ladysprite (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladysprite) wrote2012-05-25 11:39 am
ladysprite) wrote2012-05-25 11:39 am
Entry tags:
Restaurant Project: J
Finally, another installment in the project! At this rate, it'll only take us a few more years to finish....
Having finally reached J, I knew I wanted to go to Journeyman - it was nearby, and newish, and it sounded absolutely fascinating from what everyone had told me. I'll admit that I had heard mixed reviews, but they all agreed it was very, very different from any other restaurant I've ever been to, and that was interesting enough to make me want to try it.
Getting there was, in fact, half the battle. Over the past two months we've tried to go there at least half a dozen times. Once they were closed for a week while their chefs went overseas for training, another time they were closed for a private party, other times our plans to invite other folks fell through. Finally, last weekend I just put my foot down and told![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
umbran to find a time and make us reservations, no matter what.
Then came the challenge of actually finding the restaurant (down a tiny, poorly-labeled alley, past a mostly-unmarked door in an industrial-looking brick wall). But we eventually found the place, and were seated. The restaurant itself is tiny, with about 26 seats total, so we were seated at the "chef's table" - counter seats, that look back into the food prep area. Luckily, for me this is a selling point instead of a detriment.
The restaurant has a tasting menu, instead of a standard menu; your only choices are 5 versus 7 courses and vegetarian vs. omnivore. We opted for the 5 course meal, since one of the extra courses was foie gras, which I don't eat, and in order to get the chance to try everything, I ordered the vegetarian whileumbran ordered the omnivore dinner. We didn't order the wine pairing, obviously, but umbran did order one of the house-made sodas, which was utterly fascinating - they asked him for a basic flavor profile; he chose citrus, and was given an apricot-lime-lavender soda that was one of the best things I tasted that night.
Our meal started with an amuse bouche of "aerated egg" with sauteed porcini mushrooms and ramp threads. I was a bit uncertain at first, but it turned out to be delicious - a warm, savory, rich, smooth froth with earthy notes that made me understand why other people like mushrooms, and the faintest hint of spice. After I thought about it for a while, the entire dish made a bit more sense; a meringue is, after all, just an aerated egg white, so the thought of a savory application isn't too absurd.
The bread they set out was good, though nothing special. There was a sunflower rye and another whole grain bread; both were tasty and neither too squishy nor too crusty, which is always an impressive accomplishment with rye breadk.
The first course was a "spring salad," which looked like an art nouveau painting. Huge white plate, tiny artistic dots of green and white purees, teenier dollops of crumbs and minced stuff, individual clover leaves and fiddleheads and translucent radish slices and goodness knows what else. I had no idea of what most of the ingredients were or how to eat it, but it was tasty enough. I had never tried fiddleheads before; it turns out I love them. Most of the dots were various green veggie purees, and at least one of the random dollops turned out to be minced rhubarb; the rest... it was food, it was interesting, it was in many places unidentifiable.
For the second course I had a cold pea and mint soup with milk custard, that was surprisingly good. I'm not generally a fan of cold soups, but this was delicious, and tasted more like fresh green peas than most actual peas I've had. The milk custard was almost more of a froth, and the two components together managed to hit a very interesting salty/sweet balance.umbran had razor clams in a fennel soup; he was a bit worried, not being very fond of fennel, but it turned out to be excellent as well. The soup wasn't too heavily anise-flavored, and the clams were perfectly cooked.
The third course, for me, was a 5-minute egg served with smoked cream and a lavender shortbread crumb, and a little side of fresh spring vegetables - fava beans, green chickpeas, a tiny perfect carrot about the size of my thumbnail, and something white that looked like a radish. The egg was, as advertised, perfect, and went better with the sweet cookie crumbs than I had expected, and I was amazed at the smoky flavor they managed to get into the cream. The veggies were wonderful, too; I had never tried fava beans or green chickpeas before, but I certainly will again.umbran had bluefish with black bean sauce and rhubarb, which turned out to be (in my opinion) the best dish of the night. The fish was crispy and the sauce was tangy and everything paired up into an amazing whole.
