The Stars and the Cookie Jar

Tonight we went out for supper for darthrami 's birthday. We went to Black's Bar and Kitchen, which will go down as my best American-style dining experience ever. (Gordon Ramsay = continental dining. Dazzling in a whole different kind of way.)

I've never had such beautiful seafood in a restaurant. Sweet, briny scallops cooked medium rare. N's beautifully seared tuna -- and what fish course is more tired than seared tuna? -- that got all its flavor from salt, pepper, maybe some paprika, and the fish. My brother in law had organic salmon, which I didn't try, and there were all kinds of small plates and appetizers, including mine, the Hudson Valley foie with grilled figs and Banyuls gastrique. I had a pan-cooked monkfish with garlic chips, roasted broccoli and smoked eggplant in garlic cream. It was really harmonious and simple. There were a few misses -- N's red quinoa seemed like filler seasoned with afterthought, and I think my mother-in-law wasn't expecting that rampion to be that mean. But on the whole, everything flowed very honestly, which is getting more important to me the older I get (and the more often I pay for my own meals in restaurants). We had an '04 cab blend by a Napa Valley  winery called Worthy's, and if you can find a bottle, you should get it. It was remarkably reasonable for restaurant wine, which is to say I was still glad at the end of the meal when my father in law paid the bill.

But I can't skip to the bill without talking about dessert. We had such innovative stuff, such remarkable sorbets. There was carrot sorbet with the carrot cake! And I had the sexiest little tart of grapefruit creme patissiere in a chocolate-coated nut crust, with grapefruit champagne sorbet. N had an amazing chocolate pot de creme, and they stuck a candle straight up on the plate. They even sent out mignardises (blackberry curd sablees and pumpkin truffles).

And now I am sitting in bed sipping the wonderfully thick, spicy hot chocolate corchen brought to us. It's been a good day.