Gotham’s sunny pleasures kicked off with yellow tomato and strawberry gazpacho and a touch of olive oil to blunt acidity. Price: $80 for six-course Greenmarket Vegetable Tasting 21 Roasted portobello mushrooms, accompanied by even more veggies at Gotham Bar & Grill. Roasted nectarine and grilled lemon cake brought the sun back. Forest-floor flavor depths of globe artichoke- and wild mushroom-based vegan compositions saved them from being anticlimactic. Wholewheat tonnarelli bore a crackling chili spark and complexions of rosemary and bonito. Luna piena, a giant raviolo, was filled with Castelmagno cheese and shaved black truffles. High ground came in two mid-meal pasta courses. We forgave “cool warm-weather minestrone” poured over basil tortellini that separated into a vinegary pool. The overture: salad of escarole, chicory and bitter herbs under a black truffle vinaigrette mist, one of three marvelous vegan (dairy-free) courses Ladner snuck in. Price: $149 for eight-course “della Terra”ĭel Posto’s tasting flowed in symphonic-structured movements. 21 The minestrone at Del Posto is poured over basil tortellini. Only the pommes mousseline lacked contrast, but they were quickly forgotten after refreshing poached apricot and strawberry-based desserts that made me want summer to last forever. Next, a grains brigade stormed the plush surroundings - Moroccan couscous, Venetian black rice, risotto and quinoa, variously spun with tahini and tamarind, sumac yogurt, tiny corn kernels, smoked paprika and salsa verde. Impeccable but predictable heirloom tomato, burrata and basil salad with a sourdough crouton gave way to an out-of-the-box, one-two pasta punch - pesto-ized ricotta gnocchi with pecorino cheese and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, and ultra al dente spaghetti chitarra and shaved zucchini. Price: $95 for six courses for parties of two, they offer different items in several courses on request.Ĭafe Boulud’s tasting was creatively conceived all the way through, starting with a trio of chilled, pitchperfect summer soups. 21 New Jersey corn risotto was one of the many grains served at Cafe Boulud. Prices are per person and don’t include drinks, tax or tip. Here’s my scorecard, ranked on a scale of 0 (tastes like dirt!) to 4 carrots (Bugs Bunny would approve). Are dishes served in the right order to maximize the pleasure of each? I rated not only the strengths of specific dishes, but what composers call the “long line” - a sense of coherence to the whole affair. I finished my meals as stuffed as if I’d split a porterhouse.) (Don’t mistake “vegetarian” for “light.” Chefs toss in a kitchen sink of cheese and cream, pasta, grains, nuts, oils and fruit. I tried seven restaurant tastings at different price points. It’s a harvest to celebrate, right? Yes, but not all crops are created equal. Vegetarian tasting menus are popping up like wild mushrooms in the rain.
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