Foodgasm, @ Acme
I have found a new best dessert: Acme's granita dish, featuring truffle gelato. The only dish that compares is the Caramel Parfait, The Modern (Dining Room).
I could explain at length why it is such a brilliant and beautifully constructed dish, and ridiculously fun to eat. In short, it is a fairy tale about the nordic forest—and about the truffle hunt. The key ingredient is the truffle gelato. It's like a funky mascarpone that acts as catnip for humans, and as such, just reminiscing makes me a little giddy. When was the last time you had a dessert and smiled/laughed about it hours afterwards? $12. Screw all the gelato places in the city. Save up, and go sit at the bar, and try this.
The much-lauded "beer porridge" was impressive, and I can see why people like it, but I didn't relate to the ingredients: I don't drink, and I don't love milkshakes. But intellectually, the dish is just as brilliant as the above. It is a modernist porridge cast as a dessert*. It is a fantasy of textures—the smooth, creamlike enveloping foam, the gooey "egg", the nutty porridge at the bottom like a risotto, or even like slow-cooked lentils.
The rest are interesting for their kind of simple innovativeness. The shaved foie with langoustine is like a reconstructed uni. The diced, pickled watermelon and heirloom tomato "steak" meld together seamlessly. The red snapper is sauced (?) with cardamom and vanilla. The first bite was the same level of perfection as Chinese style steamed whole fish—unfortunately I found the rest of the fillet slightly overdone.
*(After looking it up, it is actually a take on øllebrødl; here, it's like a rustic Nordic tiramisu.)
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EV_Eats
Sep 16, 2012 05:15 PM
I've had the beer porridge both times I've been there, it looks like I need to branch out & try some of the other desserts. Did you try the Farmer's Eggs yet? I particularly enjoyed that dish.
I'll admit that I miss the original ACME, but I'm slowly warming up to this Nordic stunner. A bit pricey, yes, but well worth it!
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East Village Eats http://www.eveats.com -
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