Braeburn - Understated, Elegant and Wonderfully Delicious

Braeburn - 117 Perry Street, New York NY 10014
212.255.0696
C/E/L Train to 14th Street
www.braeburnrestaurant.com

I love having the chance to connect with fellow food bloggers, and last week's dinner tasting at Braeburn restaurant gave me that opportunity.  In addition to meeting some new people, I also reconnected with old friends and caught up with them on various sorts of food geekery, including our personal thoughts and ruminations about NY restaurants, food photography (galore!) and of course food itself. 

Braeburn hosted a very lovely private dinner for us, which I can't even begin to praise.  I'll start momentarily but before I do that, let me mention the wonderful company I was in the presence of that night:

Esther from Ambitious Deliciousness
Grace from Grace Notes NYC
Amie from The Healthy Apple
Josh from the NYC Foodie (AKA the talented foodie magician - see videos of his magic tricks from dinner. Video 1, Video 2)
Michael from Socialites Anonymous
Amy from Amy's Blog Chow

But now...about dinner:

Atmosphere:
A quiet, residential West Village street is the setting for Braeburn restaurant.  It's somewhat easy to miss unless you're really looking for it, but once you find it, you're in for a real treat.

Upon walking in, you're greeted by a gorgeous array of fresh apples, paying homage to Braeburn's namesake. The overall decor is very simple and elegant, embellished by earthy tones and beautifully crafted wooden furniture.  Everything seems natural and organic, giving the diner a preview of the seasonal delicacies on the menu. 

We had the pleasure of eating downstairs in a private wine cellar room, which had an elegantly set table with soft tealights.  In front and back of us were walls lined with Braeburn's special wine selections.  It was all very lovely and because it was private, the experience was that much more special. 

Food:
The dinner menu that night was especially crafted for us in preparation of Braeburn's Big Apple Harvest Week.  Seasonal ingredients such as apples, pumpkins, various root veggies as well as fish and duck made an appearance on our 4-course tasting menu.  Here are the highlights.

Course 1 (Warm Smoked Trout) - The first plate of the night was small but packed a lot of flavor with a smoked, flaky trout with delicate sides of roasted butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds and an apple celery salad.  Although the portion was small, it was just enough to bring the senses to attention.  My only criticism was the large plate they served it on - I thought the food would've stood out better on something smaller.

Course 2 (Long Island Fluke) - My favorite dish of the night consisted of a crispy piece of fish that was very tender and fresh.  Offset by a creamy (yet technically creamless) celery root clam chowder, dressed with bacon and some baby squash, it proved to be a perfect pairing with the light fish.  I liked that the chowder added some indulgence and a touch of smokiness from the bacon. 

Course 3 (Creamless Trumpet Royale Soup) - Another chowder course came expertly presented with an exposed poached wellfleet oyster and crispy potatoes only to be drowned by the silky chowder liquid right in front of our eyes.  I enjoyed the drama of the presentation, and the soup's luxurious texture, but in all honesty the oyster was a tad fishy for me and I would've preferred something more subdued.

Course 4 (Breast of Long Island Duck) - Another highlight of the meal, the duck was tender and oh so juicy - dressed with earthy ingredients such as kohlrabi, wheat berries and duck confit.  I'm very picky about my duck and I often find this bird to be overcooked in restaurants.  But this wasn't the case here at all.  What the duck showed besides impressive mastery of preparation was the deep respect that Chef Bistrong has for food and the inclusive way he bestows it upon others.  For this reason mainly, eating this dish was an honor.

Dessert - We marveled at the impressive spread of desserts that showed up at the end of this already extravagant meal. There must've been about half a dozen items including chocolate beignets, Southern banana pudding, a coconut roulade, yogurt souffle with berry sauce and an apple cobbler.  Everything was unbelievably tasty and for the most part light. 

Two items stood out to me the most including the cobbler and the banana pudding.  The former had the most intense apple flavor, made with apples picked from Chef Bistrong's property in Connecticut, and served with a side of clean, crisp buttermilk ice-cream.  The pudding was also a stand-out, however a polar opposite of the former dish, as you can imagine.  Its texture was extra smooth and silky, with a muted banana flavor that intensified as you reached deeper into your cup and pulled out chunky pieces of bananas and caramel.  What more can a girl with a sweet tooth ask for?

Wine - Each course was thoughtfully paired with a glass of specially selected wine from Braeburn's cellar.  We started with a sweet, French Riesling and worked our way to a full bodied Oregonian Pinot Noir.  My dining companions and I couldnt've been more impressed.

Service and Cost:
There's no doubt about it, Braeburn's staff is top notch.  From the friendly and cordial waitstaff to the warm, welcoming owners, we felt comfortable and truly as special guests.  I personally enjoyed listening to all the interesting food and wine commentary prior to each course.  The highlight for me however, was when Chef Bistrong came out after service and chatted with us about what we thought of the meal as well as just shooting the sh*t about his favorite restaurants around town (many of which were Asian eateries in Chinatown and beyond).

