Bazaar - Brunch

Jose Andres’s Bazaar at Brunch is one of my favorite restaurants. It is fun, innovative and the food is very, very good.

Service is exceptional; Joey takes very good care of us and Ryan is the best server.

Joey

 

Ryan

 

Bloody Mary – the base is a mix of tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire, lime juice, salt and pepper. It is topped with celery-wasabi foam that is created by loading wasabi-infused lime juice and celery puree into a CO2 canister.

 

BYO Champagne

 

American Caviar, Creme Fraiche, Blinis – The blinis were more like a Chinese steamed Bun – a good start

 

Tortilla de Patatas “New Way” - warm potato foam, caramelized onion with a slow cooked egg 63 and topped with chives – excellent and perfect when you mix the runny yolk with the potato foam.

Ryan explained that the egg was cut with a laser. The closest utensil I could find on the web is the ultra carver.

http://www.ultracarver.com/

I use the Japanese egg cutter discovered by Michel Richard.

See here:

http://lizziee.wordpress.com/category/general/egg-presentations/

I intend to “steal” Bazaar’s presentation and will look for slate. I have the glue gun!

 

Bagel and Lox Cone – actually a cone filled with salmon eggs, crème fraîche and topped with a sprig of dill

 

Sweet Potato Chips with a Greek Yogurt, Tamarind, Star Anise Dip

 

BYO White Wine

 

12 Tiny Eggs Sunny side up – Huevos a la Cubana “Andy Garcia” – a crispy rice cake was topped with 12 fried quail eggs, crispy shavings of Jamon Serrano, dabs of an intense, spicy tomato puree and topped with some diced chives. I love this dish – the combination of flavors is perfect.

I explained the reference to Andy Garcia on an earlier post but I will repeat it here.

 “As a youngster, Andres “Andy” Garcia dreamed of playing professional baseball. Born on the Island of Cuba, Garcia’s family fled to Miami Beach, Florida in the United States of America following Fidel Castro’s communist revolution. At Natilus Junior High School and later at Miami Beach Senior High School, Garcia excelled in baseball. In his senior year, illness prevented him from playing and he drifted into the drama department. He studied acting with Jay W. Jensen. Jensen was a South Florida legend, counting among his numerous students, Brett Ratner,Roy Firestone, Mickey Rourke, and Luther Campbell. Following his positive high school experiences in acting, he continued his drama studies at Florida International University. From there he traveled to Hollywood, California to make his mark in movie-stardom. To his friends and fans in Miami Beach, Andy Garcia will always be remembered as a friendly, down-to-earth, all-around good guy.”

 

Fresh Kumamoto oysters, lemon, black pepper – presented in a tin. Absolutely do not think canned food – the oysters were fresh and briny.

 

White Asparagus, Greek Yogurt, Creme Fraiche topped with Black Olive Powder – this functioned as a light transitional course – almost like a palate cleanser.

 

Eggs Benedict “New Way”, Serrano Ham, Tarragon, Toasted Brioche – The eggs are poached in a cryovac machine at 63 degrees for about 40 minutes. Some of the ham slices were crispy and some were thin slices of room temperature ham. The eggs were just not warm enough. There are 2 tapas bars, each with their own kitchen. At brunch, they use the Rojo kitchen, although you are sitting in the Blanca space. My guess is that the distance from Rojo to Blanca makes it very difficult to serve “warm” eggs.

 

Mojito with mint, rum and lime with the cotton candy functioning as the sweetening agent. Ryan threw this in for fun. Unfortunately they don’t serve the foie gras cotton candy at brunch so he added a cotton candy drink.

 

BYO Red Wine

 

Foie Gras, Quince, Brioche Buns – this reminded me of the foie that used to be served at Spago – I do wish Spago would go back to using foie instead of duck liver

 

Philly Cheesesteak- air bread filled with oozing cheddar cheese and topped with Wagyu Beef – our friends were in heaven with this dish so was I.

 

Hilly Cheesesteak – air bread filled with oozing cheddar cheese and topped with Royal Trumpet Mushrooms

 

Tableside “Nitro” Blood Orange Screwdriver: Frozen liquid nitrogen blood orange and vodka

What follows is a blow by blow of Ryan preparing the Screwdiver:

Whisking the mixture stops it from freezing and sticking to the bowl

 

 Expresso is scattered on top – a “refreshing fun “dessert.”

What a wonderful brunch with exceptional company.

 

 

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