Eleven Madison Park in New York City

I first heard of Eleven Madison Park (EMP) when I saw their cookbook on display a few months back. One look at the beautiful photography and I was immediately intrigued.  Knowing I'd be visiting New York City I made a point to find a way to go there. I ended up getting a 4-course lunch at EMP as one of my birthday presents two months before the trip. It was the best meal I have ever had. 

At EMP everything seems to be perfect but not in a pretentious way. You enter and feel like something wonderful is about to happen and it actually does! The menu consists of 4 choices per course. The choices are merely an ingredient, such as asparagus or lobster, and make up the center of each dish. The rest of the dish is a surprise. Then to make sure the surprise isn't too big, the waiter asks you whether you have any food allergies or aversions. I told him no oysters, no semi-cooked eggs nor innards for me! When presented with such a sleek menu you almost feel bad saying no this, no that, but the waiter assured me there were far worse cases. One guest had a list of 15 items to not include in his meal and, props to EMP, they were able to come up with a menu excluding all those items.

I chose asparagus, plantain, morel and chocolate as my 4-course meal. The entire meal was truly outstanding. All flavors were perfectly matched, none of them overpowering the others and each dish had a number of different textures that went together beautifully. The dishes were teeming with freshness and the presentation was a feast for the eyes. My dessert was served with a tiny candle to mark the occasion of the lunch (see top photo). When I blew it out I messed up the dessert a bit. It was still pretty, nonetheless. The quality of the food and the service make the three Michelin stars EMP has well-deserved. 

The meal started out with an amuse-bouche of savory black-and-white cookies.  We were told they were a famous New York treat and finally the German word "Amerikaner" (=American) for a large black-and-white cookie made sense. The meal ended with a package of sweet black-and-white cookies to take home. Both versions were very good. 

Before we received the first dish from our chosen menu we were served several more amuse-bouches. 

Little toasts with diced apples or with quail egg and diced apples (for those who don't mind wobbly eggs).

Soup with mini herb bouquet. 

Smoked sturgeon sabayon. 

Fresh cow's milk butter. 

Fresh goat's milk butter.

Fresh, warm rolls.  

Cheesecake. 

Looking back my favorite things were the clambake, the cocktail prepared for us in the kitchen, and the egg cream. Maybe because they were all showy elements, something I'm not used to experiencing when visiting a restaurant. According to a recent New York Times article there's even more of a show to come to EMP. Restaurants do need to stand out from their competitors to be able to stay afloat.

Clambake: a bowl of clams, a steaming pot of clam chowder and miniature zucchini breads 

Cocktail: apple brandy, diced apple pieces, and pomegranate puree blown up into a ball with liquid nitrogen. We were told to break the pomegranate ball and mix it with the rest of the drink before taking a sip. For the making of this drink we were invited into the kitchen where we caught a glimpse of the kitchen staff working at their individual stations. What a sight! At any given point in time there are about 30 to 45 people working in the kitchen and almost the same amount of people out on the restaurant floor. 

Egg Cream: Orange syrup, cocoa-infused milk and seltzer with a splash of olive oil. So fun to watch and so delicious to sip.

At the end of our meal I received a slender box which contained a slip of paper saying Happy Birthday on it as well as two caramel and fleur de sel chocolates. Eleven Madison Park, you know what you're doing and you're doing it so well!