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At Time Warner Center, waiting for everyone to arrive for lunch!
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In the Time Warner Center elevator, getting ready to head upstairs.
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Approaching Per Se.
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Per Se's famous blue doors aren't real. You don't realize it until you approach, and...
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... the glass on the side of the doors noiselessly slides open! Very clever.
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Lobby.
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Seated and ready to check out the menu.
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The view from my seat. Apart from it being a cloudy day, it was certainly a gorgeous view.
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Amy being her animated self.
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The menus. For lunch (which is Fri-Sun), they have the two full tasting menus, and a lunch menu. There is no explicit vegetarian lunch menu, but they are happy to make one on request.
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Negotiating the menu. Some of the entrees were "for two", so people paired up.
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The famous vegetarian tasting menu. The 5-course lunch menu was a subset of this: namely, the Veloute, Cucumbers, Hen Egg, the Agnolotti, and the M&M (see later).
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Our wonderfully attentive waiter. He knew his stuff, of course, and always was there at the right moment. It is very rare at Per Se to feel like you're "waiting" for the service. They're always listening, too, and often enjoin in witty repartee.
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Getting Amy laughing AND in focus is a hard task, so one of the two will have to do.
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First, "pre-appetizer" course: little food cones. This shot wasn't quite perfect, as I was juggling my own and the camera.
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Warm little bread balls as part of the pre-appetizer.
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The restaurant is quite small. I'd describe it as "shallow", as everyone is pretty close to the windows. We were right against them.
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Place and sugar settings.
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Amy's first course. She didn't want fish, so they gave her a little mushroomy creme concoction with a potato chip-style item, all sitting in an eggshell. Very pretty.
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First course: Smoked Razor Clams with pickled sweet peppers, garlic confit and salsa verde.
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My first course: Caramelized Salsify "Velouté", with mustard cress and pomegranate syrup with black winter truffle puree. In practice, it was something roughly akin to a warm potato soup, but with hints of mushrooms and pomegranate as you dug to the bottom. Fantastic combination of flavors.
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Another view of Amy's first course.
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Colin, the Pensive Man with a Glass of Wine.
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Cheers!
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Between courses, they served two types of butter, this one being French, and a variety of breads. The butter was spectacular.
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A California unsalted, but fantastic, butter.
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Our first roll. Warm and very soft.
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Second course: Terrine of Four Story Hill Farm's Rabbit, with applewood smoked bacon, petite onions and celery branch salad with french prune purée.
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Second course: Sashimi of Pacific Shima Aji with koshihikari rice, pickled carrots, makombu and cilantro shoots with ginger crème fraîche.
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Amy, looking like a model.
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One of the third courses, presented before it was put on the plate. Presentation, unsurprisingly, was immaculate throughout our meal.
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My third course: Sunny-Side Up Squire Hill Farms' Hen Egg with griddled corn cake, smoked matsutake mushroom, brentwood corn kernels and creamed spinach. This was my favorite of all my courses, and everyone was envious I had this one.
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Third course: Portuguese Turbot "Rôti Sur Le Dos", with red wine braised cabbage, caramelized salsify and honeycrisp apples with whole grain mustard emulsion.
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Third course: "Sepia Cuite À L'Huile D'Olive", with cannellini bean "velouté", marinated pole beans and petite mint with meyer lemon.
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