minibar

Do you want to know how dinner was? It was pretty indescribable, but, I'll try. To say that it was an experience and not just a meal would be stating the obvious. To quote Tom Sietsema "If Cirq du Soleil served food this is what it would look and taste like". It truly was like being at the theatre, and being able to jump right on stage and interact with the performers as they perform. I can't even begin to give justice to the experience by punching out little words on my measly blog, just go there, try your hardest to make a reservation, and enjoy every second of it. It does go by quite fast, in fact if I could muster any criticism at all it would be just that; it went by too fast. 27 courses and when you were done with one, another one was presented to you. These guys were good, they were fast, they were brilliant, they were personable, they were sweet, they were humble, they were funny. Sitting in front of the chefs that are so intricately preparing your meal, course after course, all the while answering every question you throw out there like "so what do you guys eat for dinner after this?" "Oh, I'm happy with a bag of fritos" is such a delicious honor. You can't even compare the contrast of being served your dinner, prepared behind a door, by a waiter, to sitting in front of these talented chefs who place each course in front of you as they describe its components. One of the most surprising parts of the experience was just how much fun it was to hang out with these guys, these uber talented chefs (one of whom gets heavily recruited by Top Chef each season but politely declines) who hang out with all the other uber talented chefs in the area as though it's no big deal. "Oh yeah, we're always messing around in the lab with Jose Andres". And they stand there, thanking you. They acted as though it was honor for them to be serving us, reminding us that we waited 30 days to be sitting there and they weren't going to let us down.

So on to the courses. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, though as the evening grew darker so did my pictures. I hate using my flash because I don't have a filter on it and it really washes out images. They were some courses that were mind-blowing, others I can't say I truly loved but that's simply because I'll never appreciate the texture of oysters or clams. Some courses you felt in your heart before it even made the short journey into your mouth, like a child staring at a roller coaster they are about to ride. And others, you relished with your eyes only to be completely surprised and shocked as it popped over your tongue. You could recognize the flavors but what your eyes registered was not as it seemed. They claim to not be molecular gastronomists because they haven't had the formal training, but to see them handle liquid nitrogen and place a cold shell of tzatziki in front of you, one would disagree. But I'll leave it at that and now leave you with some pictures.