April 3, 2008

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minibar (Washington, DC)

This was at the top of my must-dine list in DC, and I labored to get a reservation for six months, calling every single time I was up before 10:00am (it used to be 9:00am) to get a reservation. Which was about ten times. But still, Jeanette and I had great troubles getting a reservation here, so when they called several days ago saying someone had canceled and we're next on the waitlist, we were very excited. Our expectations were somewhat medium, even though I'd been reading about what they're doing for so long, and it was so anticipated. The thing is, my experience at wd-50 a couple weeks ago (I have been putting off writing it up) was very disappointing, so I lowered my expectations for minibar as well, since they both are working in similar styles.

But I shouldn't have worried. minibar blew away our expectations. Normally, you go somewhere with a 30-ish course tasting menu of stuff that is specifically designed to be surprising and interesting and weird, and you figure you'll be into maybe 2/3 of the dishes, on a good day. And to be fair, only a handful of the courses were really surprising or new to me. But here's the thing: every single course--yes, that's EVERY SINGLE COURSE--was absolutely delicious. At no point in the meal did I put something in my mouth that wasn't yummy. At no point did I eat something for which I wouldn't have been happy eating seconds (well, alright, just one, but it was still good, there was just too much of it). That was the most shocking thing about the meal, more than the techniques, or the format. I've never had such a parade of tastes without a miss. Now, I'm not saying every course was a homerun--that wasn't the case. But every course was a base hit.

At wd-50, things were interesting, yes, but not more so than the courses at minibar. And at wd-50, about half the courses (out of eight or so) were bland. A few of the people at my table there didn't even finish several of the courses (before they were even close to full). I very much wanted to like that restaurant, but it just didn't do it for me on that particular night, with that particular menu, so although it had a couple courses that were just amazing and on par with the best of the stuff at minibar, the other half of them were just plain boring. Not the case at minibar.

So I'm going to get into a rundown of all the dishes we had, with photos, but first let me talk about the format. minibar is a six-seat bar set up a lot like a sushi bar. Two cooks prep every dish right in front of you, while chatting with you (to the extent their personalities and work loads allow, which turned out to be quite a lot). The minibar is on the upper floor of Jose Andres' restaurant Cafe Atlantico (where we also had an excellent meal a couple months back, and I highly recommend it--miles better than the pedestrian Jaleo). minibar does two seatings per night, which means they serve twelve diners per night. That's it. That also means it's quite tough to get reservations. When you do, they email you a form asking about your dining restrictions, you send it back with a credit card number (in case you don't show). It also informs you of the cost, just in case you didn't know.

When you arrive, you are presented with drink options. They don't do wine pairings (anymore?), but they offer lots of wines by the glass, with a bunch under $10, as well as disproportionately expensive bottles and half bottles (nothing under $50 that I saw). They also have three options for wine flights, which are $40 for five 3-ounce pours. Jeanette got one of those. I went with wines by the glass, and a beer.

Anyway, the format, with the cooks preparing everything in front of us, and answering all of my way-more-curious-and-advanced-than-most questions, was really awesome, and this was an unforgettable experience. Immediately upon finishing, Jeanette was saying she wanted to go again before we leave DC (which is in about a month and a half). It was that good. This may have been my favorite meal ever. The main two criticisms about minibar have been 1) that it's derivative of El Bulli stuff, and indeed they said a couple El Bulli cooks spent a few months there in the off-season, so it may be true, but it is a friendly, sharing relationship. 2) The menu doesn't change very often. And really, that's probably why it's so good. Many of these dishes have evolved for the last year or two, getting better and better, weeding out the misses, until everything left is really good. Anyway, here's what we had (and the headings and titles are those from the menu, which we received at the end of the meal, not my creations):

Munchies

1. Caipirinha "Nitro"

For the first salvo, they took a lime and froze it with liquid nitrogen, which causes the individual lime cells to separate. They put that into martini glasses, then poured a normal Caipirinha over it. That way, you get a very cold drink, with ice, but which doesn't get watered down. It also looks cool when they pour the liquid over the super cooled ice, with lots of vapor, and the individual lime cells are interesting. Nothing amazing here, just a good idea, done well. Good.

