought a new level of dining to Boston, and that before English, food in Boston was pretty boring New England fare.  Same old scrod, lobster, chowder, and the like.

Twenty years later: Many more interesting restaurants have hopped onto the Boston dining scene, yet Olives still survives.  So it must be doing something right . . . right?

Olives, tapenade, and olive oil

As we entered Olives, I was really not sure what to expect.  I had perused some review sites online, only to find very, very mixed reviews.  Some loved the food, while others were sorely disappointed. We had tried the Olives in Vegas for lunch, and we had enjoyed it a lot, but had never dined at the original Boston location.

Carpetbagger Oysters
Crispy Wellfleet oysters, beef carpaccio, truffle aioli...$15.00
The waitress recommended this dish, and I can totally see why - it was REALLY good!  Imagine an empty oyster shell filled with a base of truffle mashed potatoes, then a deep fried oyster, topped with beef carpaccio drizzled with truffle aioli and some sea salt.  It was absolutely delicious, and the presentation was pretty dramatic too.  They are sitting on salt!

Yellowfin Tuna Tartare
Spun cucumber salad, crispy rock shrimp, whitefish caviar, warm sesame dressing ...$16.75
The appetizer had a nice mix of flavors and textures.  It was nowhere near as good as the tuna tartare from Market by Jean-Georges (which actually only costs $14 at lunch), but it's not bad. The soft tartare, crunchy fried shrimp, and the cool cucumber work nicely together.  I personally thought there was a bit too much sesame oil, which made the dish a bit greasy.  I was also disappointed in the quality of the tuna, which by itself had little flavor. Nevertheless, it was a decent dish and reasonably enjoyable overall.

Agnolotti
Asparagus, peas, pea shoots, guanciale, and parmesan cream sauce ~ $22
The agnolottis were filled with a mashed potato of sorts, which was mildly interesting.  The guanciale (cured pork cheeks, sort of like bacon) added a nice smokiness to the dish.  The parmesan sauce was fine, although nothing particularly exciting.  I would say most dishes in North End would beat this any day.

Slow Braised Smoked Beef Short Rib
Blue cheese mashed, broccoli rabe & oven dried tomatoes ...$32.50
This was really really good.  I really think Bryan scored much better than I did at this dinner.  These short ribs were truly fall-off-the-bone-melt-in-your-mouth soft.  Apparently they have been stewed for over 24 hours.  We both agreed this was much better than the short ribs we had at Tom Coliccio's Craft Steak in Las Vegas.  Beautiful flavors, rich sauce, amazingly soft meat - truly an excellent dish.

We really really enjoyed this!  We got an assortment of cookies & ice cream for $16.  Red velvet whoopie pie, two types of chocolate chip cookies, a snickerdoodle, and a ginger molasses cookie.  There's also a chocolate cupcake and three types of ice cream (vanilla, caramel, and chocolate).  The cookies were really good!  Of course we could not finish, so we took home about half.

Concluding Thoughts
So is this a foodie paradise? Probably not, but the food is solidly prepared, with some real standouts. The prices are on the high side, (and there are probably better places in this price range), but you can definitely have a very enjoyable evening here. In fact, it will be much more enjoyable if you're not paying for the meal.  I would definitely recommend asking your server which dishes are the best - Bryan did that, and he scored.  I just picked stuff off the menu myself, and I was slightly disappointed with both of my dishes.

Todd English acknowledges that foodies are not his target audience.  He's "aiming for the (upscale) masses, . . for the people who'd otherwise be eating at the Cheesecake Factory or McCormick & Schmick's."  In that regard, this place goes above and beyond those types of restaurants.  I'm mixed on whether I would consider it a destination restaurant - maybe not - though it might be worth visiting for the shortribs and the oysters (yum!).

Plus, Charlestown is really really quaint and cute, so it's totally worth visiting if you've never been there before.  In fact, the Freedom Trail passes through it and basically leads right up to Olives.  So, if you are walking the Freedom Trail, you could always stop by here for a meal.

