I have just returned from a remarkable meal at Minibar. Some time ago, Mark Dimunation (a foodie who also plays with books at the LC) told me that if I gave him enough lead-time, he would arrange for an exceptional culinary evening…and boy did he come through.
Minibar is José Andrés’ “avant-garde ode to edible innovation” housed within his restaurant Café Atlantico. There are two seatings a night (6 and 8:30) and there are six seats at the bar. Reservations open *exactly* 30 days prior to the date you wish to dine at 10am sharp. I’m told that you start dialing at 10 and keep hitting redial until you get through or miss out…they routinely book up by 10:05am or so. The meal is comprised of somewhere between 25 and 30 “courses”, each comprised of a bit or two (or three). We had 26.
Mark and our other dinner companion, the elegant and lovely Linda J. Johnson, and I arrived a bit early, as requested, and waited at the bar. They have several wine/champagne options that are explained downstairs (we opted for just a bit of champagne which turned out to be very nice for palate cleansing). At 8:30 we were led upstairs and introduced to the three young chefs who prepared our meals.
The chefs explain each dish and answer any and all questions about how different things are executed. Part of the extreme pleasure of the night is watching each dish as it is created in front of you. There is *absolutely* no way I can really get across just how good this meal was. I’ve pictures below (mostly with a yellow tint…I clearly need to figure out this camera better) and will do my best to describe each in the caption. To really “get” these dishes, however, you really must sit at the bar. I highly recommend doing so…
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- Quick shot of the things to come (salmon and zest)
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- Everything has a place and all is ready.
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- Prep dishes waiting for blending.
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- Mark’s other alternative “drink”: this with nitrogen frozen mango juice and other bits of delicious (he let us taste).
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- Mark’s alternative to the Bloody Mary: a “Super Olive”. Pureed/intensified olive in a shell.
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- Bagels and Lox – think bagel crust, salmon roe, dill creamcheese. My mouth is watering.
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- Beet “Tumbleweed” – Delicate, light, flavorful, crunchy goodness.
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- The second “drink”: “Bloody Mary” – All of the components (and alcohol) of a full sized bloody mary on a small celery stick (that had it fibers removed and was infused with vodka in a vacuum. Yum.
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- Blue Cheese and Almond Tart – Simply amazing. Must eat quickly as the “tart” is liquified almond frozen…melts immediately…flavor explodes. Want another now.
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- Chicken Skin With Eggs – Wow. Just amazingly wow. Crispy skin, whipped egg, contrasting textures, blending favors. Wow.
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- Prepping the chicken skin…tweezers to place spices…
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- The first “cocktail”: Hot and Cold Pisco Sour: I do not recall how they do it…but foamy top is very warm and the bottom is cool…both enter your mouth at the same time. Amazing.
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- “Ferrero Rocher” – a deconstructed hazelnut and choc. treat. YUM!
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- Slating the popcorn empanadas. So very, very good.
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- “Popcorn Empanada” – want several dozen of these. I have no way of describing how good this is. I miss it.
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- Sea Bean Tempura – a coconut tempura. So good.
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- Steamed Pita with Avgotaraho. I have almost no recollection what was actually in this…only that I wanted 4 or 5 of them.
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- The flavors of Thai…in the form of cotton candy. Inexplicable and amazing.
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- Thai Dessert. No recollection what this was other than it was delicious and involved my finger cleaning the plate.
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- Organic Carrots with Coconut: pureed baby carrots in a cellulose skin and coconut cream…one bite each with a careful lift. So much flavor…beautiful.
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- Plating the carrot dish, a large number of elements come together in a wonderful blend of texture and flavor.
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- Double-teaming on the corn dish prep. A number of the dishes are “time sensitive” as the “shell” will fail when exposed to liquids…
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- A personal favorite: Corn “on the cob” – the kernels of 5 miniature corn cobs shaved and put in a cornishly shaped shell of cellulose, sweet cream/butterish base, the black is a puree of a fungus that only grows on certain corn. I will dream of this tonight.
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- “”Guacamole” – effectively deconstructed guac. Insanely good.
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- Hearts of Palm Ravioli with Bone Marrow. Stunning.
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- “Eggs and Toast”: Parmesan Egg with Migas – quail yolk and parmesan “white” in a membrane with shaved bread pan toasted. Unbelievably good.
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- Smoked Oyster with Apple – A tiny square of apple and apple “air”. OMG!
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- The required “image of Mark eating a Philly Cheesesteak”. There will be a book, one day.
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- Mark’s reaction that we would once again be eating Philly Cheesesteaks.
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- The Philly Cheesesteak. Thinly sliced steak over the top, crust filled with a smooth, warm parm-based cheese. Wonderful.
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- Spot Prawns “En Broiche”. Another plate licking event.
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- Charcoal Salmon with Black Garlic-fermented garlic (akin to process that turns soy beans into soy sauce). Shaved lemon and yum.
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- Zucchini in Textures – three layers of zucc in three different forms (aspic, seed essence, puree). Not a zucc fan-this was *amazing*.
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- Another prep shot-this has the honey and walnut puree in the foreground, liquid nitrogen steaming in the background (for the yogurt).
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![Frozen Yogurt & Honey. OMG! Nitrogen frozen Greek yogurt, honey, walnut paste, other things, unbelievably good. [Made me miss Suzanne, as she loves Greek yogurt and must have this]](http://asideofbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/71556_1516538591738_1182686742_31273027_2432059_n-150x150.jpg "3yogurt")
- Frozen Yogurt & Honey. OMG! Nitrogen frozen Greek yogurt, honey, walnut paste, other things, unbelievably good. [Made me miss Suzanne, as she loves Greek yogurt and must have this]
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- Mango Box: Mango in three forms…all delicious.
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- S’mores-marshmallow with graham cracker in it between dark chocolate – Using a torch to melt the wafer of chocolate…then flips and does the other side.
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- “S’Mores” – Simple and delicious. Homemade marshmallow with graham cracker in it…melted chocolate over it.
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- Shot straight forward, you can see our cute heads if you blow it up.
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- Exterior of the building, “minibar” is the upper left window…the light beckons.
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- Linda sat to my left and spent most of the rest of the evening grinning.
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- Mark to my right, happy and pleased.
I believe the only missing image is of the final dessert, Caramelized Bacon and Chocolate. After an evening of mixing savory and sweet, crunchy and smooth, etc…my camera failed. Oh well. Thank you to Mark for inviting me and to Linda for joining us. Thanks, too, to José Andrés, Ruben, Richie, Nate, Jorge, Justin, and Brian.