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Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Los Gatos' Tasting House Launches 15-Course Champagne Menu Today
Tasting House Exterior Tasting House in Los Gatos isn't exactly new to pushing boundaries. The downtown wine bistro has already built a reputation for its globe-spanning list of over 1,000 bottles, 65 plus wines by the glass, and one of the country's deepest selections of zero-dosage Champagnes. But this week, the team takes things further with the launch of its most ambitious food and wine pairing to date: a 15-course tasting menu paired entirely with Champagne. Executive Chef Julian Silvera Executive Chef Julian Silvera, whose pedigree includes stints under Wylie Dufresne and at Michelin-starred Knife and Spoon in Florida, developed the spring 2025 menu with a focus on layered, umami-rich flavors. 'There's a lot of umami that comes through with the current tasting menu,' says Silvera. 'It just lends itself really nicely to a dedicated Champagne pairing.' Tasting House Anchovies Dish This season's Chef's Tasting experience leans into contrast—rich, briny, acidic, savory—all tuned to highlight the breadth of the Champagne world. Every course is matched to a different pour, spanning iconic maisons and small grower-producers. Look forward to anchovy with freeze-dried plum and chamomile paired against taut minerality, or abalone in mussel pho with double-shucked peas and beef tendon, alongside a richer, oxidative style. Tasting House Interior One dish, called 'Half Moon Bay,' layers miso 'sand,' uni, and Brokaw avocado with bergamot and papadam—a cross-coastal composition plated as thoughtfully as it tastes. Others go even more off-script: rabbit jus with burnt garlic and carrot purée, or bay leaf-cured scallop with pickled green strawberries and geoduck. Rabbit jus with burnt garlic and carrot purée For those less inclined to go all-in on 15 courses, the Champagne Bar now offers three new curated flights: the Sommeliers' Select ($140), Grower-Producer ($75), and Rosé Sélections ($65). Each offers a different lens on what's pouring from the house's near-120-bottle Champagne list. The new tasting menu is available now, with limited seatings. Reservations highly recommended.
Forbes
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New York's Joomak And Hear & There: 2 New Asian Tasting Menu Displays
American Wagyu Hanger served with Montauk red shrimp and gem lettuce, along with Sichuan pepper au poivre at Joomak's new R&D Bar. It isn't easy to find Joomak, the fanciful, Korean/American tasting menu restaurant that opened a few months ago. It's tucked into the similarly hidden small hotel Maison Hudson which overlooks that river on the edge of the West Village. First you have to pick the correct entrance-the other is for the residences-then head upstairs and go beyond a recessed door. That then leads to the suave, intimate (27 seats) grey and burgundy toned room with soft banquettes, a very subtle backdrop to the creative, colorful and vibrantly flavored lineup of dishes to follow. The intimate dining room at Joomak. The chef/owner behind it all is Jiho Kim who won a Michelin star for his previous restaurant Joomak Banjum which he created with two partners and which was critically lauded for its Korean cuisine tasting menus. Now flying solo and dipping into his visually inventive background as a pastry chef for Gordon Ramsay and for The Modern, he's retaining the tasting menu concept but is refocusing the menu as New American/New York with a Korean overlay. Norwegian King Crab with Kani Miso Koshihikari (crab miso with Japanese rice) and Pickled Serrano/ The eight courses begin with an amuse-bouche containing definite New York touches including a King Salmon Everything Bagel plus a suggestion of a smash burger but composed of the fatty tuna Otoro, egg yolk gelee and Choux pastry and an A5 Wagyu & Hokkaido Uni Sando. Among the fish courses that follow: Golden Osetra Caviar, a savory spin on a dessert he served at The Modern