Bohemian

Hello! The weather is so nice today! I just came back from People's Pops - they opened their first shop inside the Chelsea Market this morning. Free popsicles and shave ice (not local kine though ;) all day! Super nice people too. I made a quick Serious Eats post here.
Last night, Celia and I met up for dinner at Bohemian, a "secret" restaurant tucked behind a meat market in Noho. There were too many dishes we wanted to try, so we took the easy and effortless route: the tasting menu. Six courses for $59, fair. The only decision you have to make is in regards to the "main course:" wagyu burger or ikura rice.
Here's the breakdown of the tasting. The portions are abundant and we were left overly stuffed (but very happy). Not on my must-return-to-asap agenda, but it was money well spent. We begin with the Farmer's Fresh Vegetable Fondue. A raw assortment of beets, baby carrots, peppers, tomatoes and radishes.
The "fondue" was a anchovy-garlic dip...so the dish was essentially bagna cauda ;)
Next came our favourite bite of the night: Mushroom Cream Croquette with Fresh Uni. A round of thicken mushroom cream "soup", deep-fried and topped with two very perfect uni tongues. A little Maldon and a scatter of black sesame seeds. The hot, the cold. The crunch and the creamy. Savoury! Joy :)
Pan Roasted Branzini with Farmer's Organic Vegetables was next. Sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, zucchini, garlic, brussel sprouts, and green olives. The picture doesn't do the size of the dish justice. It was delicious, but huge, and unnecessarily so. All we needed was a bowl of rice and that would make for an ample dinner!
Hervé Katz's Assorted Smoked Meats: Duck Breast, Salami, and Chorizo. The name, Hervé Katz, sounded familiar yet I couldn't remember where I had last heard (or eaten??) his creations. I dug through my brain archives and ahhh, ahah! It was this fellow, Hervé Katz, originally from Paris, but now runs Ridgewood Pork Store in Queens with Jonel Picioane. The smoked duck breast was definitely the highlight ;)
For the "main" course we decided to get one of each and split them. Above is the Ikura Rice Bowl and Japanese Cucumber Pickles with Tosa-Zu Jelly...
...here's a closer peek at the Tosa-Zu Jelly, a vinegar-shoyu-sugar based concoction.
And this is Bohemian's Wagyu-gyu Mini Burger with Pecorino Cheese, Sauteed Onions and Semi-Dried Tomatoes. Fried potato on the side. You can order the burgers a la carte off the regular menu, $16 for two mini-burgers.
Sake Panna Cotta concluded our three-hour dinner. A very soft panna cotta, light on the sake. Clean. Simple. An appropriate and ideal end to our meal :)

Bohemian
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