Fourth course for me was goat cheese agnolotti with spinach puree and onion chips; this was... good enough, I guess. Fresh pasta is always nice, and the spinach puree was equal parts sweet and bitter, and the fancy, translucent onion chips were amusingly similar to tarted-up French's Fried Onions, but it was nothing I haven't had elsewhere.umbran had veal and sweetbreads with polenta and fennel with green almonds. I didn't try the veal, which he said was excellent; the polenta was good and the sweetbreads were sadly kind of fatty and bland. The green almonds were fascinating, though; they tasted like a cross between an almond, an olive, and an aspirin. I kind of liked them, he didn't.
It was at this point in the meal that I finally realized what was bothering me about the entire experience. Everything and everyone in the restaurant was Too Damn Serious. No one was smiling, or really talking above a whisper. Not the servers, not the cooks, not the other diners. And there was no sense of excitement, or enthusiasm, or interest. This was a really cool, fascinating, food-geekery experience; there should have been some sense of fun to it, instead of the overwhelming atmosphere of studied blase and snooty jadedness.
And then the palate cleanser arrived and I stopped caring. Rhubarb sorbet and pistachio pudding, which turned out to be the other contender for best dish of the evening. The balance of sweet and tart was perfect, the texture was heavenly, and it was earthy and smooth and perfect.
The final course was baba au rhum - mine came with a chocolate/tobacco ganache, a dark chocolate sorbet, and a milk chocolate and something-I-didn't-catch mousse. I was a bit worried at the tobacco ingredient, but it tasted better than I imagined it would; it just wound up being a fairly bitter and dark chocolate. The cake itself was light and not too boozy, the sorbet was delicious, and the mousse was oddly salty and boozy but mixed well with the other flavors on the plate.umbran's came with a chicory pureee, some kind of coffee mousse, and... I think.... a grapefruit sorbet? It was all a little too coffee-heavy for my tastes, but he loved it.
After that, we ordered tea - I tried their Darjeeling, which turned out to be one of the best examples of it that I've ever had, andumbran had mint. They get extra points for actually having a tea menu, dividing out the actual teas and tisanes, and steeping the stuff properly. We also were given a little plate of... I don't know. Post-dessert desserts. There was a lime curd macaroon that was sweet and crumbly, if not quite as tart as I expected, a shortbread cookie with almond pudding and a candied green almond that tasted much better than the plain green almond, a teeny square of quince paste that I savored immensely, and a salted caramel that was smooth and smoky and almost perfect, except that there was no actual salt.
All in all, it was an interesting experience. I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I got to try so many new and different foods, and interesting preparations, but... I don't know if I'll ever go again. For about the same price, Campagna was just a more fun and tasty experience, and I can't quite get comfortable with the atmosphere of Important No Fun. Also, I still have no idea of how to eat half the stuff they put in front of me. But still, it was awesome to have tried once.
Now... any suggestions for K? Or for how to eat that darn salad in the first place?
Having finally reached J, I knew I wanted to go to Journeyman - it was nearby, and newish, and it sounded absolutely fascinating from what everyone had told me. I'll admit that I had heard mixed reviews, but they all agreed it was very, very different from any other restaurant I've ever been to, and that was interesting enough to make me want to try it.
Getting there was, in fact, half the battle. Over the past two months we've tried to go there at least half a dozen times. Once they were closed for a week while their chefs went overseas for training, another time they were closed for a private party, other times our plans to invite other folks fell through. Finally, last weekend I just put my foot down and told
umbran to find a time and make us reservations, no matter what.Then came the challenge of actually finding the restaurant (down a tiny, poorly-labeled alley, past a mostly-unmarked door in an industrial-looking brick wall). But we eventually found the place, and were seated. The restaurant itself is tiny, with about 26 seats total, so we were seated at the "chef's table" - counter seats, that look back into the food prep area. Luckily, for me this is a selling point instead of a detriment.