with caviar on top of dill custard with Meyer Lemon, White Asparagus and PEI Mussels; Kanpachi with Rhubarb Hibiscus Dongchimi (radish water kimchi), Radish and Avocado; and Norwegian King Crab with Kani Miso Koshihikari (crab miso with Japanese rice) and Pickled Serrano. Squab Foie Gras Royale with Rillettes Stuffed Morel and Shallot Puree. Following the seafood, the menu offers a choice of A5 Wagyu with Grilled Abalone, Candied Hon-Shimeji, Black Truffle Ponzu, Braised Abalone and Hon Shimeji Mushrooms or Squab Foie Gras Royale with Rillettes Stuffed Morel and Shallot Puree. For dessert, Kim has created new versions of two of his past successes: Banana Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate Sorbet and Coconut Mango Shumai with White Rum and Lime. A vegetarian tasting menu is also available. Steelhead Trout with grilled English peas, levain spaetzle, and bacon broth at Joomak's R&D Bar. Diners who would prefer an even more adventurous, smaller (and correspondingly less expensive) menu can now take a seat at Joomak's five seat R&D Bar. The five course daily changing menu is fashioned by inspiration and available ingredients; among the dishes that might turn up: Kanpachi with Razor Clam, Ramp Ponzu, and Sourdough; Steelhead Trout with Grilled English Peas, Levain Spaetzle and Bacon Broth and an American Wagyu Hanger served with Montauk Red Shrimp and Gem Lettuce, along with Sichuan Pepper Au Poivre. A selection of otsumami plates and cocktails at the front cocktail bar of Hear & There. Over in Williamsburg, Hear & There is another restaurant that isn't easy to find but is worth seeking out for a top quality Japanese omakase. For one, there's no sign and if you do figure out which door to open, it looks like it's just a cocktail bar. The front room is, it's a self-contained bar also worth checking out because it's run by Larry Gonzalez, an alum of the groundbreaking bar PDT, and features creative cocktails that feature unusual combinations and various seasonal botanicals and fruits. (Among them: Replay, a mix of Haku vodka, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, blueberry shrub and lemon-cinnamon vanilla foam and High Frequency, a mix of pisco, shiso leaf, lemon cordial, snap pea syrup, pineapple and grapes.) Classic cocktails and otsumami (Japanese small plates) such as BBQ Glazed Wagyu are also served. An uni course at the Hear & There omakase. Behind the sliding door in the back is the 22 seat omakase counter offering a 14 course selection that is spaced out over a two-hour seating. The courses change daily but typical options include four otsumami plates such as Forbidden Rice Sourdough Toast with Pickled Sawara (Japanese Spanish mackerel), Spring Cultured Butter, Fennel and Radish Salad with Fresh Horseradish; Wagyu Ribeye, with Blistered Gooseberries, Maitake Mushrooms, and Charred Dandelion Greens with a Calamansi Jus and Kombu Jime Fluke with Shio Kombu Oil, Smoked Trout Roe, Pickled Cucumber and Ginger, finished off with a Coconut Tumeric Snow. One of the nigiri courses in the Hear & There omakase. Eight selections of seasonal Nigiri follow such as Akami (lean tuna) with Shiitake Mushroom and Almond, Sakura Buri (wild caught yellowtail) with Binchotan Roasted Poblano Peppers and Butter and Hotate (thinly sliced raw scallops) with Yuzu Oil. The menu wraps up with Eel, Tamago (egg omelet) and Cucumber Nigiri along with soup and Creme Fraiche ice cream with Yuzu Curd and Toasted Sesame Crumble topped with Osetra Caviar for dessert. Plus, as diners proceed course to course, they have a musical accompaniment: a specially designed acoustic system that is the perfect median between absolute silence and screaming level decibels. The volume is easy to hear but also talk over. Given the quality of the food presented, comparing notes is something diners will want to do. The omakase counter at Hear & There.
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Irish Times
The Pullman review: Is this restaurant on a train carriage travelling towards a Michelin star?
