Tasting Menu Dinner

Course 1: Fried Egg Yolk

My take on a deviled egg. 64C Yolk in Panko, Horseradish Mayo, Pickled Mustard Seeds, Micro Arugula.

Course 2: Beet Brulee

Beets were sliced, vacuum infused with coffee, then slow roasted. Topped with sugar and hit with the Searzall. Finished with a whipped Chevre/Sour Cream and Balsamic Caviar. That beet was good stuff. This wasn't supposed to be finger food, but nobody waited for forks.

Course 3: Caesar Salad

Romaine leaf, Caesar Dressing, Parmesan, Salmon Skin Chicharrones

Course 4: Pizza!

Parmesan Crisp, Prosciutto di Parma, Manchego, Tomato Powder, served in a pizza box. I cut the parm crisps when they were hot, and they fused back together, then busted up a bit when I tried to cut them after they cooled. Next time, I'd do individual slices and plate them together for a cleaner presentation. This was inspired by a recent visit to e in Las Vegas.

Course 5: Duck Toast

Like ChefSteps American Toast, but with duck egg. I've made this a few times now and everybody always loves it, but this was the first time I used duck eggs for it. Damn...it's even more delicious with duck eggs and (bonus!) the portions are bigger. Also gleaned a couple tips from the henna egg - (i.e. top roughly with a knife and then take an orbital sander to finish it off) - much faster than trying to get clean tops by hand. Also, first utensil of the night.

Course 6: Onion, Apple, Gin.

Up to this point, everyone was just standing in the kitchen watching me work and dishes were eaten by hand, but with this dish we had to finally sit down. No one wanted to go to the dining room, so the small kitchen table I had planned to use for plating was appropriated and everyone squeezed around it. This is a Restaurant Story dish, and is one of my favorites I've had in the last 5 years. I've made it before, but it wasn't clicking tonight. It showed potential, but definitely needed some adjusting. Onions 3 ways: Caramelized, Confit, and Fried, in a Green Apple and Gin Broth with fresh Thyme. Can't wait for the Story book to come out.

Course 7: Bagel and Lox

Another dish stolen shamelessly. First time I'd tried this one. Salmon portion was admittedly a little big, but those are small plates. Thanks guys!

Course 8: Beef, Elements of Root Beer

Short Ribs cured for 24 hours in a root beer cure, then cooked 72 hrs at 54 C. Beef Stock and Sassafras Reduction, Caramelized Fennel, Salsify (Thanks @Todd Shewman) cooked sous vide then seared, Vanilla Potato Foam, Fennel Fronds. I don't have the Alinea book, so it's more of an approximation than a direct translation. I know they don't do a 72 hr cook on the ribs and use veal stock rather than beef stock, and I have no idea on the root beer cure, but I created my own that worked out well.

Course 9: Cotton Candy Crunch

Cotton Candy with Foie Gras and Corn Nuts nestled inside. Freaking delicious. The first pic shows the dish before the final bit of cotton candy was placed on top. This was also inspired by the dinner at e. It's such a whimsical combination. Also, I got to use the cotton candy machine my daughter got for Christmas a few years back.

Course 10: Chihuly Garden Old Fashioned Fruit Cocktail

Compressed Watermelon infused with Bourbon and Coriander Syrup, Maraschino Liqueur Cherries, Candied Cranberries, Carbonated Grapes, Cured Orange Peel, Caramelized Sugar Glass. Inspired by my Seattle visit earlier this year.

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Comments

Jack_Mayer_85396

Wow Brian, really impressive work! Great job!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Verrrrry niiice!

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

Nicely done!

douglas_bd

Notes and Prep times. Been carrying around these papers for the last week. Sharp eyes may notice there were at one time 13 courses, even 12 as of that morning.

tshewman

beautiful!

Samuel_68313

Really fantastic! This is just superb stuff.

I think last time I went to Restaurant Story the old tom dish was my favourite, truly incredible. One of the few times I have eaten a dish where I just had no idea how to recreate it.

douglas_bd

Realized this evening that I forgot the pickled onions on the salmon dish when my wife asked what the pickled onions in the fridge were for. Dammit.

tshewman

How was the salsify received. What were your likes and dislikes?

ejf12009

After every dinner party I do, I find a little (unused) squeeze bottle or minor garnish in the fridge. Really I should just swallow my pride and tape a list of all components by course to a cabinet so I don't forget when plating!

Matthew_Snyder_68770

Spectacular.

Re that cotton candy foie dish...... that's been a staple on the menu at The Bazaar here in Los Angeles since it opened. When the foie ban was overturned, they were actually giving it away to guests during happy hour.

Happy hour, indeed!

