The Vegetarian Tasting and Chef’s Tasting at Per Se
The last time my boyfriend and I left Per Se, we were unexpectedly underwhelmed. We’d called ahead and requested the extended tasting menu, a many-extra-course/many-extra-dollar fine food feast that left us feeling as if we were actually treated worse by spending more. The responses to my review were generally along the lines of “it’s a privilege to get to eat there, and you’re paying for the opportunity to be one of the elite, so quit complaining”, which left me with an even more sour taste.
But Per Se is the best restaurant in the city. It’s the most lavish and the most luxurious, and it lends any special event the sort of weight that only a bowl of caviar and oysters served six plates high can. So when my boyfriend passed the California bar exam recently, we considered other options momentarily but probably knew all along that we’d ultimately go with Per Se once again.
And this time, there was nothing to complain about.
The setting was simply elegant as always, with big comfortable armchairs you don’t mind settling into for three or four hours. We were seated at the same table as last time and given a set of menus congratulating my boyfriend. I chose the usual chef’s tasting menu, this time with non-alcoholic beverage pairings, and he chose the vegetarian tasting with wine pairings.
The usual Gruyere gougères started the meal in the huge handle-less spoon I love so much, but if it’s even possible, they were warmer, filled fuller, more flavorful than ever before.
My cone was the traditional salmon with creme fraiche and was just as much like a sour cream and onion chip pulled from the ocean as I remembered. His was markedly lemony with a nice grainy texture from the pureed beans.
one of the many gorgeous serving dishes at Per Se
scallion “panna cotta”, daikon glaze, dashi “pearls,” pickled jalapeño pepper, bagel crisps, white sesame purée
A clever accompaniment to my caviar, his salty, umami-ful panna cotta was flanked by “roe” formed from dashi broth. Scallion was the stand-out flavor, but the dish wouldn’t have been the same without the spice of the jalapeño sliver.
“oysters and pearls”, “sabayon” of pearl tapioca, Island Creek oysters, sterling white sturgeon caviar
On my third time enjoying this signature dish, I found still more to love about it. The oysters were still as melt-in-your-mouth as always, but the tapioca in the creamy base seemed larger and more abundant and acted as a link between the smaller but firmer caviar and the larger but more tender oysters.
“torchon” of Elevages Perigord moulard duck foie gras, Kendall Farms’s creme fraiche, Cherry Lane strawberries, Hakurei turnips, rolled oat tuille, mustard cress
One of the densest foie gras preparations I’ve seen, this torchon was thicker than peanut butter and barely wanted to spread on our soft rolls. It was sweet and mild, complimented by the strawberry slices and contrasted by the sour pickled onions. The bread, sprinkled with cartoonishly large cubes of salt and replaced three times by our server to ensure its freshness and warmth, peeled apart in crescent-shaped hunks to form the perfect vessel for foie gras filling.
salt tasting
From the black lava salt to the 3,000-year-old pink salt to the flaky fleur de sel, I’ve thought the salts that have accompanied our foie gras supplement have been interesting in texture each time, but this is the first time that I’ve actually tasted flavor differences as well. Either my palate is improving or my imagination is.
butter dome
Parker House roll with unsalted and salted butters
Our server told us that a woman with six Jersey cows makes the salted butter for Per Se. You kind of want to roll your eyes and give her a hug at the same time.
sunchoke “chawanmushi”, brooks cherries, Sacramento delta green asparagus, morel mushrooms, candied almonds
My dish may have been mushroomier, but they were more the star of his dish, highlighting the egginess and the density of the custard with their savory flavor and airy texture. He loved the crunch of the honey nuts especially.
sautéed filet of black sea bass, honshimeji mushrooms, cauliflower “florettes”, cherry belle radishes, pickled ramps, young parsley
Perfectly cooked, of course, with a hardy crust that I welcomed amidst a bowl of otherwise tender elements. The thick, near-gelled sauce tasted of dill, and the array of tiny marinated mushrooms seemed like they must have been labored over back in the kitchen all morning.
non-alcoholic pairing: chamomile tea with cardamom and a strong honey/lemon flavor
milk poached white asparagus, “grenobloise”, hen egg yolk, green garlic “subric,” haricots verts, arugula, brown butter “gastrique
Tender, peppery, with an incredibly flavorful little cake, the so-called “subric”. Amazingly, we both liked this better than the lobster.
butter poached Nova Scotia lobster “mitts”, glazed sweet carrots, pea shoots, ginger “mousseline”
With the sweet carrot and fresh peas, this was the perfect representation of summer. Though I loved the texture of this lobster in particular–ignore what they say about avoiding shellfish in months that don’t contain an R–I like my lobster a little richer and less healthy.
