Stylish Dishes From New York City: Eleven Madison Park

As the bright lights surrounding Times Square shine upon the dreams of many, New York City contains all the attractions one city can have, including the ones for the taste hunters.

Opened in 1988, Eleven Madison Park has been one of the vanguards of this gastronomic scene reflecting the glitter of the city. Thanks to the Swedish Chef Daniel Humm who began to work for the restaurant in 2006, it is one of the six restaurants in NYC which have been awarded with three stars. Besides, it’s been voted the 4th best restaurant in the world and become a member of Relais & Chateaux.

The Art Deco that dates back to the 1920s is prevalent in the decoration. The ceiling is high enough that the atmosphere is a promise of a refreshing and delightful dining experience. Plus, those gastro-lovers who are into photographing the restaurant won’t be frustrated thanks to the massive windows.

When you take a look at the menu ($225), you could see that it mostly consists of the modern versions of the traditional American tastes. In a spick-and-span and glittering atmosphere was a variety of diners from all different nationalities and the servicing staff knew what they were doing.

The first dish, oyster was made with leek, onion, potato cream and chicken stock as well as the kind of cold soup that you might be familiar with from the French or the American TV series, which is “vichyssoise”. A fine balance of umami and salinity was achieved with the little dots of caviar atop in addition to the rich creamy sauce.

Scallop dish was flavored with the horseradish which was sourced from the East coast. Water chestnut and pine along with the snow-white piles of apple left a fine, long-lasting freshness on my palate.

The following dish, beef has a quite old recipe. In detail, it featured beef tartare hidden between caviar and smoked marrow. When I split it open with the help of a small spoon made from pearl, a spree of colors was revealed on the inside. It, again, was balanced in the looks and the taste. As a person who’s in love with the taste of marrow since my childhood, that creative presentation satisfied my expectations so much.

The rose beef pastrami dish reminded me of my school years in the U.S. Rye bread with mustard and garlic along with pickles and chicory were great accompaniments for the meat.

As opposed to the usual ritual, the breads and butter came in the middle of the dinner. But again, it was almost like one of the main courses. Enveloped in a fabric case, the piping-hot breads were like a tribute to boyoz with their crispy and crunchy layers. When they met the salted or unsalted butter, they became enchanting.

When we moved on to the foie gras dish, the version we chose was enriched with sunchokes and fermented mustard greens. Thanks to the both ingredients, the foie gras gained a gustatory depth. People also can choose the other seared version of “foie gras”.

The following dish, again, had a gorgeous refreshing taste. It is called “Waldorf salad” because it was first created at Waldorf Hotel in New York in the late 1800s. The main ingredients of the salad were apple, celery and walnuts. Next to the sugar coated walnuts was a spoonful of mayonnaise flavored with lemon. The Eleven Madison Park version had also cranberries which pretty much boosted the salad.

The next presentation consisted of two different dishes. The first one was the cold seafood dish which consisted of steamed lobster, sour crab salad, panna cota sea urchin, razor clams and slices of pear crowned with some collard puree. As the next step, the hot seafood dish was composed of lobster tail, again meaty razor clams, thin slices of pear and collards poached in lobster juice.

The celery dish comprised of a small celery ball carved out of the braised celery. As it was accompanied with again celery puree and topped with black truffle juice, the dish was a celebration of the earthy tastes in harmony.

While the last main dish, the signature dish of Eleven Madison Park was being prepared, we were treated with a bowl of broth, accompanied by gruyere cheese, duck sausage and mustard seeds as well as crunchy croutons.

The following dish, duck looked like a painting. Underneath the crispy skin treated with honey, lavender and a kind of yellow turnip juice made from the Swedish turnip “rutabaga”, there was a delicate duck meat. Although I’m a fan of the duck dishes I ate in the Far East where the crispy skin is complemented with an accompaniment of crepe, this artistic and colorful presentation was an unforgettable version too.

When it came to the desserts, we had sweet potato and baked Alaska. The sweet potato had a fine balance between the crispy texture and the creamy consistency of the curd flavored with the combination of espresso meringue and orange sorbet. Baked Alaska (created as a commemoration of the United States’ purchase of Alaska) which was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside and consisted of a piece of cake and ice cream coated with the white of an egg and baked at a high temperature and then flambéed to get a pinkish tint on top.

While we were touring the kitchen, we were invited to sit at a small table with a penicillin cocktail offer as a treat. It was a combination of bourbon whiskey, ginger and honey in the style of molecular cuisine. Besides, watching it getting prepared was just as much enjoyable as eating it.

With my gastropartner daughter Ceylan

I ended my lunch at Eleven Madison Park with an unforgettable taste of espresso macchiato as an alternative to Turkish coffee since the restaurant didn’t offer any.

With Eleven Madison Team

Although there are better places to prefer when it comes to the sea food –to me, Le Bernardin should be the first choice for that matter-, when I make a general assessment, the dishes that deserve two stars at least and the chic presentations are a good reason to visit the restaurant when you’re in New York City for any reason.

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life...

www.elevenmadisonpark.com
11 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010, ABD
+1 212-889-0905