2. Parmesan "Pringles"

Parmesan crisps served with a Greek yogurt sauce. Nothing special, just delicious parmesan chips. If they bagged them, they would sell very well. They didn't taste all that different from normal parmesan tuiles, but they really had a great, familiar texture that was just like Pringles. The yogurt dip was also nice, but nothing special. Good.

3. Beet "Tumbleweed"

Julienned beet, fried in a little bundle. The frying really brought out the sweetness in the beet, and it was shatteringly crunchy. I think this beet could be used like veggie bacon. Very good.

4. Olive Oil "Bon-Bon"

Great olive oil with some salt, encased in isomalt. They said they dip a tube in isomalt, then pour in the the olive oil, remove the tube, and shape the tops. This is mostly a visual thing that people won't have seen much of before. The isomalt did nothing but deliver a shot of really good olive oil. Good.

5. "Mojito"

Carbonated mojito, reverse-spherified, lime zest on top. This was one of my least favorite courses. If I wasn't already so familiar with alginate-based spherification, this might be more surprising and cool. The only interesting thing about it was that it maintained the carbonation when spherified. I would have thought that an alginate skin would allow dissipation of the carbon dioxide, but they said they made these several hours before service. Other than that, it was just a mojito. Good.

6. "Bagels & Lox"

Salmon roe and cream cheese in a little cornet of some sort, garnished with dill. The roe may have been cured, I forgot to ask. It was, in any case, delicious roe, and the combo went well. Very good.

7. Blue Cheese and Almond

Creamy almond, frozen in liquid nitrogen on the back of a ladle, then unmolded. Creamy, cold, slightly sweetened blue cheese sauce inside, with almond shavings on top. The pairing went surprisingly well, and the texture of the almond cup was exactly like the thin chocolate coating on a Nestle Crunch ice cream bar. It cracked when you bit, then melted as soon as it hit your tongue. Very good.

8. "Dragon's Breath" Popcorn

This was the most surprising, if gimmicky, course of the meal. As far as I know, it's just nitro frozen crushed popcorn in a ball, with a bit of curry powder. It tasted good enough, but that was really beside the point. We were instructed to eat it in a single bite, and breathe out through our noses while chewing it. We were also told to look at our neghbors when we did so. The effect was very dramatic. Tons of vapor came out our noses, shooting down like smoke from a dragon's nostrils. I kicked myself for not getting a photo of it happening, but oh well. Experience was amazing, but the flavor was nothing special. Very good.

9. Conch Fritter

Beer-battered fried ball of creamy conch chowder. The center was entirely liquid. These were very similar to the fried cream corn balls I made a couple weeks ago, but they used a liquid inside instead of the cream corn I used. They were nice and crispy, and quite delicious. Very good.

10. Steamed Brioche Bun with Caviar

Osetra caviar on a steamed "brioche" bun. It was topped with a lemon air, and I think that the bun had something creamy piped into it, but I can't remember what it was. I do remember this dish being nice, but not that special, except for the cool little one-bite steamers in which they were served. Good.

11. Cotton Candy Eel

One of my top three favorite dishes of the night. This was really where the meal got going. Everything from here on was great. This was cotton candy with soy powder, on top of sauteed eel with unagi sauce, wrapped in a shiso leaf with something julienned, and soy powder and some (storebought?) spice mixture sprinkled on top. The eel was so delicious, with the cotton candy bringing a sweetness that played against the cool, sharp shiso flavor. The eel was deliciously browned in the saute pan, and had just a light brushing of sauce. Excellent.

Flavors & Textures

12. "Sun Dried" Tomato Salad

This was a play on caprese. They spherified tomato soup (Campbell's, they said), then partially dehydrated it over many hours. The result was a an alginate sphere with a skin that completely melted in your mouth, instead of the normal gummy leftovers. That's a technique that will definitely catch on elsewhere. Like my kitchen. They also had some good mozzarella, basil, raw tomato guts, arugula, olive oil, balsamic, and some kind of air. All the flavors were wonderful, and more intense than in the prototype, and the textures were new, interesting and more unctuous. Excellent.