Olives
10 City Sq
Boston, MA 02129

Per Se

It's an oasis at the top of the Time Warner building. Down below, it's chaotic. Yellow taxis circle frantically around Columbus Circle dropping off harried guests. Pedestrians with a purpose walk quickly toward their destinations, while cars honk their horns impatiently.

It sort of looks like this.

But up here, it's quiet, relaxing, and sort of zen, almost.

Welcome to Per Se, Thomas Keller's flagship restaurant in New York.  After having tried his West Coast flagship restaurant a month ago, we were curious what his other establishment would be like.  In many ways, the two restaurants are like night and day: east coast versus west coast; rustic cottage versus urban skyscraper; backyard vegetable garden versus international import hub.

And yet there are obvious similarities as well: impossible reservations, unique spaces, fresh and inventive high dining, three Michelin stars apiece, and, of course, one renowned chef.

For this meal, we did something a little different.  I ordered the Tasting of Vegetables, while Bryan got the classic Chef's Tasting.  Accordingly, there will be double the pictures compared to normal.  Please join my as  I take you on a photo journey of our exquisite meal at Per Se.

Let me start with the space. The dining space is airy, modern, and overlooks Columbus Circle. Though nowhere as intimate as eating in a rustic farmhouse, it was still very relaxing and enjoyable. There's really no bad seat in the house.

Here's another view from our table.

Salmon Coronets
Of course, we started with the classic salmon cornet (also served at The French Laundry). The Tasting of Vegetables came with a special beet coronet, which I thought was very cool.  I love beets, and this was no excpetion.  It was delicious. I mean, they are both delicious, and if pressed I'm still not sure which one I would choose as a favorite. How about both? ;)

Oysters and Pearls
"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and Sterling White Sturgeon Caviar
The oysters and pearls is another classic Thomas Keller dish, and also served at both restaurants.  Served with a mother-of-pearl spoon, this dish is beautifully decadent and has been perfectly executed both times we've tried it.

Coddled Square Hill Farm's Ameraucana Hen Egg

cauliflower florets, mint, citrus, gelee


Asperge en feuille de Bric 
Cherry Belle Radishes and Miner’s Lettuce with Black Winter Truffle Mayonnaise
Aren't those ribbons beautiful?  The perfectly fried spears came with a beautiful black truffle mayonnaise.

White Fish (?)

eggplant, pea tendrils, English peas, toasted almonds with madras curry "nuage"

I believe this course is actually one of Bryan's courses.  Unfortunately, Per Se does not give you a copy of your tasting menu at the end of the meal (unlike The French Laundry), so I'm having a bit of trouble reconstructing our entire meal.  Bear with me!

Cipollini Onion Ragout madras curry, flowers

I loved this dish, the second course in my vegetable tasting. The onions are richly full of flavor after having been cooked for a really long time. They were nicely caramelized, wonderfully earthy and sweet. The madras curry added a beautiful richness to the dish.  Even Bryan liked it, even though he typically does not like Indian spices.

Butter Poached Nova Scotia Lobster Mitts

creamed romaine lettuce, trumpet mushroom, caramelized cipollini onion rings with applewood smoked bacon vinaigrette

We were surprised how strongly we could taste the romaine lettuce in the bright green sauce.  It was so unexpected, surprisingly, and delightfully delicious.

Gnocchi Parisienne Aux Noisette Grillees

cilantro, frisee, heirloom carrots with brown butter emulsion

Unlike traditional gnocchi, this gnocchi was small, dense, and grilled (and thus slightly charred - yum! you know how I loved pan fried gnocchi!).  The flavors were delicious, and I loved the mix of textures from the raw vegetables and the cooked gnocchi.

Sauteed Filet of Line Caught Stripe Bass

Sacramento Delta Green Asparagus, Garden Mache with Sauce "Bordelaise"

Homemade Egg Pasta Sheets with a roasted red pepper sauce and cheese.
This dish was creatively assembled and beautiful to look at.  Flavor-wise it was good, although I actually think it does not necessarily beat some of the best pasta dishes I've had at the North End in Boston!