Marije_141071

Wow!

douglas_bd

In Vegas they served it as an empanada. That was good, but I think I preferred the loose puff of sugar. It really just disappears in your mouth, then you get the hit of creamy, unctuous foie, and a salty crunch. I've never cooked foie before, but I got a small $5 bag of frozen foie morsels (that's the only time I've ever seen them, there were 7 small pieces, and only one bag of them). All I did was hit them with the Searzall.

douglas_bd

I had a list and still failed. No one missed it, but still, it's just knowing that the dish could've been better.

douglas_bd

Loved by everyone. None of the guests had ever had it before (or even heard of it). I think that was the highlight of the dish for them. (Though the potatoes and the sauce also received raves). Actually, the ribs and fennel got some compliments as well. That's just such a solid all around dish. The guests were all fairly experienced diners, but with every dish I was giving them something they'd never had before either in ingredients, flavors or techniques.

douglas_bd

Thanks everyone for all the kind words, but also if there's any critiques or suggestions for improvement please let me know. What do you think of the balance and flow of the meal? Plating? Complexity? Concepts for the first 3 and the final course (these were more 'my ideas' vs. the other courses were more derivative of someone else's dish)? Timing and flow is hard to judge, but the first dish was served about 6:30 and the final at about 10. It's was all a rush for me, but looking back, that's a long time for 10 courses. (Copious amounts of wine helped with the wait times) I know some of you have done similar meals. How do you balance the time spent eating/talking vs. pushing out the next dish? My friends are generally pretty forgiving, but I figure folks here probably have some good suggestions on where I can improve.

tshewman

Mark me jealous of your guests. :-)

ejf12009

I have a mouth full of sweet teeth, so take this with a grain of salt, but I'd like to see more dessert courses. From the pictures it looks like you have two mains - salmon and beef - but none of the kind of dessert courses you can dig into and feel just a bit guilty about. Presentation looks really solid to me except for the salad; I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe just the scratches on the plate.

That side, this looks great, and I'd be thrilled if it came out of my kitchen at my next dinner party.

sebastian_palmigiani_21610

how did you schedule your prep time for your dishes? how many hours/days ahead did you start? having done a few 10 courses meals, i know that it takes a lot of prep days ahead, especially if it's just me doing everything.

kudos! great job. you should feel proud of your accomplishment!

douglas_bd

I agree completely. 2 courses I had planned that got pulled were desserts. The first was ChefSteps black pepper soufflé. I was still planning to do that on the day of the dinner, but pulled it because I couldn't figure out how to get enough prepped ahead to make finishing it during service relatively straightforward. Even if that wasn't an issue, I had some trepidation about pulling off a fleet of soufflés without having a major disaster on my hands. I had also planned on doing a pumpkin study as the final dessert. I had anticipated a plate with a pumpkin juice bonbon, a rocher of pumpkin mousse, a pumpkinseed brittle, and some isomalt encapsulated drops of pumpkinseed oil. Unfortunately, 2 attempts at producing pumpkin juice failed miserably. The first was a fresh pumpkin in the pressure cooker that came out flavorless (probably the pumpkin itself). The second attempt I went with Libby's and added some amylase and Pectinase Ultra SPL to try to extract a sweet pumpkin flavored juice. I don't know what happened, because it tasted pretty good before the enzymes were added, but after a day in a mason jar in the fridge, that stuff was wretched. I also had concerns about the isomalt drops holding through service (I don't know how stable those are, and all the sugar work I was doing was sucking up moisture in the kitchen like crazy.). Anyway, ended up dropping that one too, so the dessert got hit twice. Some of the guests thought the duck egg would fit better as a dessert course. I've never thought of it that way, but it might work with the sweet maple.

I don't know what I'd do different with the salad either, but agree it looks a bit sad. Maybe a darker plate or elongated plate that fits it a bit better would help.

douglas_bd

I started prepping on Tuesday night for a Saturday service. That was the root beer cure for the ribs. Then Wednesday night made a pressure cooker beef stock (this wasn't planned, but realized I was out of stock in the freezer) and caramelized onions. Thursday was the balsamic caviar, topping the egg shells and making the sauce for the ribs. I reduced it about 3/4 of where I wanted it to end up and finished it during service. There was also time during the week procuring ingredients. Friday night I didn't do much cooking but laid out a plan for everything on Saturday. I listed all of the components for each dish so I wouldn't forget one (I still did). Then took stock of what equipment was needed and when so there wouldn't be conflicts. What needed to go in the circulators and what time and temp or the oven, stovetop, siphons, etc. What had to be cooked a la minute and what could be done ahead. I also listed out all the other components I needed to finish so I could check them off as I went. It was a lot of planning, but helped tremendously on the day of service. Everything was more or less in control throughout service. The only real delay of length was the shortribs as the fennel, sauce, salsify and ribs all needed attention to be finished at the same time. I think that was the only time I felt behind during the evening. I've done multicourse dinners before, but this was by far the best I've done for planning the prep requirements.

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

@Brian_Douglas_35255 great pictures.

I did the brulee beet today. Very nice, although I would have liked more coffee flavor.

I put the beets in the bag with coffee and pulled a vacuum on the highest setting of the Vacmaster112, then roasted immediately.

Did you let your beets sit for longer in the coffee?

douglas_bd

@Shivam_Daryanani_92859 I pulled the vac and let them sit under vacuum in the fridge for about 6 hours. I also used a siphon cold brew so it was stronger to start. In the past, I've buried beets in coffee beans and roasted, a la Coi's carrots, it gives great flavor but seems wasteful of all the coffee beans it takes. I was looking for a way to get that flavor a little more easily. I tried this again just a couple days ago with drip coffee and only a hour or so hold and they didn't have nearly the depth.

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

Thanks I have some extra beets, I'll give this a go! Oh and I ended up serving it with a whipped mascarpone and truffled goat cheese combo. Good combination