non-alcoholic pairing: grapefruit tonic with basil leaf (two of my favourite things in life together in one glass)
“endive en feuille de pommes de terre”, “ragoût” of fava beans, “Parmigiano-Reggiano”, parsley coulis
This was the only dish of the day that we weren’t gaga over. It wasn’t as flavorful as endive should be, and the breading was at odds with the stringy vegetable. Though the breading was delicious, it seemed like a way to cover up a sub-par filling, though of course everything at Per Se is meticulous, so I’m sure the endive wasn’t supposed to be an afterthought. The fava beans with Parmesan were the highlight of the dish; I could’ve done without the endive entirely.
herb roasted Thomas Farm’s pigeon, “pastrami” of foie gras, thompson grapes, garlic scapes, mizuna, “sauce perigordine”
I can’t say for sure that it was invented by him, but chef David Chang of Momofuku Ko made famous the shaved frozen foie gras torchon, and we’ve had it on all four of our visits. There, it’s paired with sweet elements like pine nut brittle, lychee fruit, and Riesling jelly. Here, it took on an entirely different personality over the peppery pastrami-style spices of the squab. The burnt-bread-crumb flavor of the sauce had me scraping my plate for every drop.
peeled grape
I’ve eaten more peeled grapes in the past month than I have in the rest of my life combined. I love the attention to detail, but who doesn’t love grape skin?
broccoli and semolina “agnolotti”, young onions, broccolini, navel orange confit, black winter truffle “mornay”
Pasta! Truffle! Onions! Citrus! It was all of my favourites in one dish. Creamy, truffley, cheesy, and orangey.
Elysian Fields Farm’s lamb “en crépinette”, merguez sausage, chickpea purée, English cucumber, holland eggplants, lamb jus
The peppery coating on the tender, not-the-least-bit-funky lamb went so well with the fresh cucumber spheres, which tasted to me like the green rind of a watermelon.
non-alcoholic pairing: English breakfast tea, cola, black pepper (“Cola and tea?!”, I thought. But they were perfect together.)
Per Se “ricotta”, English pea “barbajuan,” picholine olives, pickled eggplant, toasted pine nuts, garden mint vinaigrette
Everything on this plate tasted green, from the mint sauce to the pea pastry. I’m only just developing a taste for the salty bitterness of olives and thought the flavor worked well here with the overall sweetness of the dish.
Maplebrook Farm’s “burrata”, Paffenroth Farms’ heirloom tomatoes, petite onions, pearl barley, petite basil
I was worried that the summer menu would include tomatoes (still my most-feared ingredient) in every dish, so I only cried a little when this was put in front of me, and I even tried a little bit just to make sure that yep, I still hate them. Otherwise, I loved the fresh, salady flavors of this dish, which managed to make cheese–which is a shell of semi-soft mozzarella with creamy super-soft mozzarella inside–seem like a light, summery affair. It didn’t compare to the tempura-battered Hittisau we had last time, but the cheese course at Per Se is always memorable.
caramelized banana sorbet, banana bread, compressed golden pineapple, black sesame buttercream
These flavors were at odds. The super-moist banana bread and sorbet were so sweet themselves, and the pineapple only added another dimension of sweetness. The dollops of white gel–no clue what they were–tasted like lavender soap might. It was a sweet, flowery, romantic dish. And then I got a taste of the black sesame buttercream. It was bitter and sour and never got any less intense, but it wasn’t uncomplimentary to the banana, and I loved the complexity of the dish.
“raspberry and shortbread”, “granité de créme de cassis”, raspberry soda, Greek yogurt “panna cotta”
Fizzy and ultra sour with a cooling yogurt center and a buttery, crunchy base. The different crunches of the frozen top layer and cookie bottom layer made this a pleasure to dig a spoon into.
chocolate milk
My final non-alcoholic pairing. It was fizzy like an egg cream, and our server refilled it when I finished it halfway through the mignardises, god bless him.
syrup
syrup
“glace à la vanille”, macerated blueberries, vanilla pancakes
I’ll never know if my boyfriend really wanted this dessert or not, because I exclaimed so much when I saw it as a choice on his menu that he might have just ordered it to be nice, but I don’t think he regretted it either way. Because this used the best. maple. syrup. ever. (BLiS Gourmet, I’m coming for you and your $20 bourbon-barrel bottle of glory.) The dish was sweet and sour, warming and cooling, haute and homey.
