Perilla
Chef: Harold Dieterle
On the blistering cold night that was this past Saturday, the aftermath of Friday’s snowstorm, I met my friend who I fondly call Strawberry for dinner. We wanted to catch up before I left town for the holidays and to put some hearty warm food in our bellies.
We originally planned Spotted Pig as I had visions of sinking my chompers into their delicious burgers but the wait for two was an obscene hour and a half. We walked over to Perilla as I love the food and Strawberry always wanted to try it.
image taken from forbestraveler.com
Perilla is Harold Dieterle’s first restaurant and the food is very reminiscent of what led him to be Top Chef’s season one winner; it is warm home cooking comfort food with enough flair to make it special.
I chose the spicy duck meatballs with quail egg and mint sitting in a savory broth worth sopping up with the table bread. It’s tender, moist and with only a hint of spicy. Four is never enough for me but I shared two with Strawberry since she was kind enough to share her pork belly appetizer.
The cripsy Berkshire pork belly is a foray in texture. It’s very crispy on top and melt in your mouth delicious below. The flavor is not at as strong as the meatballs but the belly was perfectly seasoned and full of rich taste.
Our waitress was so very sweet and sent us complimentary her favorite side dish: faro risotto with artichokes, parmesan sauce and sliced grapes. Strawberry liked the bite of the faro where I found it to be a little too al dente for my tastes. The sweet flecks of grape were delicious against the creamy sauce however.
Too greedy, I failed to take photos of our main courses. Strawberry had mushroom and ricotta cannelloni with a leek and white truffle sauce and a deep fried egg on the side. YUM! The dish is cheesy and rich and I love truffles alot so it made it extra special for me.
I got the butter poached lobster with pea greens and crispy shallots in a coconut curry sauce. The lobster was cooked perfectly but I did not like the coconut sauce it sat in at all — it was way too sweet and overpowered the flavor of the lobster.
All in all, great meal and similar to my first visit to Perilla, I loved the appetizers more. I think on my third visit, I’m just going to make a meal out of the appetizers.
Perilla, 9 Jones Street, New York, NY
