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My Valentine’s Day Dinner at Pure Food and Wine in NYC
For Valentine’s Day, I took my valentine to Pure Food and Wine. They rolled out a special menu with some amazingly complex dishes.
Our table was in the private room in the back, which meant that we had to walk through the kitchen to get there. Walking through the kitchen is always fun, and I talked briefly to Nikki King, the head chef, who I see often when I go to One Lucky Duck.
AMUSE-BOUCHE
This drink was made of maple syrup and ginger soda with blood orange and beet caviar floating on the top. Very crisp.
KING OYSTER MUSHROOM SCALLOPS
This plate came with a fennel puree, micro arugula and a blood orange sauce. It was impressive how they mimicked the texture of scallops.
ZUCCHINI SOUP WITH ROSEMARY AND CANDIED FIG
The star of this soup was DEFINITELY the candied fig, which was dehydrated with maple syrup. It was deliciously sweet and had a crunch to it.
I had never heard of anything being dehydrated with maple syrup before — love the innovation.
SWEET CORN POLENTA
Disclaimer: This picture here does not do the dish justice but it was the best I that could take.
The polenta was by far my favorite food of the night. It was filling, and the Sicilian eggplant caponata, spinach, micro oregano and thyme provided tremendous balance to the overall flavor profile.
VANILLA CARDAMOM SEMI FREDDO
The raw ice cream came with a cranberry consomme and bittersweet chocolate.
DARK CHOCOLATE TART
Accompanied by candied beets and a blood orange sorbet, the chocolate was incredibly rich. What captivated me, however, was the sorbet. Cool and cleansing, it was a great way to end the meal.
