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| - "Upscale American Cuisine" is how Chef Michael Mina's food is typically described, but that common terminology does it no justice: this is truly internationally-inspired cooking, framing the best quality ingredients in uncommon, comely presentations that spark your senses.
You will note a lack of fancy frills in the energetically elegant room: clearly the focus is on the open kitchen, and more importantly, the food coming from it via the personal, attentive servers. Several menus will be offered, including a Cookbook Tasting which actually notes the pages from which these dishes were taken (a signed copy of Chef Mina's book can be added to your experience). The a la carte menu also includes many of Mina's signature tasting trios, presenting lamb, fish or beef in enticing variations. The only drawback to this arrangement is that you will likely see dishes from different menus that you'll want to try. Sometimes they can accomodate this, sometimes they can't.
If ordering by the dish, you would do well to start with the Michael Mina parfait: A strata of alderwood-smoked salmon, crème fraiche and Osetra caviar on a potato-shallot cake that is a mouth-filling mélange of salt, savory and creamy sweetness. A seasonal menu also offers a novel chilled seafood plate--far from your father's raw bar, this selection of uni, mussels, clams and laughing bird shrimp is a fanciful fresh festival.
Seafood has always been a Mina specialty, and there are many such satisfying selections here. His signature Maine lobster pot pie serves the perfectly cooked crustacean with a rich black truffle cognac in pastry. Thai Snapper with sunchoke, bok choy, pineapple marmalade, kefir lime and a bacon vineagrette is a dance of earth and ocean in your mouth. The sea scallop with foie gras, phyllo-dusted Dover sole with crab mascarpone brandade, and miso-glazed sea bass are all rich pleasures as well.
From the land, the tasting trio of lamb with different mole sauces is a juicy, aromatic rondo while the Three Sisters plates pork with three fall vegetables. There is an equally inspired Surf & Turf as well.
Chef Mina has always stressed a certain level of autonomy for his restaurant's Executive Chefs; here, the recently appointed Marc St. Jacques is also able to express his creativity in some enticing preparations of his own. Master Sommelier Joe Phillips not only pours apropos pairings, but shares stories of the wine's sourcing.
This is also the place to impress your vegetarian friends: MM offers a meat-free tasting menu with dishes like White Asparagus Veloute and Artichoke Souffle that look every bit as delectable as the standard menu--they will also adapt other dishes with aplomb. A cheese course, creative desserts and petit fours will end your evening exquisitely.
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