13. Zucchini in Textures

Zucchini in three textures. Caramelized zucchini puree on the bottom, gelled zucchini on top with embedded zucchini seeds. Nothing but zucchini flavor. It was well-seasoned, and I got what they were going for. The caramelized flavors were supposed to add flavor depth, and the seeds were supposed to add texture. And if it would only have been one or two bites, this would have been an interesting exploration of one veggie. But it had more bites than anything else all night (seven or eight), and as a result, it was the one dish I didn't want more of. But it was still... Good.

14. "Caesar Salad"

This was a reimagined, sorta deconstructed caesar salad, and it was delicious. It was presented as two pieces of jicama-wrapped maki (no idea where jicama fits into a caesar salad, but it tasted great) on a bed of deliciously creamy caesar dressing. One piece had romaine lettuce, and was topped with a quail egg yolk (yum!). The other piece had, I think, anchovy inside, and was topped with a mound of grated parmeggiano. There were also two little croutons. This dish was just two perfect bites. Excellent.

15. Parmesan "Egg" with Migas

This dish tied perfectly into the previous course. It was a reverse-spherified parmesan "egg." When you ate it, the warm, creamy, intense parmesan broth gushed into your mouth and revealed a surprise inside: a warm quail egg yolk. The "migas" added salty crunch. Very good.

16. Sea Urchin with Hibiscus

I am growing to love sea urchin, and this dish was good. The problem is, I think they were anticipating their diners disliking sea urchin, and as a result, masked it a bit too much with the hibiscus air. I would have preferred a less intense accompaniment, in order for the briny urchin to come shine. On the other hand, Jeanette doesn't normally like sea urchin, and she liked this. Good.

17. Corn on the Cob

Sauteed baby corn with corn puree, crushed, fried popcorn, chives, and a micro corn shoot (I'm guessing). This was delicious and crowd-pleasing (and again, reminiscent of my corn dish, and I was also going to use some fried popcorn, but it didn't need it). Nothing challenging or weird here, just yummy, [out-of-season] corn. Very good.

18. "Guacamole"

Another delicious crowd-pleaser here. Avocado, rolled maki-style, around thickened tomato puree, topped with fritos, micro-cilantro, tomato brunoise, and some lime cells. Perfect, for what it was. Very good.

19. Smoked Oyster and Apples

Good smoked, raw oyster with a cube of some kind of apple. I have no recollection of what the foam was, nor what kind of apple it was, nor what the little black stuff in there was. But none of them detracted from a full-flavored raw oyster with a nice smokiness. More subtle than most of the dishes in this meal, which sorta drowned this one out. Still... Good.

20. Salmon-Pineapple "Ravioli" with Crispy Quinoa

It was so funny to have pineapple "ravioli," the very night after I made my pineapple ravioli. Their flavors were more interesting, but my technique was more innovative (hehe). They partially freeze pineapple in order to slice it extremely thin (yeah, I should do that with mine, as soon as I get a deli slicer). It was wrapped around (not sealed around) awesomely fatty, flavorful salmon belly. The pineapple was so thin as not to overwhelm the salmon belly, and the crispy quinoa added crunch. The green line is a spicy avocado and serrano chili puree. Very good.

21. New England Clam Chowder

Two different kinds of raw clam, one of them supposedly encased in its own liquor (though I didn't see anything that looked like an encasement), bacon dice, caramelized onion, potato foam, and some little piped dollops of something (essence of clam, or something, maybe). These clams were so plump and delicious, with all the accoutrements bringing out their sweetness, for a serious improvement on a dish I always love. Super-intense flavors here, and interesting textures. Excellent.

22. Breaded Cigala with Sea Salad

The "cigala" is a langoustine, as far as I know. Our chefs insisted that it was different from a langoustine, but I can't find any info about that. They thinly sliced some kind of bread, and sauteed it with the cigala on top of it, until the bread was crispy and the langoustine was warmed. Served with wakame, sea beans, a sauce I can't remember, and a briny foam that may have been shellfish foam. It was a wonderful evocation of the sea, and the cigala had a great texture and sweet flavor. Excellent.

