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| Lily pond, #9. Ingredients hiding in plain sight |
About a week before our reservation, I read Kevin Warwick's account of Next's vegan offering. The Wire reference really resonated with me. A nearby table began their meal about halfway through our 3-hour vegan adventure; with every new dish we marveled at the fact that they had so many treats ahead of them, and that they likely would not be finished with their meal until well after midnight. I skimmed past specific menu items so that I did not spoil the surprise and spectacle of the actual meal. I had a wonderful experience at The Hunt in April, and was excited to see how the creative minds at Next would break out of the straight jacket they put themselves in by eliminating so many classic ingredients from their palette for this meal.
Warwick makes an interesting point: Veganism is meant to be simple, not spectacular. I'm certainly not a vegan -- I write a blog about eating meat for goodness sake! -- but I'm gaining more appreciation for that perspective. If you start with good ingredients (meat, cheese, vegetables, whatever) then most of the work is already done for you. Why complicate things? The provided mission statement of the meal reveals an alternative argument for a high-end vegan meal. "What if meat did not exist? Or fish? What would be the focal paint of a dish?" It goes on, "By stripping away many ingredients that we rely on we've come to a new understanding of so many common ones."
Interestingly, this principle is also something I came to appreciate during my paleo challenge this winter. Without bread, pasta, or polenta, what do you use to sop up a sauce or the runny yoke of an egg? How can we repurpose vegetables to take the place of grains? Though meat appears to be the center of the paleo lifestyle, those weeks actually gave me a new appreciation for vegetables. A bed of mashed sweet potatoes, kale, or cauliflower in the style of cous cous can do a lot of the work that grains used to accomplish on my plate.
This meal was far from simple. Each dish was exquisitely intricate. I was filled with anticipation each time a new utensil was brought to our table, or with each reveal that our centerpiece actually contained critical ingredients for an upcoming dish. I was a little concerned that I'd go home feeling unsatisfied, and even had a late-night pizza strategy mapped out in case I needed a slice to fill the gaping hole I anticipated in my stomach. But with nearly 20 courses, this was hardly an issue. I left feeling satiated but not stuffed. This meal was so creative and intricate that I did not miss meat, and my dining partners and I often wondered how they could coax out such rich flavors without using meat stock or butter, or how some elements could be so creamy without dairy.
I wish there had been more mushrooms (an entire mushroom cart trotted out for just one dish!) and fewer sweet dishes. I wish I knew more about the sources of the produce used in the meal, much the way I appreciate notations of meat sources elsewhere. I wish I had been more focused on enjoying the experience and the company than documenting it. I didn't take too many pictures -- I left that task to my friends and their impressive DSLRs -- but instead was the dutiful notetaker of our meal, attempting to capture as many details as I could since I knew that our post-meal record would be comprised of things like "lily pond" and "kale bouquet" but without the specifications necessary to either write about our meal here or talk about it intelligently with friends later. I suppose that is the danger of being a food writer; I run the risk of turning a passion into a task. My notes are transcribed below if you are interested in the play-by-play of this meal.
But my wishes for the night end there. I was very happy with our choice of non-alcoholic pairings, a series of interesting and complex juices tailored specifically to our meal. At The Hunt I learned that Next is not stingy with their drinks; after 6 portions of wine, armagnac, and who knows what else, the meal started to turn into a meaty blur. Temperance seemed to fit the tenor of the menu. We opted instead for post-dinner cocktails at the Aviary. I ordered their Rob Roy, a scotch-based drink served inside a large clear plastic bag that was filled with lavender-scented air. Our server/cocktail artist cut open the bag with small scissors and held the bag while I stuck my head inside and took a deep breath. I felt ridiculous, but that was sort of the point, right?
Notes on a vegan spectacle
Drink: Passion fruit, yerba, pineapple
1. Starter and burnt avocado
--sourdough crackers hidden in tree centerpiece, dusted with matcha powder
--avocado, spread on a rock, topped with crispy kale and japanese 7 spice blend
2. Kale bouquet
--was this a separate dish? there was some kale on top of the avocado
3. Sprouted tempeh
--marinated in soy, topped with basil
4. Frozen baked potato
--in shell (made of potato skin?), cold creamy potato inside
5. Nori dumpling
--spongy, with sesame
6. Earl grey rambutan
--earl grey and rambutan jelly filling (described like a jello shot), inside the outer prickly shell of the rambutan
7. Baby artichoke
--mint pesto, lemon cream, roasted so that outer layers are crispy yet inside is tender
8. Fermented apples and lichen
--homemade apple cider vinegar, for sipping (heavy on cinnamon, sweet and sour, no harsh bite), drawn from a hollowed-out charred log
--fermented apples, apple ice
--roasted and raw cashews, crushed (but not as smooth as cashew butter)
--lichen, rose petals
9. Lily pond
--sorrel, sliced lily bulb salad (seared)
--lychee, white wine glaze
--"pond water" vinaigrette, from the floral centerpiece
and then a tablecloth was brought out. I guess we're going inside now...
10. Strawberry and fennel shortcake
--a crazy plate, a bowl at the base filled with a cider/celery drink (and liquid nitrogen? a cold steam was coming off the top), drank through a metal straw
--on the plate surrounding the bowl, black pepper, fennel, strawberry, preserved lemon, and a black pepper olive oil biscuit
--dairy free, but much like a strawberry shortcake - fennel cream?
Drink: Strawberry, rhubarb, black pepper
--camu camu fruit: I think they said this was in there?
11. Salsifies with oyster and dandelion
--dandelion greens, oyster leaf, salsify (pickled?)
--charred dandelion greens, 3 preparations of salsify, mignonette vinaigrette
12. Swish shard and douchi
--beer-battered and fried swiss chard, on top of a beet vinaigrette
--fried seitan, fermented black bean, fried onion, cilantro, smoked orange (cp. taco filling)
Drink: Tamarind, aloe, pea
--english peas
--beautiful blue ocean bowl (we all liked it enough to ask who made it)
--braised seaweed, silky tofu
--yuba, ponzu, pumpkin seeds, green shiso, something spicy
14. Mushroom cart
--morels, shitaake, one other type?
--mushroom ragout, farro, sunflower milk foam, fried sunchokes
Drink: Huitlacoche, blueberry, bell pepper
--blueberry, mexican corn truffle, bell pepper froth
Drink: Mango, galangal, kaffir lime
--charred kaffir lime
15. Red onion; inspired by Stupak
--cilantro, quinoa, brussel sprouts (pureed, fried, raw shaved), chard, red onion, red chili
--cp. larb
16. Curry roasted cauliflower
--slow roasted cauliflower
--curry oil, red pepper, smoked paprika
--crunchy garnish in a tube (from new centerpiece)--naan
17. Olive oil jam and bitter chocolate
--flower petals, bite compares to szechuan peppercorns (numbing)
--chocolate cake (crumbly), balsamic, olive oil jam, freeze dried strawberry, black truffle
Drink: Malt, bitter chocolate, black sesame
--chocolate juice, toasted barley, black sesame, basil
--hibiscus gel and cake (dense and rich)
--soy and vanilla ice cream with pistachio butter coating
--long pepper ice, fennel fronds
--cp. red velvet cake
19. Steamed crepes
--passion fruit (with a few seeds)
--vanilla with caramelized sugar
--dark chocolate
Post-dinner coffee: iced sparkling Brazilian Americano
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