Spring is here, Ramp Tasting Menu @ Marc Forgione

Last time I was supposed to come eat at Marc Forgione the day I got back from Miami… I met Marc at the Let Them Eat Cake Party in South Beach for the SOBE Wine&Food Festival 2011 earlier this year… SUPER nice guy!!!!

Totally rocks the fauxhawk!.. I think Z might want to get one too now haha PLUS the newest, and super BAD ASS Iron Chef!!!! :] Who knew even though he’s all sorts of awesomeness, fame and DELICIOUS cooking that he was SO down to earth and so hands on, still, at his restaurant – SO awesome. RESPECT! I love it when a chef still cooks at his own place!

He’s freaking ONLY 32 years young and already has accomplished SO much….

“Marc was most recently coveted with a single Michelin star in the 2011 guide, making him the youngest American-born chef and owner to receive the honor in consecutive years (2010, 2011). In addition, Marc received a two-star review from Sam Sifton of The New York Times.^[5]

The restaurant also earned the distinction of being named “Key Newcomer” by Zagat Guide 2009, “Top 25 Restaurants in NYC” by Modern Luxury magazine and “All Star Eatery” by Forbes magazine. Marc was awarded “Star Chefs Rising Star of the Year Award 2010,” named “Rising Star 2008” from Restaurant Hospitality magazine and mentioned “New Formalist” by Esquire magazine in 2008.”

Anyways I was sad I missed last time’s reservation due to a super delayed flight *sad face* – BUT he wasn’t gonna be cooking there that night anyways so I hoped he would this time. I tweeted him and soon got a tweet back! WOOHOO!!!…

Look how freaking excited I am. I’ve been SO busy with work lately and been working til around 730 every night, so I made some resos for 845. NOM NOM NOM. So freaking excited.

LOVE the ambience.  We got a nice corner table in the back and just loved the rustic coziness of the place. It was late and it was PACKED. On a weekday – amazing!!!!  I also freaked out the table of Southerners next to me, I couldn’t stop talking to them and asking them about their food :] Silly me….

Bottle #1… and #2 — yeahhh we got two bottles of this :D It was really really good!!

As soon as we sat down we ordered a delicious bottle of red… and while we had planned on ordering from the regular menu and the special [spaghetti] as soon as I saw RAMP TASTING on the bottom of the menu, I KNEW I had to get it…. RAMPS RAMPS RAMPS… I love Ramps, now it really feels like Spring is here and Summer is coming *swoon*

We got some delicious Hot Rolls.. buttery salty tops and some butter…

Tasted like a soft soft pretzel, the skin wasn’t chewy like a pretzel – in heaven! LOVE! Look at that glistening crust… an the little specks of salty crunchiness, YUM!

Amuse Bouche —
Local Fluke Crudo, Shaved Ramps, Ramp Oil
White Asparagus Gazpacho, Ramp Chips
Hangtown Fry, Ramp Remoulade

We were told to eat the Local Fluke Crudo, Shaved Ramps, Ramp Oil first.  Just wrap up the fluke in the ramp leaf and chew chew chew. Cheers and down the hatch. So much flavor. The fish was so fresh and perfectly seasoned. MMMM, the ramp had so much delicious flavor. Simple and yummy.

Next up was a nice cooling “shot” aka spoon of White Asparagus Gazpacho, Ramp Chips… a slight crunch with the nice cooling gazpacho. Delicious. The asparagus flavor was definitely very subtle but great.

OH EM GEE.  The Hangtown Fry, Ramp Remoulade tastes like Honey BBQ Frito Chips!!! NO LIE!!! And I mean it in the best way.  The top is an omelette and underneath is delicious fried goodness. Creamy remoulade on the bottom – OH EM GEE x 100 So much texture and flavors.