The restaurant has a tasting menu, instead of a standard menu; your only choices are 5 versus 7 courses and vegetarian vs. omnivore. We opted for the 5 course meal, since one of the extra courses was foie gras, which I don't eat, and in order to get the chance to try everything, I ordered the vegetarian while
umbran ordered the omnivore dinner. We didn't order the wine pairing, obviously, but umbran did order one of the house-made sodas, which was utterly fascinating - they asked him for a basic flavor profile; he chose citrus, and was given an apricot-lime-lavender soda that was one of the best things I tasted that night.Our meal started with an amuse bouche of "aerated egg" with sauteed porcini mushrooms and ramp threads. I was a bit uncertain at first, but it turned out to be delicious - a warm, savory, rich, smooth froth with earthy notes that made me understand why other people like mushrooms, and the faintest hint of spice. After I thought about it for a while, the entire dish made a bit more sense; a meringue is, after all, just an aerated egg white, so the thought of a savory application isn't too absurd.
The bread they set out was good, though nothing special. There was a sunflower rye and another whole grain bread; both were tasty and neither too squishy nor too crusty, which is always an impressive accomplishment with rye breadk.
The first course was a "spring salad," which looked like an art nouveau painting. Huge white plate, tiny artistic dots of green and white purees, teenier dollops of crumbs and minced stuff, individual clover leaves and fiddleheads and translucent radish slices and goodness knows what else. I had no idea of what most of the ingredients were or how to eat it, but it was tasty enough. I had never tried fiddleheads before; it turns out I love them. Most of the dots were various green veggie purees, and at least one of the random dollops turned out to be minced rhubarb; the rest... it was food, it was interesting, it was in many places unidentifiable.
For the second course I had a cold pea and mint soup with milk custard, that was surprisingly good. I'm not generally a fan of cold soups, but this was delicious, and tasted more like fresh green peas than most actual peas I've had. The milk custard was almost more of a froth, and the two components together managed to hit a very interesting salty/sweet balance.
umbran had razor clams in a fennel soup; he was a bit worried, not being very fond of fennel, but it turned out to be excellent as well. The soup wasn't too heavily anise-flavored, and the clams were perfectly cooked.The third course, for me, was a 5-minute egg served with smoked cream and a lavender shortbread crumb, and a little side of fresh spring vegetables - fava beans, green chickpeas, a tiny perfect carrot about the size of my thumbnail, and something white that looked like a radish. The egg was, as advertised, perfect, and went better with the sweet cookie crumbs than I had expected, and I was amazed at the smoky flavor they managed to get into the cream. The veggies were wonderful, too; I had never tried fava beans or green chickpeas before, but I certainly will again.
umbran had bluefish with black bean sauce and rhubarb, which turned out to be (in my opinion) the best dish of the night. The fish was crispy and the sauce was tangy and everything paired up into an amazing whole.Fourth course for me was goat cheese agnolotti with spinach puree and onion chips; this was... good enough, I guess. Fresh pasta is always nice, and the spinach puree was equal parts sweet and bitter, and the fancy, translucent onion chips were amusingly similar to tarted-up French's Fried Onions, but it was nothing I haven't had elsewhere.
umbran had veal and sweetbreads with polenta and fennel with green almonds. I didn't try the veal, which he said was excellent; the polenta was good and the sweetbreads were sadly kind of fatty and bland. The green almonds were fascinating, though; they tasted like a cross between an almond, an olive, and an aspirin. I kind of liked them, he didn't.It was at this point in the meal that I finally realized what was bothering me about the entire experience. Everything and everyone in the restaurant was Too Damn Serious. No one was smiling, or really talking above a whisper. Not the servers, not the cooks, not the other diners. And there was no sense of excitement, or enthusiasm, or interest. This was a really cool, fascinating, food-geekery experience; there should have been some sense of fun to it, instead of the overwhelming atmosphere of studied blase and snooty jadedness.