23. "Philly Cheesesteak"

Thinly-sliced rare wagyu over a crepe filled with some kind of oniony, cheesy goodness. Another big crowd-pleaser, and it was absolutely delicious. My only complaint--and it's a serious one--was that they froze the friggin' beef in order to slice it thin. You could tell from the texture that had been frozen, and was still watery from thawing. It was a subtle complaint that I'm positive very few of even their diners would notice, but if you're gonna get the good beef, you should respect it more. The pairing was so good, the flavors perfect, and the beef still very flavorful, so even despite that, it was still one of my favorite three dishes of the night. Still, given the complaint, I can't give it an Excellent. Very good.

Dessert

24. Frozen Yogurt and Honey

This was one of the more progressive dishes of the night, similar in concept to frozen yogurt powder with mastic at Ideas In Food. Here, they had frozen yogurt powder (done the same way as that of Ideas In Food, with a spin in the Pacojet), frozen honey powder, and mint leaves. The yellow liquid around the outside was honey. Whatever it was, this dish was spectacular. The mint really made it, but the play of the yogurt and honey was already fabulous. Excellent.

25. Thai Dessert

After that last dessert, I really didn't expect anything to beat it. But then came this dessert, and I think this was actually my favorite dessert that I've ever had. Ever. Out of all desserts. Admittedly, I love the flavors of Thai food more than almost any other cuisine, and this just pushed all my buttons, but this was seriously a transcendent dessert. It had a frozen peanut cracker type thing that melted on the tongue, amazingly creamy coconut milk ice cream, sweet peanut sauce, tamarind paste, spicy red pepper powder, lime zest, and micro cilantro (at least I think it was cilantro). Everything just worked perfectly together. It was like my very favorite Thai dish, Panang curry, but a bit sweeter, and in dessert form. Earlier in the meal, the cooks had said that there's one dish on the menu for which diners often lick their plates, and that's it's fine with them. So when this dish came up, and I took my last bite, I decided, "Fuck it. I'm licking it." So I literally picked my plate up and licked it clean. And then several other diners followed my lead. Then the chefs told us that this is that dish; lots of people lick this plate. I can't really imagine a better compliment to the chef than licking one's plate. Excellent.

Sweet Ending

26. "Fizzy" Ball

We were presented with the last four items on a single slate tray, and told to eat them in order. The "fizzy" ball was just cotton candy tossed in a fizzy powder, with some orange zest. Basically, you ate the cotton candy, and it fizzed in your mouth. They said they didn't use Ferran Adria's "Fizzy" product from his Texturas line, but that they used something very similar. Good.

27. White Chocolate, Black Olive, and Mango Box

Perfect flavor pairing. They go really well together. Absolutely delicious, creamy white chocolate in a tiny "box" made from a translucent mango chip, with black olive on top. Excellent.

28. Carrot Cake Macaroon

A bursting of carrot cake flavor in your mouth, along with the creaminess of the icing. Best macaroon I've had, and almost the best carrot cake I've had. Excellent.

29. Saffron Gumdrop

I failed to get a close-up picture of this last one (look in the background of the last couple), but it was sweet saffron candy wrapped up in a clear wrapper like caramel would be. We were told to eat the candy, wrapper and all. It was very tasty, with an intense but sweet saffron flavor. The wrapper was flavorless. Oh, and they don't make the wrappers in-house anyway. It's just edible pastry wrapping paper. Very good.

And then, of course, we also got the bill. The server came out and placed an egg on the table in front of us, then dramatically smashed the egg with her hand. It shattered in a neat pile on the table, revealing its contents: a folded piece of paper that was our bill. $400 for two, after drinks, tax, and a good tip. And I think that was a hell of a value, for the experience we got.

Posted by Barzelay at April 3, 2008 2:10 PM | Comments (3) | Restaurants

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