A Little Love In The Air, With a Side of Steak

     January 5 came around and I thought I was being a good husband by calling way in advance to reserve a table for Valentine's Day. However, the restaurant that I called did not allow reservations to be made longer than 30 days in advance, and they told me to call back on the 15th. Continuing with the theme of being a good husband, I entered the time and date on my calendar and decided to set the alert for the night before, just to be safe.

     The alarm went off as planned the night before and I decided to call back, just to see how strict they were with their 30 day policy. Turns out they follow it pretty closely. They told me to call back at 9 a.m. the next morning. Unfortunately, being the alert was set for the night before, it never went off when I needed it to. I called the restaurant at 10 a.m. figuring that an hour couldn't have made that much of a difference. Boy, was I wrong. The restaurant was completely booked up until 10:15 p.m., not the best time for a romantic Valentine's Day reservation to be made. Good husband points down the drain. Now it was time to find a place that wasn't completely booked and was just as good of an option as our first choice. Enter STK Midtown.
    My lovely wife had mentioned that being her, her best friend, and her brother all had birthdays that were relatively close together, they would all go out together to STK to celebrate. I had never even heard of it at that point. From the things that she had said about her previous visits there, I knew that it would be up to par for an excellent meal in a romantic setting. This was going to be our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, so I wanted to make it special.
     Upon walking into the restaurant, the modern, laid back atmosphere immediately makes one feel what can only described as "cool". We were sat at a table that gave me a nice view of the lights from Time's Square, which seemed to be the first time losing the cushioned inner seat to my wife worked to my advantage (I usually get the gorgeous view of a wall). The staff was very courteous and we felt welcome from the moment we walked through the door. The host took our jackets to the coat room as we sat down. Now it was time for our drinks.

     Last summer, my brother introduced me to the wonderful world of cocktails containing a cucumber muddle in them. I know you're all asking, "what do you live under a rock or something?" No, but I would usually stick to the classics when drinking at a restaurant as opposed to ordering one of their specialty cocktails. That being said, my order became obvious the moment I looked at the menu. The only downside of the drink I ordered emasculated me to the point that I felt like a cast member on Sex In The City. "Waitress, I'll take one Cucumber Stiletto, please." This delicious concoction consisted of Ketel One Citron, St. Germain, and of course...muddled cucumber. This drink was delicious as well as refreshing. It tasted like biting into a nice, fresh cucumber. The only downside about the drink situation was that my wife ordered a drink called Shishito Faced, based on the pure brilliance of the name only to find out they were out of shishito peppers. I guess she was Shishito out of luck.

     Now we move on to the appetizers. My wife and I tend to choose restaurants based on whether or not they have a raw bar. We order oysters on the half shell almost every time. Why break tradition? We placed our order and waited patiently for our meal to begin. Usually, it takes a lot for me to be blown away by bread, but what the waitress brought out to get us started did exactly that. She brought a homemade sourdough bread topped with bleu cheese butter. I'm a big fan of sourdough and the butter that was drizzled over the top of it put this baked thing of beauty over the top. I would go back based on the bread alone. I may have even caught myself dreaming about it.

     The oysters came out with the other appetizer that we ordered, cleverly named Shrimp Rice Krispies. The oysters were delicious and fresh. They had two varieties that night so we decided to order three and three (the names of the oysters are escaping me). They were served with a variety of dressings, including a very tasty mignonette and a traditional cocktail sauce, served on a nice bed of ice. The Shrimp Rice Krispies dish consisted of tiger prawns served in a lobster bisque. In a lot of cases, bisques are thickened with rice and usually the rice is strained out or puréed. In this case the rice was left in whole, hence the Rice Krispie moniker. The prawns were cooked perfectly and once again, the only downside of this dish was that there were only two prawns.

     As good as the appetizers were, the main dish is what stole the show. I ordered a 14 oz. Bone-In Filet, and my wife ordered the 10 oz. Filet (not photographed). The restaurant also offers a wide array of sauces to put on your steak, but I am a firm believer that if the meat is cooked correctly, it needs nothing but seasoning. This meat was up there with what I consider my top 5 steak meals that I've had in my life time. There was a perfect sear on the meat and the medium rare center melted in my mouth like the butter on our sourdough bread (now I'm daydreaming about the bread). STK also offers a wide variety of sides that can accompany the beautiful piece of meat that I was about to indulge in. We decided to go with the creamed spinach (a favorite of my wife's) and the mac and cheese. Side note: The availability of Creamed Spinach has helped decide where we were going to eat on several occasions. The sides were an excellent accompaniment to the main dish, although I forgot to take pictures.

     We decided to skip dessert as we were planning on continuing our Valentine's festivities at another establishment. Overall, the meal at STK was 'XCLLNT'! I would definitely plan on going back there or one of there many other locations for any special occasion in the future.


