Tuesday, April 22, 2008

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April 16

I enjoy breaking bread with Travel + Leisure’s Clark Mitchell for many reasons. Quite apart from his winning smile, blue eyes and amusing observations about German linguistics, he has a keen yet egalitarian palate. He relishes what he calls “trashy food” (you might recall his periodic need for the queso dip at Lobo in Park Slope), but he also can make quite an excellent goose confit, and when I first met him he was enjoying a brief fascination with aspic.
This evening, as we had dinner at Icon at the W Court hotel, he explained how people from different corners of the German-speaking world pronounce “Gstaad” while also marveling at chef Michael Wurster’s version of Buffalo wings.
The “chicken lollipos” were wings (or possibly drummettes, I have forgotten) turned inside-out and crusted with a blend of Rice Krispies and panko bread crumbs. They were deep-fried and dressed with Maytag blue cheese. Fine celery shavings garnished them.

What else we ate:

Nantucket Bay scallop ceviche with Meyer lemon, pineapple, licorice root and nasturtium, encased in yuba (tofu skin) and garnished with golden char roe
jumbo lump crab with grapefruit gel, avocado, espelette, hearts of palm and yuzu “caviar”
line-caught turbot with mussel pistou, sea urchin panna cotta, spring vegetables and roasted Parmesan emulsion
rack of milk-fed veal with yellow corn polenta and fava beans
blood orange sorbet with candied lemons and limes and fromage blanc
“Snickers” — frozen nougat with peanut butter sauce and powder with chocolate ice cream

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