Where to Eat - Central Kitchen

In keeping with my visit through my archive photos I decided to do a write up on Central Kitchen. My brother and I got the tasting menu the first week it opened and were blown away. It was the single best meal of my life so far. Period. The space was rustic but modern and I loved how each table had a votive wrapped with old cookbook recipes. Like the decor, little perfect touches were continued throughout the meal with the food.

We started with the above lemon soda with buttermilk granita. This was refreshing light and super interesting. It reminded me of a a liquid key lime pie. Also I learned I would like to wrap my life in buttermilk granita.

Next we were brought a vegetable gele with salmon and sorrel. I was struck by the seasoning of this dish - It had the perfect amount of salt. I also love anything with edible flowers.

We then had lamb rilletes with pickled ramps, ramp aiolio on a house-made brioche sprinkled with chervil. This inexplicably reminded me of my mother's clam dip, which was delicious. I could pop these little suckers into my mouth like gummy bears and be one happy lady.

After the previous array of starters we had the above for our first course. These poached mussels on turnip puree with seaweed, radish and fresh horseradish was amazing. It tasted super fresh and was visually stunning. The lightly cooked shellfish with horseradish reminded me of the raw clams sliced open on top of coolers dabbed with homemade cocktail sauce of my youth. It was like summer bbq in a bite.

This second course was my favorite of the meal. It was the most creative plate I've had in a long while. The components of this dish were fresh peas, separated goat cheese and rye crumble. I can not overstate the freshness of this dish. It tastes like something I would expect to eat on a really fancy farm. The separated goat cheese was super clever and playful - the foam was made of the whey and the solids were the cheese curds. The rye crumble may be the single tastiest thing I have ever had in my life. This dish was a celebration of simplicity and texture. I basically licked my plate. 

The third course was rock cod with ramps, artichoke and egg yolk. I'm a sucker for a perfectly cooked piece of fish. I was also really impressed with the texture of the egg yolk - it wasn't too runny but wasn't fully cooked. The artichoke was also an unexpected touch. The almost meaty flavor reminded me of a healthier surf and turf.

Sorry for the shakiness of this photo. The wine selection was amazing and as Chris knew the sommelier the wine was a-flowing. This was our fourth course and it consisted of roasted duck with chard, white onion and hazelnuts. The combination of duck and hazelnuts was surprising and super tasty. 

For a palette cleanser before dessert we were given a lemon verbana sorbet with a hazelnut and peppercorn meringue, cherries, blueberries and crushed hazelnuts. Flavored meringue is amazing - you're welcome.

The fifth and final course was dessert. We had jasmine tea ice cream with almond, grains of paradise, and tapioca milk. This reminded me of an elevated toasted almond bar mixed with the milk leftover from your cereal. (That is a compliment.)

As if this experience wasn't amazing enough, we received little presents after we paid. They were filled with the below brownie style cookies. A perfect reminder of a lovely meal. 

This dinner was full of delicious and beautiful plates. It was like a gorgeous novel but the motifs were hazelnuts, ramps and the like. The most successful dishes were new and exciting but had a reminiscent flavor from the past, reminding me of my childhood. I can not wait to visit Central Kitchen again - once I can get near it again that is, it is blowing up and rightly so!