Saturday, July 18, 2009 4:53 PM

By Susie Timm, COF

The past 24 hours have been simply awesome! It all started with one of the most memorable dinners of 2009 if not my entire life!

We had a reservation at Daniel, a restaurant by Daniel Boulud of the $38 DB Burger fame. I had high expectations of this restaurant because it as rated by the New York Magazine as one of the 25 best dining experiences in NYC.

We arrived for our 6:00 PM reservation promptly and were seated in the lounge. I requested the lounge because the dining room, while beautiful and very elegant, requires a jacket and tie for men as the dress code and we are all about desert casual.

We were the only people in our section and were served by a very tall and very French woman. We reviewed the wine list and settled on a bottle of Eisele Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.

The menu was comprised of two different Prix Fixe options. For $105 per person you can choose 3 items (1 appetizer, 1 entrée, 1 dessert) or for $175 per person they offer 12 items to choose from comprising a 6 course tasting. The choices on both menus are incredibly diverse.  (click here to view the selections http://www.danielnyc.com/daniel.html)

We decided on the 3 course menu and settled in to people watch the NY society in their finery arrive.

Our server brought over a selection of canapés—beets 3 ways. I am not a fan of beets, so I personally did not enjoy them, but Jay loved them and raved to the staff about their delicious-ity. (I think I used the term gelatinous goo, if that gives further clarity to my opinion on beets)

Next, we were served a chilled and minted pea soup course that was complimented by confit carrot, thyme croutons and rosemary cream. I again, am not a fan of pea anything, but Jay was relishing in the mint green goodness. By his standards, it was excellent.

At this point I made a very important observation. This restaurant offers valet service for every placement and clearing of dishes, utensils etc. It was like synchronized crumb dusting without the sweet looking swim caps. I loved it! In Arizona, Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenician used to offer this, but I have not seen it in the Desert Southwest since. What a fabulous treat!

Next came the appetizer course. Jay had ordered the Tai Snapper Ceviche with Tapioca pearls, and I had the sautéed duck foie gras with nectarines and brioche. Jay thought the ceviche had very interesting texture and a delicate flavor that was not overwrought with lemon. He did think the texture of the tapioca was slightly off putting. My foie gras was rich and delicious when pared with the nectarines. The balance of flavors combined in my mouth to cause duck liver delight. We were in eager anticipation of the next course.

Next, the chef offered us a taste of the handmade spinach tortelloni served with ovoli mushrooms, tome de la chataigneraie, lomo and black garlic. A lot of very French sounding and complicated ingredients, but trust me, this was absolutely scrumptious! If we had not been in a 5 star dining establishment and the plate was not so small, I would have probably licked the plate. I really wanted to. However, I wanted to be asked to review other restaurant of theirs so I thought it best not to embarrass myself to the point of no return.

The joy in the air was palpable. We were really starting to love Daniel. I was hoping he would show up so I could kiss him. (kidding!) The synchronicity of the servers combined with those sexy French accents and the quality of the food were making it easy to understand why it is a top ranked dining establishment.

I am a fan of doing lots and lots of research online about restaurants. I choose most of the places for my vacations after reading multiple reviews and combing over menus, photos etc. (Yes, I am a dork and I know it) One of the recurring themes I read about Daniel was that his red wine braised short ribs were unparralled in NYC.

I would like to second that motion and say for the record, Daniel’s braised short ribs were the best I have ever eaten. Ever. I rarely make those statements. So please know, that if you get to NYC and the only thing you consume the entire time is a taste of those short ribs, it would be well worth the trip!

We also sampled a seared rib eye of beef and a slow baked striped bass with an artichoke barigoule. The bass was cooked to perfection and the saltiness of the fish combined with the lemon and artichoke was a spectacular flavor combination.

At this point in the meal, I was elated. Fabulous service, fabulous food, fabulous wine, fabulous people watching. Um, I am not certain life gets much better. (Yes, I also enjoy the word fabulous, thanks for noticing)

The final course was dessert. I ordered kirsch glazed cherries with chocolate ganache and amaretto ice cream. Jay opted for warm guanaja chocolate coulant. A fancy way to say chocolate cake with hot caramel center that almost made me shed a tear. The chef also made us a third dessert that had chocolate crisped rice and dark chocolate ice cream. Pretty much a chocolate fest of epic proportions.

The GM of the restaurant came over to get our assessment of the dinner and we were elated to tell him that it truly was one of the best dining experiences we have ever had.

The most exciting part (for me anyhow) of the meal came when our server came back with a custom-made summarized menu of exactly what we ate. It had it’s own cover. My mouth dropped open in awe. That was one of the coolest things that any restaurant has ever done! They could have sent me to the website, but instead, chose to make my experience even more memorable.

If you are a frequent reader of our blog, you know that service is almost more important to us that food. Especially when, the price point for a meal is over $30 a person. It’s even more important when the price creeps to $100+/person.

Daniel ranks in my personal top 10 dining adventures for a few reasons I will summarize:

1)                   They made us feel like we were the most important patrons in the restaurant

2)                   The food was outstanding. 10 of 10

3)                   The extra service touches were noticed and appreciated

4)                   The people watching was tremendous

5)                   The ambiance was beautiful but not intimidating

A warm thanks to the entire staff and kitchen at Daniel. The experience will live in our minds forever and we will add it to our list of “must visits” for NYC.

On the way out of the restaurant we stopped to compliment a very handsome couple on their stylish attire and made two new foodie friends. Another added bonus.

Stay tuned for a recap of today’s lunch and dinner!