Emma's Birthday Dinner

My 23rd birthday is tomorrow, November 4th. So, today, Wayne and I went out to celebrate my birthday at Graham Elliot.  The chef, Graham Elliot, appeared on Top Chef Masters in 2009 and was also on Master Chef as a judge. So we had some pretty high expectations.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very trendy and chic with sophisticated lighting.
To start off we ordered wines. I decided to get the 2011 chateau pradeaux rose just because it was pink. lols I thought it was really good, it was a little dry but had a very smooth finish.
We decided to do the prix fixe for dinner. Wayne got the butternut, lamb and chai. And I decided to go with the pear, sturgeon and chocolate.

 

Our waiter came out with a complimentary tasting from the chef. We weren't too impressed by it. I think it had shishito in it and some type of foam. The tasting dish provided the taste bud pallet with a mixture of textures and flavors. It just wasn't something I'd reach for to taste if it wasn't given to me though.

 

For our first course, my pear dish was amazing. All of the elements of the dish complimented each other. The prominent flavor of the roquefort, the sweet and juiciness of the pear and the surprising mostarda. The dish consisted of: pear, roquefort, peppercress, and mostarda.

Roquefort is one of the world's best known blue-cheeses. The flavor was pretty mild and ends with a little bit of salty after taste. I also know that peppercress comes from the mustard family. But I had no idea with mostarda was. After looking it up on Google, I found out it was an Italian condiment made from candied fruit. Weird! But it was pretty tasty with the dish. It is kind of like a ball of jelly.

 

Wayne's butternut dish was a butternut-like soup with noisette, chestnut and sage. I thought his dish would be more like a butternut squash soup, but instead it was just a broth. Noisette is when unsalted butter is melted over low heat and it begins to brown as a liquid in the process. The chestnut was like shavings and added a bit of a crunch compared to the liquid. It was pretty good. I expected Wayne's dish to have a little more butternut flavor. Instead it was just a hearty brown broth with textured chestnut shavings. Again, I wasn't too impressed by it. But Wayne thought it was pretty good.


For our main course I had the sturgeon with rutabaga, apple coleslaw, and Gruyere. Now I gotta say, the best dish for the night was my sturgeon. The sturgeon was perfectly cooked. It was a little fishy but because it was cooked to the T, it was savory and smooth for a fish dish. The rutabaga was kind of breaded and provided a little bit of contrast to the texture of the fish. It was almost like a crab cake in presentation and texture.

Wayne got the lamb with an eggplant, pistachio and yogurt. I thought the eggplant puree was pretty good under the lamb. Wayne and I both thought the lamb was pretty good in texture, it just was a tad bit salty. I think the eggplant was mixed with like chickpeas or something with pistachios. The puree added another texture to the lamb's meaty flavor. However, I felt like the dish needed one more thing crunchy or sweet to add another dimension to the dish. But it was still pretty decent.

Then for dessert we got the carrot with maple, ginger and raisin and the chocolate cake with gianduja and mexican. They both were pretty good. I thought my chocolate dish would be a little more chocolatey. The cake was kind of bitter instead of sweet. Which I can understand, because it's dark chocolate and gianduja is pretty bitter. I just thought they should have added an element to counter the bitterness with a sweeter chocolate or puree or something.

 

We ended the night by getting another drink at Union Sushi Bar & Grill. If you ever get a chance to go there, you should! It's like sushi/robata grilled tapas.  Also it sounds silly, but I thought they would at least say happy birthday to me. Wayne had specifically put on OpenTable that we were out celebrating. Oh well.

So note to self: if having expectations for a fancy restaurant either forgo the expectations and just eat and be happy OR  just go to my favorite fancy place and all of my expectations will be met.

 

 All decked out in my orange dress & my black rabbit fur coat from South Korea.

Honestly guys, MK Restaurant was the best ever.  Seriously though I've never had a better experience. It seemed like everyone (to the waiters to the busboys were on their A game.) When I had gone there with an ex, almost everyone at MK said happy birthday to me. And when Wayne and I had gone to celebrate our 1 year, they came out with a desert plate saying happy anniversary. I mean when we're shelling out the big bucks, I expect a great experience/accommodations for our money. Because honestly, it's the little details that matter the most. I'm honestly surprised that MK doesn't have higher ratings on yelp.

In short, our experience at Graham Elliot was nice for a birthday celebration. It just didn't hit m expectations for a really fancy restaurant.

BUT I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world though because I got to spend it with the most amazing guy ever. And honestly, that's all that matters to me. :) Thank you Wayne for taking me out for my birthday. I love you. <3

As always,
"The Couple that Grubs Together, Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-