Per Se, NYC

The Prelude

After months of discussing reservation strategy (Per Se reservations are made 2 months to the calender date with callers placed on a queue at 10am) we finally lock in a date for lunch. Eagerly I lock the date in my calendar; Sunday, 22nd June 2008; as if the reservation will disappear. More satisfying was I had locked in more than a lazy Sunday lunch but a private room in the East Wing all without even having to call the reservation hotline!!! This is all courtesy of one very fine member in the group with membership to the exclusive Platinum Amex.

Finally, the day arrives.... our dinner group stare at the signature blue doors in absolute awe and excited silence...at some point we reach a mutual agreement that this is reality and that we CAN walk through the door without our fairy tale vanishing like a mirage..



As we walk through the door the magic is broken and replaced with excited chatter. Just behind the door we are greeted by the maître d' who arranges for our party of six to be seated. It takes a while for us to get seated as we ooh and ahh at the view from our private room.

The production of the menu and then the wine list creates another bout of excited chatter. Menu choices consist of the Chef's Tasting (USD275), Vegetable Tasting (USD275) and the Five course lunch menu (USD175). After some discussion LLee and I decide to opt for both the Chef's Tasting and Vegetable Tasting menu to share on the basis that we wanted to try everything and that vegetables require more skills to cook. This leads to the next discussion; the wine list; partly due to my ignorance and LLee's vast knowledge this is a short discussion and we end up deciding on the wine suggested by the sommelier; a french riesling, Albert Boxler Reserve, 2005 which was both fresh and crisp to my inexperienced palate.



Now that our immediate needs have been catered to the staff turn their attention to our handbags. My Prada saffiano calf leather clutch (a birthday gift from LLam) is placed on a seat of its own, LLee noticing how forlorn my clutch looks seats her Prada creation next to mine for company. Now all in the crowd are happy and attended to; including our bags; we are ready to feast!!!

Our meals start with an off-menu canapé of salmon tartare with red onion crème fraîche in a savory tuile and was promptly followed by a diverse range of bread (left to right: french baguette, milk and butter, ciabatta, rye, and sour dough). We were provided with butter from a little french chateau to accompany our bread (to the left is the unsalted butter and to the right the salted).




Tasting menus: Chef's Tasting & Tasting of Vegetables


Chef's course 1: Oysters & Pearls
Vegetables course 1: Chilled charentais melon soup



My mouth waters at the sight of the "Oysters and Pearls" one of Thomas Keller's signature dishes which consists of a sabayon of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and sterling white sturgeon caviar. The attention to detail is remarkable as we are provided with mother of pearl spoons to pick at the fine delicacies. The understated saltiness of the caviar was enough to convince me that I was in heaven. Whereas the slightly sweet custard like nature of the sabayon tips me completely over the edge. Despite appearing small the oysters would have originally been extremely large as the outer rim had been carefully trimmed off.

This rich delicacy is followed by the freshness of the melon soup, a careful mix of compressed melons and thai basil. It was like spring had landed on my lips.


Chef's sub-course 2a: Salad of belgian endive
Chef's sub-course 2b: Terrine of hudson valley moulard duck foie gras
Vegetables course 2: Yuzu sorbet



The salad dish of belgian endives with compressed peacotum, french nicoise olives, candied hazelnuts and hazelnut butter was simple but tasty.

With the arrival of the foie gras also comes one of the most decadent experiences in my life. The accompanying toasted brioche for my foie gras is replaced every two minutes to ensure that it is constantly warm!!! Personally I'm not a fan of the pate foie gras but am partial to the whole fried version and felt that the size of the pate meant that the dish was to rich nearing the end.

Yuzu is an oriental citrus fruit which my mum made me eat when I had a sore throat so I was not to excited when I first saw the sorbet. However, the first spoon immediately changed my mind it was fresh and appropriate in sorbet, acting as a palate cleanser between dishes.


