Facebook, snap chat, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter…. How many does one need? Social media certainly change the way we live. Not only has it changed the way we communicate (or not communicating) to each other, also change the way we view the world. Nowadays, we get our latest news from twitter; express (or stalk) our concern to our love ones on Facebook; share everything from vacation pictures, cats video to what we had for lunch on yelp, Instagram and snap chat. I admit, I am one of these people, other than all the articles that I can read from authoritative “food” news outlets, I occasionally read reviews from yelp, but definitely check out the pictures from Instagram. Yes, they are not all trustworthy, and sometime the pictures can be deceiving or it doesn’t do the place any justice. Either way, I found myself checking out other people’s food journeys more than I should. But sometimes, it pays off. We would found places off the hidden path, and sometimes, I would got lured in by the pictures. Sushi DaiZen is one of the places I’m got drawn in by the power of social media.
Category: <span>Extraordinary</span>
When Chef Wu left Per Se and opened Fung Tu in lower east side back in 2014, we were curious what would be serve, but we putted off stepping through the door for a long time. Reason being we were worried that it would end up being another hipster American-Chinese restaurant that is overpriced and overhyped.
To be honest, I was still skeptical when I looked at the menu while making reservation for restaurant week. I meant, egg roll, rice noodle, curry pot pie, Char Siu braised short ribs? All hinted to me as “americanize”. But after last night’s meal, we decided that if this is the new evolved “American-Chinese”, we can get with the trend. Yes, we are impressed!
Located in lower east side, Fung Tu is in the middle of this trendy, gallery filled, hipster neighborhood with plenty of great food spots. The Fat Radish is right across the street; Mission Chinese food and my beloved Lam Zhou Hand-pull Noodles are right around the corner. Fung Tu could easily be overlooked and gone unnoticed if not because of it’s Per Se veteran chef reputation.
Like many places on the block, the place is long and narrow. Dimly lit, dark wood furnitures, with red leaf pattern wall paper, the place is intimate. I understand this is sort of a family business, with Chef Wu in the kitchen, his wife whom is a jewelry designer created the space. Thank you so much for not hanging any lantern!!! And I love those wired light fixtures! Wine racks double as décor hanging on one side of the wall, cleverly used of space.
The most expensive bottle on the wine menu is $120; by glass is about $13 each, there are also sake and interesting beer selection. But we are more interested in cocktails mixed behind the white marble topped bar. There are 9 on the menu, all look fantastic. As I was scratching my head having trouble deciding which, the very friendly staff noticed and came to rescue. He even suggested if I don’t know what I want, he would be happy to give me samples… wow… Check for service. With his help, we happily slipped our superb cocktails.
They are not kidding with that chili infuse. It is spicy. The good kind of spicy.
So we didn’t all ordered from the restaurant week menu, it’s not because my skepticism, but because we saw something more appealing. But first, let’s talk about the things we did get from the restaurant week menu. We selected the egg roll, Char Siu braised short ribs. And when the egg rolls arrived, we were surprised, by it’s portion. It is huge! The initial instinct was, did they make a mistake? Is this the portion for two orders??
No, it is one order. We confirmed. And they admitted it is a great value too. Look at it, how could we not mistaken it as 2 orders. And this is no ordinary egg rolls. First, those are not traditional egg roll skin, they are almost crepe/ puff-like. Crisp, layered skin wrapped. And is that olives in my egg roll? Feels like a egg roll shape of a very good pork pastry. It’s a bit salty, and even more salty with the mayonnaise dip.
I’m a bit of a Char Siu snob. To me, a piece of good Char Siu is a piece of art. The perfect cut of pork loin, just the right balance of fat and meat, preferably marbled cut, marinated for hours and slowly roasted on a long steel fork to the perfect charred outer rim and occasionally brushed with honey. It is a symbol of Hong Kong cuisine. And frankly, we cannot find any place in the East coast to even come close to the authentic taste. The Char Siu in New York are often all color but no taste, or too sweet. I could say I’m more than obsessed with Char Siu. So when I bit into this Char Siu braised short ribs, imagine my surprise. lightning had stroked, my brain is confuse. It is the right taste, not the right texture. It an extremely well cook piece of beef short ribs that has the perfect balance of sweet and saltness of a Char Siu. Short ribs is tender and melty. It even have the Char Siu aroma… wow! WOW!
This could easily be the highlight of our dinner, except what came next is even more impressive.