Braeburn's costs are moderate to expensive, but in my opinion fairly reflect the top notch quality food and atmosphere found here:

Appetizers - $9 - $15
Entrees - $24 -$33
Desserts - $5
Brunch - $8 - $15

3 Mmmms

Eggland's Best Cooking Event at ICE Culinary

I was fortunate to be invited to a fun blogger's event at ICE Culinary, which was sponsored by Eggland's Best.  I've heard of their eggs before and was excited at the prospect of cooking with them, together with my fellow bloggers. 

In addition to meeting some old friends, I met many new interesting ones that I felt like I already knew through their musings in the blogosphere.

The Experience:
The evening started with a fun meet and greet, throughout which I met other bloggers such as Christine from Fresh Local and Best (I was so happy to finally meet her, as Margot has been telling me so many wonderful things about this woman), Heather from The Single Dish, Simon from Plate of the Day and Megan from Runner's Kitchen (pictured above).  It felt wonderful to be in the same room with like-minded individuals who all obsessed about food.  I felt right at home with the constant picture taking, video, Tweeting, Facebooking - it was great.

After we got acquainted with our peers, we were introduced to our ring leader/Chef Instructor, Erica Wides, who walked us through the egg-a-licious menu of the evening. Take a look at this video to get a sense of the feast we prepared (with Erica's help of course). 

From the beginning, I was really impressed by Chef Erica, who I later found out has been on the popular Food Network show Chopped.  Not only was she a confident speaker, but we later observed that she was also excellent in the kitchen.  Her instruction couldn't be clearer and she taught Kim from the Kimberly Belle blog and me how to poach eggs in a mixture of water and white wine. 

By the end of our egg shift, we poached about 36 of them, some of which came out quite beautiful, if I do say so myself.  I think I got a bit over-confident at the end, which spurred me to give an impromptu poaching lesson.  See video here - and feel free to make fun of me.

After we finished cooking our 3-course meal, we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  More conversations were had, during which we learned about Eggland's products including their nutritional value (25% less saturated fat and 19% less cholesterol than other eggs). And...I also got to meet another wonderful blogger, Cindy from Chubby's New York Food Diary.  Cindy doesn't take herself too seriously and calls herself the Chubby Chinese Girl (which she's so NOT! Well she is Chinese but chubby she isn't).  We had fun chatting about the NY restaurant scene, taking pictures of food, eggs and what not.

The Food:
The food we made turned out quite delicious and while everything was tasty, I preferred the first dish, a warm salad of spring veggies, duck prosciutto and a poached egg on top.  It could've been because Kim and I poached all those eggs, but I had a real soft spot (pun intended) for this starter.

Not only was it flavorful and hearty (also containing morel mushrooms) but once the poached egg was broken and released all that wonderful gooeyness, I was in heaven.  The fresh, seasonal veggies such as radishes, carrots, sugar snap peas and asparagus added a wonderful earthiness and so much texture, lending an exciting experience for your palate.  The recipe is below - please enjoy.

Warm Salad of Spring Veggies, Duck Prosciutto, Toasted Walnuts and a White Wine Poached Eggland's Best Egg with Champagne Vinaigrette

Ingredients (Serves 4)

White Wine Poached Eggs
4 eggs
2 cups of white wine
2 cups of water

Salad
8 radishes, trimmed
8 morel mushrooms, trimmed (or other wild mushroom)
12 spears of asparagus, bottom ends trimmed
12 baby carrots, peeled and trimmed
12 sugar snap peas, trimmed
4 large leaves of Boston or buttercrunch lettuce
4 thin slices of duck prosciutto, julienned
12 walnut halves, toasted

Champagne Vinaigrette
1 tsp, minced shallot
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbs champagne vinegar
6 tbs of olive oil
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste

Directions:
Place wine and water in a large shallow saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer, but not a boil.  Have an ice bath ready, a pair of tongs and a slotted spoon.

Place 4 poaching rings in the simmering water (if you don't have poaching rings, you can use cleaned tuna cans by removing their top and bottom).  Make sure the water isn't boiling; it should just have a few bubbles breaking on the surface.  Gently crack each egg into a ring, and allow them to poach for 3 minutes.

Carefully remove the poaching rings, using tongs, and then remove the eggs using the slotted spoon.  Place the eggs in the ice bath and reserve.  Turn off the heat under the poaching water, but leave it on the stove for reheating the eggs later.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss the morels and radishes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place them on a sheet pan, and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the mushrooms have exuded all their water and the radishes are tender.  Remove from oven and reserve.

Meanwhile heat a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Have an ice bath ready and a pair of tongs.  Blanch the asparagus, baby carrots and sugar snap peas until they are tender, and then remove to the ice bath.  Start with the baby carrots, as they take the longest.  As soon as the vegetables are cooled in the water, remove them and leave at room temperature.

Make the champagne vinaigrette by whisking all the ingredients for it in a small bowl.

Reheat the egg poaching water.  While it reheats, lay out 4 salad plates and place a leaf of lettuce on each.  Divide the radishes and morels among the plates, then toss the asparagus, carrots and sugar snap peas in the vinaigrette and divide among plates.

When the egg water returns to a gentle simmer, carefully place the eggs back in the water for 1 minute to reheat, remove and blot on a towel, then place one egg on each salad plate.

Garnish each salad with duck prosciutto and walnuts, and drizzle with any remaining vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.