Mark Lundegaard and his sous chef Suiin Kim were in the house this weekend for a collaboration with the chefs from COAST at the Ocean House in Westerly, RI.
The night started off with some passed canapés in a private room adjacent to their wine cellar(s).
Canapés:
1. Oysters with a blood orange reduction (fresh and briny with a refreshing citrus twist)
2. Mini lobster tacos (delicate, tender, and sweet with a hint of spice from the saucs)
3. Goose liver parfait tartlets with apricot jam (classic pairing of foie taste and texture with something sweet to balance out the strong liver flavor)
4. Salmon tartare roll not pictured (not sushi, more of a small cigar-shape – did not try)
5. Onion, honey, and anchovy tartlet not pictured (explosive, symphonic flavor for such a small bite – sweet caramelized onions balanced with salty anchovy puree inside a crunchy shell)
Now, onto the menu…
- Bluefin Tuna Toro (delightfully contrasting textures, including, oddly enough, crunchy fried potato cubes buried beneath the sauce and custard – the fresh pesto cut through the richness of the tuna and custard, though the tuile did not taste like green crab)
1.5 Bread (we received both pull-apart brioche rolls and individually-sized crusty baguettes not pictured with French butter and an assortment of salts and peppers – both were really, really good and fresh and warm) - White Asparagus (Tender shards coated in a salty-sweet viniagrette, topped with brunoise of marinated apple – light and refreshing)
- Stonington Lobster (the meat was a tad overcooked but the flavors, especially the sweetness of the rhubarb and the spice from the jalapeño, paired really well with the lobster – probably my favorite dish of the night and I’m not even a huge lobster lover)
- Stuffed Quail (What started as a ho-hum dish really grew on me. The chef came by as we were served to pour the sauce over the top of both the quail and the stuffed morels – it was a sort of beurre blanc made with oxidized wine and it had an extraordinarily rich flavor with notes of sweetness, almost like a Marsala sauce, which was perfect for dragging your bread through)
- New Zealand Lamb (First of all, the flavors were powerful and complimented the lamb done two ways – braised lamb neck and a roasted slice – nicely. The ramps had a smoky, grilled flavor and the black garlic puree, which was soon smeared on everything, brought a sweet, pungent umami flavor to the plate – I just can’t help but think that the “King’s Hawaiian tuile” was so odd and it brought nothing to the plate)
- Coconut Sorbet and Caviar (It’s trendy right now to pair caviar with sweet things – I’ve even seen a caviar milkshake on YouTube – but I have to admit, when the chef told us that it’s like salted caramel, he’s exactly right. I could have polished off two or three servings of this)
- Strawberry and Vanilla (pretty basic frozen vanilla cream on top of a thin wafer with strawberry consommé poured over the top – it was fine and tasted exactly how you think it tastes, nothing crazy)
Overall, it really was a lovely night with some really great dishes and a couple that fell flat, or at least certain components fell flat. Still, you can’t beat unlimited canapés in a private room with a complimentary glass of champagne that they even re-filled with a half pour when I finished before we were seated. I opted for the wine pairing as well, and was really impressed by most of the pairings. I even got a sake with the first course and a rosé-style champagne (or perhaps a champagne-style rosé) with the final course. They gave us menus to take home as well as homemade baked blueberry cakes and offered to pack up our mignardises for us to take home since we were so full (but not too full) by the time we finished the Strawberry and Vanilla course. Very memorable event and I feel truly lucky to be able to experience a meal conceived and executed by Chef Lundegaard (who, by the way, is such a nice, personable guy) in an area of the country devoid of Michelin presence. Service was stellar, which you’d expect at a property such as this.
Let me know if you have any questions!
by RobinWilliamsBeard