We took an early morning "new" American Airlines flight to New York City — long stagnant lines at the ticket counter, broken automated check-in kiosks, and smaller American Eagle planes. But airport hassles were forgotten once we stepped out of LaGuardia and into a taxi that would take us to our Upper East Side apartment. We unpacked and set out walking to our traditional first lunch at Bice, now Alfredo 100, on 54th street, between Madison and 5th Avenue.
We sat at our usual table in the bar area and ordered glasses of Chianti and two dishes to share, without looking at the menu. We then sat back and soaked in the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.
Our first course was the same grilled octopus and calamari salad we had enjoyed the past October. And we'll order it again on our next visit; the tender seafood and the lightly dressed frisée were exceptional.
Polipo e calamari alla griglia — grilled octopus, calamari, Italian frisée, red onions, blood oranges Also exceptional, time after time, was the comforting pappardelle, with its al dente ribbon noodles and rich gooey cheese. A perfect beginning to a week of gluttony!
Pappardelle mozzarella e pomodoro — large homemade noodles, mozzarella, tomato-cream sauce Speaking of gluttony, our dinner that evening was at Shuko, a new Japanese restaurant in the East Village.
Shuko is the creation of chefs Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau, both of whom had previously sharpened their knives at Masa and Neta. Their relatively small dining room is dominated by a large bar, with a few tables tucked into one end. The place to dine is at the bar, preferably on the end, which is where we were seated.
There are only two choices on the Shuko menu — the sushi tasting menu for $135 or the sushi kaiseki, the traditional multi-course Japanese dinner, for $175. We chose the latter. One of the two delightful waitresses who served us gently convinced us to order two bottles of sake — one more complex to compliment the structured first half of our meal and a lighter one to compliment the sushi second half. Both were delicious. The kaiseki menu consisted of twenty-seven individual courses. The more structured courses were prepared in the kitchen. They were placed in front of us and described, and after we ate every bite, they silently disappeared and were replaced by another. Additional utensils and finger wipes appeared as appropriate. Each and every course was complex and indescribably delicious.
House made mochi with shiso and pistachio
West Coast Dungeness crab, with cucumbers, chrysanthemums and tosazu
Toro tartare topped with caviar, with a side of toasted milk bread
Mackerel
Lobster, with asparagus, lardons and snow peas
Softshell crab (eaten with fingers)
Squab over smashed peas
Matsutake mushroom and dashi soup We finished our mushroom broth palette cleanser at about the same time we finished our first bottle of sake. We could have stopped there, but there was one more to come, which was "lighter" to better pair with the sushi, but which has no less alcohol. The sushi was prepared at the bar; as soon as we finished one piece, another was placed in front of us.
The sushi was incredible. It was uniformly fresh and delicious. It was as good as the sushi at Masa and better than the sushi at Neta.
As we savored our sushi and our second bottle of sake, we knew there was more to come — dessert. Actually, two desserts — a refreshing citrus granite and a yummy apple pie with a scoop of bay leaf ice cream.
We had been eagerly awaiting our dinner at Shuko and we were not disappointed. We highly recommend it — and a 3.2 mile walk back to your hotel or apartment. Copyright © 2015 TwoForTheTable.com |
