WTN: 9 at 9

Dinner at No. 9 Park, Tasting Menu

tuna tartare w/crème fraiche, olive cured olive, dried tomato, quail egg, tiny potato
2006 Château de Roquefort Côtes de Provence Rosé Corail (Provence) Bright red fruit bathed in stony rose water with a good dash of acidity. There is a bit of tannic grip at the end. With the tartare I was at first longing for a muscadet until I had a bite of the very small bits of olive and tomato after which this pairing came much more into focus.

striped bass on couscous w/baby fennel and saffron nage
2005 Maffini Kratos Paestum IGT (Campania) This fiano is crisp and clean with lemony pith but really wasn’t very interesting to me.

fresh chèvre ravioli w/local squash, snap peas and mint (? so says the menu but I couldn’t find any) topped with shaved parmesan
2005 Francois Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux (Loire) Very expressive demi-sec. All kinds of fruit and minerality and while the acid is a bit buried right now, it is definitely there. Give this time. My favorite pairing of the night as the bite of the chèvre and the buttery sauce melds so well with the richness of the chenin.

seared artisan foie gras w/corn, baby chanterelles, crisp crêpe
2004 Nicolas Joly Savennières Les Clos Sacrés (Loire) How many restaurants would have this decanted 36hrs prior? Golden honeyed in color. Rich profile of pear, almond paste, turpentine, tobacco, and cedar, very dry, very flavorful with a peaty tannic finish. This is the first time I’ve had foie gras with a dry wine and it worked for me.

prune stuffed gnocchi topped with foie gras, toasted almond, vin santo
Broadbent Madeira Malmsey 10 years old (Portugal) Very sweet yet exceeding well balanced raisin and fig pie flavors. Long nutty sweet finish. I’d buy this.

roasted poussin, Kennebec potato, arugula, crispy bacon
2005 Denis Longefay Côte de Brouilly Vieilles Vignes (Beaujolais) Hands down my WOTN. Starts with a hint of farm that gives way to a burst of berries and solid granite, Such a nice balance and enough structure to want to hide away for a few years in the cellar. Not a producer that I’m familiar with but I’ll be looking for them now.

duet of lamb w/swiss chard gratin, baby carrots
2005 Qupé Syrah BobCat Cuvée (Central Coast) Viscous, young syrah with lots of perfume. Fairly uninspiring.

cheeses: Bayley Hazen Blue (Jasper Hill Farm, VT), Timanoix (Aquitaine), Brebis Rouge (Rhône-Alpes) w/apricot toasts, Alba honey, grapes, raw marcona almonds, quince paste
Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana (Jerez-Xérès-Sherry) Nutty, dry, sea breeze that matched wonderfully with the timanoix.

chocolate diamante w/milk chocolate mousse, carmelized hazelnut, chocolate glace, hazelnut ice cream
1996 Château Le Payral Saussignac Cuvée Marie Jeanne (Sud-Ouest) Rusty brown color with a heavily botrytisized nose. Very mildewy, less than noble rot, off putting aromas at first. Even after that blows off, the botrytis is still so heavy that it’s obscuring all else.

[Jenise]

Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla La Gitana (Jerez-Xérès-Sherry) Nutty, dry, sea breeze that matched wonderfully with the timanoix.

Did you try to read the label?

Sounds like a fantastic dinner, btw, and not one but two FG courses!

Nice one Bill. Joly tad infanticide?!!

Does the restaurant select the wines for each course? (It sounds like they do). Lots of courses--hope they were small tasting portions. Sounds fun. Thanks for your informative notes.

Great notes, Bill.

All the wonerful food descriptions are making me very bitter about the boring salad I have waiting in the fridge for lunch...

K, sounds like you will be lunching on "bitter greens."
I have some leftover pork schnitzel and a banana.

K, sounds like you will be lunching on "bitter greens."
I have some leftover pork schnitzel and a banana.

Trying very hard to think of a witty comeback for your pork and banana...nope - I've got nothin'

Did you try to read the label?

I thought about it afterwards! I had been reading most every other label up to this point.

Sounds like a fantastic dinner, btw, and not one but two FG courses!

Actually, the gnocchi dish and the seared foie gras are an either/or optional supplement to the menu. Lill got one, I got the other and we shared. Worked out perfectly!

Does the restaurant select the wines for each course? (It sounds like they do).

Yes indeed. Cat Silirie is one of the most innovative sommeliers in the city.

Lots of courses--hope they were small tasting portions.

We almost passed up the cheese course, Jane, as we were pretty much maxing out at that point. Thankfully, we took a short breather and dove into the cheese tray. The pours are typically around 2oz but the more we talked with the staff about the wines, the larger the pours became. Thank goodness were were cabbing.

Nice one Bill. Joly tad infanticide?!!

I don't know enough about Joly, Bob, but the day and a half decant had this wine showing really well.

All the wonderful food descriptions are making me very bitter about the boring salad I have waiting in the fridge for lunch...

It takes me weeks to be interested in "regular" food again after going here.

Bill, thanks for the great notes. The menu looked outstanding. I think I have had that gnocchi dish there before and remember wanting to order it as my appetizer AND main dish!

We haven't been to No. 9 in two years, though I readily recall a lovely '99 Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole we had there. We'll have to return!

Michael

I think I have had that gnocchi dish there before

I believe it's one of Ms. Lynch's signature dishes. Good stuff, eh? I havent seen it on the tasting menu before so I hadn't had it, but it's not like I'm a regular. Sure glad it was on this time.

Sounds like a great meal. Glad you kept the cheese course, because it reminded me re the Bayley Hazen, a blue I like a lot, but which fell off my radar - need to reacquaint.

I really hated the one Saussignac I tried (Ch. Ricard?). Sounds like this wasn't much better.

re the Bayley Hazen, a blue I like a lot, but which fell off my radar - need to reacquaint.

I'm a big fan of BH as well, Dale, although typically I like blue with more buttery flavors than the ash that BH has.

I really hated the one Saussignac I tried .

Ya, I dont think I'm going to be searching out Saussignac.