Yep, after this course I had serious ramp breath, ALREADY — delicious!!!! So satisfied and yet still craving more and moreeee…… I even tweeted about it.. yep, my delicious RAMP BREATH.. so SEXY!!! Come on guys, you know you love a girl with stinky ramp breath…. no? NO? :[ Not even an Asian one? Any yellow fever guys raising your hands? HAHAHA.. jk jk :] My mommy loves me for who I am… sometimes, but my puppy always loves me and my stinky ramp breath. As does Z [hopefully teehee]

So for the next course…

You take the Sechuan Button, which is like a chinese mint leaf but has a numbing effect like a sechuan peppercorn….. AMAZING and TOTALLY opens up your palate!!! And then you take the spoon, which is basically the “first bite”

Hiramasa, Ramp Essence, Avocado, Sechuan Buttons, Saratoga Chips, Pinenuts

Amazingly fresh fish atop HUGE chunks of beautiful vibrant green avocado.  The sauce was a bit on the sweet side, but unlike the last time I was faced with a sweet sauce, I really adored this dish. The chips also paired SO well beause it gave a needed crunch with the tartare.  This was SO refreshing and the Sechuan Button, I COULD NOT GET OVER IT!!!!

~~~~~

Sechuan buttons, a trade name for Brazil’s native “Toothache Plant,” don’t actually taste like much, but chew a few petals and the tongue tingles fiercely for a few moments, and then a curious half-numb, half-effervescent feeling spreads through the mouth. 

Source: Esquire

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Still Attached Diver Sea Scallop, Ramp-Roe Vinaigrette, Marcelli’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, American Caviar

Up close, sexy and personal!

The scallop was just QUICKLY cooked, like SUPER quickly so it’s basically JUST cooked on the outside but raw on the inside.  It was warmed through perfectly and the salty caviar added SO much flavor to it.  The ramp wasn’t as pronounced as the other previous dishes but it was extremely delicious.  I love scallops as simple as possible! #scallopaddict

And then came what we really wanted… okay not the finger bowl, but as soon as the finger bowl was brought out we KNEW what it was..

This wasn’t part of the Ramp Tasting [obviously] but I had been daydreaming about trying Chef Forgione’s FAMOUS Chili Lobster for awhile now….

Chili Lobster, Texas Toast

Chef brought it out to us himself! OMG. So awesome. Even more points added to his fantastic-ness!!!! MAD PROPS!!! RESPECT x 100

While I wish there were more lobster in it the lobster was SO perfectly cooked. PERFECTLY COOKED. Now, mind you, I’m SO picky with my lobster and usually ONLY eat it steamed… and I also avoid lobster from NYC and tend to just go back to New England [Boston or Maine] to give in to my lobster cravings. OMG. This stuff is CRACK. This SAUCE is AMAZING.. and the Texas Toast?!?!?!… We had to order another plate of it.

This sauce is NOT going to waste!!!! Sopped it up with the delicious toast – NOM!

Ok, after licking the bowl CLLLLLLLEAN…. onwards with our Ramp Tasting…

Ramp Ice Cream, Shaved Foie Gras

This would be an AMAZING dessert… the saltiness with a, kid you not, SWEET ramp ice cream. I mean who would’ve thought… totally should put this at the end of the meal, ALTHOUGH it’s a nice creamy cool “palate cleanser” of some sort hehe. YUM!… I love shaved foie!!

Ramp Spaghetti, English Peas, North Country Bacon, Morel Mushrooms

This was like a Carbonara… except even richer and super delicious!  The night “meaty” morels were amazing.. the pasta was cooked al dente – perfect and was just SO delicious… the peas were SO fresh and a vibrant green color… unlike last time we ate [or didn’t eat because they looked mush narsty] some peas – I could’ve eaten a HUUUUGE bowl of this stuff, what a tease… so creamy and succulent. Totally naughty :] In the best way possible…

“Steak & Eggs”, Yellowfin Tuna, Dickson’s Tasso, Feather Ridge Farm Egg, Grilled Ramps, Ginger Ketchup, Koppert Kress Pea Shoots

