STUDIOKITCHEN

Chestnut.

While referring to soups as "cappucinos" is probably old school and lame, chestnut soup actually tastes good with the transferred foam from an actual cappucino. The sweetness of chestnuts with a hint of smokey hammy flavors pairs well with the bitter complexity of the coffee.

Truffled

Foie Gras Ganache

Black Truffle Caramel

Black Truffle Toast

Sadly you can't see whats in the cup underneath the toast, it is a carageenan stabilized liquid foie gras terrine topped with a fairly intense truffle based sauce. It does seem a bit gratuitous to use copious amounts of truffle butter on the toast but it is a tiny dish. Seems perfectly fine and logical as long as you do not use the word I despise most in the English Language........"Truffled"

Bacon or Sausage

Why do we have to choose.

Tastes

We have all worked in restaurants at some point in our careers when Chef asks for an amuse bouche an hour before service. Do we have any "scraps " we can use, I detest the use of the word "scraps" in restaurants. I guess the idea is always to find tangential items that are a by-product of menu items and weave them successfully along with a few other inexpensive items into an essentially free item for the customers. If you have ever eaten at Pierre Gagnaire ,  Sketch or Corton , you know the concept of the amuse is stretched out with a phalanx of little tastes. Tastes composed under the gun in a restaurant should not be composed like silly "Top-Chef" challenges, they should be planned, studied and be an ongoing part of the creative process. Just because it's free doesn't mean it has to shock or suck. Even if it doesn't work, it's ok to be pleasantly shocked but it cannot pleasantly suck.

Wild Scottish Salmon Belly
Cauliflower Peanut Butter
Smoked Steelhead Roe
Ritz Cracker Praline
Blis Elixir
One more element would start to border on absurdity.

It was quite delicious.
Cauliflower Peanut Butter is shockingly good.

 

Sunchoke

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
Blood Orange Froth
Smoked Salmon Papadum