Aska ()

Had what I feel to be the best Michelin experience in NYC to date. Every dish was so incredibly on point with a few that will be stored in the memory food bank forever. The majority of the ingredients are sourced within 60 miles of the restaurant with the exception of a few items (mostly Nordic) that were imported. I thought the notes of each dish were clean, delicate, and beautifully balanced. Nothing was a smack to the palette with too much intensity which I think is exactly the story that Aska is trying to tell, it's clearly hyper-focused on the seasonality and quality of the ingredients. I will say there was a Madagascar caviar used in a dish that tasted like Serrano ham- like nothing I've ever had before.

We did both the wine and non-alc pairing and both were very well suited for each course. A million extra points for continuously topping us off throughout the night.

Ambiance is dark and intimate with an open kitchen to admire throughout the evening. Service was next level, with Missy the beverage director and her team seamlessly flowing about throughout the evening. The team was so warm, kind, and genuine- absolutely nothing felt sterile or forced, which is always a breath of fresh air. Not sure what more a restaurant needs to do to merit that third star.

Also an awesome touch, my wife has a thing for beautiful dinnerware/flatware and was admiring theirs for the entirety of the meal. To our surprise, they printed out an extra menu with each dinnerware vendor they used for each dish. Pretty cool stuff.