Daniel: The Last Supper!

He had me at Bar Boulud.

That being said, for when it came time to chose what could be my last dining experience in New York for some time, Chef MJ treated me to dinner at Daniel, the mothership of fine French dining.

We began our evening in the lounge where I sipped two smooth delicious drinks: a rose martini followed by a bergamont martini. The rose martini was beautiful, complete with a rose petal encased in an orb of ice. The bergamont martini was tart and refreshing with a flourish of a flaming lemon wedge, the perfect cocktail to kick off the summer drinking season.

After saying au revoir to our gracious bartender, we were seated in the balcony area of the dining room. The dining area is grand and formal, complete with a balcony, pool and tent areas. This terminology is all a bit tongue-in-cheek with the exception of the tents since yes, there are actual tents in the corners of the dining room.

Chef MJ asked the sommelier to bring us a wine tasting with each course and we were in his capable hands. I was more than ready to begin my culinary adventure at one of the best French restaurants in the city, if not the country!

The amuse bouche arrived in a three tier serving platter. We began with a taste of briny sea bass and clams with apples that had all the freshness of the sea and followed with bites of the classic combination of lobster and avocado, a crab salad, and finally some beets with walnuts. We enjoyed these tasty treats with a lovely Savignon Blanc from New Zealand; crisp, clean and a perfect compliment to the fresh ingredients in the amuse bouche.

We also enjoyed a few of the fresh breads that were served tableside. The sticky sweet garlic roll was my favorite with the butter roll a close second. I was tempted to push my caloric limitations and go for the rosemary roll but I knew there was a lot of food to come and I needed to be ready!

My decadent appetizer was the mosaic of foie gras and black angus beef cheek with Satur Farms beets, wagyu carpaccio and peppercress; paired with a sweet German wine. This was an interesting wine selection since I wouldn't think a dessert-type wine would compliment an appetizer. This is why I am not a sommelier. The sweetness of the wine was just perfect to cut through the richness of the foie gras. The beef cheek was tasty with just a touch of horseradish and capers. The meal could have happily ended here, but it was only the beginning.

The palate party continued with an extra course of fennel-basil ravioli with littleneck clam emulsion, baja shrimp, cuttlefish, broccoli rabe, and chorizo. This dish was super rich and the small portion was perfect. The chorizo and saffron brought a zesty richness to the plate and the ravoli were al dente. This plate was paired with an absolutely exquisite white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The drinks were getting the best of me at this point, but there was no way in hell I was leaving a drop of this amazing wine.

For my main dish, I chose one of Daniel's signature dishes; paupiette of black sea bass in a crisp potato shell with tender leeks and a syrah sauce. The fish was so moist and flavorful that it made the wine sauce simply an added yet unnecessary bonus. One of my favorite things is when a simple technique (like wrapping a piece of fish in thinly sliced potato) is well-executed and elevates a dish to a new level. I was equally impressed with the Santa Maria pinot noir that was paired with the fish. The earthiness of this wine was more reminiscent of a French pinot than a California pinot.

After cleaning our plates, we were treated to a visit by the man himself! Chef MJ saw Daniel on her way back from a trip to the lounge and brought him by for an introduction. Holy Merde! I have been in awe of this culinary god of terrines for some time, but managed to keep my cool and we chatted about coming to Daniel for my last great meal in New York for awhile. I did joke that he needs to expand the Boulud empire to Hartford and I think he didn't realize that I was totally serious. All from a completely selfish perspective of course!

We decided to pass on what could only be an extensive cheese course and head right for dessert. Hopefully you can follow the extensive list: raspberry-lemon vacherin with Thai basil meringue and raspberry marshmallows, a tasting of mango with roasted sesame ginger marinated coulis with cilantro, sorbet with kalamansi hazelnut mousse with Gianduja biscuit, milk chocolate salted caramel ice cream with bittersweet chocolate-praliné, crémeux Amer cocoa sponge cake with Caraïbe ice cream.

This all came with an additional plate of petit fours. Oh my! Extravagant even for a sugar fiend like me! The salted caramel ice cream and the hazelnut mousse were my favorites, although I quite enjoyed the originality and lip smacking tartness of the raspberry and meringue dessert. The only and I repeat only miss was the mango dessert; most likely due to it similarity to sushi than poor execution. (NOTE: Ms. Foodie is not a fan of sushi)

I managed to find a bit of room for a lemon meringue tart and a dainty smores-type stack of treats while I polished off the rest of my dessert wine. Then it was time for a tour of the kitchen!

By the time we got back there, most of the staff had gone for the evening and I stopped dead in my tracks to marvel at the size of the kitchen, a rarity in New York City restaurants. After all, less room in the kitchen means more room for paying customers. The tour also included a stop at the prep kitchen and I stopped to get a whiff of two large pots of stock bubbling away. After making our way through the prep kitchen we made a stop in the chocolate room where one of the members of the staff was prepping some chocolaty confections for the next day's service.

Speaking of service, let's just say outstanding would be an understatement. While I'm sure we were given the red carpet treatment due to Chef MJ's association with the company, I did notice how the staff treated the diners around us. I even watched as two members of the staff were asked to take photos of the same couple at the table next to us and in both cases, they graciously obliged. So whether you are a tourist, VIP or just regular Joe I'm pretty sure you will receive the same white glove service that I can only assume Daniel demands. And rightly so.

The bar has been set for Ms. Foodie's next NYC dining adventure. And it's been set pretty high.