Seasonal – Austrian/American (new) – Midtown West
When my boyfriend suggested Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar because it was awarded a Michelin star this year, I pictured a lively Austrian pub type place with comforting foods like bratwurst and sauerkraut and girls named Brunhilda serving them. What I got was a sleek formal dining room with an inventive menu that put me in the mind of wd-50 or Degustation.
This is one of those unfortunate cases where I had the dinner a couple of months ago and was so overwhelmed by the idea of writing about all of the awesomeness I experienced, so pardon my slim review and (hopefully) enjoy the photos.
The tasting menu:
octopus amuse bouche
I basically love anything with one of these green purees. They always taste so refreshing, and they make me think I’m eating something more exciting than leafy vegetables. I’d be so healthy if my life involved more green purees.
salmon with some sort of awesome powder stuff and the BEST, most flavorful microgreens
white asparagus soup, rock shrimp, morcilla, spring onion
I’ve had an interest in white asparagus since Leah said on season 5 of “Top Chef” that it’s her least-favourite ingredient (because, you know, she’s my least-favourite “Top Chef” contestant). Besides tasting fresh and springy, it also has the dubious honor of being the vegetable most resembling a penis. Win-win!
sweetbread, celery root, onion
The best-looking sweetbread you’ve ever seen, am I right?
soft poached egg, lobster, maitake, porcini
This might be the dish that really brings me around to mushrooms. I can handle mushroom flavor but hate the look of the things, so putting them in a foam is genius. And hiding the other kind of mushroom underneath that foam is über-genius. I think this may have been my favourite dish of the night because it was difficult and yet delicious.
trout, goat cheese, pumpkin seed, radish
wagyu, parsley root, black garlic, cipollini, lime
I still think about this dish once a day. There is no reason that lime flavor and steak go together, and the fact that they not only go together but bring out all of the best flavors in each other is mindboggling.
I have no idea what this was, but it really looks exciting, right?
extra dessert!
132 West 58th Street
New York, NY 10019 (map)
13 Comments
thickcrust
You should include the price of your meal with these posts.
plumpdumpling
That isn’t annoying? I did it once, and Kamran said it looked like showboating, but I do think price is an important part of any review.
He usually won’t let me see the bill, so this would be a great excuse for me to get a look at it and decide how nice I have to be to him in return.
thickcrust
Not to me. It’s not like you’re bragging about spending a lot of money on a meal, are you? That would be pretty tacky unless you also included a description of how much of the meal you threw away and how you laughed at the homeless people you passed on your way home.
plumpdumpling
Kamran calls it “gauche” and says he doesn’t want to start getting mugged all the time once people find out how much cash money he’s carrying around.
I’m totally doing it from now on, though.
Bachelor Girl
Oh my God. I want to drink that soup through a STRAW.
plumpdumpling
Even with that little penis tip staring at you the whole time?
Tracey
Maybe the little penis could BE the straw!
plumpdumpling
I’d rather use a Tim Tam or one of those fat Twizzlers with the hole in the middle, but okay.
SammySkye
your discussion of the white asparagus appears to be spot on. and i completely agree with your opinion of leah. im still not over the elimination when she stayed and jamie left.
in other news, this all looks delicious!!! great post!!!
plumpdumpling
Although that elimination allowed her to later make out with Hosea, which was really the whole point of that season.
Thanks!
Kim
I also hated Leah. And I would like to eat that thing with the lobster and the poached egg every day.
Your donut stars are adorable.
And I disagree about white asparagus most resembling a penis. Case in point, your favorite food: http://tiny.cc/2u85u
Kim
Okay, so the white asparagus really does. Uncannilly, even. But still.
plumpdumpling
Thanks for noticing the doughnuts! It was something I had been thinking about for a while, but it took Kamran pushing me to do it. It’s so hard to quantify these things, you know? How can I possibly give Jean-Georges 3.5 stars (which I’m going to do tomorrow), and give this lesser-known chef 4? It’s one of those things that makes me go, “Who am I to judge these people?” But I am.
That mushroom makes me never want to have sex again, but it does make me want to kill more mushrooms, so thanks. I’ll be eating that lobster/egg dish right alongside you every day now.