Eleven Madison Park, NYC

Eleven Madison Park, NYC ($365, 7/28/2018, 8-Course, incl. Taxes & Gratuity)

Eleven Madison Park was originally opened as a neo-brasserie by the well-seasoned restauranteur Danny Myer in 1998. Along with its steady ascent, Danny Myer decided to take it to a higher level by developing its potential. Around 2006, he hired Daniel Humm, a young successful chef from Switzerland and Will Guidara as general manager. Later in 2011 Chef Humm and Will Guidara became business partners and purchase Eleven Madison Park from Danny Myer’s Union Square Hospitality Group which owns a few successful and popular restaurants such as Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern.

I have not revisited 11 Madison since its latest renovation last year. I have always enjoyed the dining experience there from my 1^st visit. The new layout gives it a slightly modern, but not too contemporary appearance, and makes guests feeling more at home.

It offered an 8-courses Tasting Menu in addition to a la Carte. I chose the Tasting Menu. Content of the menu was not presented at the beginning of the meal, guests would get a hard copy of menu at the end of the meal. The first 2 courses did not have multiple choices to choose. After that, each guest could choose one option from 3 choices in each course.

11 Madison did not provide Amuse Bouche. Instead, it had a box of BLACK AND WHITE cookies presented in a pretty string-tied box, one for each guest. This BLACK AND WHITE cookie has been one of 11 Madison’s signature dishes since my 1^st visit. It was sandwiched savory cookie with Cheddar and Apple filling. It tasted lighter than shortbread and it was a fun and delicious start.

1^st Course – Tomato Tea, Dosa and Tomato

Tomato tea was made with tomato juice, lemon thyme and summer herb bundle. It was served hot at the table. Immediately I could smell the aroma. The tea was quite refreshing, offering very sophisticated flavor on the taste bud.

Dosa was an Indian version of egg roll, although with slightly different shape. Inside the wrapping was orange tomato jam. Once Dosa was fried crispy, it was wrapped with shinto seaweed leaves (green color) at one end. Orange tomato jam had a distinctive taste. Dosa was served with grated Goat Cheese and Green Tomato jam adorned with cute onion flowers. Our server instructed us to eat Dosa with goat cheese and tomato jam together, they were complementary each other and provide the balance on the taste bud.  

In addition, there was Tomato salad with summer berries and red currants adorned with purple shiso flowers. It had the lightest taste among all sub-dishes in this course. It was like the quasi palate cleanser for the following course.

Bread was served with Dolce Cheddar Cheese spread. This bread was more like a super flaky brioche with very fine flakes in exterior and light texture in interior. Pastry chef used flour made from wheat grown in the Finger lake region. I have had this bread since my 1^st visit of 11 Madison. I have always very fond of it and had to restrain myself from eating too many of them.

2^nd Course – Corn Soufflé with Caviar and Bonito

Since Beluga sturgeon caviar has been on the endangered list, Chefs have to use farm-raised caviar. Caviar served in this course was from Snake Valley, Idhao, considered one of the best sturgeon caviars. The taste of caviar was mild, juicy and not salty. Quality caviar always has the lowest level of salt in order to allow the flavor of the eggs themselves and the character of the eggs themselves coming through.

The best part of this course was bonito sauce, specifically dry bonito sauce. It tasted different from the ordinary bonito sauce.

Summer corn was used to make corn soufflé. At the table, our server sliced the part of soufflé above the edge of the ramekin and served each of use only this portion. I made an inquiry and found out that the top part of soufflé usually produced the best quality. The bottom part sometimes could be too heavy and dense. Summer corn soufflé was light in texture and tasty. It was served with caviar from the Snake Valley, Idaho. Dry bonito sauce had a more shellfish like taste and the flavor was subtle and more appealing. Using the dry bonito sauce make this simple dish a wonderful culinary experiment. 

3^rd Course – Foie Gras Seared with Plum and Duck Prosciutto

Hudson Valley foie gras was seared tender, juicy and served with thyme and shallot crumbs. Everything was good except the cholesterol count. Usually foie gras was accompanied by some fruity, sweet, and sour condiment. In this course, Chef made plum purée, and beautifully arranged sliced plum, duck prosciutto (in the middle), shiso leaves and cute onion blossom.

4^th Course – Lobster Butter-Poached and Charred with Greens and Bean Ecrasse

A baby lobster tail was poached in butter to make tender and juicy. Lobster tail was wrapped in yam leaves. Slices of baby bean were cut in a diagonal angle, served along with shiso leaves and cream sauce made with condensed lobster juice. Yam leaves had a mild taste (milder than watercress), it was considered a very healthy vegetable to lower cholesterol. On the contrary, shiso leaves had a stronger taste. The varieties of vegetable were fresh but not overwhelming, they were in the plate to enhance the lobster’s unpretentious preparation.

