I have $550 and a reservation at Providence..guide me!
Been saving all year to celebrate the anniversary of not dying in a motorcycle accident! I call it "Life Day".
Saturday will be my second time at Providence. Last time we did the nine course TM. I was thinking chef's TM (but can't get the chef's table with only 2 people on Saturday) or perhaps ordering off the market menu.
Which way to go? I am allergic to nuts, which they already know and can adapt for-they did well last year of not "nutting" me (eew, bad pun), and I know will do well this year.
Should I go Chef's TM? Can I afford it?
Should I order off the menu?
Also, I'll save 10%, because I reserved "THe worst table in the house"-a deal I heard about in LAT. Anyone have any guesses as to which table this is?
Do you think if the Chef's table is free, they'll treat me?
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please report back about the "worst table" after your dinner. i've been wondering about that since the last message on the same subject, without hearing back from the poster. other than that, $550 should be enough for the chef's tm with wine pairings (especially with 10% off?).
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Anyone had a TM recently? What's on the Market menu and tasting menus? I know the Chef's TM is different from the 9 course TM..but not quite how....
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re: Diana
Providence – 3/24/07
Michael’s cuisine has really evolved; his dishes are compelling, creative, complex with many ingredients, but focused. You don’t feel that there is a war going on with his dishes, as there is an underlying harmony.
Maine Oyster with yuzu lime foam and zest, seaweed nectar and julienne of red onion – what made this dish superb was the yuzu lime foam
Shrimp cocktail – cocktail sauce chip, celery, cocktail sauce consommé – we were instructed to eat the chip first, then the celery, then the prawn and finally wash it down with the consommé. This was a stunning dish. The chip was absolutely fabulous – a crunchy cracker that exploded cocktail sauce in your mouth. An absolute wow.
Aori ika – cuttlefish roulade of Perigord black truffles, black truffle vinaigrette, and a jelly of green chive made with agar. The combination of the cuttlefish and truffle was perfect. The dish was reminiscent of a Thomas Keller dish – less is more.
King Crab poached in Jurason wine with petit pois, reduction of Jurason wine with ginger juice, pea tendrils with small julienne of crispy deep-fried ginger on top – again pristine ingredients handled with finesse and the quintessence of spring.
Tarragon-butter poached Maine Lobster – on the bottom were sliced organic yellow beets, then the poached lobster with a cover of a gel sheet of yellow beets (again made with agar) and on top Alverta President caviar (from mature, white sturgeon farmed in Northern California) and crispy tarragon – an elegant, artistic dish that tasted as good as it looked.
Sautéed Foie Gras, rhubarb chip, braised rhubarb, lemon grass emulsion (citronnelle acidule) with a lemon and vegetable stock, mizuna – this was a hefty piece of foie without one hint of stringiness – it just melted in your mouth.
Roasted New Zealand John Dory, Carrot and Vadouvan sauce, Braised Purple Haze Carrot, Broccolini. The carrot and Vadouvan sauce was in a word delicious. I am not sure what the green puree is and additionally my notes say something about sherry reduction and coco nib.
Sweetbreads, Chinese 5 spice powder, sautéed Japanese spinach, applewood smoked bacon, pistachio, freeze-dried apricot “chips”. There were 2 sauces – star anise and Australian pepper berry glaze. This was a very aromatic dish with a gentle kick from the 5-spice powder, star anise and pepper
Columbia River Salmon Belly, Washington Morels braised in soy, fava beans, asparagus spear, saucing of the braising liquid from the morels and chive/basil oil and on top of the salmon a generous portion of the crispy salmon skin. Again the ingredients ‘screamed” spring with the addition of morels, favas and asparagus. The crispy skin was better than a sushi bar salmon skin. Wonderful.
Colorado Lamb (saddle and tenderloin) cooked in salted butter, cippolini onions, artichokes, oven-roasted tomatoes, apple wood smoked bacon, watercress and a sauce of lamb jus.
Cheese
St. Nectaire, Dome St. Estephe, Pentu de l’Etang and one other cheese that I didn’t get the name.Desserts
“One Bite” – white chocolate lollipop filled with blood orange soda and cardamomKalamansi soda with vanilla ice cream and mango gelee
Chipolte chocolate cremeaux with corn tortilla and chocolate streusel, pineapple gelee and an emulsion of avocado puree
Mignardises
Providence is one of the only fine dining restaurants in Los Angeles. It is such a pleasure to dine here.
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re: sue veed
I ate there April 7 and it was substantially different. Here's the quick description
Littleneck clams, lemon gelee, lime espuma
Tuna/truffle napoleon
poached octopus with cucumber and shiso
scallops in pickled plum broth, pink grapefruit
salt-roasted spot prawn (these last two were absolutely incredible)
King crab with peas and ginger in jurancon reduction
lobster with beets and caviar (my least favorite of the night)
pork belly with apricot-lemongrass sauce and mizuna
john dory with broccolini
salmon with white asparagus
lamb loin with artichokes and bacon
cheeses
lollipops
soda
chipotle creameaux
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jcwla
Apr 10, 2007 11:06 AM
$550?! -- my guidance would be keep driving a few miles and treat yourself to Urasawa...
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Well, first I would tackle the allergy issue, usually a phone call to give the chef a heads up will do. As far as the chefs table, thats probably not an option considering your going to be 2 pp.
Now the good news is you have plenty of room to play around as far as money goes, the last time I checked the TM with wine pairing is 140 pp so you should be fine.›1 Reply
