LWF&D goes to Napa, part II

The day after we arrived was my birthday, so of course I had booked something special for dinner. After hot-air ballooning in the morning and doing a bit of inaugural wine-tasting in the afternoon, we headed into downtown Napa for dinner. And where was our destination? No less than the most famous vegetable-focused restaurant in the country, of course: Ubuntu.

Frank Bruni brought fame to the vegetable restaurant-slash-yoga-studio when he wrote about it a few years ago. In person, the restaurant is quite large, with warehouse-style high ceilings and an insanely, almost preternaturally peppy and friendly staff, all of whom are clearly committed to the pro-vegetable ethos of the restaurant. We each started out with some bubbly in their elegant flutes, and after a few moments the amuse bouche emerged. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no recollection of what this was, except for the fact that the foam was bizarrely flavorful and the chilled soup below it was delicious.

Wine! Because it's Napa, of course

I want to say it was cucumber-based soup with tomato-basil foam?

To begin, we shared the "garden snake," a tangle of fresh greens and flowers accented with their signature "soil," essentially a way to repurpose vegetable scraps (as explained by our server). That night, the soil was made of charred kohlrabi, and it was a bitter counterpoint to the fresh greens.

Served on a plank of unfinished wood

As entrees, Mom and I shared the beets ("assorted beets, roasted and a la giardiniera, with preserved lime and pistachio; lightly cooked squash, mint, torn potatoes, purslane"). This was a symphony of flavors, with fuscia beet puree and all different kinds and colors of raw and cooked beets. The spice-coated crispy potatoes were hearty and tasty as well.

Isn't that beautiful?

We also went for the asparagus dish: "roast and raw asparagus, cool burrata coated with s&p potato chip crumbs; potato skin puree, pine nut/currant soffrito, baby head lettuces." This was an insanely busy plate, arranged like the forest floor, with tastes of asparagus, dollops of creamy puree, puddles of foam, sweet currants, and more. Oh, and the small spheres of burrata were as reliably milky and creamy as expected. I preferred this dish, potentially because the flavors were slightly more familiar (asparagus and cheese, sure!) while Mom slightly preferred the beets.

Asparagus and burrata. Of course.

Nothing on the dessert menu appealed (stay tuned...), but since it was my birthday, the kitchen sent out two mignardises with a candle. These were their play on PB&J, with jelly gelees sandwiched between peanut butter chips, and darn it if it didn't taste exactly like PB&J. Spot on and incredible.

Adorable. And there was a candle on the end of the plate.

Ubuntu was certainly an experience, and I'm very glad I went. It's not exactly the kind of food I crave every day, but it featured the most creative takes on vegetables I've ever seen, alongside an attractive dining room and super friendly and welcoming service. For those who appreciate food-- even those who aren't vegetarian-- it's a prominent example of a restaurant keeping the purity and integrity in its food while not forgoing creativity or deliciousness. If you're in the Napa region, it's an experience and a must-do.

Ubuntu
1140 Main Street, Napa
707-251-5656

LWF&D experiences Nougatine... finally

Nougatine, the slightly more casual part of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's flagship Jean-Georges restaurant, has been on my list of places to go pretty much since I moved to NYC. Now that I'm imminently moving south to Philly, I wasted no time in checking it off my list once and for all, toting Mom along for a delightful dinner.

And delightful it was. We were a little underdressed, to be sure, but we could appreciate the relaxed decor, the friendly and professional servers, and the eye-catching open kitchen bustling with activity at the end of the room. My only room-related gripe was the table: It stood on a tapered pedestal that was thick at the bottom (kind of like a mushroom), which cut drastically into the table's foot room. Kind of a bizarre choice.

But once we got beyond that, it was smooth sailing. One of the greatest things about Nougatine, I discovered, was that they offer wine in half (3oz) pours as well as full pours, which meant I could try two different kinds of wine! I started with a half pour of Domaine Carneros bubbly, which was fantastic, and finished up with a superlative Torrontes that was aromatic, crisp, and pretty darn delicious. Also, notably, for some reason they offer Cristal by the glass (and half glass). Huh.

