Tasting Menu Resurrection

It's been nearly a year since our tasting menu and truth is we almost passed entirely on doing one this year.  There are a lot of factors that have gone into our decision making process such as limited space, re-working of our core menu that has taken up what little space we have (and where we have always staged our tasting menu plating and much of its production), labor costs, etc, etc...  But the honest truth is that none of these are good reasons to pass entirely on our tasting menus of Summers past.  We don't yet have all of the details worked out, though we are close.  I can tell you that our first tasting menu will be for 1 night only on Tuesday, July 31st and we will be able to take only 50 reservations.  Last year we were doing 3 nights in a row and booking these near solid a month in advance.  The menu will be inspired by a New England Clam Bake and nearly complete.  My team and I have been testing recipes for the past 2 weeks in preparation and anticipation for this upcoming event.   I will post the menu and some other goodies soon...hope to see you on July 31st.

Preparations Under Way:

We are getting back "into the mix" very shortly in the J. Gilbert's, Glastonbury kitchen.  In the following week we will be working out the details and schedule for our 2011 Tasting Menu Series.  Nothing is set in stone as of yet other than the fact that our Chef's Tasting Menu Series will be resuming very soon!  Details will be posted once all final decisions have been made.  In the meantime we've got a ton of work to do...we have to get back to testing and brainstorming.    

"Technical Difficulties"

I just wanted to take a moment to address the lack of recent posts...We've experienced some "technical difficulties" in the recent weeks.  As of 2 weeks ago the tasting menu project has been shut down...indefinitely...  This was not my decision, but one that I must live with.  My sincerest apologies to all of our loyal guests.  I'm not saying this is the end...but for now the future of our tasting menu series (which is 3 years strong) is uncertain...  I can tell you this however; I will be setting up a new blog with a very different focus...  Information to follow within the month...

The Aftermath:

Happy Holidays to everyone!  They are finally over.  I love the holidays, I'm not a grinch, I swear.  The problem with the holidays in this business is that you're not left with a moment to spare.  If you're not working, you're shopping or wrapping or cooking, etc...  Needless to say we've had NO time to do any testing for tasting menus in the past 2 weeks.  But the Holiday season is over and so Brian got to work yesterday, commenting that nothing had been posted on the blog for a while...my apologies.

Here's what Brian made and my critique of the dish:

Celeriac Soup with hedgehog mushrooms & lobster froth

The Soup:  Celeriac, Butter, Water, Kosher Salt, White Pepper

The Lobster Froth:  Lobster Glace, Cream

the hedgehog mushrooms were beautifully cooked and the texture of the soup was terrific, extremely smooth, yet a bit too thick, it simply needed to be thinned a touch, easy fix.  

The end result, however, was that Brian over did it with the white pepper!  The soup was over seasoned with the pepper to the point where it overtook the palate and didn't allow for the other ingredients, which were nicely done, to pronounce themselves.

Four things that Brian must do to perfect the dish. 

1.) take it easy with the white pepper

2.) lose the micro green garnish, it's not necessary

3.) adjust the consistancy of the soup

4.) Stabilize the lobster foam with some lecithin, this will increase his yield, stabilize the foam & provide a better mouthfeel

At the end of the day he (Brian, a.k.a. monoblanco) did a nice job, fact is that if he hadn't over seasoned the soup with pepper, I'd probably have very little to criticize.