Tasting Menus: Gourmet Meals Out for Less Money
Thursday, January 27, 2011
One of the finest ways to experiment with a fine restaurant's best cuisine, at a price that is controllable, is to indulge in a tasting menu. You get the chef’s whim and what’s new and fresh, not what’s on the usual menu. It’s a wonderful way to get a sense of a chef’s signature style and favorite preparations, and to try something new and adventurous. They are slowly growing in popularity here, and these are the five best in the state. So dig in! (But keep in mind, tasting menus usually have to be ordered by the entire table).
Castle Hill Inn, Newport
The iconic inn and restaurant couldn’t provide a prettier backdrop, even in winter, for Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra’s five-course tasting menu ($95, or $141 with wine pairings), which highlights his love of shellfish and his flair with beef and game. These days you will find a silky and savory pumpkin-lobster bisque featuring Maine lobster, linguini and clams with shellfish plucked from the waters just beyond the dining rooms windows, Hudson Valley foie gras, Broken Arrow Ranch antelope, Hereford Beef with Brussels sprouts, pan-roasted Georges Bank cod with littleneck clams and confit golden potato, Scottish salmon with eggplant and hearts of palm, and a Soufflé of raspberry with chocolate biscotti, pistachio ice cream. There is a vegetarian menu as well that varies by the season – a nice option for those who don’t eat meat or poultry. 590 Ocean Dr, 888-466-1355.
Chez Pascal, Providence
The East Side’s beloved and talented Matt Gennuso brings flair and creativity to Monday nights with his Market Menu Monday tasting menu. The idea? He shops the local farms, gets the best-looking offerings, and works his usual magic at Chez Pascal. You can order a la carte and the price varies… but the sublime quality never wavers. Menu items might include a root vegetable potage with a sunny side egg and grated Divine Providence cheese; a salad of white beets, grapefruit and baby greens with honey vinaigrette; daube of beef with roasted potatoes, carrots, rutabaga and charred green cabbage; and apple-cranberry crumble tart with maple sugar glace. On the menu underneath each selection, Gennuso tells you exactly which farms the ingredients came from. Farm to table indeed! 960 Hope St, 421-4422.
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Chef Champe Speidel offers his $65, six-course tasting menu nightly (and you can add wine to each course for an additional $30). It starts with an amuse bouche, and progresses with cold and hot appetizers, then a fish, a meat, some cheese, and dessert. Unlike some tasting menus, Persimmon is eager to cater to diners' likes and dislikes and will do a vegetarian menu as well. So while the dishes will vary, you can count on selections from top purveyors: Broken Arrow Ranch venison, Point Judith seafood, Blackbird Farms beef, Long Island duck, as well as produce from Four Town Farm and other local farms. Speidel recently opened a shop down the road in Barrington called Persimmon Provisions, so much of what he serves he has butchered himself. 31 State St, 254-7474.
Tallulah on Thames, Newport
Newport got very lucky with the arrival of Chef Jake Rojas last year – this young chef has cooked in the restaurants of some of the world’s best chefs, including Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon. Once a week he offers his version of a tasting menu, called Sunday Supper – three courses plus a glass of wine for $35. What he offers depends of what’s farm fresh and his whim, but recent offerings have included Treaty Rock Farm meatballs with housemade pasta and red gravy, quinoa and arugula salad, Rhody beef stew, Baffoni Farms chicken and dumplings and chocolate fondant cake. Rojas’ deft hand at just about everything he touches will bring you back for more, we’re sure. 464 Thames St, 849-2433.
Gracie’s, Providence
Gracie’s was one of the first Providence restaurants to pioneer the tasting menu concept in Rhode Island, and they have practically perfected it. You may choose from a five-course ($75) or a seven-course ($90) and there is the option to pair each course with wine. As always with Gracie’s it is the details of each plate that delight. Witness: a slow poached Zephyr Farms egg with Anson Mills white corn grits, Berkshire pork belly, crispy shallot, foraged mushroom ragout; Hudson Valley foie gras with spicy apple compote, pistachio nougatine, Sultana raisin streusel, sauternes gastrique; russet potato gnocchi with butternut squash, charred Brussels sprouts, white truffle cream. In season, some of the ingredients come from the restaurant’s rooftop garden high above the city on the Peerless building. 194 Washington St, 272-7811.
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