Bubbles

Two half glasses = more than 1 glass. Yay!

To accompany the wine (and club soda, for Mom), we started with bread. Though the butter was cold and hard to spread, the bread was delicious, with a slight sourdough tang and an irresistibly stretchy inside.

And they give you two pieces at once!

Oh, and there was an amuse-bouche as well. A shot of warm carrot soup was surprisingly yummy; the accompanying rye toast was pretty standard, but it certainly got the job done.

Dollhouse food

To start, Mom went completely rogue and ordered the artichoke with mustard mayonnaise. Crazy town! After a steep but rapid learning curve in terms of how to eat it, she declared her love for the dish. I sense a long and happy artichoke-laden future for her.

The 'choke!

On to the entrees. Mine was warm asparagus topped with mixed mushrooms and a vinaigrette. Though there were only four thick spears (a bit paltry, in my opinion, for an $11 dish), all the ingredients were top-notch and remarkably flavorful. I particularly loved the mushrooms, which were actually the best part of the dish for me.

Lots of flavor, little portion

Mom chose the red snapper, with asparagus, shiitakes, and sesame vinaigrette. It was as satisfying as she expected, with perfectly-cooked fish sporting a crisp crust and a flavorful, Asian-inflected gingery sauce.

Really pretty fish

Of course, dessert was up next. The dessert menu was extensive and enticing, with everything from carrot cake to hazelnut dacquoise. It was hard to choose, but we did. In a startling turn of events, Mom chose the warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. She loved it, but I thought it was surprisingly plain for a Jean-Georges dessert: pretty standard chocolate cake, above average vanilla ice cream, job done.

Mod chocolate cake

Mine, however, was transcendent, one of the best desserts I've had in a while, in fact. This was a coconut and mango-passion mint vacherin with exotic fruit chutney. A cylinder of mango-passion sorbet-ish substance sat atop a dish of crunchy meringue, all crowned with whipped meringue and crystallized mint and surrounded by a small-dice tropical fruit salad. The plate was painted with passion fruit puree, and a long stick of meringue provided both garnish and textural and visual interest. The dessert was an explosion of flavors, fresh and vibrant and sweet and satisfying. And the textural range was impressive, from soft and silken purees and whipped meringues to firm, toothsome fruit to crunchy baked meringue. In.Sane.Ly. Good.

Explosion of color and delight!

Oh, and to send us off were three tiny mignardises each: two pates de fruit of indeterminate flavor and a chocolate-covered orange jelly stick. These were ah-kay, nice sweet bites but nothing too special.

Freebies

All in all, though, Nougatine is quite a special place. The food is spectacular, and the service and overall experience are both pretty great as well. It's a four Offset Spatula destination that's perfect for special occasions and any time you want to feel, well, delighted.

Nougatine
1 Central Park West
212-299-3900

Expensive but spectacular food at Lincoln

As you may have noticed, I do my fair share of dining out, and cheap bastard/points junkie that I am, I try to make as many reservations as I can through Opentable. Because Opentable means Opentable points, and Opentable points mean Opentable dining cheques (yes, with a que, not a ck). They're basically free money to spend like cash at any restaurant that takes Opentable reservations. So with a $50 dining cheque to my name, I decided to make a last-minute, midweek reservation at an absurdly expensive restaurant and blow it all on myself. Because really, how often do you get to do that?

Well, if you're thinking absurdly expensive restaurant that takes Opentable reservations, look no further than Lincoln, the new Jonathan Benno outpost at Lincoln Center. It's been acclaimed for its architecture, but reviews on the food have been mixed. So what did I find?

In short, a beautiful dining room, showstopping food, and tepid service. (And, um, high prices. Did I mention that?) The room is sleek and mostly glass, offering expansive views of the Lincoln center courtyard, 65th Street, and the open kitchen, depending on where you look.

