Michelin 2015 Stars for New York City

A few weeks ago, I was checking my email over the weekend and saw an email from Michelin. An email from Michelin! They were inviting me to their announcement gala for the 2015 guide – an event where chefs from New York celebrate being added to (or staying on) the Michelin guide. The gala was at Gustavino’s on 59th Street and had tastings from a few of their Michelin-starred restaurants. I have been a huge fan of Michelin and even dined at all of the restaurants their inspectors added to the 2010 Michelin list (all of my reviews are here). While dining at all of the Michelin-starred restaurants, Ken and I met (and fell in love) and for 2015, Ken and I will be visiting all of of the restaurants that are on the 2015 list that we haven’t visited already! Here are some photos from the fun event:

Me with the Michelin man:

Jean Georges’ very cute team plating a dish that was created for the Michelin party (that will soon be added to their tasting menu) – 24k Gold Potatoes, Osetra caviar, caviar, and lemon verbena:

The Osetra caviar they were adding to the 24k Gold potatoes:

This was my favorite dish of the evening – the potatoes are cooked in verbena tea and plated with tapioca, caviar and chives:

The dish reminded me of oysters and pearls from per se!

Gustavino’s had a great selection of h’ors d’oeuvres:

Atera, a restaurant Ken and I are very excited to visit this year (or early next year), was doing Chicken and Shrimp dumplings:

Topped with truffles, of course:

Macallan was one of the sponsors of the event so we were lucky enough to sample some of their scotches:

I learned a lot about Macallan and did a side by side taste test with Highland Park, another sponsor:

Macallan is aged in brand new oak barrels and the Macallan 18 is so smooth and full-bodied that it is possibly my new favorite drink!

The River Cafe, where I went with my family and was the second to last Michelin-starred restaurant I visited in 2010, was closed down by Hurricane Sandy. They were closed for quite a while but reopened on February 1st. While they were closed, they opened a new catering business (in Red Hook) and were waiting for the insurance adjustor to process their claim. They now have a completely redesigned kitchen (that they’re very excited about!) and were serving another favorite of the night – foie gras crostini’s with an apple cider reduction and roast empire apples:

These were so good that I had three of them! Their main dish was tortellini with white truffles – the truffles smelled absolutely divine:

Their tortellini with shaved white truffle and a delicious braised oxtail:

The event had all types of different cocktails but were also serving delicious Laurent-Perrier champagne:

Jungsik served sea urchin with rice, seaweed puree, and crispy quinoa:

The dish tasted a little bit like dolsot bibimbap with a briney sea urchin taste. We can’t wait to try Jungsik, too!

Jonathan Benno from Lincoln was serving eel with foie gras, apricot mostarda, and brown bread:

The Breslin and The Spotted Pig created a dish together: Shelling beans on Miche bread with mild mushrooms and smoked ham hock:

And for dessert, Gustavino’s had quite the spread:

Thank you so much to the Michelin team for inviting me and Ken to the wonderful event – we had so much fun mingling with the chefs, tasting everything at the event, and getting to know the Michelin team from Paris and the US! Ken and I can’t wait to dine at all of the new restaurants in New York and Brooklyn. If you’re interested in the list of restaurants on the list for 2015, check out the list on Eater or NY Mag.