Spectacular Le Cirque

MILLIE:  Karla and I spent a week in New York and all we did was eat, eat, eat! Weeks before we left Manila, I had a list of places to try and the list just kept getting longer and longer, it was actually difficult to make a final choice. Contributors to this list were friends who had recently visited the Big Apple as well as friends who live in the city like my good ol’ friend Linda Ortega Sanchez and her lovely daughter Sabrina. There were so many restaurants we would have wanted to dine at, mostly by celebrity chefs like Mario Batali, Daniel Bouloud, to name a few, but we were only in New York for a week so we had to shortlist and zero in on the best. On top of the list was the controversial restaurant Le Cirque where President GMA and party were reported to have wined and dined a few years ago.  We decided on Le Cirque because Karla had met the owner Sirio Maccioni while studying at the French Culinary Institute in New York. Her chef instructor also used to be the chef at Le Cirque until he opted to shift towards the academe. We were lucky to find him at the restaurant the evening we came to dine and as Karla and Maccioni exchanged pleasantries by the entrance, I was reminded of my lola Asiang who used to sit at a table by the entrance of The Aristocrat Restaurant on Roxas Blvd., folding napkins as she greeted guests coming in and out of the restaurant.

Wild burgundy escargots with gruyere gnocchi created for Le Cirque of New York by celebrity chef Craig Hopson

KARLA: It was a big surprise for me to see Maccioni by the entrance of the restaurant. He immediately reminded me of my lolo Joe as he watched guests enter and made sure they were all being entertained. We ordered cocktails to start with and a bottle of Pinot Noir Hartford Russian River Valley, which was served during dinner. For appetizers, we ordered the wild Burgundy escargots with Gruyere gnocchi by Craig Hopson. As we were digging in, the servers kept bringing in new dishes. We told them that those weren’t our orders, which left them puzzled. Until service captain De Leon Pinto explained that they were complimentary appetizers from Maccioni. He accorded us with marinated tuna clementines with avocado tapenade and oven-roasted octopus. Mom was hesitant at first to try the octopus but when she realized that it was not gummy at all, she decided to give a try and loved it.

For the main entrée, ate Sabrina ordered wild halibut with clams gratinee, calamari, cipolline onion marmalade, peanut potatoes and saffron.  Mom ordered whole roasted black truffle chicken, which was actually for two persons so she had half and shared the other half with us. It was a whole chicken that was carved table-side.  The carnivores, meaning tita Linda and I shared a huge but very tender Chateaubriand with mini potato soufflés and vegetables on the side plus mom’s truffle chicken. The potato soufflés were extremely light and tasty, they were immediately devoured.

Dessert was a challenge as we were all very full. We knew we couldn’t pass up on dessert but needed some time to settle our stomachs. For me, it was a struggle between the milk chocolate bar and the Crepe Suzette. The milk chocolate bar won because of captain De Leon Pinto’s powerful suggestion. It is composed of a parfait, rice krispies and caramel ice cream topped with gold flakes. Mom had her favorite, soufflé Grand Marnier and can attest that it is indeed the fluffiest, lightest and most preferred Grand Marnier soufflé she has ever tried. While ninang Linda had the floating island, which is similar to Canonigo. Again, we were gifted with a complimentary dessert, the Crepe Suzette to share. And so little ‘ol happy me was very satisfied with my two desserts.

Le Cirque’s fabulous whole roasted chicken topped with fresh black truffle carved at tableside

MILLIE: I was actually in the mood for the roasted Maine lobster with baby artichokes and chanterelle mushrooms and could not make up my mind but captain

There were other interesting chef’s classic dishes such as the foie gras ravioli with cabbage marmalade by Christophe Bellanca; paupiette of black bass with leeks, potatoes and Rocca di Frassinello sauce by Daniel Bouloud; herb-crusted rack of lamb with pommes Dauphine by Alain Sailhac & Jean Verges; veal chop with morels and spring vegetables; the rack of lamb with fennel and Long Island peppers, raisins, acacia honey glazed lamb shoulder pastille; the Tuscan brick-pressed chicken with black truffle, pommes dauphine and spring vegetables. So exciting, I’m already thinking of going back! There’s also a Chef’s Tasting Menu with six courses for US$ 145 per person, which includes a copy of Les grandes tables du Monde 2012 guide, so perhaps on another occasion, we should try it.

After dessert, we were invited by De Leon to tour the kitchen and meet sous chef Alfio Longo. We were even presented an autographed copy of the menu. There was a chef’s table in the corner of the kitchen and it would have been great to sit and dine there as we watched the hustle and bustle in the kitchen.  As we were chatting with sous chef Alfio, one of Don Sirio’s sons, Mauro joined us and willingly posed for a souvenir photo. As we departed, we were each handed a tiny red box with Sirio’s chocolate jewels to take home.

All in all, it was a spectacular evening. The food was excellent and service was impeccable. It was fine dining at it’s best and truly memorable, best shared with great company to celebrate life and friendship.

* * *

Le Cirque is located at One Beacon Court 151 East 58th street New York, NY 10022.

For inquiries and reservations, call 212-644-0202.

* * *

Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.