food comas

Eleven Madison Park

Chef: Daniel Humm
Cuisine: American Nouveau
Neighborhood: Flatiron
Price: Lunch- Three courses for $56, Four Courses for $74. Dinner- Four Courses for $125, Tasting Menu for $195. Wine list prices vary.
Phone: 212-889-0905
Address: 11 Madison Ave., NYC 10010

It is difficult to find an elegant après-work restaurant in New York City’s stuffy and steak-centric corporate dining scene. Sure there are plenty of venues clad with white tablecloths and suited up servers, but few deliver the atmosphere and taste sensations that are on par with Eleven Madison Avenue. The restaurateur owner Danny Meyer is no stranger to the New York dining scene. He built his empire starting with Union Square Cafe in 1985 to include over 10 restaurants, of which Eleven Madison Park is the largest (Gramercy Tavern and Maialino are other popular Danny Meyer destinations). It opened in 1998 under the helm of Chef Kerry Heffernan, but it was not until Daniel Humm (a Campton Place alum) took the reins in 2006 that the restaurant reached the renown that it still enjoys.

Eleven Madison Avenue partnered with the designer Juliette Cezzar to create its iconic four-leaf emblem, which can be seen on its website, cards, menu, and even butter dishes.  And the exquisite food photography on the website is courtesy of Francesco Tonelli. I know this post is supposed to focus on the restaurant-at-hand, but I really urge you to visit Francesco’s site (not now, later, once you are done reading this). The images are absolutely stunning and some of the action shots are mind boggling.

Now onto the restaurant. The venue is gorgeous–you walk in and immediately feel awestruck – the high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows allow natural light to flood the entire space. Ornate orchid arrangements gracefully adorn divides around the room, but are not cumbersome or overwhelming.  The restaurant feels beautiful and upscale yet comfortable and inviting.

The service is impeccable. I’m ashamed to say that half my party was rather late to dinner. But unlike other high-end restaurants, Eleven Madison did not rush us, did not give us ultimatums or tell us when we would have to leave by. Instead, the staff was completely accommodating, helpful, gregarious and wanted to make sure those of us who came on time were taken care of.

So as we waited, a few of us decided to imbibe some champagne to pass the time. We went with the sommelier’s recommendation of the Saint-Chamant, Cuvée de Chardonnay, Grand Cru, Côte des Blancs 1996 (Half Bottle). It was light and citrus-y, a great apéritif. With our dinner we shared a bottle of white – Montlouis Sur Loire 2007 Chenin Blanc – and a bottle of  red – Brezeme 2000 Vieilles Vignes – wines. For a digestif, the sommelier brought out a house-infused pear grappa, which for a lack of a better word, was stiff.

The food menu is the famous “minimalist grid”, where each course is designated by one word and the chef designs all the bespoke accouterments based on what is available, in season, and taking into account the clientele’s palates and allergies. We decided to go for gold and get the 5-course tasting menu, including the White Truffle dish that was in season at the time. Admittedly, with the amuse-bouches and petits fours, etc this was too much food.  Next time I go, I might scale down to the 4-course option.

As a disclaimer, the descriptions below are rough re-creations of what the servers told us the dishes were, since there is no written menu. I tried a bite of most dishes, but not all, so my commentary will be scattered.

AMUSE-BOUCHE1
Gougères − delicate and addicting cheese puffs… this inspired Jen to make her own via this recipe!

AMUSE-BOUCHE 2
Chicken velouté chicken stock, fortified toasted brioche, black truffle butter
Buttery brioche with amazing velouté; most delicious and intricate take on chicken soup ever, very savory way to start the meal

AMUSE-BOUCHE 3
Scallop avocado oil daikon in a Barneget shell
Sweet scallop + buttery avocado + gritty daikon = awesome

Hamachi yellowtail with seared chili pepper on a rice cracker
The chili pepper is a great contrast to the otherwise bland rice cracker

AMUSE-BOUCHE 3
Smoked sturgeon on baby gem lettuce with diced radish
Great combination of smoky fish with a refreshing crisp daikon

Smoked sturgeon sabayon in egg shell with chili oil crème fraîche
The whippy sabayon in the eggshell was ridiculous. It was like eating sturgeon flavored clouds, which trust me, is something you want to do in life.

BREAD
Picholine Olive Rosemary Bread or Baguette

Goat and cow butter.

FIRST COURSE
Foie gras with cocoa coriander toast, kale, red berry
Great preparation of foie, but not the best. Definitely loved the cocoa coriander toast, it added a more exotic flavor to the dish

…and a little extra kick. A LOT of extra kick.

These granola jars were our take home goodies!