5^th Course – Snails

Snails were from Peconic Farm in Long Island. Snails were poached first before set in a kabab stick arranged alternately with chanterelle mushroom ready for grill on the table. Grilling process was short enough to give snails the charcoal flavor but not overcooked snails. Our server emphasized that snails were almost fully cooked in the poaching process. In addition, there were five side dishes:

1). Ramp relish and mustard seed. Ramps are a wild onion also known as a wild leek, can be found from March to June. Ramps has a slighter stronger taste than scallions.

2). Chanterelle mushroom cream.

3). Pickled watermelon radish.

4). Fermented mint leaves by Kimchi process.

5). Swiss chard leaf on top covering bib lettuce leaf, with portobello mushroom purée sandwiched in between.

The proper way of eating them was to place grilled snails and mushroom on Swiss chard leaf along with the other 4 side dishes, and then roll the Swiss chard like an egg roll before you bite on it. It was different from the French way of serving snails. Some of the side dishes had very distinctive flavor on its own.

6^th Course – Rib Eye, Dried Aged and Grilled with Red Peppers

It was an unusual 140-day dry aged rib eye. I could see some marbleized fat, but not quite as marbleized as A5 Wagyu. Because of the long aging process, beef had a perfect, flavorful and succulent taste. In the plate, there was pimento purée, sautéed red pepper, sautéed onion and mustard seeds, with a small piece of beef prosciutto in the middle, and served with condensed beef jus.

There were a few side dishes:

1). Corn - Creamed corn with juniper berry and grated egg yolk.

2). Zucchini - Roasted zucchini with goat cheese, lemon and mint.

3). Broccoli – Bulgar wheat enclosed by sautéed broccoli.   

Chef Humm’s side dishes were all pleasant and tasty. They were fresh and refreshing.

We were offered a tour of the newly renovated kitchen. At the entrance to the kitchen, the newly installed cabinet had a nice look. Kitchen was departmentalized into various section, each is responsible for a particular type of dishes such as appetizers, meat, fish and desserts. We were offered a little treat which as a lollipop of strawberry jam cover by lemon icicle powder made with Molecular Gastronomy technique. The major new appliance was the closet to age animal cadavers. It was a large glass closet with temperature and humidity control to properly age the meat to the desired level. It was always fun to visit Michelin starred restaurant kitchen.

7^th Course – Triple Crème

These were the little cuties of brioche with Cambert cheese stuffed inside. The top part of brioche was crunchy and inside was the still soft ang gooey Cambert cheese. These brioche buns were accompanied by some cherry purée and basil crème fraîche. Each guest was served with 2 brioches. These brioches were delightfully pleasing visually as well as palatially.

8^th Course – Chocolate Sorbet with Shortbread and Coffee Meringue

 It was a chocolate tart enclosed by chocolate sheet. On top of tart, there were 4 different flavors of crumbs – Cocoa nibs, Caramelized milk solid by separating curd from milk and then adding brown sugar, Coffee granite and Coffee meringue. It was a lovely, exquisite and delicious dessert with a very satisfying combination of flavors, but it was hardly the most intricate of fancy Michelin three-star dessert like what El Celler de can Roca served. I wonder this may be determined by Chef Humm’s emphasis on simplicity, purity and seasonal flavors.

Complementary Dessert – Peach Compote and Shingles with Honey Custard

We were also offered a complementary peach dessert. Peaches were sliced and cooked, and glazed. Honey custard were served with peaches to enrich the fruity taste.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel

This was a quasi-petit fours. I remembered I had it a while ago, almost the same time when I first had the black and white cookies. Pretzel’s dough is more like butter cookie dough and they were made with perfect shape and delicious.

Chef Humm and his partner Will Guidara have always been seeking reinvention to the better. In their 2011 Cookbook, they wrote “this restaurant has never been satisfied with its current point of success” and we’ve been about endless reinvention”. In 2016, they changed course with a theme of minimalistic and pragmatic menu, intended to offer the diner more choice and freedom. It is an approach that seems to be more geared for the NYC residents who are always too busy to enjoy an intense dinner at leisure, and are the casual diners. But, there are also guests who want as intense an experience as possible and a restaurant like 11 Madison Park should also cater to their needs as well. I like to compare my experience at 11 Madison with my experience at El Celler de can Roca (the #2 on the San Pellegrino list, €180 for a 7-Course + 12 appetizers) and Martin Berasategui.

The food at 11 Madison was certainly seasonal. The attention to detail, the precision and the execution of dishes were excellent. But, the level of innovation and creativity seemed to be not much on the plate. During my recent trip to Northern Spain, I had many eye-opener opportunities to see the innovation practiced by the chefs with or without Molecular Gastronomy technique. Judging by the menu at 11 Madison, the menu seemed to lack the level of intricacy, complexity and luxury that the new generation of three Michelin star restaurants in Europe normally deliver.