Welcome To The Palace

[I apologize in advance for the poor formatting of this entry; I keep trying to fix it, but it won't work!]

It's often the case that when dining at a high-end, high-clientele, high falutin eatery in a restaurant-saturated and cuisine-obsessed city like New York (guilty as charged!), the experience is accompanied by two things: a major headache on the reservation line (if the restaurant even has a public telephone listing) and a fair amount of pomp and circumstance to remind patrons that they're dining at that restaurant.

I was reminded this past weekend that blowing trumpets, industry insider connections, and restaurateurs-turned-reality tv hosts (love 'em, but come on already) do not (necessarily) a fine dining experience make. While my three sisters and I went home to Cincinnati this past weekend to spend time with my lovely parents, we celebrated the whole family being together at The Palace, part of the fancy schmancy Cincinnatian Hotel. Beginning with the boutique hotel's storied history-built in 1882, designed by the same architect who designed Cincinnati's exquisite Music Hall and City Hall, and generally considered a physical manifestation of elegance, The Palace is no exception to The Cincinnatian Hotel's rules of the game. Its one of those places that stays true to its mission and mantra of luxury, class, and timelessness. Even though the menu features items-du-jour, the restaurant does not.

The elegant environs, white wood paneling, overisized French-inspired chairs, live music performed by the pianist: it's all grade A quality (they even have a tray of prescription glasses by the host's podium for patrons who may have left their reading glasses at home and need another pair of eyes to read the menu. That attention to detail; that consideration--you really just don't find that anywhere these days.)

NOW, onto the food (I'm forgetting what the amuse bouche was, but it was delicious!): The chef, Jose Salazar, hails from Queens and, according to The Palace website, has enjoyed stints at Blue Ribbon Bakery and Jean Georges, and has assisted the famed Thomas Keller with the openings of Bouchon Bakery and Per Se.

I started off with the "French Onion Soup"--yes, the name was in quotes because it was a sophisticated spin on the usual slopped cheese-and-soggy croutons in a crock bowl french onion soup that we all love. The dish was presented without the broth; only the stuffed cipolini onions and bruleed ("burnt") gruyere were in the bowl. But the drought came to an end once another server came round and filled the bowl with chicken consomme. It was light, but the stuffed onions and bruleed gruyere gave the dish concentrated pangs of wonderfully pungent flavor. A perfect start.

In my attempt to pack in more omega-3 fatty acids into my diet, I ordered the dover sole (which I know is always high on the "best of" fish list), with ridiculously delicious succotash, and brown butter-lemon emulsion and potato croquettes on the side. For a novice fish eater, the sole was quite tasty considering I added only a little bit of the butter-lemon emulsion.

Now, I've only had succotash once or twice while dining out, but they were not memorable experiences. This succotash, on the other hand, with corn, peas, and sauteed foresh mushrooms mixed in, was AWESOME. I seriously couldn't get enough of it! I know it's more commonly found in southern cuisine, which I'm not always loving, but something about this, the butteriness, maybe?! (a-ha!), made this succotash scrumptuous!

The croquettes were also pretty great. They didn't have that overly-fried, ear-piercing CRUNCH and warm, soft interior that other croquettes I've eaten have, but they were still a fun side to the sole. I've had croquettes in many different cuisine--French, tapas, Japanese (I scoured Japanese markets every day for their phenomenal version of potato croquettes when I was there)--and it's a delight to see them on the menu at a nicer restaurant because, really, they're just a more grown up version of tater tots. Napoleon Dynamite must be a big croquette eater in his adult years.

Here are a few shots of some of the other finger-lickin' foods that filled our bellies:

A prime filet of beef with confit fingerling potatoes, wilted spinach and beef jus. The potatoes and spinach absorbed the juice and spices really well, so the composite ingredients of the dish made for a really whole, well-rounded flavor.
Tartare.

Roasted Barramundi, an Australian white fish, with celery, sunchokes (which I keep seeing on menus ever since I heard about them on the artichoke episode of Iron chef) red pearl onions, sauce soubise (an onion-added variation of Bechamel sauce), and black truffle vinaigrette.

A citrus salad with arugula and frissée greens, orange confit, candied grapefruit, pickled red onions and shaved pecorino romano cheese (really light but packed with flavor--I love when salads surprise me like this one did)

And now, the dish with the sauce that I was obSESSED with and love dearly. I will not quit you, cilantro sauce. It was Alaskan halibut with razor clam foam and some other goodies. I have no idea what the sauce was--the website says salsa verde, which it definitely is not. It was fairly pungent, just a bit tart, and yummy. All I know is that I tried one bite of my sister's dish and the taste--and the love affair-- hit me like a Mac truck; we ended up swapping plates so I could dip bread and eat up every drop of the divine green cilantro sauce. Somebody give me some please!!!!!!!!

Finally: dessert! We're not the biggest dessert family, but their pastry chef, Summer Genetti, is revered for her beautiful, creative and unique presentations. Watch out, your blood sugar is going to rise:

The first dessert is a mango-lime Bavarian: mango mousse with a hint of lime, coconut sorbet, key lime cream, poached mango, cilantro syrup and coconut tuile. I'm not the biggest fan of mousse (don't like that texture), but the dish was exquisite.

This chocolate hazelnut flourless torte came with toasted hazelnuts, dulce de leche, hazelnut butter, and roasted banana ice cream, which my sister went bananas for. The "flourless" bit of it was not as tasty to the buds as the presentation was to the eyes. The smashed nuts and hazelnut butter, however, made me nutty with delight.

Next up is some sort of apricot or peach tarte with a carmelized sugar top, and grapes and raspberries. Even the grapes, sliced thin and widthwise, were uniquely presented.

Last up is the milk chocolate-sesame mousse, milk chocolate brownie, dark chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar. The milk chocolate brownie was warm and AWESOME! It was essentially a molten chocolate cake without the lava-one of my favorite desserts!! The warmth of the brownie was in perfect contrast with the dark chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar that was sitting on a pile of dark chocolate cookie crumbs.

Be happy and Carpe Diem!