It's a-Maze-ing

A couple of my favorite friends took me to Gordon Ramsay's New York City satellite Maze, at The London hotel. Fan-effer-rific!!! The place was bright, airy and sedate. The bathrooms were little pods of serenity (if you can get over the ick, it's a bathroom reaction) with nice-smelling hand lotion, and the food...the food! Creative, beautifully presented and delicious to the last bite.

We went for lunch, and there are two ways you can go: $28 for two courses, $35 for three. We went for three courses of course.

I hereby present our culinary adventure, in pictures.

My drink. At $20, it ain't no bargain by any means. But it was strong and the maraschino cherries were for real. Sorry, but the alcohol makes me forget exactly what was in this. Just know that it was goooooood.

Appetizer #1

Tortellini of beef short rib, escarole, trompette royale and dashi

Ok, so it looks like brain. But it definitely tastes better than it looks!

Appetizer #2

Smoked rainbow trout, avocado, sauce mousseline and fennel crisps

The smoky flavor is spot on and fills your mouth with that wonderful taste of...smoke.

Appetizer #3

Carpaccio of roasted eggplant, black figs, pickled chanterelles and hazelnuts

Totally a Dexter dish!

Entree #1

Pan fried Tasmanian ocean trout, orzo and fennel heart cassoulet with peekytoe crab

The trout reminds me of Arctic char, which reminds me of salmon. Leading us all to believe that ultimately, all pink fish taste like salmon.

Entree #2

Sablefish with braised leeks, Yukon gold with smoked eel, red wine sauce

Sablefish, also known as butterfish. Butter...yummmm...

Entree #3

Slow poached chicken breast, bulgar wheat with braised leg, shitake, tarragon jus

This was actually "Amish" chicken. But there's nothing Amish about the taste--it was sinfully decadent.

Which leads us to dessert. I guess big tastes call for big spoons.

Dessert #1

Concord grape crémeux, homemade yoghurt, olive oil gelato and granola

Crimey! This dessert made me love concord grapes even more than I already do. The granola is a perfect salty/crunchy companion.

Dessert #2

Lemon quark cheesecake with strawberry gelée and pistachio ice cream

That's a cute lil cheesecake drum.

Dessert #3

Pumpkin panna cotta, candied cranberries and gingerbread ice cream

Last but definitely not least. This particular masterpiece isn't on the online menu, and I forget what's in it save for the curry ice cream, which whet our curiosity. It was definitely a rewarding experience.