Daniel NYC... so French!

My experience at Daniel in NYC on Monday was probably my most French experience ever... i mean everyone had a French accent!!! It was so cute!! There was this charming young French boy whose sole purpose was to show people the staircase that led to the restrooms!!!

The service was so proper, as if the waiters and waitresses and everyone else had trained their whole life to work at this hoighty-toighty restaurant. Except, they weren't snotty and like condescending. Just really there to make your experience as pleasant as possible :-)

My mom and I did the Three Course Prix Fixe... which was more like 5 because of the Amuse Bouche and Petits Four + Fresh, Warm Madelines! Sorry for the ghetto IPhone pics.... I was so pissed when I realized I forgot my camera :-(

For Appetizers:

Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Pineapples

Abalone in the Shell with Potato Gratin
Both of these were specials of the day. And both of these were so perfect. I mean everything from the flavor to the texture to the presentation was perfection. The Foie Gras was fresh and rich, and the sweet pineapples were so refreshing with it. The Abalone.... omg, it was sliced very thin and layered over this cheesy, creamy, potato-y stuff inside the shell. And on the side were these crispy deep-fried veggies :-)

For Entrées:

Black Sea Bass with Syrah Sauce

Wagyu Beef Steak
Entrées were so delicious as well! My sea bass had this delicious and beautiful reddish purple sauce. My favorite part about this was actually the rolled up potato side dish!! It was so good! And my moms steak was tenderrrrrrrrrrrr and delish! However again, my favorite part of this was the Spinach balls with Blue Cheese!

For Dessert:

Cilantro Poached Pineapple with Coconut

Chestnut Sablé with Nutmeg Cream
We decided to get one from the fruity desserts and one from the chocolate desserts. The pineapple was presented like a napolean in that the pineapples were thinly sliced and layered between these tender biscuit like cookies. It was good but nothing really spectacular. The chestnut one that my mom got was delicius! There were little chunks of chestnut that me and my mom were fighting for haha!

But that wasn't it!! Then came a man who came over with a basket of warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven madelines that everyone raves about. I think the man's sole purpose in the restaurant was to serve these beauties haha! Anyways, they were light, sweet, and the perfect size! The petit fours were a nice addition but definitely not necessary. I noticed that they used a lot of Yuzu in both their sweets and non-sweet dishes so I got excited (its a fruit that is used a lot in Japanese cooking!)
See here:

Petits Fours

Madelines

All in all, it was a night of feeling like a Queen being served the finest food :-)

Daniel
60 E. 65th St
New York, NY 10065
Phone: 212-288-0033
Fax: 212-396-9014