Monday, March 15, 2010

A Bazaar Evening With the Girls

Our recent excursion to SAAM at The Bazaar by José Andrés inspired me to dig up a couple of previous experiences I'd had in the main dining rooms of the restaurant. I'm going post about these dinners before I recap our special 22-course meal in the semi-secret back room.

Here's the second of three "regular" dinners at The Bazaar by José Andrés.

Prior to this night, I'd visited once for dinner and once for brunch, but I still couldn't resist snapping a bunch of decor pics.
bazaar 015
bazaar 014
bazaar 013
bazaar 018
bazaar 019
bazaar 017
I had my first dinner with Mr. Monkey and Brother Monkey in the Blanco Room, so I was excited that Amber, Jen, Nanette, and I dined in the Rojo Room this night.

I loved my Magic Mojito ($16).
magicmojito
It was strained over cotton candy! Squeeeee! Truth be told, it tasted like a regular mojito, but you gotta love that disappearing act.

We got the Chef's Tasting Menu ($65).

American caviar cone.
bazaar 035
Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Baskin-Robbins anymore. Loads of crème fraîche lay in waiting underneath the decadent little fish eggs. Eat the whole cone in one bite for crunchy, salty, creamy awesomeness.

Not Your Everyday Caprese -- cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella.
bazaar 037
See those seeming balls of cheese? Well, they were spherifications of cheese -- globes that burst in your mouth!

Papas canarias -- salty wrinkled potatoes, mojo verde.
bazaar 038
Less exciting than bursting balls of molecular gastronomic cheese, but these tasty taters were oddly addictive in their sodium-laden simplicity.

Seared figs with Jamon Iberico Fermin, Pedro Jimenez reduction.
bazaar 039
It's like fruit and pig made sweet sweet love. Rawr! If it wasn't clear, I liked this a lot.

Pisto -- vegetable stew, tomato, egg 63.
bazaar 042
Not as big a fan of this. Almost too good for you to be yummy. Yet...still good. That's the thing about this place -- even the less impressive dishes are still objectively good.

Jicama wraps, pickled cucumbers, ginger, peanuts, coconut dressing.
bazaar 044
Crisp, creamy, and refreshing. Nice in-between-dishes coolness.

Brussels sprouts, lemon puree, apricots, grapes, lemon air.
bazaar 047
It's not often that vegetables make me say, "Wow." So light yet so flavorful.

King crab, raspberries, raspberry vinegar.
bazaar 049
Best thing I've ever had served in a can, no joke. Who knew that crustaceans and berries were a match made on eHarmony?

Sauteed shrimp, garlic, guindilla pepper.
bazaar 051
A classic Spanish tapa done right.

Lamb loin, foraged mushrooms, potato.
bazaar 053
Just as dreamy as I'd remembered from my first meal here. Oh, those potatoes. Pardon me while I wipe a tear from my cheek. I love you, foamy potatoes.

Sauteed wild mushrooms, hazelnut praline.
bazaar 054
The girls went nuts over this dish, and even this fungus loather had to admit this was nicely done. High praise coming from someone who demanded a mushroom-free wedding.

Corn on the cob, baby corn, corn nuts, popcorn shoots.
bazaar 055
Corn porn! Corn porn! Not outstanding, but...it's corn! Corn rules!

Beef hanger steak, piquillo pepper confit.
bazaar 058
Bloody good. Don't worry. That's not a puddle of blood. That's the red pepper sauce.

After our savory dishes, our server led us to the Patisserie for dessert.
bazaar 006
bazaar 004
bazaar 005
bazaar 060bazaar 065
bazaar 061bazaar 062
bazaar 066
Trippy.

Creamy chocolate heart, coffee, and cardamom.
bazaar 067
Get this if you like chocolate. Don't get this if you're allergic to chocolate.

Traditional Spanish flan, vanilla, and fruit.
bazaar 069
Get this if you like traditional Spanish desserts.

SLS Tres Chocolate Mousse.
bazaar 075
Get this if you like pipettes and monkeys.

Greek yogurt panna cotta, apricots, and muscat gelatin.
bazaar 071
Get this if you're me.

Now here's something extra for you -- the super-mirrored, super-white restroom.
bazaar 001
bazaar 002
bazaar 003
I was glad nobody else was in there, so I could take these photos. Phew.

And...more crazy stuff.
bazaar 008
bazaar 010
bazaar 009
Man, I love this place.

21 comments:

  1. AWESOME place! Your dishes looked amazing. Love the gif mojito, what a fantastic idea! I may try to replicate that...
    Dessert looked amazing too. Lucky monkey!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I very much want to try the Caprese salad cheese balls.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The caprese and the cones look delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am unbelievably intrigued by the greek yogurt panna cotta....I'm going to have to figure that one out......experimentations with yogurt and gelatin are going to make me feel like a chemist.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That was SUCH a fabulous meal.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh oh I didn't know you could do that ... that. .. thing you did with flickr and the magic mojito photo.
    Now I want to do one too~

    ReplyDelete
  7. The mojito action shots rocked! And yes, please email me your hair/make up friend's info. Grazie!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i want to eat here soooooooo bad!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the restrooms! Love the monkey with dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  10. How did you do that with the mojito shot???

    ReplyDelete
  11. It looks so awesome. This is definitely on my "musts" list.

    ReplyDelete
  12. the mojito drink looked awesome! i'm checking this place out for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  13. loooove the bazaar. i was just there a week or so ago! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Damn, that was such a great dinner! I'm still bitter that they ditched the Chef's tasting menu just days before we brought my mom there. Grrrr.

    ReplyDelete
  15. mother Fer! that post took up an entire front page. And I'm the only commenter with a penis, huzzah! I like rojo for dinner, and blanco for brekkie/brunch.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i think i watched the cotton candy mojito straining about 1239874123084 times just now.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh my gosh look at your animated picture!! That is too cool! My friend has been bugging me to make my banner animated, but so far I've been opposed to the idea...

    ReplyDelete
  18. That place looks really cool! Love the mojito action shots!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am so intrigued by the liquid mozzarella. Was it chilled and refreshing? How was the texture?

    ReplyDelete
  20. I can't believe I didn't comment on this already. Thank you for capturing this wonderful meal so I can relive it again and again and again...

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...