Foodie Digest

We went to Luce last night and opted to try the tasting menu (our server said the chef got really excited when people did so we were convinced). The menu describes this as a 5 course chef’s tasting menu but the server told us it was 6 courses along with several extra courses. This was $65 so a very fair price for thefood (but not so much booze. more on that later).

I should mention that there were many interesting things on the menu I’d like to try and most of these were not on the tasting menu. 

The tasting menu was:

amuse bouche of 3 different bites. The first was peas with white peaches, followed by a melon shot with sorbet and chorizo dust, followed by tomatoes with tomato paper and bacon. (Bacon and sorbet ended up being a theme for the night. We were advised to eat from left to right in terms of lightness of flavors. All of us found the tomato combo to be our favorite but I enjoyed them all.

Fig salad with strawberries, macona almond and strawberry dust. Pop rocks! The figs were pure and perfectly ripe. The strawberries were perfect and the strawberry dust? When combined with the yogurt(?) around the almond turned into pop rocks. Our serve didn’t know what to make of us when we told her that but she learned how to appreciate us as the night wore on.

Foie gras on brioche with duck consomme added tableside. This reminded me of my first foie gras experience at Boulevard (which I remember fondly). This treatment begs my description of foie gras as “beef butter”. The foie gras itself was incredibly light in texture, but rich and fatty in flavor. I enjoyed this a bit as did our friends who don’t usually like foie gras.

Intermezzo of sparkling cider with sorbet. This was refreshing but very sweet.
 

Lobster this was a small portion of two pieces of lobster (raw, we believe) served with a warm lemongrass broth. The flavors of the two combined were good but the dish on a whole wasn’t substantial enough to be impressive.

Intermezzo of a frozen shot with honey grappa and granita. This was frozen to the point it was difficult to consume.

Quail with mushrooms this was one of the stars of the tasting menu. The quail was perfectly prepared and the mushrooms were cooked with BACON which, while almost overdone in the menu, still made us quite happy.

Pork tenderloin and pork belly Another winner in my mind. The plate had a beautiful piece of pork tenderloin with quail egg and what tasted like oatmeal cookie crumbles to the side, then pork belly accompanied by a perfectly prepared piece of bacon. I quite liked the pork tenderloin; others really liked the pork belly.

Cheese course this was underwhelming. The cheese itself was good and served atop white peaches with mint. But there were three slices (albeit large) of cheese to serve 4 of us. This was on the only course that was shared. This came with some fantastic cranberry walnut bread. But since this was a bonus course we can’t really complain. Had we actually ordered a cheese course we would have been disappointed.

Pre dessert course this was amazing. A basil granita to the left with a ricotta almost pudding to the right. Combine the two for an unbelievable and refreshing flavor. I was a big fan.

Dessert course this also was quite good. A strawberry and herb sorbet with a candy crunch side best describe as Jolly rancher, next to two crunchy tubes filled with mascarpone cheese (think crepe that had been cooked to a crunch). I loved this and thought it a fitting end to the meal.

Overall thumbs: Mostly up. The menu was inventive and imaginative. The food itself was reasonably priced; our tasting menu at a price of $65 was a steal. Drinks, on the other hand, were quite expensive. With only 3 of us drinking our bill still crept up to over $400 before tax and tip. (wines by the glass, beer, and mixed drinks).

Food tastiness: Very good. The flavors were sometimes surprising, sometimes delightful, and occasionally questionable. Still, interesting enough that I look forward to returning and trying the regular menu.

Service rating: Very good. The dining room itself was only half full (at prime time on a Saturday night) which afforded us plenty of individual attention. Drinks were refilled, all plates were brought and cleared at the same time and silverware was replaced with each course. Our server did a good job of describing the menu and communicating with the chef.