The Pullman Address : Galway Telephone : 091-519600 Cuisine : International Website : Cost : €€€€ There are, in theory, many ways to spend €130 on dinner in the west of Ireland. You could eat bog butter from a scallop shell or endure a 12-course 'textures of hedgerow' menu. Or you could board a train. The Pullman reopened in March after a restoration, overseen with the kind of obsessive commitment usually reserved for vintage watches or papal funerals. Leona (1927) and Linda (1954) – two Orient Express carriages at Glenlo Abbey Hotel outside Galway – have been restored to brass lights, marquetry panels, 1960s crockery and pressed linen. The chef in the kitchen is Greek-born Angelo Vagiotis, whose CV includes Noma , Manresa and Terre in Castlemartyr , where he helped the team land two Michelin stars in 2024. Joined by Terre pastry chef Linda Sergidou and Shauna Murphy, Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year 2023, he's not playing it safe. He has made no secret of his Michelin aspirations. A bill of €130 for seven courses puts it firmly into tasting-menu territory – you expect technique, precision and at least a nod to theatre. What you do not necessarily expect is a lone, suspiciously cheerful diner with a French accent, who chats with waiters, orders the full menu, and finishes with pour-over coffee. Vagiotis does a walk-by. Sergidou personally delivers dessert. Is he a Michelin Guide inspector? Who knows. But the kitchen isn't taking any chances. READ MORE The meal opens with bitter leaves, herbs and edible flowers from Bullaun Ark, tied like a posy over a sharp foam of cider vinegar. A smart, seasonal opener. Enrico Crippa does something similar at Piazza Duomo in Italy's Alba. Then a Rockfield cream puff – a gougère: light, delicate, filled with assertive cheese mousse. Goatsbridge trout follows – three thin slices alternated with golden beetroot beside horseradish cream and trout's roe. The first hard test comes with Jerusalem artichoke and monkfish liver – a course with nowhere to hide. Ankimo, the foie gras of the sea, demands precision, and Vagiotis meets it. Two agnolotti filled with artichoke mousse are flanked by cubes of liver. A clear broth – poured from a teapot – carries roasted artichoke flavour, lifted by a shimmer of lemon verbena oil. A separate artichoke fritter adds textural sharpness. It is an intelligent, tightly composed course of serious confidence. Tension rises with the turbot – cooked in brioche butter, resting in a glorious Champagne sauce. Connemara mussels bring salinity, and steamed spinach provides ballast. The dish could close with authority – but does not. A purée of what might be black garlic or olive paste muddies the line, and a lone morel distracts. General manager Rónán ÓHalloran and chef Angelo Vagiotis in The Pullman. Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy Rainbow trout from Kilkenny, beetroot and horseradish Turbot with Champagne, Trompette mushroom and mussels from Connemara Then the duck – Skeaghanore breast, probably cooked sous vide and finished in the oven. The skin lacks crispness, but the meat is pink, rested and tastes right. A leg-and-offal sausage is gently gamey, slightly salty. Red radicchio sits over preserved berries, with a quenelle of puréed celeriac to finish. Dessert steadies the course. The Colonel, a sharp rhubarb sorbet, is served with a dimple in the centre, into which a neat pour of Redbreast 12 Year Old is delivered at the table. Two ingredients, instant classic. The parsnip and apple finishes the meal with its nerve intact – a light mousse over a sweet purée, topped with a crisp Arlette and Velvet Cloud sheep's milk ice cream. It resists the temptation to overcomplicate and lands with clarity. The wine list is where the Pullman's ambition dips. One page of white, one of red, and a page of wines by the glass. Smart picks – some Burgundies, a few Bordeaux – but too narrow for a kitchen pitching for Michelin. An €80 wine pairing is offered – serviceable, though it needs the bold curation shown on the plate. We go for a bottle of Château Haute Carizière at €42. Across seven courses, the menu shows its hand – quietly confident, technically sharp and largely well-paced. The best dishes show real intent. The pastry is particularly strong. Even when the kitchen falters, the missteps are slight rather than structural. Service keeps a cool head: precise without theatre, unfussy without drift. It makes for a dinner that feels earned rather than staged. [ Sea Shanty review: Quietly rewriting the rules of seafood in south Dublin Opens in new window ] If the cheerful stranger was an inspector – and the suspicion holds – they will have found a kitchen cooking with purpose and ambition. They will have seen the cracks too. A wine list this cautious does not match the kitchen's reach. A handful of the dishes would benefit from a stricter edit. None of it fatal. But if the Pullman means to join the sharper end of the guidebooks, the margin for small lapses is narrow. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €302. The verdict: Sharp, confident cooking on track for its Michelin goal. Food provenance: Achill Lamb, Glenmar Seafood, Goatsbridge Trout, and vegetables from The Bullaun Ark, Burke's Farm, Galway, and Bia Oisín, Claregalway. Vegetarian options: Vegetarian tasting menu, €130; no vegan option. Wheelchair access: No accessible room or toilet. Music: Atmospheric vintage hits. Pullman Restaurant, Galway.