Service, however, wasn't as sleek as the views. My waiter rushed me in ordering, despite the fact that I had a very early reservation in a nearly empty restaurant, and didn't seem thrilled at my salad order; nor was he happy to see the dining cheque at the end (regardless of my 32% tip on the pre-tax total...and the fact that the cheque is apparently just like cash--??). Fortunately, much of my interaction was with a runner/water-filler/quasi-waiter (I couldn't quite figure his role out), who was friendly and personable and all-around awesome.

But what you really care about is the food, right? Right. As soon as I sat down, I was offered a couple of pieces of flatbread in a creative holding contraption-- think sideways desktop file holder--and a dish of chile breadsticks. Both were rather forgettable, but they whet my palate for the voluptuous and lip-smacking glass of Erbaluce I ordered, which is incidentally one of my favorite wines and one you rarely see on by-the-glass menus.

Some crunchy carbs to ease you into the meal

Erbaluce-- it's a pretty color, to boot

And just as I was about to be disappointed with the mediocre bread offerings, I was offered a choice of three REAL breads: a sesame slice, a white rustic slice, and sundried tomato focaccia. Is there even a thought process there? Focaccia, please! They offered a small dish of white-bean paste, which was smooth and mild, and a small tub of floral olive oil, which was some of the most vibrant and flavorful olive oil I've ever tasted. The focaccia itself was outstanding, among the best bread offerings I've had: super-oily in the best way possible, with an incredibly stretchy interior, a few bits of sun dried tomato for flavor, and coarse salt scattered across the top. Ohhhhghghghgh drool.

Om nom nom nom nom nom

Oh, and then they brought over the day's assaggi, which is their equivalent of an amuse-bouche. This was a tiny fried pasta parcel filled with pureed squash, kind of like an empanada. It was fresh-from-the-fryer hot, subtly sweet, and entirely addictive.

Despite appearances, not a Totino's Pizza Roll

Yes, there is focaccia salt on my thumb

Finally, the main course: the Insalata Verde Mista. This was a pile of delicate mixed greens atop a few well-roasted vegetables: a roasted red and yellow pepper, a sliver of tender eggplant, an artichoke heart, and a tiny bit of fennel. All vegetables were spiced and oiled and given as much flavor as is possible to lend to garden vegetables.

The veggies are hidden, but they're there

But who are we kidding, this whole deal is but a lead-up to the dessert course. There are several appealing options on the Lincoln dessert menu, and while I pondered the Tiramisu (described as "tiramisu meets creme brulee"--hmmm...) as well as the chocolate-lover's Zuccotto, when it came time to decide I went straight for the Crostata di Mele. Out of left field, I know; it's not something I'd usually order, but by gosh, I wanted an apple tart.

And it was a fabulous choice, if I do say so myself. This delight consisted of a butter-cake-like base covered with caramel-cooked apples, all topped with the perfect buttery crumb topping. The cake sat on a smear of pastry cream and was matched perfectly with a quenelle of mascarpone gelato, cool and sweet without competing with the apples' flavor. A bite that included gelato, butter cake, stewed apple, crumb topping, and pastry cream was a big bite indeed-- but as close to pastry perfection as I've had in a long while. And it's worth noting that the portion was huge, definitely enough for two to share (or, you know, for one of me).

Best. Apple. Tart. EVER.

Finally, the sated diner is left with a plate of mignardises. There was some sort of caramel cream cookie sandwich (not my favorite); a take on the Milano, with butter cookies sandwiching semisweet chocolate (surprisingly also not as good as hoped); a sesame biscotto (exactly as you'd expect it to taste); a gianduja chocolate (a grown-up take on the Reese's peanut butter cup, with a hazelnut butter base crowned with chocolate and topped with a candied hazelnut); and finally, the breakout star of the collection, a pistachio-marzipan confection that was nutty, chewy, and berry-inflected all at once.

