As I’ve excitedly been telling many of you, we had a dinner reservation at Verre (Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at the Dubai Creek Hilton) on Thursday. Before I get into the details of the food, I want to start by saying that this place was totally awesome. The only bad reviews I’d read about Verre claimed that the attitude of the place was too stuffy and the food was pretentious. I was happy to discover that the exact opposite was true. The vibe in the dining room was relaxed (unlike in some other “fancy” restaurants where you feel like you should be whispering) and the staff were friendly and charming across the board, especially the sommelier. The food was delicious and far from pretentious, focusing on high-quality ingredients prepared well. We went with the 7-course “prestige” tasting menu, and here’s how it went down:
Vine Tomato Minestrone with Basil Pesto:
This was a fantastic way to start the meal. It’s really easy to make a soup laden with cream taste impressive, but it takes a bit more skill to make something this delicate and simple turn out this delicious. The soup was an intensely flavored tomato consommé with perfectly diced zucchini, carrot, and tomato and a few small white beans. This was finished off tableside with a spoonful of basil pesto. The individual flavors were simple, but they combined to make a really lovely, complex dish. A great way to get our palates excited for what was to follow.
Pressed Foie Gras des Landes with Air-dried Duck Breast, Fine French Beans, Shimeji Mushrooms, and Toasted Brioche:
I think we all agreed that this was the star of the show. It’s hard to even find words for how amazing this was. I’ve said this before, but sometimes with food the first bite or two has you saying “Wow! This is SO good!!!” but you sort of stop noticing after a few more bites… For me the sign of a great dish is that every single bite makes you stop and search for new way to communicate how truly fantastic the dish is (just in case it wasn’t clear from your excitement about it after each of the previous 5 bites). The balance of flavors in this dish was remarkable and, when the time inevitably came to take the final bite of this dish, we were all sad to see an empty plate in front of us. (By the way, if you think foie is cruel, feel free to let me know and I can send you my personal treatise on why only vegans have solid footing from which to make such claims.)
Roasted Sea Scallops Served with Caper and Raisin Dressing, Cauliflower Purée, and a Reduction of Port and Red Wine:
I think a perfectly cooked fresh scallop may be one of the greatest foods on earth. I remember a few months in Santa Barbara where the mussel lady at the farmers’ market brought in fresh diver scallops. Steph and I brought those home pretty much every Saturday they were there. One of life’s great tragedies (notwithstanding the big-ticket items like genocide and famine) is that frozen scallops are so very much less delicious than fresh, leaving fans of scallops who don’t live near a great fish market to enjoy them only in restaurant settings. That being said, these were damn good scallops, and perfectly cooked. The dish was a bit of a puzzle, I felt. For my palate, the cauliflower purée complimented the scallops beautifully, while the caper-raisin dressing overpowered the scallops yet worked well to reset your palate between bites (thus making each new bite of scallop just as amazing as the last). Once I figured that part out, this dish was totally awesome.
Pan-fried Monkfish Tail with Lobster and Herb Risotto with a Shellfish Reduction, Wild Asparagus, and Sauce Vierge:
We diverged a bit on choices with this course, with me and Alicia opting for seafood while Stanley went with the duck (below). The monkfish was good, but the risotto really stole the show in this one. I’ve never had a risotto so ridiculously creamy, and the big hunks of lobster meat in it certainly didn’t hurt. The monkfish was essentially just a nice compliment to this beautiful risotto. My one small gripe on this dish is that I didn’t particularly agree with the wine pairing (we were having wines paired with each course, but this is going to be overly long without going into that for every course, so I’m just pointing out this one). The sommelier went with an unoaked chardonnay with lots of acidity and minerality to balance the creaminess of the risotto (which it paired with quite well), but these qualities made it a bad match (for my palate) with the monkfish. As long as sips of wine only followed risotto bites and not monkfish bites, though, it was all good.
Castaing Duck Breast and Confit Duck Leg with Pearl Barley Risotto, Baby Carrots, Cepe Mushrooms, and Port Jus:
Stanley ordered this dish, so I only have two bites from which to judge and will just say that that was some seriously delicious duck cooked to perfection. Another great dish, as far as I could tell…
Selection of Fine Cheeses with Walnut Bread:
This is the course that always kicks Stanley's ass in tasting menus. You’re just starting to get full, and then they bring you three (delicious) hunks of fat to eat. I, however, love the cheese course. I don’t know the names of the cheeses, so I’ll just vaguely describe them. The first (on the left in the picture) I could smell as soon as the plates neared the table (which is my favorite kind of cheese). This cheese was ridiculously creamy and possessed that amazing flavor that only the stinkiest cheeses can deliver. The middle cheese was firmer and tasted a bit like a strong high-quality parmesan (though a bit softer in texture than that). Tasty, but the only one that none of us finished. The third cheese was a beautiful strong blue. The flavor reminded me a lot of Saint Agur (my favorite blue cheese on the planet) although the texture was somewhat firmer. So very very delicious…
"Pre-Dessert" – Strawberry-Basil Granita served over Panna Cotta:
This was a perfectly refreshing course after the heavy cheeses. I love the strawberry-basil combination, and the panna cotta was light enough to compliment it beautifully without detracting from the refreshing, palate-cleansing purpose of the dish.