Chef's course 3: Sauteed fillet of daurade royale
Vegetables course 3: Salad of violet artichokes



The daurade royale with the confit of fennell, holland eggplant, rainbow chard ribs and italian caper ravigote was somewhat disappointing. Nice enough but not worthy of sitting on a Per Se tasting menu. I console myself with the thought that the daurade is a french fish so naturally belongs on a french menu... however, I wish I was as insightful as HWu who had asked for his daurade to be substituted for a very tasty and visually presentable tuna tartar dish.

My momentary disappointment was absolved as I bite into the artichoke salad with its confit of sunchokes, sweet peppers, arugula and nicoise olive coulis. A refreshing dish that bought a sharp tanginess to the palate.


Chef's course 4: Beets and leeks
Vegetables course 4: Herb roasted trumpet royale mushrooms



I hold my breathe in anticipation as the waitress neatly deposits my 'beets and leaks'. The description had omitted the butter poached nova scotia lobster which had captivated my attention, the 'beets' in the dish was in fact a red beet essence. The accompanying 'pomme maxim' was actually a very fancy and pretty french fry. There is nothing I would not do to be able to replicate the delicate taste, essence and texture of this particular dish. The subtle saltiness of the butter is infiltrated through every part of the well poached lobster and this is blended with the sweet yet tart beet essence. The pomme maxim was fried to a crisp yet despite its thinness still managed to maintain the integrity of potatoes in the centre.

Being a fan of mushrooms I thoroughly enjoyed my plate of mushrooms with grilled young leeks, glazed pearl onions, caramelized cipollini onions and arrowleaf spinach puree. Functioning as a perfect palate cleanser between the richness of the butter poached lobster and the coming quail dish.


Chef's course 5: Cavendish farm's caille en crepinette
Vegetables course 5: Squire hill farm's araucana hen egg omelette



Having had quails many times in my life I had never thought that quail could be so well done. The meat was moist, soft and succulent which was well balanced by the sunny side up quail egg, creamed corn, sweet peppers, quail jus and what is the most perfect piece of bacon I have ever had in my life. Within seconds I had devoured these bite size portions and craved for more. Forget cholesterol, heart burn and obesity this was a dish I would gladly have for breakfast everyday.

To appease my doctor's silent consternation I wash this all down with an omelette of white asparagus and sauce gribiche. What can I say? Guilty as charged doctor but I did have vegetables with that!!!


Chef's course 6: Tenderloin of marcho farm's nature fed veal
Vegetables course 6: Salvatore brooklyn ricotta agnolotti




Any intentions to mollify my doctor are quickly forgotten as I eye my veal dish with its forest mushrooms, thumbelina carrots, fava beans swimming in mousseline bearnaise!!! However, my doctor would not even bother sending me a look of consternation at these delights if he saw the naughty piece of glazed 'ris de veau' sitting on the corner. Ris de veau is veal sweetbread, for such a seemingly innocent name in essence it is the thymus gland of a lamb, calf or pig. Each of my fellow diners enthusiastically jump on their blackberries / i-phones to learn that there are two different thymus glands one in the throat and the other in the heart although both are edible the heart thymus gland is favoured for its superior texture and flavour. Science lesson aside this comes a very close second best to my all time favourite dish of fried foie gras.

It is at this point that I begin to wonder what party trick will Mr Keller bring to the table next? Or is he simply played out? This is not so, I quickly learn that Thomas Keller was not Thomas Keller for no reason he had many party tricks up his sleeve to entertain his party guests with. He proves this pointedly with the appearance of a simple ricotta, english peas, pea tendrils sitting quietly in extra virgin olive oil emulsion. I am confused the description clearly alluded to the presence of truffles yet I neither see nor smell the strong aroma of truffles. It is in this moment that the waiter in a flourish whips out the next magic trick, a piece of provence summer truffle that easily weighs a pound. To understand why I am experiencing cardiac arrest the black summer truffle can easily cost up to $1700 per kilogram!!! To put this into perspective oil is currently trading at $140 per barrell!!! A to be unnamed diner in my party is almost moved to tears and I am tempted to make a grab for the truffled ricotta to ensure that it is not salted by tears but politely restrain myself. All is well as common sense breaks through and the diner realises that you do not marinate truffled ricotta with tears and we start to enjoy the warm comforting homely taste of ricotta.