“honeyed cherries”, mint “génoise,” compressed brooks cherries, cherry crème “diplomate”, burnt honey ice cream
At the end of your lunch at Jean-Georges, your server will bring out a giant glass pharmacy bottle full of housemade marshmallows and pluck one out for you with a pair of tongs. She’ll make a ceremony of it, and it will seem like a big deal at the time. But hidden in this dish at Per Se was a much, much better marshmallow, and no one made a big deal of it at all. Except for my boyfriend and me, I mean. I believe the word we used was crazy. “This marshmallow is crazy.” I loved the crunchy honeycomb, the fruit-leather-like compressed cherries, the rich honey of the ice cream. The sponge cake was too light for me and needed about a pound of icing on top, but I appreciated the airy texture amidst the other dense elements.
graduation cake with liquored ice cream
In celebration of my boyfriend’s bar exam achievement, he was presented this simple, elegant little mousse cake. I’ll take any chance to eat more of Per Se’s chocolates.
fudge, French macarons, truffles
The famous tiered mignardise box with dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee fudge on top, passion fruit and mint chocolate French macarons in the center, and root beer, salted caramel, and lemon truffles on the bottom.
assorted chocolates
Arnold Palmer, maple, and grapefruit chocolates from a wooden box full of approximately thirty, which a server opens for you before reciting the flavor of each chocolate from memory. And all of them sound amazing–balsamic vinegar, curry, fennel–and you want the box to be left at your table, but your stomach is nearing implosion at this point, so you only take three or four.
coffee and doughnuts
One of the desserts I hope for (and receive) each visit, the creamy coffee semifreddo with sugared beignets. Behind the “coffee”, you’ll see the tiny frozen balls of buttered popcorn ice cream, which are so savory as to be closer to popcorn than ice cream.
take-home treats
The parting gift: a bag of cherry nougats, caramels, hard candies, and a mint chocolate wrapped in gold.
Think of the taste of any food you like and multiply that times ten if you want to understand what it’s like to eat at Per Se. Think of the taste of any food you just feel ambivalent about, and suddenly you’ll be Googling to find out when fava bean season is so you can have more. We’re always terrified when we see the bill–our drink pairings were $300+ even with me getting the non-alcoholic ones (which I highly, highly recommend)–and we always leave saying things like, “For that much at such-and-such, we could’ve eaten twice,” but the truth is that every now and then, I like my food a little precious. I like houndstooth plates stacked three-high and half-eaten bread taken from me because the kitchen wants each bite of my foie gras eaten on a fresh piece and take-home boxes of fudge tied with branded ribbon in branded gift bags. And no one does any of that better than Per Se does.
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019 (map)
24 Comments
Rodzilla
Very cool of you to cover both menus, and congrats again to the BF.
questions: did you get an additional plate with the Chef’s menu, or order a supplement? I didn’t see a veg plate with the foie.
donuts4dinner
We were pretty nervous about that vegetarian menu, I have to tell you. People kept telling us that you can’t make vegetables worth the price, but Kamran trusted Per Se to wow him, and I don’t think there was a moment when he regretted it. The fact that we actually liked some of the vegetarian dishes better is pretty awesome.
We both got the foie, haters be damned. It replaced a cucumber sorbet on his menu, so we ended up with the same number of courses.
Andrew
Great review, and congratulations to your boyfriend!
I’m heading to The French Laundry this weekend and then back to Per Se for another extended tasting menu three weeks from now, and your photos and descriptions are most appetite-whetting.
donuts4dinner
Thank you!
The French Laundry and Per Se in one month is astounding! I can’t wait to see the differences in your reviews. I remember when TFL was always considered better than PS, but we saw that it’s way down on the San Pellegrino top 50 restaurants now. Very interested in your take on the two.
Jessica R.
Congrats to Kameron!
I love how clean and white everything is, it really makes the colors of the food pop. Looks absolutely amazing. Glad you two had a 5-donut experience, sounds like you both deserve it!
Jessica R.
And by Kameron, I mean Kamran. Whoops.
donuts4dinner
I love when you pander to me and call it a “5-donut experience” instead of “5-star”. Totally agree you with about the whites of the place; it sure does make picture-taking fun, too.
I immediately IMed Kamran when I saw your comment and was like, “OMG, your new best Facebook friend just called you Kameron!” And then I said, “Although, I do have to remind myself if her daughter is Sarah or Sara all of the time.” Just call him Kam’ron.
ellenost
Great review and great photos! So glad you had a much better time. Congrats to your bf!
donuts4dinner
Thank you! It’s so much more fun to get to write a totally positive review and not have everyone on Chowhound hate me. (Although of course I like the drama just a little.)
Cassie
Seriously, your photos keep getting better and better. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!
diana
i’m going to start carrying around flowers to put in all of my food. GORGEOUS PICTURES. i am drooling a lot.