Mint Crème Brûlée with Strawberry Sorbet:
This is another dish that was a bit of a puzzle for me. On its own with the strawberry sauce, I didn’t particularly care for this crème brûlée… Immediately follow a bite of the mint crème brûlée with a taste of the accompanying strawberry sorbet, however, and you’re in business. I’m not a huge fan of desserts, but I liked how light and fresh this was at the close of a heavy meal.
So, there you have it. Our dinner reservation was for 10pm (Stanley works late and we didn’t want to have to rush too much to get there on time) and we were at the restaurant until 2am. Verre is no French Laundry (where the three of us dined along with Steph a couple years ago), but that’s not entirely a negative statement. The food can’t compare (I’m not sure the food anywhere really can), but you also don’t have to make such a hard-core effort to acquire a reservation and the (rightfully) reverential vibe at the French Laundry is replaced at Verre by a more casual and welcoming feel. We had a wonderful time, and I’m sure I’ll remember this meal (especially that foie course…) for a long long time…
Vine Tomato Minestrone with Basil Pesto:
This was a fantastic way to start the meal. It’s really easy to make a soup laden with cream taste impressive, but it takes a bit more skill to make something this delicate and simple turn out this delicious. The soup was an intensely flavored tomato consommé with perfectly diced zucchini, carrot, and tomato and a few small white beans. This was finished off tableside with a spoonful of basil pesto. The individual flavors were simple, but they combined to make a really lovely, complex dish. A great way to get our palates excited for what was to follow.Pressed Foie Gras des Landes with Air-dried Duck Breast, Fine French Beans, Shimeji Mushrooms, and Toasted Brioche:
I think we all agreed that this was the star of the show. It’s hard to even find words for how amazing this was. I’ve said this before, but sometimes with food the first bite or two has you saying “Wow! This is SO good!!!” but you sort of stop noticing after a few more bites… For me the sign of a great dish is that every single bite makes you stop and search for new way to communicate how truly fantastic the dish is (just in case it wasn’t clear from your excitement about it after each of the previous 5 bites). The balance of flavors in this dish was remarkable and, when the time inevitably came to take the final bite of this dish, we were all sad to see an empty plate in front of us. (By the way, if you think foie is cruel, feel free to let me know and I can send you my personal treatise on why only vegans have solid footing from which to make such claims.)Roasted Sea Scallops Served with Caper and Raisin Dressing, Cauliflower Purée, and a Reduction of Port and Red Wine:
I think a perfectly cooked fresh scallop may be one of the greatest foods on earth. I remember a few months in Santa Barbara where the mussel lady at the farmers’ market brought in fresh diver scallops. Steph and I brought those home pretty much every Saturday they were there. One of life’s great tragedies (notwithstanding the big-ticket items like genocide and famine) is that frozen scallops are so very much less delicious than fresh, leaving fans of scallops who don’t live near a great fish market to enjoy them only in restaurant settings. That being said, these were damn good scallops, and perfectly cooked. The dish was a bit of a puzzle, I felt. For my palate, the cauliflower purée complimented the scallops beautifully, while the caper-raisin dressing overpowered the scallops yet worked well to reset your palate between bites (thus making each new bite of scallop just as amazing as the last). Once I figured that part out, this dish was totally awesome.Pan-fried Monkfish Tail with Lobster and Herb Risotto with a Shellfish Reduction, Wild Asparagus, and Sauce Vierge:
We diverged a bit on choices with this course, with me and Alicia opting for seafood while Stanley went with the duck (below). The monkfish was good, but the risotto really stole the show in this one. I’ve never had a risotto so ridiculously creamy, and the big hunks of lobster meat in it certainly didn’t hurt. The monkfish was essentially just a nice compliment to this beautiful risotto. My one small gripe on this dish is that I didn’t particularly agree with the wine pairing (we were having wines paired with each course, but this is going to be overly long without going into that for every course, so I’m just pointing out this one). The sommelier went with an unoaked chardonnay with lots of acidity and minerality to balance the creaminess of the risotto (which it paired with quite well), but these qualities made it a bad match (for my palate) with the monkfish. As long as sips of wine only followed risotto bites and not monkfish bites, though, it was all good.Castaing Duck Breast and Confit Duck Leg with Pearl Barley Risotto, Baby Carrots, Cepe Mushrooms, and Port Jus:
Stanley ordered this dish, so I only have two bites from which to judge and will just say that that was some seriously delicious duck cooked to perfection. Another great dish, as far as I could tell…Selection of Fine Cheeses with Walnut Bread:
