I was recently lucky to eat at Per Se with my girlfriend. I have been thinking of that night a lot over the past two weeks. Was it the best meal I have ever had? This question doesn't seem answerable any more. I can say that it was one of the best experiences of my life. Food over the past few years has become very important to me. I am interested in chefs, restaurants, cooking, food science and countless other areas that only a few years ago didn't mean much to me. And the French Laundry has a lot to do with this. I read online the story of meg and jason , read The Soul of a Chef, and was hooked. I needed to know Thomas Keller. Eating his food was never a reality for me. I didn't have the money and was all the way in New York. When Per Se began I became exited. This was a possibility. And it has now happened.
All of this makes it tough for me to be judgmental of my night at Per Se. But I can say a few things. The service was hands down the best I have ever had. They were classy and sharp but not at all condescending. One of our waitress was talkative when we asked questions but left us alone other times. The service seemed almost effortless even though we both knew that it was anything but.
We ordered two tasting menus - yup they let you do that. That means you get about 24 different tastes of food on one night. Did you hear that! It excites me to just write that. A few tastes still stand very strong in my memory. The tuna tartar and salmon tartar ice cream cones given to every diner at Per Se and French Laundry. The powerful snap in taste wakes you up. Wow you think this tuna is amazing. And the salmon was soft - salty - excellent. And I have to say with this first corse I really reveled in how cool my girlfriend is. She actually with no pretension at all bit the bottom of the ice cream cone and sucked out some of the tartar. This was a good start to the meal.
The bread - oh the bread. One in particular - fresh made potato bread. Crunchy on the outside - warm and soft inside. Sweet bread taste that can can only exist in bread only a few hours old filled this little nuggets. But the bread was just a vehicle for the best butter I have ever had. We found out after a new little tin of fresh butter was given to us, that it was Animal farm butter from Orwell Vermont (told to us by our waitress). Ohh I just noticed that I can order some of that golden butter online.
More moments - duck. I have had duck before. But it never tasted like this. This was close to perfection. On one fork I had a good chunk of Pekin duck breast, dandelion greens, and a poached apricot. They tasted so good together that it was as if no one had ever had duck before if they had not tasted this exact dish I was having.
Ravioli of forest mushrooms - I knew I was going to like this but I had no idea it was going to be as good as it was. Rich mushroom taste - port wine sauce - thin wrapping. Those are some lucky mushrooms!
Fleur de lis - a rich buttery cheese so wonderfully paired with cherry marmalade and a celery seed biscuit
I even got to see the kitchen and meet the chef.
wine - the menu - and some pictures soon.