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Two Tables in New York: Daniel and Annisa
New York, NY – Making the new seem amazing without
being bizarre, making the tried and true seem totally
refreshed, doing this day in and day out year after
year, that’s the mark of a great chef.
I have followed Daniel Bouloud’s inventive cuisine
for more than 25 years, and he shows absolutely no
signs of letting up. Take a table in his 1930’s
Hollywood-style dining room – words like plush
and lush and posh come to mind – on New York’s
Upper East Side and let him and his attentive staff
take care of you.
Daniel’s cuisine is steady but far from boring,
and for sure he is one of those chefs that manage to
surprise you, staying one step ahead of the game, presenting
you with a dish before it becomes a cliché.
But behind it all, you know that his standards are
high and he’s not just there to make waves but
make pleasure.
Sometimes new is just the tiniest twist on a classic,
like his recent main course of veal cheeks cleanly
flavored with rosemary, miniature Thumbelina carrots,
a mound of spinach, and – the surprise – the
creamiest of polenta flavored with a welcome, refreshing
touch of citrus.
Earlier this year, Daniel created an astonishing,
multicourse feast that covered all bases, dipping into
Asian flavors with a lemongrass-cured salmon appetizer;
setting us clearly in France with seared tuna embellished
with peppers from Espelette in the Pays Basque, tiny
bites of crisp socca (chickpea batter crepe) from Nice
and a remoulade Nicoise full of the flavors of the
Mediterranean; and taking us to Italy with an unforgettably
smooth and satisfying ricotta and fontina ravioli showered
with shavings of fresh black truffles.
World cuisine it is, and he pulls it off with finesse,
flavor, bravura and clearly lots and lots of hard work,
discipline and planning. While dining in America I
never get enough of the country’s top-rate crab,
and Daniel filled the void with an astonishing salad
of North Pacific Dungeness Crab, soft textures offset
by the crisp of cucumber, the sweetness of mango and
the surprise of a summer roll stuffed with the bright
flavors of mint, coriander, sweet pepper and mint.
Daniel spares nothing in terms of quality ingredients – whether
they are sweet Nantucket Bay Scallops, Vermont baby
lamb, or Beau Soleil oysters from the coast of Maine.
The wine list alone is worth a visit, with knowledgeable
wine stewards at your side throughout the meal. Some
recent treats include Peter Michaels’ 2001 Sauvignon
Blanc “l’Apres Midi,” and a stunning
red Russian River Valley Seghesio Zinfandel “Old
Vines” 1994 that still had tons of life left
in it.
ANISSA
There are times you sit down and examine a menu and
soon you find yourself thinking, dish after dish, “Why
didn’t I think of that!” And this is the
way I felt as I began selecting my meal at Annisa,
a thoroughly pleasant Greenwich Village restaurant
run by chef Anita Lo, where everything from the service
to the execution of the food is straightforward and
unmasked.
The all-white dining room creates a soothing, comforting
environment and the efficient staff - void of attitude
- make you feel that much more at home. The modern
American menu is full of pleasant surprises, from the
kumquat and lemon confit that brightens a pleasing
salad of shaved fennel and fresh jumbo shrimp, on to
the miniature lemon and radish garnish that flanks
the memorable unagi – or eel – that is
served tempura-style, bathed in a salted egg yolk batter.
Hours later I could still close my eyes and relive
the mouth filling taste of the thin slice of charred
eggplant, laden with spice and set atop a cloud-like
dollop of yogurt. This nice twist on what could well
be a hackneyed dish is embellished with a tiny timbale
of perfectly cooked, deep green lentils.
Here the chef deep frying oysters in a buckwheat batter
and anoints the salty bivalves with fresh caviar; while
smooth, alabaster sablefish is marinated in miso, set
atop a rectangle of silken tofu, and set afloat in
a golden brown bonito broth.
But perhaps my favorite dish was the straightforward
sautéed filet of skate, teamed up with cubes
of avocado, the right hit of chili and tender bits
of Iroquois corn.
In a city overrun with large and often impersonal
restaurants, Annisa is a little jewel to put on your
list when you want personality, full flavors, no nonsense.
Daniel
60 East 65th (between Madison and Park)
New York, NY
Telephone: 212 288 0033
Annisa
13 Barrow Street (between Bleecker and West 4th Street)
New York, NY
Telephone: 212 741 6699
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