First, it took us by surprise that “WHOLE” fish is being offered. Whole as in head to tail. Tonight’s whole fish is sea bream. Yes, it looks simple, but it is easy to make, tough to master. Every elements needs to be perfect: right temperature, right amount of water, timing, even the plate, has to be perfect. Steam too long, the fish become tough; too short, it’s not cook. This is something that almost all moms in Chinese culture tried to master, some eventually did, some, never get it right. And even the most expert grandma wont get it right every time. These elements need to be adjust accordingly to the size and kind of the fish too. But it seems that Chef Wu is a master at this. The fish meat is … silky! The “right” steam fish would maximize its taste and color. And this sea bream is perfect in everyday. It is deboned, and stuff with fennel. The chili oil, scallion, black beans, soy sauce mixture helps highlight the aroma and taste of the fish and not overpower. The fish is still the star. I gotta tell you, out of all of China Town (Manhattan, Brooklyn and queens included), we have yet had such a perfect steam fish. We were utterly amazed and impressed.
Our dinner ends on another high note. The Oolong ice cream is “THE BOMB”. Before this meal, my favorite ice-cream was Earl Grey from Van Leeuwen. But this Oolong ice cream clearly won me over. It’s light, creamy with strong oolong flavor, and not too sweet. My dinning partner is one of those rare people who does not like ice-cream. But we did not only lick the bowl, we both ended up getting an extra container of ice-cream to go. Yes, we like it so much, we asked the staff if they would sell it to us. Our extremely friendly waiter so nicely accommodated our request. We each left with a quart of ice cream and a fully satisfied belly.
Once again, we are very impressed.
Fung Tu | 22 Orchard St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016
“I had a dream. I was floating in the clouds. I took a bite, and it tasted like chocolate. I wish that dream never ended.” Except that wasn’t a dream. That is how we describe the frozen chocolate souffle we had at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare. And that was only the last course of our memorable night.
Let me go back and start from the beginning.
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare (CTBF) is the smallest restaurant in New York City to have been awarded Michelin 3 stars; also the first and only one that is in the outer borough. Opened in 2009, immediately praised by critics, and got 2 stars from Michelin in 2011. It has since expanded from 12 seater to 18 seater, and with another star. Of course the price is also 3 stars. Back in 2011, CTBF was $165pp vs $306pp now. Even though with a hefty price tag, it is still one of the hottest seats in town. A reservation at Chef’s Table does not come easy. It requires planning and extreme persistent. CTBF takes reservation 6 weeks ahead. Calendar is posted on their website, with specific instruction. I called CTBF as instructed, at 10:30am sharp on Monday. The phone keep ringing. Line was busy. I hung up, dial again, and repeated. Over the next 37 minutes; exactly 159 times after, I was finally connected. Jackpot!!!!
We headed to Brooklyn on a quiet Wednesday evening. Across from a subway station, two doors down from the grocery store, there it is, CTBF’s minimalist simple storefront kitchen.
“It’s a dream come true and my best experience throughout this entire process”
– Jean-Luc Naret of Michelin said in an interview.
With that in mind, we walked in with high expectation. Simplicity is the key here at CTBF. A huge stainless steel counter/ bar took up almost the entire place. No fancy décor, the only decoration is the copper sauce-pots hanging above the the prep station. We arrived a little after 6:30pm, and were seated at the far right end of the counter.
In front of us was a simple black vinyl place mat, with chopsticks, and chopsticks only. There is no menu here. All are tasting menu, or should I say Omakase. It seems more appropriated.
“Would you mind if I take pictures?” I asked politely as the restaurant’s host placed down my rose.
“Not of the food. We welcome you to take pictures of the place, just not the food.” he said with an apologetic smile.
We have heard of CTBF’s no pictures policy before, but still thought I would try. With huge disappointment on my face, I put my camera away.
There are two sitting 6:30 and 7:15. First group of dinners finally all settled in at around 7pm. Moments later, Chef Ramirez appears. White shirt, black trousers, black thick rim glasses, he looks more like a professor than a chef. After detaily checked his stations, he greeted us with a smile.
“ I know that you brought a camera. Feel free to snap a picture or two.” Chef Ramirez said with a soft voice.
“Really?” I must have sound overly excited.
“Yes. I see that you brought a camera. The thing is with all the smart phones pictures. There is no quality control. They sometimes turn out very blurry and dark. Which might not be appetizing.” He explained.
“Ah… Thank you!!”
So Chef Ramirez does not have a problem with pictures, he just has a problem with bad pictures. I will try to do you proud to repay your kindness.
Then the show begins.
Tobiko– incredibility thin crust layering with sea trout roe.
Hokkaido Uni– Uni piled over toasted brioche with a round of Périgord truffle
white truffle is in season. And you can actually taste the fragrance.
it’s a high class party in a bite.
Fish– Charcoal grill Japanese baby red snapper with kelp
Egg– Caviar topped sabayon- there were smoke sturgeon, bacon bits, potato cubes and crunchy bread crumbs in the thin glass.