Leon
Fantastic.. what camera do you use?
donuts4dinner
Thank you! It’s Nikon D5100 with a 35mm f/1.8 lens that lets me capture all the light in the world.
I loved looking at the pictures on your blog, even if I can’t understand a word of your writing!
Leon
Thanks.. Haha, yes it`s in norwegian. I am thinking of starting a michelin star blog in english as well though.. Might need a camera like yours:) Love your blog.
donuts4dinner
The Google translation helped a lot! It’s so great to see the differences and similarities between American-French and French-French fine dining. Your pictures look great, and I definitely encourage an English blog!
Mrs. Bachelor Girl
I mean, that place must be worth it just to LOOK at all that beautiful food in person.
Congrats, Kamran! We always knew you were a smart cookie. Which is even better than being an intelligent macaron.
Pingback:
Pingback:
Uncle Milty
Per Se is my favorite restaurant in NYC! I’m jealous you’ve gone as often as you have. I didn’t realize they had a non-alcoholic pairing. How much was the non-alcoholic pairing?
donuts4dinner
Uncle Milty! Love the name, and love your pictures. I only knew about the non-alcoholic pairings because they’ve been mentioned in the Chowhound forum. We can’t remember exactly how much they were (I’m not sure the bill was sufficiently itemized), but we remember that it wasn’t a significant savings from the alcoholic pairings. My best guess would be $150.
Uncle Milty
Thanks! You’ve got some really good food shots there. I sometimes struggle with food photography because it’s a fine line between getting the shot you want and creating a scene because I’d like to stand up and get a better angle a lot of times but that involves pushing a huge chair back and removing your napkin and it’s just way too much…
So you would say the non-alcoholic pairing was worth it?
donuts4dinner
Ugh, yeah, I’d kill to be able to get exactly the shot I want every time no matter the disruption. I want a tripod, the option to stand on my chair, someone to set up some lighting for me . . . but half the fun for me is taking a less-than-optimal picture and seeing what I can edit it into.
I would say the non-alcoholic pairings were worth it. I do love getting woozier with wine as a meal progresses, but these pairings were so creative and memorable. I still think about the grapefruit and basil one all of the time, along with the tea and cola.
Benjamin
Dear famous New York food connoisseur,
I stumbled across your wonderful doughnuts4dinner page, as I was looking for a perfect restaurant in New York City. The pictures are gorgeous and the congenial way you write about your personal experience with food is very inspiring! Thank you so much!
Your reviews have already helped me a lot with finding the probably best restaurant in the city.
I live in Germany but I will be in New York for vacation with my best friend at the end of September.
One of my dreams is to have a perfect food or taste experience in one of New Yorks best restaurants, although I’m an absolute amateur and have never in my life had a more than three course menu! X)
After browsing your page for several hours each day now, I’ve somehow fallen in love with ’Per Se’.
Apparently it’s possible to get a table online on opentable.com, when you’re not having a certain date in mind of course and choose the lunch on a weekday.
It seems to be the ultimate taste experience! And I think of it as the upper limit of a taste barometer -something I can compare things to in the future when it comes to flavor experiences.
On account of this only, I could bear the high price! I will have to save some more money for this though X)
I’ve thought about the costs, but was wondering if you could maybe help by telling me if my calculation is reasonable (I hope you don’t find this a little bit embarrassing).
The tasting of vegetables is 310$, the wine pairing seems to be up from 150$ to 250$ right?
As you did, we plan to ask for only 7 glasses and one cocktail, one beverage with each course.
So in the end this means 560$ per person?
Do I have to expect a tax on the end price on top of it?
And is it possible to pay with cash money at Per Se, or are as with the online reservation, only credit cards accepted?
I’m sorry for all the awkward questions, my not very good english, and I’m sorry for posting this on the site, I didn’t know where else I could do it X)
Thank you very much!
Greetings,
Benjamin
donuts4dinner
Hi, Benjamin! Sorry for my late reply. Per Se is an unforgettable experience and is well worth saving up for. The things they do with vegetables are incredible!
You’re right that you do sometimes find reservations available on opentable.com, but I still might try to call for a reservation if I were you, since they only put spots on OpenTable for the immediate week when they weren’t filled over the phone. If I was coming all of the way from Germany, I’d want to have my spot secured ahead of time.
Your calculation looks good to me. $310 includes the tip, but expect about 9% tax on top of that. $200-$250 is appropriate for the pairings. I don’t think I’ve ever paid in cash, but I’m 99% sure they’d accept it. You could always call or email them to be sure.
I’d love to know what you think of your meal!