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Nine Courses on Powell Street
Last month I celebrated a friend's birthday at Michael Mina. It's been on my list of 'must try places" for the last two years but has been slipping down the charts in favor of more affordable restaurants. The benefits of eating with a large group (there were 12 of us) are the number of dishes that you can try. But large sittings generally mean larger bills. My grand total was $260, which was thankfully less than my meal at French Laundry.
Located in the Westin St. Francis hotel across from Union Square, you can ride the hotel's glass elevator to the top floor and look over all of downtown. Or well, at least one side of downtown. The atmosphere at MM isn't as stuffy as French Laundry, in fact the noise level can get pretty high in the open areas. Men aren't required to wear jackets but you can always find a few suits that have come in after work. It's the type of place where men talk business, couples celebrate anniversaries, and girls get way too dolled up in organza skirts.
They serve a three course prix-fixe menu as well as a chef's selection tasting menu. The tasting menu is easier for those that hate making decisions. But when you're paying a hefty price for it, might as well do the work yourself. Within each course there are several selections, of which you can choose only one. Each selection has one core ingredient and is prepared in three different ways. There are also "classics" to choose from, which are dishes that the chef is known for but those are only prepared in one way.
Confused? So was I.
For my first course, I chose the the Hudson Valley foie gras served hot to cold with huckleberry gastique, pickled strawberries, poached rhubarb and pistachio crumble. It was amazing but there was so much of it. I ate half and gave the rest to Katie who proceeded to wipe down two other plates of extra foie gras.
The dishes came out so slowly that by the time course number two arrived, most of us were kind of full. Eep. This was disappointing since my trio of premium beef was so, so good and I couldn't really enjoy it. The first preparation was grass-fed rib-eye in a sauce au povre with creamed spinach, second was American Kobe short-rib with horseradish whipped potatoes, and the last was Misami Kobe sirloin in a bordelaise sauce with marinated mushrooms.
Dessert wasn't really memorable except for the caramel flan and green tea bon bons served with toothpicks. By the time the bill came, it was almost midnight and I was falling asleep at the table. No better way to end the meal I suppose.