Lobster– Perfectly poached Maine lobster wrapped in pickled daikon
Crab– Chiramushi with king crab and truffle and squash. hearty and sweet
Fish– Poached wild Turbot from holland with mushroom Brussels sprouts and flowers
Vegetables– vegetables are flew in from a Ohio farm, Amazingly gorgeous dish.
We counted 14 veggies, 3 flowers, 2 small leaf and 1 big leaf
The veggies that I recognized were… daikon, cucumber, scallion, leek, baby Chinese broccoli, figs, tomato, mushroom, artichoke heart, applewood smoke potato with nori sauce, bamboo shoot
Beef– melt in my mouth Miyagi beef with grated daikon and horseradish
Duck– 20 days dry, green tea smoked Cross breed upstate NY duck with plum butter-squash and ginger. The breed is a mix from Peking duck and normandy. The skin is as crispy as peking duck but not as fat. That’s where the normandy duck comes in. rich, deep, meaty favor with crispy skin of a peking duck. Genius!
Shiso sorbet– unlike other icy shiso sorbet that we have had, this one is creamy. More ice-cream like texture. Secret? It’s coconut milk. A pint to go please!!!
Canadian huckleberry ice cream – Huckleberry is in season! Sweet!
Frozen chocolate soufflé -Fluffy, airy, extremely light. There were also some rice crispy (I think they are rice crispy) at the bottom of the plate. With a spoonful of the souffle and rice crispy, they were the greatest coco puffs! And it added a crunch to this dreamy souffle. Chocolate was just the right balance. #divine!!! This is most certainly the best souffle ever!!! This alone is well worth the trip to Brooklyn. By itself, I would paid $35 for this. Too bad that they don’t sell it by itself. What an remarkable way to end an extraordinary dinner. I would be dreaming about this for a long time.
This 10- course upscale tasting menu is a truly a unique dining experience. We enjoyed every moment sitting in this open kitchen watching Chef Ramirez choreographed his beautiful creation. Him and his staffs are intensely focused. Like a well orchestrated symphony, there is no confusion, no mistake. Everyone knows their place, everyone is in the rhythm. And the thoughts and efforts that put in every single dish is tremendous. That vegetables dish alone, requires every single component to be perfect. May it be toasted, roasted, grilled or smoked, etc., they all bring a unique flavor to the plate. To be sitting in this kitchen, watching this crew assemble each course, is a profound, intimate experience.
Chef Ramirez makes his rounds to get to know his guests at the table as well. During our 3 hours there, Chef Ramirez came around to chat a few times. We learn that Chef. Ramirez is raised in Chicago, spent time in Japan for a while. Although his restaurant is in Brooklyn, he does not do anything in Brooklyn. We both enjoy Maera and miss Chef Masato. We were both heart broken when people waste the food; when people who were able to afford the price but did not know to savor it. We were deeply sadden when we saw perfectly cooked kinmedai found it’s way to the trash. Devastated when cups of caviar went swimming with dishes; utterly shock and depressed when we saw “fat” were cutted out from melt-in-our-mouth Mirage beef. Despite what I have read in pervious controversy, Chef maintained his posture and greeted those dinners with warm smiles.
Chef Ramirez loves sushi, therefore the obvious Japanese influence in his food. Like those great sushi chefs whom inspired him, Chef Ramirez holds the same quality and he is proud of it. The dedication, and attention to food, ingredients and details. Unfortunately, Chef Ramirez had already left the building when we were floating in the souffle, we couldn’t thank him for this extravagant dinner.
Chef Ramirez , It was an honor to be sitting at your table.
(October, 2015)
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
Eleven Madison Park
Jean Georges
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
Aquavit
Atera
Blanca
Daniel
Ichimura
Marea
Momofuku Ko
Soto
Jungsik
The Modern
Ai Fiori
Aldea
Andanada
Aureole
Babbo
Bâtard
Blue Hill
Bouley
The Breslin
Brushstroke
Café Boulud
Café China
Casa Mono
Casa Enrique
Cagen
Caviar Russe
Carbone
Del Posto
Dovetail
Delaware and Hudson
The Finch
Gotham Bar and Grill
Gramercy Tavern
Gabriel Kreuther
Hirohisa
Jewel Bako
Juni
Junoon
Kajitsu
Kyo Ya
La Vara
Luksus
Meadowsweet
M. Wells Steakhouse
The Musket Room
The NoMad
Piora
Pok Pok Ny
Peter Luger
Picholine
Public
The River Café
Rosanjin
Rebelle
Semilla
Somtum Der
The Spotted Pig
Sushi Azabu
Sushi of Gari
Sushi Yasuda
Take Root
Telepan
Tori Shin
Tempura Matsui
Tulsi
Uncle Boons
Wallsé
ZZ’s Clam Bar