Chef's course 7: Di bruno brothers burrata
Vegetables course 7: La serena



A well constructed degustation menu is meant to be a thoughtful progression of taste, texture and colour and with this in mind Keller advances us to the next carte du jour in a theme of cheese. The burrata an italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream sits on a bed of heirloom tomato vierge, watercress, endive spears and thyme oil. Although some in my group feel that dish is to plain to be on the menu the burrata has me hooked on mozzarella and I have melted mozzarella for three consecutive lunches to recapture this moment.

Not being a fan of blue cheese or goat's cheese I leave the la serena largely untouched. Le serena is a cheese made of milk from merino sheep in La Serena, Spain. My dinner partner appears to appreciate this smelly lump with its pine nut butter, sable au piment d'espelette, apricot marmalade and cilantro shoots.


Chef's course 8: Apricot sorbet
Vegetables course 8: Blueberry sorbet



Lucky for me the next plate that arrives are sorbets. The fresh and fruity flavours erase all memories of the bitter, pungent aftertaste of the la serena and Keller is once more in favour with this little princess.


Chef's sub-course 9a: Peanut butter and milk
Chef's sub-course 9b: Glace a la fraise
Vegetables course 9: Crepe soufflee



Perhaps my sentiments on the desserts are a reflection of the fact that I am not a sweet tooth but although tasty I did not particularly feel that the desserts were anything spectacular. In my modest opinion the desserts were fairly ordinary and was not anything that could not be obtained at any high end cafe. After a few spoonfuls of each plate I leave the rest for my more enthusiastic fellow diners to polish off.


Grand Finale: Coffee and donuts



It was just as well that I had left room in my stomach because I didn't know it at the time but my third all time favourite dessert was arriving. The coffee and donuts is Keller's signature dish and was a special request by me. In essence it is a cappuccino semifreddo with flavored mousse topped with steamed milk and accompanied by cinnamon-sugar donut. This delight is at its best when the mousse and frothy milk is spooned onto the cinnamon donut. At this point I am very tempted to ask for an encore to the grand finale... if I was at the theatre this would have deserved a standing ovation!!! Having never bought a celebrity cook book in my life I am now thinking that the French Laundry book with the coffee and donut recipe may be my first.


Tea Coffee & Petit Fours: A relaxing end...



Our meal concludes with a selection of petit fours, tea and coffee and a pastry parting gift. The petit fours included chocolates, nougats, caramels and three types of truffles. Being an impossible girl to please my attention quickly turns to other matters and I ask for a tour of the kitchen (I had been harrassing the wait staff about this all day, yes I can be a bit of a pain and one track minded!!!).


Per Se Tour - Behind the scenes!!!




The accommodating staff took me through the mythical fairyland of the Per Se kitchen where these magical creatures send out package of joys to the world. We are taken through the garden bar, the canopy bar, the fish bar, the private kitchen, the fridge, the coffee room, the willy wonka chocolate room and the bakery. All is extremely clean and professional.


Goodbye :(



However, all good stories even fairy tales must come to an end and at the end of my tour our bag of goodies / parting gifts (and the cheque) are waiting for us. We sign the guest book take one parting look and leave. All in all we had spent seven hours in this wonderful fairyland sampling delicacies and being transported to heaven, the service was superb and the food even better.

Above is me saying my final goodbye to Per Se. It took a number of takes by LLam to be able to capture the blue door and the Per Se sign (normally covered by automatic glass doors) at the back so I had to use this picture!!!

Author's note
Special thanks to ETom, PLook for their immense patience throughout the day. Thanks to HWu for his creativity and feedback on the photos and again many thanks to LLee and LLam for providing me with photos to supplement my rather poor attempts at photography.


Per Se
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212 823 9335