That homely green thing was the best

Phew. There was a lot of food, and nearly all of it was quite good or better. But you know what the best part of the evening may have been? Just sitting there, watching Jonathan Benno in his open kitchen, witnessing the cooks moving smoothly, listening to the controlled hubbub, and basically being privy to the action of a high-quality restaurant. I know I'm a bit of a fine dining groupie, but I loved it.

My meal-- appetizer, glass of wine, dessert, came to $43 pre-tax. Yes, that's ridiculous, although with all the extras they throw your way, you get quite a bit of food. And if you happen to have a $50 dining check to fritter away somewhere, Lincoln is pretty much the perfect place to do it. You'll get a four Offset Spatula meal and a front-row seat to the action in the kitchen.

Lincoln Ristorante
142 W. 65th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway
212-359-6500

Travertine: All style, little substance

Trying to grab a few moments together while she's in town, SL and I met up for a very early dinner on Saturday evening at Travertine in Nolita.

It's located on a very desolate and unappealing stretch of Kenmare Street, and the open front of the restaurant let in all the street noise, including some vigorious honking wars. The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, sleek and well-put-together, with some of the nicest bathrooms I've seen in a while (seriously).

The service was a bit touch and go. I arrived first to our absurdly early reservation, and though faced with a 100% empty restaurant (literally. No other customers were there), I was directed to sit at the bar until the rest of my party arrived. Now, I don't want to get into a full-on discussion of this policy right now, but suffice it to say that when you're half of a party of two in a restaurant that consists entirely of empty seats, this just comes off as ridiculous. Furthermore, once SL arrived and we took our seats at a table, I brought along the glass of water I had been drinking at the bar and placed it on the table. When the runner came over to pour water, he poured water in the empty water glass that was part of the place setting in front of me and then stopped, puzzled at why there were three water glasses on the table. He stood for a good (awkward) several seconds, then pointed to my glass from the bar-- I explained that I'd taken it from the bar-- and then he (get this) MOVED my other water glass, which he had just poured, to put in front of SL, took away her empty glass, and left. Apparently you only get one glass per person. The whole thing was just awkward and vaguely hostile.

Anyway, on to the food. There's no bread basket, apparently, so we contented ourselves with the amuse bouche: a citrus and fennel salad. This was crisp and refreshing, if a little unwieldy to eat off the Asian spoon-- it's several bites' worth of veggies, and it basically just falls all over the table.

Kind of like Asian soup... right?

For entree, Sarah chose the pici with Italian sausage, fennel, and toasted breadcrumbs. The portion was small, but it looked like a hearty and well-composed dish.

Tiny bit of pasta for $18

My choice was the burrata. It was a medium-sized hunk of mozzarella, arranged almost like scrambled eggs on a plank of toasted white bread. There were some small cherry tomatoes scattered around along with a few shavings of zucchini and some tiny leaves of basil. Overall, the dish was enjoyable, with two quibbles: 1) it needed salt, and 2) the burrata actually wasn't that high quality. If I'm splurging for burrata, I expect the creamiest, melt-in-your-mouthiest mozzarella with a liquid cream center. This had no liquid cream center, and the cheese solids were of pretty standard quality. Again, it was tasty, but for $13 I expected just a bit more oomph.

Cheesy... just not the cheesiEST

We went elsewhere for dessert, so we paid the bill and left the still-almost-empty dining room. On balance, I think our experience at Travertine was thoroughly average-- the food was good but not spectacular, and the prices are pretty high for the small portions. The dining room is beautiful, but the restaurant's surroundings are bleak. It's kind of a toss-up as to whether I'd go back-- I'm hovering between two and three Offset Spatulas, but I think Travertine lands on the two side. There are better options in the area, especially given value for money.

Travertine
19 Kenmare Street, at Elizabeth Street
212-966-1810

All by our lonesome at Insieme

The bro turned 28 last week, and with Mom in town, a birthday dinner was in order for Friday night. Mom had to work late, and the bro wanted Italian food, so we convened a "dinner" party at Insieme, on the northern edge of Times Square, slightly after 9PM.

