Sunday, May 29, 2011

Unique Dining Experience


Last night I indulged in another unique dining experience.  I went to a brand new place called Cycles which is a restaurant that has guest chefs every weekend.  It’s kind of like a pop-up restaurant with a new chef every weekend and a new, special menu.  Last night the chef was Gabriele (Gabe) Bertaccini a handsome young chef who prepared an exquisite meal from start to finish.  (You can read all about him at this web site.)  We had a choice of two menus so my friend David and I decided to each take one so we could taste them all.  I have never been a fan of the “Americanized” Italian food cuisine so I was surprised when absolutely every course was over-the-top delicious.  This was the REAL thing!






I was too busy cleaning every plate to catch a photo of any of the entrees, but I did manage this shot of our two desserts.  These delicacies were Mascarpone Cheesecake with caramelized orange, amoretti cookies, orange blossom honey, cherries and berries compote and Torta Rustica di Mele, warm rustic Italian apple cake served with a scoop of handmade dates and cinnamon gelato.  Wow, were they ever good!

17 comments:

  1. "Too busy cleaning every plate to catch a photo". I know the feeling, stomach wins over creativity every time I try to sketch hot food..
    I am glad you had great time there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have such an exciting food scene there. How wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like a must-try place!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ... And you even went to the kitchen. Cool! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good chefs definitely are artists!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is like a reality restaurant, great idea to have guest chefs. I wonder if they vie for a prize.... Most likely a head chef position at their own restaurant. I enjoy your food explorations.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You have been discovering some very interesting restaurants lately. I admire your adventurous spirit. I am probably in a "play it safe" rut, returning to tried and true good restaurants. Maybe you will stimulate some experimentation . . .

    ReplyDelete
  8. You have so much fun! This sounds like something my son would enjoy. I'll share it with him.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is an interesting concept. When you return, there will be a different chef, so you will have a different culinary experience. This is sort of like Iron Chef, which we had never heard of until you showed us an episode when we visited you in Chicago, which had to be many years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good tasting food and a good looking chef! What more could you ask for.

    ReplyDelete
  11. GREAT idea! Every meal would be an adventure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. And not a calorie in sight, right?

    Super concept...unless, of course, the day you decided to visit they had a lousy chef! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am sitting here stuffed from brunch but that dessert still looks great to me!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Sharon, I wouldn't mind a good looking chef popping up in my kitchen, the two desserts you pictured look scrumptious, to me dessert IS the best part of the meal!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. That Italian apple cake with cinnamon gelato sounds delizioso! How did you manage to get a shot of the chef? My, you ARE adventurous! Good stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sorry I missed this one. We just got home. I tried American Taco on 7th Ave and I was not that impressed. It was so hot by the time we left. Oh the dessert looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well, darn, if the food was half as good as that little guy is cute it would have been five star because I give him a 10.

    ReplyDelete