stlbites.com – st. louis food blog of bill burge

Niche Tasting Menu

Feb 22, 2008 chefs, offal watch, restaurants, reviews

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Of course in the case of Ellie and I we’ll call it sleet; and in place of couriers we’ll call ourselves diners; and instead of appointed rounds there was the fact that after we both got sent home from work early because the weather was bad, I realized we could walk into any restaurant we wanted in St. Louis and have our pick of seats. And so we went to Niche to have the new tasting menu because hey–Mathew put the kulfi on the menu, and in the back of my mind I believe he did it for me (even if he didn’t really).

Cauliflower Soup – apples, walnuts, bacon
Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco

Almost like custard it was whipped slightly and as a result had a light mouth feel and a very luxurious texture that was balanced nicely by the apples, walnuts and bacon.

I found this to be more of a play on soup as it seemed lightly gelled, and by that I mean that when you scooped out a portion the soup didn’t actually slide back into the void. It just stayed the way it was leaving an open area.

As and aside, I don’t think the bacon was actually bacon in the traditional sense, but I forgot to ask about that. I did however ask Gerard what he put in it to get the gel-like texture, and he told me exactly what it molecular gastronomy tool kit item it was, but I forgot

It’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten at Niche and was my second favorite course of the night.

It is also available on the regular menu for those of you not wanting to do the full tasting thing.

Fried Pigs Head – spiced pear, egg
M.Chapoutier Cotes Du Rhone 2005

Ellie was not looking forward to this dish as she’s not completely hell-bent on eating offal the way I’ve become in recent years. Honestly I wasn’t either because I had guessed right, in advance, that it was going to be similar to the fried pork cheek dish that Gerard had previously been doing on the regular menu.

I know a lot of people really loved that dish but it was not one of my favorites as I found it rather heavy. Braised pork cheeks (which I love) are already a substantial item and I found that then frying them was a bit overwhelming, and the quince puree that accompanied that version never really livened the whole thing up enough to not leave me feeling a little bogged down after eating it.

The pigs head, however, worked.

Realistically it’s just as heavy, and if anything it’s fattier. It had a completely different texture though as instead of just unctuous firm meat you got the pieces of meat along with bits of soft, meltingly delicious, pig face.

Also on the dish was was one of those perfect 62degree eggs (Celsius) or whatever the exact temp is that’s now all the rave thanks to Niche being the proud new owner of a PolyScience immersion circulator.

Basically it’s an egg that’s been poached for a very long time and at a low temperature so that it just sets. Texturally it’s like a soft boiled egg that has been poached only long enough to set the yolk physically. As in: slightly cooler and it would still be runny–slightly firmer and it would be on its way to hard boiled.

It’s the first time I’ve had one of these eggs and it was interesting. It added to the dish for sure, but it wasn’t the perfection some people make it out to be, and I would have been just as happy with a runny poached egg to break over the porky goodness.

I realized later one of the primary reasons I enjoyed this so much more than the cheek version was that portion was about half as much. Also, the wine was an absolutely spot on pairing and really enriched the overall flavor. It was one of the best I’ve had in a long time where the wine wasn’t used heavily within the creation of the dish itself, and Ellie and I were both really pleased with how much we loved this course having not been very excited for it.

Sea Bass – Celeriac Puree, Black Asian Rice, Bonito Flakes

Here’s the first of the Bill can’t make an unbiased judgment of Niche because he gets free stuff dishes.

The sea bass was incredibly moist having been cooked sous vide in the immersion circulator bath. It was then browned quickly in a hot pan and topped with the bonito flakes.

I’ve never had bonito flakes, and I didn’t know what they were by name. They kind of looked like wood shavings and I had to ask what it was because it kind of looked like coconut but it obviously didn’t taste like coconut. What they are is dried fish flakes–typically tuna from what I gather.

To be honest, I don’t think I could really taste it, but as it’s a fishy flavor, it could very well have been that I just couldn’t pick it out from the flavor of the sea bass.

There was also some kind of fruit in the black Asian rice I believe but I don’t know what it was.

Lobster Tapioca – lemon, blood orange
Bird Sauvignon Blanc 2006

I don’t really care about lobster. It’s one of those things people often toss around as some luxurious high falootin’ item that for me is just some old school way for people to look fancy or pretend to be fancy by showing off. It’s one of those expensive items that people that don’t typically go out to eat, on that one special occasion night they do, can feel all fancy when they pick their lobster out of the goofy tank and spend a bunch of money on it.

Beyond that I don’t really care for the flavor and find the texture to be generally offensive. Being in St. Louis it’s probably that I haven’t had many lobsters of quality, but on the whole, if I have to eat a buggy crustacean and I have my choice, I’m going for langoustine every time.

This dish, however, might have changed my mind as it didn’t have that somewhat chewy texture lobster so often does, and it would appear that tapioca may be a new favorite food of mine.

