Every time a new Top Chef season rolls around, I'm always reminded that nothing will ever compare to Top Chef Season 1. Who can ever forget the worst host ever, Katie Lee Joel and her android voice. Then there's the unforgettable contestants, mysterious Stephen Asprinio, "You're a snake...sssss" Miguel, cutie Lee Anne Wong, and of course, season 1 winner Harold Dieterle.
While we were in NYC, Dylan and I were hoping to spot Harold at Perilla, his restaurant in Greenwich Village.
While we were in NYC, Dylan and I were hoping to spot Harold at Perilla, his restaurant in Greenwich Village.
We never pass up the opportunity for pork belly on a menu, so our first dish was crispy Berkshire pork belly with pea tendrils, trumpets and banyuls-vanilla gastrique.
We also ordered his signature spicy duck meatballs with mint cavatelli, water spinach and quail egg. Sooo incredibly delicious and juicy. I love duck balls. No, wait, that sounds bad.
Wow, we're on a roll with some of our all time favorites. Pork belly, balls of meat, and now, SCALLOPS. Harold's seared diver sea scallops with parsnip puree, pumpkin seed praline and orange-hearts of palm salad were perfectly seared. My only complaint was that there were only two. I think 200 would be a better serving for us.
Dylan was a big fan of the sauteed triggerfish with guinoa, heirloom tomatoes, sweet and sour eggplant-basil sauce. We were told that triggerfish was some sort of distant cousin of John Dory.
We ended up getting the faro risotto with artichoke confit, parmesan and chili-grape salad at the end of our meal and although it was perfectly cooked, we were really too full to fully appreciate this dish.
We ended the night with drinks then headed out for desserts before stumbling back to the Hudson. Dylan had a photoshoot the next morning and I had an early date with my favorite NYC foodblogger Kayoko from the Umami Mart blog.
*And no, we didn't see Harold. He left early that night. Boo to the hoo.
*And no, we didn't see Harold. He left early that night. Boo to the hoo.
Perilla
9 Jones St
(between 4th St & Bleecker St)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 929-6868
3 comments:
Duck meatballs with runny egg. I think you just showed me what heaven looks like.
Your photos are lovely......and I'm happy that there are lots of food photos! Keep em coming:).
thank you for such a beautiful post! perilla is my first destination when i go to ny next year for business... man, i love harold! and pork belly!
Harold was definitely one of my favorites - right up there with Sam from Season 2...Faro Risotto makes me think of Ahriane from this new season. ha ha. I wish you could have seen Harold!
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