And then the palate cleanser arrived and I stopped caring. Rhubarb sorbet and pistachio pudding, which turned out to be the other contender for best dish of the evening. The balance of sweet and tart was perfect, the texture was heavenly, and it was earthy and smooth and perfect.
The final course was baba au rhum - mine came with a chocolate/tobacco ganache, a dark chocolate sorbet, and a milk chocolate and something-I-didn't-catch mousse. I was a bit worried at the tobacco ingredient, but it tasted better than I imagined it would; it just wound up being a fairly bitter and dark chocolate. The cake itself was light and not too boozy, the sorbet was delicious, and the mousse was oddly salty and boozy but mixed well with the other flavors on the plate.
umbran's came with a chicory pureee, some kind of coffee mousse, and... I think.... a grapefruit sorbet? It was all a little too coffee-heavy for my tastes, but he loved it.After that, we ordered tea - I tried their Darjeeling, which turned out to be one of the best examples of it that I've ever had, and
umbran had mint. They get extra points for actually having a tea menu, dividing out the actual teas and tisanes, and steeping the stuff properly. We also were given a little plate of... I don't know. Post-dessert desserts. There was a lime curd macaroon that was sweet and crumbly, if not quite as tart as I expected, a shortbread cookie with almond pudding and a candied green almond that tasted much better than the plain green almond, a teeny square of quince paste that I savored immensely, and a salted caramel that was smooth and smoky and almost perfect, except that there was no actual salt.All in all, it was an interesting experience. I'm glad I went, and I'm glad I got to try so many new and different foods, and interesting preparations, but... I don't know if I'll ever go again. For about the same price, Campagna was just a more fun and tasty experience, and I can't quite get comfortable with the atmosphere of Important No Fun. Also, I still have no idea of how to eat half the stuff they put in front of me. But still, it was awesome to have tried once.
Now... any suggestions for K? Or for how to eat that darn salad in the first place?
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Personally, I think you did fine with the salad. I sometimes think the reason chefs put out dishes like that is so they can scoff at the patrons who fail to read their minds at how to eat them.
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Apt you should use that comparison. I have felt more reverence some times at the table than ever in the pew. If the diners were determinedly quiet in order to appear cool and unimpressed then fie upon them but there are times when food can be so captivating that it deserves nearly all the diner's attention. Sorry if that sounds pretentious but I have a few specific first-time food memories (not all at fancy restaurants) that still make me close my eyes with quiet smile and go into fond reverie.
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I've had tasting menus at places that were happy to educate me on the nuances of the various dishes, and didn't act as if I were supposed to be born knowing the finer points of molecular gastronomie. I also ordered a dish at one restaurant that had the chef come out and shake hands with me because it was his personal pet project (hand-made sausage and charcoute garnie) and NO ONE had ordered it for days because it was sausage. (It was amazing. I love wellmade sausage.)
I saw in later comments that the restaurant owners are not the kind of jaded sophisticates the service suggested. Interesting. Makes me wonder why that's what comes across to diners.
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I'm sorry it felt like No Fun, though - the folks who run the restaurant are goofy people who are goofy and excited and not the least bit jaded about food and I would hope that would come through for everyone visiting.
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The steaks are pretty good, too. :)
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Reminds me a bit of Per se
.
If interested in doing it as a P drop me a note as I can't handle the tasting menu without sharing anymore and as a practical matter you need 4 people to get a reservation
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I'm disappointed at your description of the atmosphere, too, especially since it's my impression (as Dreda said) that most chefs who are into molecular gastronomy are unrepentant goofballs. I've been to certain restaurants that served wonderful food but that I'd never go to again, because it's not someplace you can have fun. When did you actually go? I'm wondering whether Journeyman would be better on another day, when the restaurant is filled with folks who go there for fun, rather than those For Whom It Is A Social Experience.
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