PERFECTLY cooked egg. This was a freaking 40 minute egg – INSANE… cooked at a low temp… OOOOOOOMG. Z’s came out a little bit more cooked than mine, but still yolky just a little more solid than mine:

Isn’t it so freaking sexy?!?!!?… I usually don’t like Seared Tuna [unless in Nicoise Salads] but this was really good…, definitely cooked a little more than I’m used to… all the flavors and textures weren’t even overwhleming…. the plate looks like SO much but it all went together SO well.  The crisp tasso.. the silky egg… the egg whites were so creamy… the grilled ramps and a nice solid tuna. YUM!

Ramp Crusted Lamb Loin, Green Garlic Croquettes, North Fork Asparagus, Ramp Sea Salt, Natural Jus

I must admit, this was pretty delicious. Rare and not lamb-y [gamey] at ALL!  Z adored it and thought it was perfectly cooked. Demolished!

But since I’m not a huge lamb eater, I asked to replace my main entree with the Monkfish. Chef did suggest either the Steak or Duck course [I guess since it’s all red meat] but I was pretty set on Monkfish before we even got to the restaurant that night haha.

Maine Monkfish, Satur Farms Carrots, Currants, Walnuts, Thai Red Curry 

… I spy with my naked eye, some ramps in there, Chef, you clever thing you :D SO delicious. I LOOOVE red curry, it’s my favorite type of Thai curry, in fact [other than Jungle curry hehe] the carrots were glazed and super sweet, yum.. cut right through the curry sauce and the SUPER succulent monkfish. Monkfish is amazing, why don’t I eat it more?  I don’t remember walnuts in here… but I got the description off the website haha…  but yes let me talk about those sexy ramps again <3 RAMPS!!!!

Bottle #3

Kitchen Tour after the savory courses…

It’s pretty small, SO insane that SO much food comes out of it and such a good pace and absolutely delicious! Props!!! MADDDD props :] We talked to the sous Chef, SO nice and then he said that it was NOT even CLOSE to the end yet.. wait what?! We didn’t even look at dessert menus.. but they have it prepared for us already ;D I don’t know if it was on the house or not but they were amazing choices.. and I was already onto our third bottle of wine… but this is good.. its’ always so hard to make choices for myself when it comes to dessert… and lushed up. I want ike 10 of everything at that point.

Jameson Ice Cream Cones

If I wasn’t such a lush I TOTALLY would’ve gotten drunk off of these. HOLY MOLY. The most amazing Jameson infused ice cream. Creamy, sweet [but not too sweet] and BOOOOOOOZEY!!!.. What’s NOT to love. Ice cream always makes me happy :] When I’m sad, an ice cream cone always puts a smile on my face. [and rainbow sprinkles of course hehehe… but I forgive you Chef, you didn’t know haha]

Blueberry Cobbler Sundae, Candied Walnuts

I saw Chef’s tweet about this just recently.. and OMG… this was amazing. I don’t even remember breathing inbetween bites of this deliciousness… nom nom nom nom nom… all sorts of textures and the crumble, the blueberry.. the ice cream OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG… even just thinking back on it makes my brain turn to mush. THAT good! Get it while you can!

Cooked to Order Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Shot of Milk

YES. YOU HEARD ME RIGHT.  Cooked to F-ing ORDER! WARM, GOOEY, delicious. And the shot of milk – GENIUS. Dip dip in the WHOLE FAT milk [hahaha as you can see I was deprived as a kid, I’ve only ever drunken skim milk]

AND THEN… OK.. I was pretty tipsy by now… Z and I both think this was some sort of Toffee Brownie Bite… it’s like if a BLONDIE and a Brownie had babies… but definitely more of a Blondie taste :D NOM!

I feel like I’m cheating on Resto… but SHHH don’t tell Bobby, I’m in love with Marc’s food tooooooooo :D We were still drinking and nibbling when Marc left for the night, and he even came over to say byeeeee… and during the dinner he even said he saw my tweets *blush* I’m such a #twitterwhore HEHE. OMG coolest chef!!!

MUST. COME. BACK. ASAP!