Last night after a long travel day in rain, sleet
and snow and a matinee on Broadway we headed over to Murray Hill and the
Langham Hotel at 400 5th Avenue (37th St) to escape the Theater
District and the crowds. AI FIORI has been open a while and is one of
Chef Michael White's growing enterprises (we experienced Marea on
Central Park South a couple of years ago), and only a couple of months
ago joined the Relais et Chateaux group in its exclusive group of NY
fine dining spots.
It was a quiet oasis of calm when we
arrived just after 530pm, and the place never got noisy (it was a quiet
night for them the day before T-giving), but this, again, is a hallmark
of a Relais dining establishment.
Our server Jon arrived with a
cheery smile and we settled in for a couple of hours of wonderful food
and excellent service. Salted grissini (thin breadsticks) arrived
standing in a small shotglass filled with EVOO and herbs for dipping. We
consulted with the sommelier and arrived at a new white for us, ETNA
BIANCO from Graci 2013 in Sicily which was crispy yet dry and creamy
when it got a bit warmer.
The amuse was PARSNIP PUREE with a
dab of Balsamic Reduction and Candied Orange which was rich and creamy,
but Sam sent his over to me (yay, more for me)....Will declared it was a
bit bitter, but I loved the novel combination which was a palate
wake-up call.
Sam chose to go right to the pasta section as he
was enthralled with the AGNOLOTTI of veal & butternut squash in a
divine Sage & Black Truffle Sugo with crispy fried sage leaves on
top. It was gone oh so quickly.
We decided to take advantage
of the $97 four course prix fixe which includes a starter/pasta/main of
fish or meat/and dessert. It's quite a deal since the prices here tend
to be quite high at every starter in the high teens, pastas even higher
and mains in the 30's and 40's$ range.
Will started with the
tender PULPO cooked (as Jon carefully explained each dish as it arrived)
sous-vide in garlic & thyme and then grilled a la plancha with
fennel, purple cabbage and served over a kicky prosciutto spread that we
all could not resist.
My ANIMELLE were soaked in milk veal
sweetbreads that were oh so tender as well and melted in my mouth but
had a crunch due to the crispy batter oh-so-delicately around each
piece. These came with butternut squash and a superb black truffle jus.
On the side was a most interesting Caponata made from pistachios and
raisins. I would not call this caponata, but it was interesting and
truly to my liking (I'm not a huge raisin fan, especially with such a
delicate meat.
For the pasta course I was
leaning towards the Duck Confit Risotto but Jon steered me to a
wonderful SPAGHETTI with Blue Crab(MD), Lemon, Bottarga & Calabrian
Chiles. It was salty, spicy and everything my mouth desired. The crab
was worthy of the best we get at home and I was happy I listened to Jon.
Will had the same amazing Veal Agnolotti as Sam had and declared it one
of the best pasta dishes on earth. He said he wants to have this served
at his final meal before he goes on to the world to come!
Samuel
had decided to try the Zuppa di Zucca or Butternut Squash Soup with
pickled delicata squash, brown butter and pumpkin seeds. The dish
usually comes with foie gras, but Sam asked for them to leave it out. He
did not care for the soup overall as it was a bit wimpy on richness. I
tasted it and must agree because we were expecting a creamier soup more
typical of the butternut squash style that Samuel usually adores. Jon
quickly agreed to replace the almost untouched dish and guess what Sam
chose...another plate of those awesome Agnolotti that disappeared
promptly.
Will & I had moved on to an
excellent full bodied and intense 2009 BARBERA d'ASTI "Tulin" from
Pelissero full of tasty tannins along with a wonderful earthy nose and
flavor. It was superb with my ANATRA or Long Island Duck Breast cooked
with honey and a crunchy crust of toasted hazelnuts on the skin. Salty
Tuscan Kale accompanied the dish, Cipollini onions, mustard fronds,
apple mostarda and a foie gras jus. The combination was divine and the
duck cooked perfectly.
Will ordered the VITELLO or Amish veal
chop "au four" which came with new potato cake, sage, capers, prosciutto
and a rich truffle cheese fondant. On arrival the dish was not very
hot, so it went back for a warm-up and returned to Will's liking. Will
said the meat was not as good as the duck, but overall the preparation
was good.
There were wonderful breads: black
olive, country white, multi-grain and sesame seed served with Columbino
EVOO and Rosemary salted butter.
For dessert
Samuel jumped on the TARTALETTA, a chocolate pastry shell of Loma
Sotarento 72% ganache, chocolate chiboust, tiramisu gelato and a bit of
chocolate crunch. It was excellent and the hit for me was the gelato and
crunch. Will had the MELA or caramel apple confit with brown butter
torta, vanilla & cider sorbetto. It was refreshing and lighter and
perfect for the season.
Some mignardises arrived of salted
caramel, peppermint chocolate, a fruit gelee and one more. There were
only four of these and 3 of us, which made for difficult splitting. Jon
returned with a bottle of ARDBEG Scotch from Vigeadail in Islay (we had
mentioned we liked scotch) and gave us each a complimentary pour to warm
us up and send us on our way. Small lemon poundcakes arrived which we
just finished for breakfast and they were tasty and moist and just right
with the morning coffee.
Not everything was perfect at Ai
Fiori, but the flowering service and most of the excellent food made our
evening really great. Plus, we missed the massive traffic exodus from
the NYC to Long Island where we headed for the holiday.
