Le Bernadin (NYC)

Ok, full disclosure here--Pat and I went up to NYC this past week *explicitly* for the purposes of dining at Le Bernadin. We braved 7 hours of traffic, snow drifts, giant slushy puddles, and even--seriously--frost nip to eat at Eric Ripert's 3-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant. I think, overall, it was worth it. Except that I totally missed my celeb chef sighting by, like 5 minutes. That was a bummer.

The service was impeccable, even from the get-go. The hostess practically walked me into a stall when I inquired where the bathrooms were. *Everyone* there has a French accent. And there was a little cute bench for my purse to sit on beside our table. Yes. Even my PURSE felt the Le Ber love!

We went with the Chef's Tasting Menu, which ordinarily is the more expensive of the two tastings, but because it was the holiday season, they decided to replace the cheaper option with an even pricier holiday tasting menu. Which probably should have come with an application for a reverse mortgage. Just saying.

In any event, the food was flawlessly cooked and very interesting. The wait staff used all the right words: "caviar," "sea urchin," "langoustine," "foie," "squid ink tapioca." The bread was delicious and offered generously, which is sometimes unusual in a restaurant of this caliber. My biggest complaint I think is that Chef's unusual food combinations sometimes led to elements being overshadowed. The caviar and sea urchin were difficult to distinguish in a parmesan sauce; the chorizo sauce overpowered a white fish. He apparently also likes to pair seafood with mushrooms, which, although sometimes bizarre, worked more often than not. A personal favorite was squid stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and accompanied by two teeny tiny fried squid babies. There were, of course, a gazillion things on the regular menu that didn't make it onto the tasting that I would have loved to try: to wit, "Charred Octopus; Fermented Black Bean - Pear Sauce Vierge, Ink - Miso Vinaigrette; Purple Basil" and "Barely Cooked Organic Salmon; Braised Burgundy Snails; Heirloom Potatoes; Sweet Garlic Parsley and Pernod Scented Sauce." I'd say I'll try those next time, but let's be honest. Unless I win the lottery (yes, I did buy tickets) or the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes (which I also, sadly, entered), there's not going to be a next time.

The wine pairings were fine, but not memorable. Although the sommelier's Flava-Flav chain totally was. :) Unexpectedly, and to my delight, the desserts shined. From "pre-dessert" to tiny finishing cookies (and the *two* desserts in between), there was not a crumb left on my plate. If it's possible to just have dessert at Le Ber, I would recommend it if you're not up for the full deal.

And finally, THANK YOU to my amazing partner in gluttony for taking this trip with me and for footing the bill, and to Andrew for taking the plunge with us! (portions x-posted to yelp.com)