The 10 Weirdest Dishes

New York Magazine ^ | 09/05/01 | Jay Cheshes

[Orual]

If it's true that you are what you eat, then what are we to make of the fact that we live here in the land of foie gras with chocolate sauce? Of eel with roasted watermelon and green tea-cauliflower foam? Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: Today, the New York culinary scene provides food for thought to challenge even the most bizarre tastes. See which Manhattan restaurants have the weirdest dishes of all: Can your palate handle it?

#7: Foie Gras with Dark Chocolate Sauce and Orange Marmalade
Goose liver only a chocoholic could love...

• $72 prix fixe at Lutece

The Dish: Is it breakfast? An appetizer? Dessert? If you're pressed for time, kill three courses in one slab of foie gras, drowned in dark chocolate sauce and accented with orange marmalade. All that's missing is the toast. The New York Times called it “ill-chosen” and “out of register” but still gave new chef David Feau’s pyrotechnics two stars.

The Restaurant: What would Andre Soltner think of this revamped culinary legend? The guiding force behind Lutece ( 249 E. 50th St.) is long retired, and his pantheon is being turned on its head. East Side ladies beware, this is not your father’s Lutece.

Other Dishes: Feau, formerly of Guy Savoy in Paris, is no French-cuisine snob. He borrows flavors from around the world to create dishes like raw tuna with cilantro, apple and Moroccan oil; cumin- and rosemary-crusted lamb loin with lemon sauce and parsnip gratin; and curried squab with mascarpone and fava beans.

#10: Lobster with American Cheese
The sublime and the ridiculous on a plate.

• $22.95 at East Boat Restaurant The Dish: Think of it as a new use for the Kraft single: Icky, viscous processed cheese defiles pricey lobster flesh. “Like tuna melt!” the owner told the reviewer from the New York Post.

The Restaurant: The Post’s Steve Cuozzo, the only New York critic to pore through the bizarre, voluminous menu at East Boat Restaurant (72 Kenmare St.), recently declared the place “NY’s weirdest eatery.”

Other Dishes: An endless variety of lobster preparations, from Sichuan to satay, served alongside garlic bread, New England clam chowder, and wok-sauteed spaghetti slathered in ketchup.

[WhirlwindAttack]

#3
Flash-Fried River Crabs

This actually looks pretty good to me.

[Kitten Festival]

That salmon mousse and the risotto with sauerkraut don't sound too bad. I could probably handle the flash-fried river crabs, too.

But I wouldn't touch that chocolate stuff. Eeeeuw!

[WhirlwindAttack]

Someone might reply they like kids as long as they're "well done".

No I like mine rare they get tough if you over cook them. LOL

[ErnBatavia]

Here we are again, with the same mysterious scenario....a brand new (today) registrant digs up a thread from September of 2001....strange indeed.

[Calvin Locke]

Only if the purple coloring came from radioactive isotopes, and it kept the food both warm and sterilized.

[Calvin Locke]

Last I heard, Vegemite's banned in the US. The folic acid, iirc.

So, until there's a folate-free formulation, or we wise up and start tossing the food nazis and their minions into,
say Darfur, another thing that makes life worth living will disappear.

[LonePalm]

I'll try them all, especially if someone else is footing the bill. The only one I was unsure about was the foie gras and chocolate. I think they could both best be used in other dishes. I might have to try the sauerkraut risotto.

I especially liked the looks of #5, the Salmon Tartare with Stilton, Walnuts and Yorkshire Pudding.

'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[krunkygirl]

Fess up! I don't believe you--there is no such thing!