The Albert - Restaurant Week

 

 

 

 

One of the advantages of Restaurant Week is that you get to try out restaurants that you think are interesting, but aren't sure that it's worth the price.  With the prix fixe menu, you can get an idea of the look and style of the restaurant, as well as an idea of their food without having to throw all in for the full price of a meal.  I had seen The Albert, located in Hotel EMC2, at a benefit and liked what they did.  That being said, while you might get an idea of taste for a given restaurant at a benefit, because of the sparse resources, you probably won't get an idea of the beauty of a given dish.  I had looked at their menu online, but the descriptions didn't seem to match with the prices.  While I was interested, I didn't know if I was willing to commit for the price of a regular meal.  I decided that while the Restaurant Week discount was not dramatic, it was doable and I decided to dive in.  The entrance of the restaurant is through the lobby of the hotel.  Walking into the restaurant you enounter a room that is very open with high ceilings.  The floor is carpeted and the bar is on the wall opposite the entrance with seating around two sides for about 12 people.  I was seated at a banquette table in the corner opposite the entrance, which gave me a good view of the dining room.  The wall opposite me was pretty amazing with a mural of various caricatured scientist types working on their various sciences (plus a chicken).  Above the mural were many book cases, card catalogs, and file and chart cabinets, which gave it the look of a science library.  I was of two minds about this.  While I thought it looked really cool, I also thought that if those books were real, they would no longer be able to be used.  Above the bar was a rack with round set places holding cloches with samples underneath them.  It looked pretty cool and fit well into the science-y vibe of the entire place.  The cocktail list was divided into four sections named after art movements:  Impressionism (bright flavors with soft notes), Surrealism (odd, yet familiar), Cubism (bold and modern), and Minimalism (boozy and to the point).  I started with something from the Cubism School.  Called Leave a Message, it had Mezcal, Hibiscus, and Apple.  It definitely fit into that school because I would not have expected those flavors to work together well.  The mezcal was smoky, though not overwhelmingly so.  The Hibiscus was sweet and floral, which toned down the smokiness of the mezcal, and the apple brought the sweet and tart flavors of an apple, which actually worked well with the toned down smokiness of the mezcal and the sweetness of the hibiscus.  It was a twist, but it worked well.

For the start of my dinner I started with a salad.  I would normally say that most salads are pretty boring, but I really like beets and this was a Roasted Beet Salad.  It had Red, Golden, and Candy Cane Beets, Figs, Frisee, and candied Walnuts and Pecans.  It was rich, and sweet, with the figs contributing more sweetness and a nice chewy texture that matched well with the beets.  The Walnuts and Pecans added a nice crunch and nutty flavor.

For my main course, I again went with fish.  This, like the previous evening, was also a white fish, Skin On Arctic Char, served with White Beans, Bacon and Dill.  It was much more simple than the fish that I had had the previous night, but it was simple done well.  The fish was cooked perfectly tender and flaky, except for the crispy skin.  The beans added body and depth of floor, and it had a nice finish with the dill.  The bacon was used subtly with the beans, more as an accent than an individual flavor, but it did add flavor to the beans.

Dessert was special.  Listed on the menu as a Chocolate Mousse, which would have been good in and of itself, it was denser than the standard Chocolate Mousse, it looked like a brownie, but it was still light and fluffy.  It was topped with a dollop of Mascarpone Cheese, a Banana Chip, and an Egyptian condiment called Dukkah consisting of Hazelnuts, Herbs, and Spices like Coriander, Marjoram, sesame, Cumin, and Mint, and surrounded with a Dark Chocolate swirl.  It was sweet, spicy, rich, and very good and made for a nice finish.  To pair with dessert, I ordered another cocktail, this one from the Impressionism School.  Called With Passion, it started with Vodka and Gin and added Appertivo and Passionfruit.  Passionfruit is very tart and it was there prominently, though the flavor of the passionfruit was softened by the liquor.  While the drink was generally tart, it worked well with the mousse, bringing out the bitterness of the chocolate and the dukkah.  I really enjoyed my meal here.  The space was very nice, the staff was very friendly and the food was good.  I would be happy to try it out for a regular meal.