It was plated such that you had a bed of tapioca with lobster claw perched atop it, then a swipe of celeriac puree, then more tapioca with a bit of tail perched on top, then another swipe of celeriac. It then had a few supremes of blood orange on the plate–and if I can remember this right–a bit of blood orange lemon sauce.

It was fantastic the way the creamy tapioca played with the texture of the lobster and the acidity of the citrus.

Pork Tenderloin – lardo/ricotta cannelloni, polenta cake, apple sauce

Extra #2

This is actually on the menu. I forget how it’s described outright, and I didn’t think to grab a menu so I could be all informed and tell you.

I can’t imagine eating a whole plate of this because it was extremely heavy. The lightest thing on the plate was actually the pork of all things because the ricotta and lardo–though delicious–was very rich and powerful, and a bite of the starchy polenta cake just added to my destruction.

The cannelloni itself was comprised of lardo being wrapped around the filling, so it was fat literally wrapped with fat.

The same people that loved the pork cheek version of dish #2 are probably going to lose a lot of sleep after they eat this and fall in love though I found it good, but not great. To be fair, it probably had as much to do with our feeling full as anything as we hadn’t really saved up room in our stomachs for a dinner like this having decided to go on a whim.

(Annie, aka The Cheesemonger’s Wife, really loved this, so I think we can expect a comment from her as she can do more justice in describing it than I can.)

Pineapple Rosemary Intermezzo

Thank god! It was so refreshing. I haven’t been this full since Craft tried to kill us in NYC.

Roasted Lamb – turnip, quince, panisse
Cafaro Cabernet Napa Valley 2003

Panisse you say?

No idea.

Figuring they hadn’t ground up Alice Waters or her restaurant to sprinkle on a dish I was geared up to ask what this was until they told me it was some sort of pea shoot leaves.

Ordinarily, once home, I Google the hell out of something when I don’t know what it is, but Alice Waters has ruined any hope of that because I can’t find anything when I type “panisse greens” other than information about how she loves greens.

I really don’t care about Alice Waters or if she loves greens. What I care about is what the heck panisse is. So, if you can point me to more information on this, please do.

[EDIT: Wineaux said - I suspect there may have been some sort of miscommunication or misunderstanding about the panisse...the "turnip cake" you described was likely the panisse, and the greens just a micro green garnish (of which Chef Craft is fond).

It is my understanding that panisse is basically a chickpea fritter that is comparable to falafel - both are fried, made from bean flour (usually chickpea flour), and have a fluffy yet crispy texture, but panisse is usually not as strongly seasoned as falafel.]

What I myself can tell you after eating it is that it was just a small cooking green.

On top of the greens (whatever they were) they had dropped a perfect brunois of quince. The lamb itself was a single bone of the rack cooked to a perfect mid-rare. The turnip panisse was actually a little turnip panisse cake that tasted to me like it had a touch of potato in it as well, but I didn’t think to ask. Also it had a sauce but I forget what it was. And again, I’m sorry, but I was full. [EDIT: Apparently I don't remember what the turnip was. Maybe turnip puree? Gerard? Anyone?]

Coconut Kulfi – passion fruit glazed pineapple, granola
Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2003

And now the moment I’d been waiting for.

Would the coconut kulfi live up to my hype? Would it have the same chewy texture I’d dreamed about since last having it? Would the creaminess be balanced perfectly with some addition of tartness that Mathew loves to add to these tropical-style desserts?

Yes. Yes. Yes!

The coconut kulfi is everything I had hoped for and more.

On the forum when I said it was my favorite dessert ever and Mathew asked if I was serious I had said that apart from carrot cake and simple homey desserts, it was.

I think I lied. I love this dessert more than any other.

Not explicitly remembering anything about the previous incarnation other than (a) it was coconut and an approximately three inch wide by 3/4 inch tall circle and (b) it was whisked off the menu before I got a second chance at glory, I think this one is better.

Popped out of a 2oz or so mold it’s now about an inch and a half wide and an inch and a half tall. As you drive–literally drive because its so firm–your knife through the dense cream you’re left wondering what the texture will be like once you place it in your mouth.

As I said before it’s like rock hard ice cream because it’s actually chewy. Where ice cream quickly melts to the heat of your mouth, however, the kulfi remains firm throughout eating it. As lame as it sounds, it’s cool. It’s not a texture you typically experience with food, and it is wonderful.

This was the second best wine pairing in my opinion and the granola was the perfect nutty complement to the incredibly sweet glazed pineapple.

Mathew had teased me previously with the possibility of kulfi on a stick making it onto the board at Veruca, and besides the lactose intolerant, I think anyone that eats this will give him an enthusiastic thumbs up as well.

So there you have it.

Niche rules. I am totally biased. But I am right.

And with that you have the return of the error-filled rambling post.

Good day to you.

Note: As always, please keep in mind that while I believe my opinion to be correct, there are some establishments that I am friendly enough with that my opinion is personally biased. This is one.

Tags: bonito flakes, Cauliflower, celeriac, Gerard Craft, Kulfi, lardo, lobster, Mathew Rice, Niche, Pigs Head, tapioca, Veruca, wine