Celebration

Yesterday was a big event.  My husband and his partner, Brad Burnham, closed on their new fund and business called www.unionsquareventures.com .  They are both seasoned VC’s and the timing for this new venture couldn’t be better. 

Of course, I am biased but have watched my husband operate as a VC since 1987.  I was involved in businesses around the explosion of Silicon Alley in the late 90’s so I have worked with and seen a lot of different VC’s and how they operate.  My husband is truly the best VC out there.  He understands how to grow businesses and nurture CEO’s.  He has a nose for deals and how to structure them soundly.  Of course he has made his mistakes over the years, but his commitment to the Board and employees of the companies he gets involved with is over the top.  Once he pulls the trigger on an investment not only does the top management become part of his extended family, Fred becomes such a fundamental part of their business you would think that he works there. 

Last night was celebrated the closing.  I asked my best pal who I talked to daily and always gives me great advice said that Le Bernadin was the obvious choice.  The last time I was there they were in a different location which was about 20 years ago. 

Being a downtown girl I was a little thrown off when I made the reservation they said the men were required to wear jackets.  Wow!  Funny enough, Brad and his wife live literally a block from us so we are all downtowners but decided to get dressed up and celebrate appropriately.  I admit, I still felt a bit like a youngster there but that’s all in my head.

The meal was spectacular.  $92 prix fixe which includes 4 different courses.   The first course is Almost Raw, the second course is Barely Touched, the third four is Lightly Cooked and the last is dessert. 

I started with the Hamachi Tartare which is finely cut and shaped into a round mold and then served in a small bowl and surrounded with a ginger-coriander sauce and the hamachi is topped off with wasabi tobiko (small green fish eggs with a kick).  It was delicious and the tastes in your mouth were not only explosive but the textures were perfect.  My husband had the Geoduck which is a large clam that they had cut into pieces and served with a lime wasabi dressing which also gave it a kick.  Truthfully, I would have been happy to eat everything on the Almost Raw course and stick with that but that’s not how they do it.

Second course, barely cooked.   I had small pieces of lobster served in a bowl that had been poached.  Then they poured over it a champagne broth.  Very rich but wonderful in taste. 

Lightly cooked was the third course.   Fred and I ordered the same thing.  Black Sea bass that had been charred to make the skin crispy but easy to cut through with a fork.   It was served in a bowl with flavorful mushrooms around it.  Again, presentation is everything, they poured over it a Peking Duck broth.  I could smell the Peking Duck when they poured in the light broth.  Great idea.

Lastly dessert.  We pushed all our desserts in the middle and tasted away.  All delicious with big presentations.   Dark chocolate cashew with malted ice cream, milk chocolate mousse that was inside a chocolate type cake and oozed out the middle with cinnamon ice cream, poached pears and banana creme brulee.  Each had a variety of textures and different tastes on the plate that together tasted delicious.

We left content.  It is definitely an "adult" restaurant but for a celebration, you can’t beat it.