<a target="_blank" href="http://danielnyc.com/">Daniel</a>

60 East 65th Street

New York, NY 10065

+1 212 288-0033

Food:

Chilled Oysters “En Gelée”; fennel mousseline, sea
urchin, finger lime

Scottish Langoustines “À La Plancha”;
cucumber-mango-daikon mosaic, pickled Fresno pepper, lesser celandine salad,
espelette pepper, myoga

Warm Provence White Asparagus; sherry wine mousseline, Ibérico
ham

Pan Seared John Dory; grilled porcini, pokeweed, crispy soy
milk skin, sauce “chasseur”

Spit Roasted Sasso Chicken Breast; foie gras stuffed leg,
confit potato, walnuts, Oregon morels, sauce “vin jaune”

Roasted Niman Ranch Lamb Chop; green asparagus, creamy
quinoa, avocado, jus “Provençal” with green olives

Artisanal Cheeses
From Around The World; selected by Pascal Vittu

“Sainte Honoré”; linzer sable,
vanilla-mascarpone cream, caramel-butter salted cremeux, caramelized choux

Rhubarbe; fennel
poached rhubarb, acacia honey cream, “feuilletine sablé”, almond milk ice cream

Griotte; morello
cherry-manjari cube, cocoa nib sablé,
chocolate-rosemary ice cream

Wine:<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 NV (2010) Georges Laval Rosé 
 </td>
 <td>
 92
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 <a target="_blank" href="http://vinousmedia.com/wines?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;search-filter=reviews&amp;query=2002+Fran%C3%A7ois+Raveneau+Chablis+Valmur">2002 François Raveneau Chablis Valmur - Grand
 Cru</a>
 </td>
 <td>
 96
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 1990 Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques
 - 1er Cru &nbsp;&nbsp;
 </td>
 <td>
 92
 </td>
 </tr>
</tbody></table>

What a treat this recent dinner at Daniel turned out to be.
We picked a few wines and let the kitchen do the rest. The tasting menu, wines
and service were superb from start to finish.

Executive Chef Jean-François Bruel and Chef de Cuisine
Eddy Leroux prepared a delicious dinner to pair with the wines. Perhaps it was
the warm, balmy weather and the onset of early summer, but the food was a bit
lighter than it has been in the past here, and that is just fine, in my view. It’s
not too often I can say that every dish was superb, but that was very much the
case here. In particular, I very much enjoyed the Scottish langoustines, white
asparagus and lamb chops. 

&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1433543527560-Dan1.jpg">

Scottish Langoustines
“À La Plancha”;
cucumber-mango-daikon mosaic, pickled Fresno pepper, lesser celandine salad,
espelette pepper, myoga

Although I don’t personally have a huge sweet tooth, I
believe dessert is the single most important course in an elaborate dinner. All
of the preceding dishes can be fabulous, but if dessert falls short, the entire
memory of an evening can be adversely affected, as I recently experienced at
another of New York City’s top dining spots. The three desserts that were
presented family style on this night were to die for.

&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1433543543104-Dan5Cover.jpg">

Roasted Niman Ranch
Lamb Chop; green asparagus, creamy quinoa, avocado, jus “Provençal” with green olives

The wines were pretty special, too. We started with
Raveneau’s 2002 Chablis Valmur, a
wine I absolutely adore. Voluptuous, but still young, the 2002 is in a gorgeous
place right now where time in bottle has softened some the contours and added
layers of aromatic nuance. The 2002 retains considerable freshness and should
continue to offer exceptional drinking for another decade-plus. Typical apricot
pit, chamomile and lightly honeyed notes blossomed in a succulent Chablis of
the highest level.

&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1433543550995-Dan9.jpg">

Three striking, highly
personal wines

While we waited for the Raveneau to open up, we went back
and picked up Vincent Laval’s NV (2010)
Rosé Cumières,
a wine I rarely miss on those rare occasions when I see it. One of the most
unique and compelling wines in Champagne today, Laval’s Rosé is Pinot
Noir done with 100% whole clusters, with skin contact, which results in a rich,
vinous wine that gains body with time in bottle. I was surprised by how much
weight the 2010 had put on. Our sommelier suggested decanting the Rosé, which I
am generally not a big fan of because sometimes wines can lose focus, but here
it worked beautifully.

&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1433543566681-Dan7.jpg">

Rhubarbe; fennel poached rhubarb, acacia
honey cream, “feuilletine sablé”, almond milk ice cream

Rousseau’s 1990
Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St.-Jacques was gorgeous. Crushed flowers, leaves,
dried cherries and a multitude of exotic spices all lifted from the glass. Lilting
and soft on the palate, the 1990 is now close to fully mature, although it will
likely keep for a number of years. Stylistically, the 1990 is quite delicate
within the context of Clos St.-Jacques.

In recent years, I have spent more time at Bar Boulud and
Boulud Sud, Chef Daniel Boulud’s outposts on the Upper West Side. This return
dinner at the flagship Daniel was a real triumph of all the small things that
when taken together distinguish the real greats from the rest. The cooking was
brilliant, while the service of both food and wine was as good as it gets.

-- Antonio Galloni

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