This is the course that always kicks Stanley's ass in tasting menus. You’re just starting to get full, and then they bring you three (delicious) hunks of fat to eat. I, however, love the cheese course. I don’t know the names of the cheeses, so I’ll just vaguely describe them. The first (on the left in the picture) I could smell as soon as the plates neared the table (which is my favorite kind of cheese). This cheese was ridiculously creamy and possessed that amazing flavor that only the stinkiest cheeses can deliver. The middle cheese was firmer and tasted a bit like a strong high-quality parmesan (though a bit softer in texture than that). Tasty, but the only one that none of us finished. The third cheese was a beautiful strong blue. The flavor reminded me a lot of Saint Agur (my favorite blue cheese on the planet) although the texture was somewhat firmer. So very very delicious…"Pre-Dessert" – Strawberry-Basil Granita served over Panna Cotta:
This was a perfectly refreshing course after the heavy cheeses. I love the strawberry-basil combination, and the panna cotta was light enough to compliment it beautifully without detracting from the refreshing, palate-cleansing purpose of the dish.Mint Crème Brûlée with Strawberry Sorbet:
This is another dish that was a bit of a puzzle for me. On its own with the strawberry sauce, I didn’t particularly care for this crème brûlée… Immediately follow a bite of the mint crème brûlée with a taste of the accompanying strawberry sorbet, however, and you’re in business. I’m not a huge fan of desserts, but I liked how light and fresh this was at the close of a heavy meal.So, there you have it. Our dinner reservation was for 10pm (Stanley works late and we didn’t want to have to rush too much to get there on time) and we were at the restaurant until 2am. Verre is no French Laundry (where the three of us dined along with Steph a couple years ago), but that’s not entirely a negative statement. The food can’t compare (I’m not sure the food anywhere really can), but you also don’t have to make such a hard-core effort to acquire a reservation and the (rightfully) reverential vibe at the French Laundry is replaced at Verre by a more casual and welcoming feel. We had a wonderful time, and I’m sure I’ll remember this meal (especially that foie course…) for a long long time…
9 comments:
Yum....Yum!
I would never eat there, simply because I think Gordon Ramsay's the reincarnation of King Douchebag the First.*
*King Douchebag the First was an extremely unpopular king in Finland in the early 18th century.
Well, Max... In that case you would be missing out, my friend.
I actually think Gordon Ramsay seems like a good guy who has a great philosophy about food. On the British version of Kitchen Nightmares he comes across (to me) as a nice guy trying to help struggling chefs succeed. The asshole persona on his American shows I think has more to do with Fox giving the masses what they want than it has to do with who Ramsay actually is as a chef...
That aside, passing up amazing food because you think the chef is a jerk makes about as much sense to me as the people who hate Hemingway's writing because they think he was a woman-hating bastard as a person... which is to say it makes no sense at all...
Max: Hey! What's this? A sleeping bear?...I'll just take this stick and poke it a few times and see what happens...
Oh, Emmo, you can turn a blind eye to his douchenozzle tendencies all you want. It's like rejoicing in W's tax cuts because you save some money, even though you know it's bad for the country, and you know he's a douchewad himself.
You can "forget" Ramsay's idiocy, rationalizing it away, but I won't drink the Kool-Aid. You're saying his Fox show is okay, because he's just pandering? That's not a good excuse. What we do in life isn't the only thing... who we ARE counts, too.
Even if Ramsay were a douchenozzle, as you allege, refer to my Hemingway argument. If you're my friend, then what counts is who you ARE. If I'm eating in your restaurant, then all that counts is how talented you are as a chef.
Thanks for reminding me of one of the reasons I miss hanging out with you, Max... Looking forward to being able to have these types of discussions with you in person in a few weeks. =D
Max, I admire your stand on this. You believe the guy is an asshole, and you won't stand for it by supporting his business. It's good to know that you won't consume goods or services produced by assholes, in an effort to rid the world of assholishness. Go Max! Keep fighting for what you believe in.
:)
In my opinion the show is a deeply ironic look at the absurd desperation of the bourgeoisie to be validated for their "unique talents", even to the point that they will not only accept any abuse hurled at them, but also take that abuse to heart and actually suffer when they are berated (“You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake!)”. Hilarious. Ramsey, through his brilliant self-caricature, teaches us all a lesson about the inherent cruelty of capitalist competition. He shows us that for every perfect plate of foie (or shining Benz or sparkling watch) we must grind up the hopes and dreams of at least 10 people like so much steak tartare. The fact that the contestants are not “in on the act” makes the tableau even more compelling. Hells Kitchen: A sobering social commentary delivered by a brilliant performance artist.
I don't know who Max is fooling, I'm sure he wouldn't sit outside in protest if he was there too.
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