July 15, 2007

The long and short of it was that it was great. You must go there. You must go to Perilla. It was a great experience. Go. Go now to Perilla at 9 Jones Street (btw. West 4 and Bleecker Sts.) He put that $100,000 to good use.

First off, the host and hostess were exceptional. Fast, efficient and very warm and welcoming. Harold, you scored there. Second, the bartendress not only let me try wines but she was also very good at making suggestions and mixed a mean apricot kir royal. I haven’t even gotten past the bar and Harold, you scored another home run for Perilla. Though, I assume that Alicia Nosenzo had a large hand in the front of the house. Good for you, Harold, bringing Alicia on board.

When we got to our seat, on time, we had arrived early, our waiter was fantastic. He was warm, welcoming, interesting, attentive and seamless. It was the seamlessness that really made me like this guy. Everyone at Perilla was very warm and open. It was a great experience. Keep it up people.

OK. I haven’t even gotten to the eating part and that is where Perilla shines. The food was fantastic. I asked our waiter to give us copies of the menu so I might tell you how good this place was. We didn’t have our camera because we were there on business at the Fancy Food Show.

The first dish I had was the Spicy Duck Meatballs (Okinawa yam gnocchi, water spinach, raw quail egg), which was heavenly and not that spicy. I love duck and I love meatballs and this was a perfect combination. And anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a sucker for a good quail egg. (Remember when fillet Mignon with white truffles and sunny side up quail egg was on the menu? And you know I love Spago’s steak tartare) Kim had the Crispy Berkshire Pork Belly (pea tendrils, trumpets & Banyuls-vanilla gastrique). I’m also a sucker for Banyuls. Well, that, as you could imagine, was great. As good as the one we had at Momofuku. However, I was expecting more crispiness. It’s pork belly and I was wondering how he was going to crisp that. It wasn’t very crispy was the answer. However, it was fantastic.

We both had the Roasted Duckling (mustard greens, corn pudding and huckleberries). Both the corn pudding and huckleberries were sauce like. Very nice. This was a perfectly cooked duck with perfect seasoning. I had it medium rare.

We brought, per usual, chocolates with us and sent them back to Chef Dieterle. He sent out two sides, Faro Risotto (artichoke confit, Parmesan & chili-grape salad) and Creamed Corn (garlic chives & watercress). The creamed corn was indeed creamed corn but the freshest, most delicate creamed corn I have ever had. (Remember when I made cream corn for you, my gentle guests, from just picked fresh corn on the cob? Like that.) The Faro Risotto was in another class altogether. I have not had something this good since I ate Thomas Keller’s Tapioca and Oyster appetizer. It was heaven. It was magical. I would go back just to have the Faro Risotto. Yummer.

Then we had the dessert. That was also great. It was also a kind of thing that Thomas Keller would do. It was Lemon Fennel Donuts (milk chocolate & black plum sorbet). In the center was a white chocolate ganache. Note, that the menu says milk chocolate but our waiter told us white chocolate. So, I’m a little confused. The center was white enough to be white chocolate or a pastry cream. To me it did taste like a rich pastry cream rather than a white chocolate ganache. Pastry cream would have been a little less filling and maybe less cloying. By the third donut, I was super, tamped down full. With the fennel donuts, a black plum sorbet was served. (Here I seemed to remember someone saying red plum, but the menu says black. Help me out here Seth. ) It added a needed counterpoint to the donuts. They were little put they were very deadly. The dessert was worthy of the meal. Yum. So, good job to Seth Caro, the Pastry Chef at Perilla. Good job Harold Dieterle for hiring him. (Next stop, Top Pastry Chef. 😉

To be fair, we were already stuffed from the Fancy Food Show. That’s why I made reservations for 8:00 PM. Perilla was packed and hopping. The decor was very elegant and understated, the way I like it. The tables were wooden and beautiful. I wasn’t sure what wood was used but it was polished to a high gloss. The place was homey and elegant at the same time. I loved it. It was also a little noisy but that noise translated easily into a youthful high energy. Well done, Harold.

We will be going back for a dinner as soon as we are able. That might be awhile. I hope you enjoyed the chocolates, Harold, Alicia and Seth. Oh, btw, Harold was out of the kitchen when we came. He was talking to someone at the bar and not in whites. Very much on the sly, almost clandestine. And an even bigger shocker, we walked out of there, after drinking three drinks, wine, Kim didn’t have dessert, for $112. The two sides we got for free were $8 and $9. So, even if you add those it’s under $130. Is that worth the money or what? The answer is, yes Perilla is more than worth the money. (Kim had some of my dessert.)

And, oh, I did have a Chefgasim. =:-) 🙂