I'd been to Insieme once for lunch a while ago, and I remember it being good, so we all had high hopes. Our crew was motley: AV and I had already eaten; the bro and LM were rarin' for dinner; Mom, who joined late, had already eaten a light meal earlier. Needless to say, we were bound to confuse the waitstaff.

And confuse we did. After awkwardly hovering at our table despite repeated hints (nay-- outright requests) for him to come back later, our server was gleeful to take our order. But let's just say what we ordered disappointed him. As we ordered light meals one after the other, he said "For entree?" disapprovingly after each request. Yes, for entree; no, I'm not ordering anything else. I'd understand this attitude if we were taking up a table in a busy restaurant, potentially sucking revenue they could otherwise get from a big-eatin' crew; however, we were one of TWO tables occupied in the entire restaurant. By the end of our meal, we were the only ones there. If we weren't there, the table clearly would have been empty.

Anyway, press on, press on. The meal started with bread (warm; AV approved) and a complimentary bite of bacalao fritters. The bro had already popped one in his mouth before I explained what bacalao was; he shrugged and noted that it tasted like a tater tot. At the end of the evening he pronounced the tiny fritters potentially the best part of the meal.

Roll.

Cod'ter tots

There was also an amuse-bouche: Italian egg-drop soup. I abstained, but the other party-goers tried it and universally panned the murky liquid as bland. "Tastes like dishwater," quipped my mom. But Mom, how do you really feel?

Mmm, dishwater

But on to the real food. The bro and Mom both ordered the insalata di misticanza (the bro as a starter, Mom as her "entree"-- yes, entree!). This was an interesting mixture and a large portion, and it met with approval from both consumers.

Lots of veggies in thar

Salad gone; entrees up. The bro chose the spaghetti all'Amatriciana, with a hearty guanciale-based sauce. LM went for the papardelle with pork ragu. AV opted for the pear and pecorino salad, with frisee, escarole, and walnuts. General consensus on all three dishes was quite favorable, and once again, the portions were large, so extra points for that.

Spaghetti, obstructed view

Looks like a lot of rosemary on top

Shower of nuts!

I was in the mood for cheese, so I ordered off the dessert menu (awk). My taleggio and pecorino were both what they advertised, and once again the portion size was overwhelming. The accompaniments to the cheese were clearly afterthoughts, sadly, with dry, flavorless bread and a few sorry pieces of dried fruit. But the cheese was good.

The bread even LOOKS dry

The four of us were all stuffed after this, but Mom pressed on with dessert. The chocolate budino, please, hold the espresso cream. Mom dug into the rich-looking pot and, after a few bites, noted that despite appearances the pudding wasn't really all that chocolatey. And though the candied almonds on top were tasty, they didn't really cohere with the dish. Overall, not the most successful dessert in family history.

Un-chocolate chocolate

Surprisingly, my favorite part of the meal came right before the check: a complimentary plate of mini chocolate-and-nut biscotti and a handful of cocoa-dusted almonds. The biscotti was by far and away the best biscotti I've ever had, and the nuts were no slouch either. Score!

Win!

On balance, Insieme was a mixed experience. The food ranged from mediocre (amuse bouche, dessert, cheese accompaniments) to truly strong (pastas, salads, biscotti). But gosh darn it, the restaurant was just a downright awkward place to be. Where WAS everybody? We were in the heart of Times Square and there was nobody else in the restaurant, which meant our voices competed only with the aggressive Muzak unfortunately blasting from the sound system. Unless it's part of some sort of romantic gesture, it's rarely a good thing to be in a restaurant all by oneself. Maybe Insieme is more of a lunch place? In any case, it earns three Offset Spatulas, since the food can be quite good. Just try it at lunch.

Insieme
777 Seventh Avenue, at 51st Street
212-582-1310