His signature appetizer this month is a perfect tiny Sinku oyster from the Pacific teamed with vodka, cranberry juice, fennel oil, shallot and clementine.
Oddly, a nearly identical foie gras appetizer, this one with blueberry compote, crosses the line into frippery: it is cloyingly sweet, and the fromage blanc listed as an ingredient -- which might have cut the sweetness -- is not discernible.
An appetizer this good would have been the high point of many a meal, but it was followed by a dish every bit as sublime: sauteed boneless trout amandine, a whole, butterflied fish with tail, served with fluffy basmati rice.
The tuna ceviche (closer to a sushi in salsa than a true citrus ceviche) comes with mango and a hint of chile poblano, and the lobster tacos, in perhaps the finest performance in a seafood appetizer this season, balance black-bean purée and a smoky chile de árbol salsa in dark counterpoint to the lobster chunks and avocado shavings.
I most likely would not order a scallop appetizer this time of year, tending to hanker something more earthy, but when I saw there was marrow in the dish, that was that.
Often called the Oscars of the food world, it is typically an evening of glamour fueled by free-flowing cocktails and artful appetizers, this year on the theme of food and film, at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.
In my next two columns, I will be writing a comparison of the two restaurants -- mostly soups and appetizers this week -- in the hope that you may be inspired to make your own comparisons.
Other appetizers in this strong suit included delicious cubes of duck confit and foie gras, and plump steamed Prince Edward Island mussels, the usual white wine and garlic treatment enhanced by a sprinkling of smoky chouriço.
Everyone loves snacks, and the best snacks are the ones that are the worst for you, and there's no day so dedicated to the consumption of abundant unhealthy appetizers as this coming Sunday.
"There were times when some of the members of the staff would go out for Friday evening, you know, cocktails or appetizers and this sort of thing, and so typically, it could have been a group of us," he said of his time at the association.
