Visiting History One Bite At a Time
I have been to Delmonico's before.
But to be fair, I don't really remember the meal particularly well.
I was a little overwhelmed. You see, I've been a little bit obsessed
with the place ever since I'd read The Alienist by Caleb Carr. The
story takes place in turn of the 20th century NY and
Delmonico's was already about 65 years old and featured prominently
in the novel. After reading the book I went researching and checking
out this restaurant. As it turns out, Delmonico's was the first “a
la carte” restaurant in the United States. That means it was the
first eatery that you were able to order your meal piece by
piece...appetizers, entrees and desserts by your choice from a
selection rather than just whatever the chef prepared that day. This
is the place where Lobster Newberg, Oysters Rockefeller, Baked
Alaska, and for all you brunch lovers, Eggs Benedict were invented.
This place is culinary history, folks. Up until then restaurants had
their patrons seated at long communal tables rather than having a
table for each party. This was a restaurant that served Abraham
Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Charles Dickens... Obviously, I was a bit
enamored. So when Doreen surprised me with a trip here for my 30th
birthday dinner, as I said, I was a little overwhelmed. It was like being
12-years-old and waking up Christmas morning to see a wrapped gift in
the shape of the bicycle you've been wanting all year and then once
you opened the present there was the Nintendo you never told anyone
you wanted but had been dreaming about for months. Yes, I was THAT
excited. When I walked between those columns my heart nearly beat
out of my chest. So, the details of that visit got somewhat blurred in my amazement that someone thought of me enough to
take me there and that I was actually there.
7 years later, I made my return with
Gina, one of my 3 favorite eating companions in the world. The
conversation is never stilted, we laugh a lot and we eat a little
less than we laugh. You can't ask for any more. I'm sometimes
chided about how central food seems to be to me. Well, this is why.
Food produces nights like these. There's a bond made between people
that share a great meal together that isn't made any other way. It
may have come to me late in life, but I've learned to respect that
power.
Oddly, I was still pretty damn excited
to be going there. Now I know it's not the same exact place as the
restaurant that had that name 175 years ago. But it's the same
space. They serve some of the same menu. And those columns were
there nearly 2 centuries ago like aging sentinels watching over the
name of Delmonico's. Kind of like that ancient knight from Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade watching the grail. Much like Indy
did...we chose wisely. This time around I was better able to take
in, or at least better able to process, how elegant it is inside.
The beautiful murals on the walls. The impeccably tuxedoed wait
staff. Hell, even the Delmonico's emblazoned steak knives and
plates. I was really tempted to steal a steak knife but it seemed
too much like something a blue-haired old lady would do.
Now if you're going out to enjoy what
is supposed to be a reverent and fantastic meal...go out with someone
that absolutely loves to eat. The only way to top that is to go out
with a woman who is 5-months pregnant that loves to eat. So that's
exactly what I did. Although honestly we didn't really indulge any
more than we normally would have. Which isn't to say we didn't eat a
lot. It's just to say that we normally eat a lot when we go out like
this.
To start with we went with; Crab
cakes which had bits of chili and pineapple in them. They were
pretty damn tasty. Not fantastic, but tasty. Oysters “Diamond Jim
Brady”, which is basically a stepped-up, more indulgent version of
Oysters Rockefeller. These wonderful bivalves come topped with
spinach, Champagne cream and pancetta. Absolutely fantastic. We
also had Grilled Spanish Octopus. I love me some eight-legged sea
creatures but sadly these were a bit of a let down. The octopus was
somewhat over-cooked and a little bland. The salad it came on with
chorizo and somekind of roasted peppers was pretty good though. A
very nicely made Manhattan made me a happy camper as well.
When in a steakhouse, you've got to
eat beef. Otherwise there's really no point in being there unless
you're a regular and you want to try everything on the menu. We went
for cow. Yummy, yummy cow. 16 oz T-Bones for us. With that lovely
char and the beautiful red color in the middle. They may have fed
the cows these steaks came from nothing but butter for years because
that's how buttery this meat was. For sides, we didn't go with the
usual fare of creamed spinach and such. I don't really know why
actually. I guess because we didn't want to order absolutely
everything on the menu and have them need wheelbarrows to get us out
of there. So we went with roasted mushrooms, which were excellent.
The summer version of Delmonico Potatoes, which were pretty good but
missing the hints of nutmeg I remember from the version I had 7 years
ago. I liked the winter ones better. And how can you not order
something called King Crab Macaroni and Cheese. This was some
seriously decadent mac and cheese. It didn't have as much crab
flavor as I would have liked. I think maybe the crab was a somewhat
overwhelmed by all the cream and cheese. It was excellent macaroni
and cheese...just not really very crabbish.
With most folks, we go to dinner and
never make it to dessert. By the time we get to that point in the
meal we can barely manage a cup of coffee and some groans and grunts
of satisfaction. When I'm out with Gina, that's never the case.
There's always room for dessert. I don't know what it is about
sharing a meal with her but somehow my stomach expands just a little
bit more. Maybe I just know what's expected of me when she's sitting
across the table and my body adjusts accordingly. So Gina got a
really good hazelnut chocolate cake that came with amazing vanilla
ice cream. And since I've never had it, and they're famous for it, I
tried Baked Alaska. It was OK. The meringue wasn't my favorite
thing in the world. But once you got past that strangely textured
stuff the walnut cake and banana gelato underneath were pretty damn
good. Especially with another Manhattan. I really should've asked
what they used in their Manhattans because they were fucking
excellent.
I'm really glad I went back to
Delmonico's for a 2nd time. The first time was a
fantastic experience. The second time was a fantastic meal. I would
definitely go back for a 3rd time.
Delmonico's
56 Beaver Street, NYC
212-509-1144
No comments:
Post a Comment