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| - For my husband's birthday, my parents gifted us the dinner and round trip Uber.
I had been to Cure with my parents when we first moved, and Husband was working late. We had a phenomenal dinner, which included an outrageously tasty and original strawberry gazpacho and memorable drinks. Before the end of the meal, my parents had decided, and I agreed, that dinner would be a great birthday present for Husband.
I was so excited for the meal, and they seated us right when we arrived, at a comfortably table in the corner. The decor is the definition of rustic: wood floors, wood tables, and pig heads hanging on the wall. The waitstaff was attentive and friendly.
We took a few minutes to decide on cocktails to start, and ordered the tasting menu. My husband was a little weary of the unusual flavors, but I egged him on. Here is the menu:
ONE WAY TICKET TO
FLAVOR TOWN
6 course tasting - 80
beverage pairing - 35
July 28th, 2016
SNACKS
lardo - fermented radish, crostini
nduja - Pecorino Romano, maple sugar, pine nut
roasted oyster - bourbon bacon, mustard seed, grapes
macaron - foie blonde, tea soaked prune
duck tasso - strawberry soffrito, green cardamom
pancetta tessa - cynar honey, pickled peppers*
2014 Ritter von Glück Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany
SOUP
roasted peach and brioche, black olive, catnip
NV Vicente Gandia 'Hoya de Cadenas' Cava Macabeo/Chardonnay, Valencia, Spain
ORECCHIETTE
chantrelle, sweet corn, chervil, ricotta salata
2013 Val de Mer Petit Chablis Chardonnay, Burgundy, France
HANGER STEAK
burnt eggplant, crispy-smoked potatoes, padron pepper, caramelized onion, walnut, sauce "muhammara"
2014 Pierre Morel 'Luberon' Grenache/Syrah, Rhône, France
SMOKED GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE
apple cider marmalade, sesame streusel
BASIL YOGURT PANNA COTTA
blueberry consommé, hazelnut, lemon, hibiscus
cucumber-elderflower spritzer
*consuming raw or undercooked meat, seafood or eggs may
increase your chance of a foodborne illness
*please inform us of any allergies
The tasting menu is a bit cheaper than tasting menus in New York are, which made it feel a little less stressful and less pressure to enjoy. This was good, because, well, some of the dishes weren't as enjoyable as we had hoped.
The "Snacks" course was brought out before we were halfway done with our drinks, so we knew we would be rushed through dinner. The whole 6-course meal took a little over and hour and a half, and many pairing we rushed to finish before starting the next pairing, so we definitely were rushed. Some of the Snacks were delicious (roasted oyster, duck tasso), some were merely okay, and some just didn't work very well (foie gras macaron).
The soup was...interesting. Husband didn't like it at all, and didn't eat more than a bite or two. I finished it, but didn't love it. The catnip was extremely bitter, but not in a way that pleasantly balanced out the sweet peach. The brioche was not a shiny eggy bread, but a white gel at the bottom of the soup, which was delicious and an interesting texture. Overall, not our favorite course. We were later asked what we thought of the soup, since it was new for them, and I told them what I just told you. They took a little bit off the bill, which was nice and unexpected.
The pasta course was tasty, but not outrageous. The pasta was homemade and the texture was perfect. The sauce was remarkably corn-tasting, which was pleasant. We both finished our plates.
The steak was the highlight of the meal, The steak was perfectly cooked: crispy around the edges and red in the center. There was a baba-ganoush-style sauce on one side and a sweet caramelized onion sauce on the other. A bite of steak dragged through both sauces was memorably tasty and the highlight of the meal.
I enjoyed the smoked cheese and dessert, although didn't take any lasting memories from either. My husband was lukewarm on the cheese and didn't finish his dessert. The drink pairing from the dessert, however, was as wonderfully sweet, complex, and delicious as our starting cocktail, and ended the meal on a happy note.
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