I am so excited. This is my very first blog...Hopefully I can now write my thoughts. I may falter in my words (being Bisdak and all, have my thoughts go wayward and write nonsense, but at least I tried.
A few years back, when visiting my brother in California, He gave me his calling card. I was caught by surprise at the bold letters CIA right below his name. I thought he was working for the bureau, only to find out that the fine prints beside the bold ones were written as 'Cebuano In America.'
Since cooking is my passion, I have thought of Cuisine-nera in America as a cute name. Then also, I can consider myself as a CIA, and the only bureau I can think of is the word: bureaung talangka...bureaung mangga..bureaung whatever....(from the tagalog rootname 'burro' meaning pickled)
Every other weekend, I go up to New York to visit my son and his family. On this particular weekend, Mike and I decided to have an early dinner before spending the night at my son's . Dinner was at 5 pm at the Bar Americain located between 6th and 7th avenue in Manhattan. And yes! this is the restaurant owned by Bobby Flay, a famous iron chef from the Food Network.
We entered through a revolving door right smack into a receptionist table with 2 LCD computers on each end. A bald guy in dark suit, probably in his mid thirties greeted us and asked for the names on the reservation. After confirming, the coat lady who was waiting on the side, took our coats and gave us identifying stubs.
Right behind the receptionists was a glass wall where several tables are visibly seen. At the far end was a drinking bar with 4 bar tenders criss crossing one another oblivious of the wall behind them which was filled with different liquors. We entered the area on the left side where a long bench type couch in padded black leather sat perpendicularly to the bar and had about 5 small rectangular tables with 5 corresponding individual seats . The maitre d' motioned us to the table nearest the bar. He pulled out the table so I could get on the couch. Once seated, the maitre d' pushed it back and allowed Mike to sit accross me. He then gave us two album like folders, one that contained the drink menu and the other, the food.
A minute later, a head table waiter appeared to take our orders. Since we were not ready, he inquired about our drinks. Not a moment passed by, and he suggested, "how about iced water, while you're looking in on the menu". After several nods, and several seconds later, he reappeared with water goblets. A few minutes later, he came back and got all our orders, and in less than 3 minutes he came back with our cocktails.
I cannot say how impressed we were with the attention we had that evening. Waiter no. 2 brought our appetizer of 6 pcs. oysters that lay on frozen ice in a white bowl transparently revealing reddish green leaves at the bottom. A tiny ceramic cylindrical cup with pesto sauce was placed at the center of the plate. Front Waiter no. 3 , presented us with our individual appetizer plates and oyster forks. Busboy no. 1 took away everything on the table when the appetizers were gone. Busboy number 2 came over and in 5 seconds flat was done with brushing off any remnants on the table.
Waiter number 4 came with our bread pcs on a wire basket, along with the bread knife and plates. Busboy no.3 came over to replenish the water in our goblets. I can assure you, everyone who came near our table was a totally different server.
The wine was so good, fruity and mild, and I was feeling light headed. Mike ordered a refill of the wine from our head waiter, who also brought our second appetizer of chips with bleu cheese dressing, simply fantastically crispy and creamy to the bite. Not long after, waiter number 5 came over with our entrees. They must have a system because Waiter number 5 came just out of the kitchen, walked straight to our table,placed my order of New York Strip Steak in front of me and Mike's lamb chops on his side.
The steak was perfectly seared, and the inside was perfectly pink. However, it was a little dry to my taste even with the mustard sauce that went with it. An outer layer of an onion was boiled til soft but not mushy. And I guess the inner portions of that onion was sauted with butter and placed right back inside the boiled onion skin. Simple presentation of steak and an onion on a round white plate.
Mike's order of lamb chops were cooked to pink perfection with an artistic flow of couscous, sauteed veggies and nuts. The presentation was enough to satisfy you, and the taste was as expected, juicy and soft to the bite.
When we were done, busboy number 3 took away our plates. Several minutes later our dessert of figs and cream cheese tart was placed by dessert waiter number 6 .
If I'm not mistaken this is what you call the assembly line of the restaurant industry where different servers and clean up crew had designated assignments. Excep for the receptionist, hostess and maitre d' who whore dark suits, every server wore white long sleeved shirt , black pants and black aprons reaching their ankles.
Since we made the reservation at the last minute, the receptionist was kind enough to give us the first hour when they open for dinner that night, but we needed to leave by 6:30 as it was already reserved for some guests. Oh well! it was just as good!
Over all the meal was good, and the service was great. Moreover, we had met new friends, the servers, the next seat diners, and best of all, Mike and I had great conversation by just being together.
For a probinsiyana like me to experience such a treat, it was indeed a wonderful experience.
Why? Because I have been romancing with food for several years now, and in America, this is just part of the journey.
1 comment:
Enjoyed this.
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