Per Se, New York City
I was on holiday in New York City (NYC). This was an almost last-minute book: I requested a waitlist for table for one person, and they gave me a table a few days prior. It was understandable to give a table to one person than empty. The restaurant is located on the third floor of a small and very quiet shopping mall. I thought I was early for 5pm table, but apparently some tables were already in service. The restaurant got really nice natural light even in a very cloudy and rainy day, yet they decided to put on some candle halfway of my dinner.
Table and view
I had asked the chef to remove the cheese board because I usually dislike it; they were very kind to offer me a light salad as a replacement. I also got some “extra” courses from the restaurants, though not sure if they are really extra. However, the actual set was very large. They gave me the final menu as souvenir when I finished.
Menu
The menu was very French for sure such as “Oysters and Pearls“, basically an oyster and caviars. I was slightly surprised as the oyster is raw but surrounded by warm and thick soup. It is similar for the cold caviars. I felt there was a level of showing off on the ingredients to the customers as we serve oyster and caviar. Yet the chef made it very fun by pairing with a very thick soup or coating. This is in contrast to especially light, fresh, fruity, or sour seasoning to oysters in other restaurants. Both oysters and caviars are often paired with something cold-based to emphasis the traditional fancy ingredients. However, the chef here, probably wanted to show off his great skill on temperature. It created an interesting tasting, as we felt and tasted the very warm soup first, then the cold oyster and caviars kicked in, with a strong and characteristic oceanic combinations, oysters adding more the texture, and caviars adding more salty flavour.
Oysters and Pearls
Immediately after was the duck fat, i.e., “Hudson Valley Moulard Duck Foie Gras“. This was a completely cold dish; I would even say the Foie Gras just out of fridge as the side vegetables were slightly warmer than the liver. In fact, the very cold Foie emphasised itself on top of the side and tasted less jelly texture, hiding often-strong fat but provided creamier feeling. Regarding the seasoning and side, the dish had slightly stronger vinegar taste, together with the fruity strawberries. Although I am not a big fan of vinegar, the entire plate was very nicely balanced. It was rather interesting back to cold plate after a few warm courses, a pause for the further dishes.
Hudson Valley Moulard Duck Foie Gras
I have to say, the rest starters were just in the standard. The main for the night was lamb, namely “Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Selle D'Agneau". The dish seemed to be very simple but a re-constructed lamb. It was a relatively small portion. The lamb looked very “processed” because the chef presented an almost perfectly round lamb with some green wrap. However, the taste impressed me! It has a very strong lamb taste in a very nice way, that is, there is no mutton-stink nor a strong smell at all. I can feel the lamb had a very happy life, well, until being eaten by me :). The green skin had a light jelly texture. The dark part, which I could not tell what it was made from, had a pasty taste. The actual muscle part just melted in mouth; of course, I still needed to chew but not much. The entire meat part was unbelievably juicy. I found it very pleasing. The side salad, similar to many courses, provided fresh, fruity and light bitten flavours.
Elysian Fields Farm Lamb “Selle D'Agneau”
Since I disliked cheese board, I actually got a small garden salad, “Salade Jardinière", as a replacement. I could tell that it was certainly not in the regular menu because the presentation was not very as refined as the previous courses. Yet I really appreciated the restaurant accommodate my request. The actual taste was towards the sweet side, probably to mimic the honey and rape pairing in a cheese board.
Salade Jardinière
I got a gigantic amount of dessert, when I was very full. Although I found many over-sweet for me, I enjoyed that the restaurant tried to satisfy the customers as much as they could.
Desserts
This was certainly a restaurant in three-star level. The service was very welcome but still give me enough privacy so I can enjoy myself messaging to a friend who was also in NYC (hello Mr., when you read this, you will know I am talking about you). The set was well thought very traditional French high-end cuisine. I personally enjoyed all the presentations too, because all plates were very clean and clear, without fancy sauce drizzling or abstract art. Yet the downside was that nothing was very outside the box as previously one would expect from a Michelin stared restaurant that push the traditional cooking ideas to the best as they can.
I will recommend here for special event, and also for business, because (1) nothing is outside the box, hence safe and (2) the environment is nice and posh. Indeed, there were several tables for business and anniversary occasions. However, I will hold my criticism; I shall visit again next time I am in NYC.
🐼 Score: 3/5
