Gilt

The opera was splendid, and I'll do a more thorough review of all of the shows when I'm typing on a proper keyboard. Meanwhile, dinner!
The gastronomical highlight of our itinerary was a restaurant name Gilt just behind St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's housed in an old mansion, which we got to explore a little since we had a few moments before the dining room opened.

Everything about the meal was outstanding. The service was swift, attentive, and discreet. The dining room was lovely with dark wood paneling and low red lighting. We ordered from a three-course prix fixe menu which turned into six courses with the unexpected additions of an amuse-bouche (lobster bisque), a palette-cleanser (grapefruit sorbet with a beet cocktail and ginger), and an array of bon-bons at the end. Wait- seven courses if you count the bread, which I'm tempted to do since a waiter revealed a selection of five different kinds of bread and, tongs poised expectantly, asked which I desired. I chose the apple cider roll. "And?" he asked. "The butternut squash," I added. "And?" he asked, smiling with encouragement. "And the monchego roll," I surrendered, attempting to ignore Jason's raised and amused eyebrow (he showed great restraint in only selecting two - the monchego and a walnut gig roll) (lest you think me a terrible glutton, though, I only ate a portion of each if my rolls).

Throughout dinner I tried to be a good companion and start stimulating conversation, but every time I took a bite I would involuntarily close my eyes and lose all coherent thoughts except "Oh, my!" I'd worry, but Jason was quiet too, our comments limited to praising the food over and over again.

Our waiter was attentive to our show schedule, but we barley made the curtain. We recalled the time we actually did miss curtain, years ago on our first trip together in New York. We missed the overture to "Chicago" and slipped into our seats at the start of "All That Jazz" after getting on a subway train heading the opposite direction of Times Square. We were in Brooklyn by the time we figured out the error.

Ah! What young and naive travelers we once were! Who would have thought we'd someday risk tardiness despite a swift cab ride because we lingered over dinner at Michelin-starred restaurant? :)

First Course: "Bacon And Eggs" (white sturgeon caviar, cipollini compote, creme fraiche)

Second Course: "Turbot" (celtuce, oyster, meyer lemon, brown butter)

Dessert: "Pomegranate" (candied chestnut ice cream, pomegranate crepe, dark chocolate, gingersnap chips)

Breads

Amuse-Bouche

"Bacon and Eggs"

"Turbot"

"Pomegranate"

Palette Cleanser

Bon-bons

 

Entrance

Upstairs Windows