Image of STK Midtown taken from http://djlexey.com/news/news/stk-midtown-opening-dec-5/

    

My First Tasting Menu

     A few weeks back, my wife and I traveled out to the North Fork of Long Island for my best friend's birthday celebration. They were't getting in until Saturday, so we decided to make it a two night getaway and leave on Friday afternoon. When we booked the hotel room at The Greenporter (another recommendation of mine), naturally we started looking for the best restaurants around that area.
     I don't like to read people's reviews about restaurants, as I would rather form my own opinion about the food. Solely based on how good the menu looked, we booked a table at the North Fork Table & Inn. Coincidentally, my buddy's wife told us a few days after we made the reservation that we should give this place a shot, so we were very excited to try it out based on what she had told us about it.
    Finally, after three weeks of constantly visiting the menu page leading up to our visit, it was time to chow down. There was however, that dreaded three hour drive from Staten Island out to Greenport. Looking at the glass half full, at least it gave us a chance to build up an appetite. Upon walking into the restaurant, one can not help but to feel warm and comfortable. The setting is what you might expect out of a bed and breakfast, as it shares the same qualities as a lot of the restaurants out on the North Fork. There was not much of a crowd there at all, as it was the middle of January.
     The restaurant only has two menu options, which were the tasting menu or a prix fixe meal. Despite the steep price, my wife and I decided to give the tasting menu as a try. We had never done one before and had thought that this was as good of a place as any to start. Besides putting a pretty hefty dent in our pocket, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The restaurant also offers a paired wine option to go along with each part of the tasting.
     Now to get into the best part....the menu. The waiter began by bringing us a little appetizer that was not listed on the tasting menu. It was a rendition of their Hand-cut Sashimi Grade Local Yellowfin Tuna Tartare, which can be found on their prix fixe menu. It was very fresh and certainly a nice way to start off the meal. The actual tasting menu kicked off with a Raw Hamachi & Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras. This was my first time trying either one of these menu items so I will admit that I do not have anything to base my thoughts on. The dish was served with glazed daikon, radish syrup and micro greens. I never thought I would try foie gras but this was simply delicious. The foie gras had a nice sear on it and once you got past that you were met with a rich, buttery texture that just melted in your mouth. I started this meal thinking to myself "how can this get any better?"

    This is how.... The second course was Seared Local Peconic Bay Scallops. When you think about food marriages, combinations such as spaghetti and meatballs, peanut butter and jelly, and garlic and oil tend to be the more popular ones. This dish opened my eyes to the only marriage that you will need to know about (and no, I am not talking about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard; congrats by the way). It is the combination of vanilla and seafood. The scallops were served with a parsnip-vanilla purée, sautéed local spinach, and a crispy parsnip on top. My wife and I could not get enough of these flavors. We all but licked the plates dry (or at least would have if our surroundings were more conducive to that type of behavior). It is a combination I would have never thought would have worked if you had told me about it. But it does, and on so many levels... Mac and cheese, move out of the way because we have a new power couple in town.

     Moving on to the third course, you don't have to say much more about the dish other than that it is a risotto and you already have my attention. The waiter brought out a Roasted Wild Mushroom Risotto next. This dish was served with parmigiano reggiano and truffle butter. After the previous courses that I have described, this dish may sound like it is quite lower in quality compared to it's predecessors, but the simplicity of it is what helped it hold it's own. The presentation also helped provide this course with some elegance as it was served in a bowl with a rather large rim to bowl proportion. The creaminess of the risotto met with the earthiness of the truffle butter was an excellent balance. The cheese added that sharp, nutty flavor to round it all off.

     I hope you all are still with me and haven't run off to satisfy the hunger that these words have created. Moving on to the fourth "main course". The next dish that the waiter brought out was a 24-hour Slow-cooked Grass-fed Beef Short Rib of Vineland Farms This dish was served with baby carrots, roasted celery root purée, swiss chard, and black garlic jus. In what seems to be the central theme of this menu, the meat just melts in your mouth. The accompanying vegetables were good, but obviously the short rib was the star of this show. Over the past year or so, I have become a big fan of short ribs and have ordered them almost any time I've seen them on a menu. This dish puts them all to shame.

     The meal comes winding down to a beautiful dessert. The waiter brought out a Chocolate Soufflé Tart. This dish was served with a homemade coffee ice cream. It was rich and delicious and served as an excellent way to wind down and reflect on a beautiful, all around delicious tasting menu. I would strongly recommend it to anyone going out to the North Fork to enjoy the many wineries. I have also included a link to an article on epicurious.com talking about the chefs that are responsible for this work of art.

http://www.epicurious.com/archive/chefsexperts/interviews/claudiafleminggerryhaydenbiorecipes