"Fricassee" of Liberty Farm's Peking Duck
Fava Beans, Cherry Belle Radishes and Heirloom Carrots with "Sauce Perigueux"

Marscapone Enriched Yukon Gold Potato Agnolotti
Split peas, pea tendrils and parmesan cream with Black Winter Truffle
I loved the little delicate agnolottis filled with bits of cheese and potato.

Elysian Fields Farm's Carre D'agneau Roti Entier
Gnocchi a la Romana, violet artichokes, garlic confit, olives, cilantro shoots with lamb jus

This was delicious, although Bryan said that the beef he had at The French Laundry was better than this lamb.

Fromage D'affinois
Hakurei turnips, field rhubarb, and mizuna leaves with spiced streusel
This is the cheese course, complete with cute little turnips!

Here's another look at those Hakurei turnips.  Aren't they cute?

Pineapple Sorbet
Lime macaron, compressed golden pineapple, papaya, and Persian lime salt
This dessert was enjoyable, although not particularly memorable.

Guava Sorbet
Black sesame nougatine and Kiwano Melon with Whipped green tea
I actually liked Bryan's guava sorbet better.  It had such a beautiful intense guava flavor.  Of course, guava is also one of my favorite fruits, so I may be just a bit biased.

Glace a la Vanille
Coconut water, champagne mango, coconut sugar wafers
This was my second dessert, and quite refreshing.

"Swiss roll"
Chocolate "roulade" Manjara chocolate "cremeux" chocolate covered banana with glace a la creme fraiche
They accidentally brought us the wrong dessert (Bryan had ordered the Lemon Gingersnap below), so we ended up getting to try both. Although we liked both, we both agreed the Lemon Gingersnap was better.

"Lemon Gingersnaps"
Jamaican Gingerbread and Meyer Lemon "Marshmallow" with "Pain d'Epices" Ice Cream

And after dessert, more random things kept coming, like this creme brulee for Bryan!

And a panna cotta for me (nice and lighter!)  We were so full at that point!

Finally, an assortment of miganardises.

I chose four.

And it's not over yet!  Then they bring tins and tins of after-dinner candies.  We enjoyed the chocolate dusted hazelnuts, but they were not nearly as amazing as the chocolate dusted macadamia nuts from The French Laundry.

Take Away Butter Cookies.  These are very similar to those at The French Laundry, except the ribbon is brown instead of blue.

Kitchen Visit
Unlike at The French Laundry, where the waiter invite us to see the kitchen, I had to ask our server whether we could see it.  The manager then took us on a brief tour.

By the time we entered, they were cleaning up, since lunch was basically over.

We saw the TV that displays a live feed from The French Laundry kitchen.  Of course, lunch was just getting way in Napa Valley, since they are three hours later.

Concluding Thoughts
The food was excellent here - well executed and thoughtfully created.  It's probably clear by now (if you've actually read the entire post), but we both liked The French Laundry slightly better.  Both are excellent, but we definitely felt that the The French Laundry took extra care to make sure we had a really unique and special night. We really felt pampered.  Little things, like inviting us to the kitchen, or giving us a print out of the menu at the end, made the evening that much more special.

In spite of all that, Per Se makes phenomenal food, and it was still a very very enjoyable experience.  The space is lovely, the food is exquisite, and service is excellent.  After a frustratingly slow dinner at Morimoto the night before, this was really a relaxing breath of fresh air.

We chilled, looked out over Manhattan, and just had a great time.

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A Few Notes
The tasting menu costs $275 per person (including gratuity & taxes).  This is $25 more than The French Laundry.  Of course wine is not included, although I don't think they charged us for other drinks (e.g. coffee and sparkling water).  On Sundays only they offer a 5-course brunch tasting for "only" $175.  We went on Sunday, and it seemed like not all the tables were filled. Might not be a bad time to try getting a reservation!

Other posts in this Big Apple Series
Morimoto
Joe's Shanghai
Waldorf Astoria
Smorgas Chef

Per Se
10 Columbus Cir Fl 4
New York, NY 10019