One of the highlights of my trip to SES in New York last week was going out to dinner with Todd, Jonah, Greg, Barbara, Dax to Esca and having dinner with the REAL Dave Pasternack.
We had a great table right in the main dining room. Amazingly Dave Pasternack was sitting at the next table talking with one of the other patrons that night. He was nice enough to take pictures with all us and found the story of why we were there pretty amusing (oh and frog boy I’d stay away if I were you). He even sent us a free appetizer.
Todd had the great idea to go with the tasting menu, which was absolutely the right choice. If you’ve never been to a five star restaurant and ordered a tasting menu I have to tell you it’s an amazing experience. The entire night an army of waiters descend on your table bringing you the most amazing food and wine you could possibly imagine. I’m a big fan of seafood, so I have to confess I was in absolute heaven.
There were thins slices of halibut, and swordfish, that were seasoned to perfection, some were salty, some were sweet, some had a hint of citrus, but they were amazingly flavor packed. We had oysters that were the size of my hand, the waiter told us the name which I forget, but he also said they were the rolls royce of oysters. We had this steamed clam dish that was out of this world. One of the interesting surprises was the Spaghetti Neri or black pasta. The pasta is made by mixing the pasta with a bit of squid ink which gives it it’s black color. It had a little spicy kick to it but not enough that it was over the top, it was perfect to grab hold of your taste buds and make you take notice. They brought out 7 different desserts each more amazing than the next.
So to Dave Pasternack and all of the staff of Esca I have to say thank you sir for giving me the best meal of my life. If you’re thinking of going make reservations today, I can promise you that you won’t forget it.
Here’s a link to some other reviews
ESCA and Chef Dave Pasternack
Tags: davepasternack, dave+pasternack, esca, nyc, dinner, restaurants