40 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

I'm like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football.

I keep going to these guest chef gigs.

On occasion they actually are good. (Sean Brock's visits to Aldea.)

Usually they're not.

This is the first time I've been to a Le Grand Fooding event (as distinct from an Omnivore event: a distinction I'm not clear on, to tell you the truth). In the past, the words applied here to Le Fooding events have included "shitshow" and "clusterfuck".

Animal at Vinegar Hill House

Last night -- the guys from Animal cooking at Vinegar Hill House with that restaurant's home chef -- tried for these designations, but failed -- only because of the iron will of my Dining Companion.

You were allowed to reserve for either of two seatings: 7:30 and 9:30. I chose 9:30. When my Dining Companion got there, before I did, she was told that our reservation had been placed in a newly created 10:00 shift (others had been moved to 9:45) -- a fact that did not appear on my confirmations from Le Fooding, which all listed 9:30. In most places, this would not be a big problem: you could just go somewhere and grab a drink. There are, however, only two places to grab a drink anywhere near the Vinegar Hill House: the bar at the Vinegar Hill House (closed down for this event) and the new wine bar the owners of the Vinegar Hill House recently opened next door (closed down for this event). My Dining Companion communicated her thoughts on being made to stand out on Hudson Avenue with nothing to do for a half hour, and those thoughts apparently pursuaded the Le Fooding functionaries to waive us in at 9:30. When I arrived, they meekly asked if I would mind waiting a half hour, and when I said I would mind, they led us to a nice table in the garden.

This turned out to be a disappointing dinner.

The point of Animal, as I understand it, is MEAT. But it turns out that the format of these dinners -- sponsored by Veuve Clicquot -- is that the food must all go with Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label, a half bottle of which was provided each diner. (Yeah, cheap Champagne, REAL exciting.) So MEAT goes out the window. Rather:

First Course: Zucchini Soup with glazed heirloom tomatoes. Quite delicious, actually. But not what I was expecting.

Second Course: Hake with Cheddar Crust with something like a Soubise. The Cheddar made it less boring than it otherwise would have been. But not what I was expecting.

Third Course: Foie Gras and Biscuit with Maple-Sausage Gravy. This is more like it.

Dessert: Fig Cake with Fig Ice Cream. (From a tree in the Vinegar Hill House's garden!) OK.

I guess this was worth $75. But I don't feel like I've had that Animal Experience.

[StephanieL]

Well, now I don't feel so bad that every event clashes with something I have going on this weekend. I'm sure I'll have a lot more fun at the Viva La Comida fest in Jackson Heights tonight (or even at the Mets-Marlins game tomorrow).

[Wilfrid]

How very strange. Like going to a Fergus Henderson dinner and being served spinach quiche.

[Sneakeater]

Yeah.

[Anthony Bonner]

How very strange. Like going to a Fergus Henderson dinner and being served spinach quiche.

I'm totally not trying to be contrary because I agree with what you are saying. I've had some great non-meat dishes at StJ B&W - that was always part of the appeal to me. Not just the nose to tail stuff. So if anything the fact the animal guys couldn't pull that off is problematic * (of course for the fact its a travelling road show dinner, so not totally fair)

Like whole cooked fish and cheese based mains.

[Sneakeater]

I'm sure that was the idea, Bonner: to show that master chefs can stretch their style even to match every course with Champagne Blanc.* I have a feeling this actually revealed that, in this case, what one would suspect is instead true: that the Animal approach is a gimmick, and that the chefs are one-trick ponies rather than really good chefs (unlike Fergus Henderson).

It must be noted that the division of responsibility for the menu is not clear. These dinners are supposed to be "collaborations" of one kind or another between the visiting chefs and the home chefs. At last night's dinner by Sean Brock and the Frankies (to be written up later), it was pretty easy to tell that the Frankies did the antipasto and the pasta, and Brock did the main dish and dessert. The respective roles of the Animal guys and the Vinegar Hill House guy were harder to suss out. I'd suspect it was the same (the local guy doing the first two courses and the visitors doing the second two), but it really isn't clear. Although one would think the foie came from the Animal guys, really any of the courses could have come from either side. Maybe they collaborated on all of them.
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* And mediocre Champagne Blanc at that.

I went to a Krug dinner at Corton once that really worked. But there: (a) the Champagnes were all upper-level cuvees from a top producer, not the entry-level cuvee from a mediocre house; and (b) there were Roses, Blancs de Noirs, etc., which made for more wide-ranging pairings over the course of the night.

[Anthony Bonner]

And Liebrandt can cook.

BTW - The Believer has an interview with Jonathan Gold where he just takes potshots at Liebrandt.

[Sneakeater]

Also, to be perfectly fair, you can expect more from a $200 or $300 dinner than from a $75 dinner.

[Wilfrid]

How very strange. Like going to a Fergus Henderson dinner and being served spinach quiche.

I'm totally not trying to be contrary because I agree with what you are saying. I've had some great non-meat dishes at StJ B&W - that was always part of the appeal to me.

We can sing in harmony on this one. Very true, and Fergus always emphasized that his point was not to make use of weird animal parts of the sake of it, but just to "have a nice supper." For all I know, Animal might serve genius fish dishes too.

But expectations are nonetheless confounded here (although the champagne pairing explains it).

[Sneakeater]

As I've edited my post to say explicitly, I think the point is that this showed that, unlike Fergus Henderson who's a real great chef, (perhaps) these guys aren't.

[Wilfrid]

Although it's hard to judge anyone on the road, isn't it?

ETA: Although the menu at Animal changes daily, there's no fish entree as such currently on it. Shellfish as ingredients, yes, and octopus curry.

[Sneakeater]

That's true.

(Although Sean Brock sure manages to be fabulous.)

ETA -- That's why I suspect the fish dish might have come from Vinegar Hill House and not Animal. Although I could imagine that if the Animal guys cooked a white fish, they'd encrust it with a strong cheese.

[Wilfrid]

"Put some fuckin' cheese on it!"

[GordonCooks]

"Put some fuckin' cheese on it!"

"Extra Cheese is 2.00"

[AaronS]

the animal brahs operate son of a gun, which is apparently a seafood restaurant.