-Mignon McLaughlin
Saturday was a very special day. It was our 1 year wedding anniversary.
The year seemed to go by fast when I think about the wedding only being a year ago, but it also seems that we did so much this year that it feels like it should have been much longer. But no matter how long it feels, the past 365 days have been leading up to this very special occasion.
We were married on Friday, March 1, 2013 at the New York Supreme Court House, Appellate Division. It was a small, beautiful ceremony followed by dinner at Eleven Madison. For our anniversary, we went back for dinner at Eleven Madison and it was more than we both could have imagined.
Eleven Madison is a very special restaurant. There is no menu - it is a 16 course tasting menu that is seasonal and it is constantly changing. The plates are small, beautiful and extremely flavorful. The whole dinner is an event, starting with unwrapping a cookie, to the open faced pastrami sandwich which is a play on NYC Jewish deli sandwiches, to the Waldorf salad prepared at the table, to the picnic basket that we unwrap at our table, to the Baked Alaska, and ending with a sweet cookie just as we had started the meal. Everything was so beautiful and such a spectacular event. I couldn't tell you my favorite dish because they all were. I loved how we had a small plate that was a precursor to a larger plate. The bone marrow steak tartar was before the pastrami sandwich, the chilled clams and lobster came before the larger plate of lobster and clams, and a sweet potato ice cream to cleanse our palate came before the baked alaska. Everything was part of a show and it was seamless. It was so special and I am so happy we had this experience. I can't wait to come back March 1, 2015! I just wish we could try the other seasons, but winter is amazing and I am so happy!
I wanted to look beautiful for the dinner, so I had my first experience at DryBar which is a salon where all they do is blowouts. My friends swear by drybar and rave about it so I wanted a special blowout. I went with the Mai Thai, which was bouncy curls. I loved it! I wish I knew how to curl my hair and feel this beautiful all the time, but I guess I will need to start budgeting for drybar appointments.
For breakfast we ate our 1 year old wedding cake that we had been saving in the freezer. We even have another slice, maybe for our 2nd year anniversary. The cake was red velvet and tasted just as good as it did 1 year ago! I wore a black and white dress and of course i had to wear my blue Badgley Mischka shoes that I wore on our wedding day! I felt so pretty! We walked to dinner a little early and we walked past the Court House and through Madison Square Park where we took our wedding photos.
The evening began with an envelope placed on our table. We both had to choose an ingredient (maple, cranberry, apple, fennel). We were told not to over think it. I chose maple and Ryan chose apple. We then had to choose if we wanted our individual fois gras cured or seared. I chose seared and Ryan chose cured so that we could each try each others dish. The last thing we had to choose was for the whole table, pork or duck for our entree. I would have preferred duck because it is not something we eat often, but Ryan is not the biggest fan of duck, so we went with pork (though at Eleven Madison there is no wrong answer to what you eat).
We then we received a box on our table for us to open. Inside was a savory black and white cookie filled with sharp NY Cheddar cheese.
Following this was an Oyster with Vichyssoise and cavier.
Next was a Scallop marinated with apple, pine and water chestnut.
These first 3 dishes came out quickly and were small but refreshing. I loved the NYC black and white cookie - the theme of traditional NYC played out throughout the meal but we of course did not know this before because each dish is such a surprise. I am so glad we were there early so we did not see anyone else being served!
The next dish was a precursor dish. It was beef tartare with cavier and smoked bone marrow. It was served inside the bone on a beautiful wood block. The presentation was beautiful and it was so unique to have the tartar inside of the bone.
The larger dish that complimented the beef tartare was so much fun! It was pastramie with pickles, rye, mustard and apple! The pastrami came in a dish that was still being heated by a flame and we put it on our plate which was covered in wax paper with a rye bread topped with mustard and pickles and cucumber relish on the side. It was an extremely fancy version of the traditional NYC pastrami sandwich. It made me crave a huge sandwich from Katz's Deli! It was served with homemade soda. Mine was maple, Ryan's was apple.
If you're keeping count, we have now had 5 dishes. We lost count at this point!
Next was Fois Gras. This is where Ryan and I had separate dishes. Ryan had it cured with sunchokes and fermented mustard greens. Mine was seared with sunchokes, hazelnuts and solera vinegar. Both were so unique and so different and equally as delicious. It was served with a house roll which was so sweet and buttery. There were two butters - a regular and one infused with the duck fat!
After this was cleared from our table, a book was brought out: Waldorf cookbook. The waiter put the book down and said "some light reading before your next dish." This book was not light - it was huge and filled with beautiful recipes. But we couldn't figure out why it was left there. The answer - Waldorf Salad. A cart was wheeled to our table and the waiter prepared the salad for us there all while explaining the history of the salad and the ingredients. We were served an apple waldorf salad with celery, cranberries and walnuts. He also explained that there are many versions of the salad, so after we had the salad, we lifted our plates to find a walnut and yogurt "salad" - a play on the walnuts and nuts and mayo in the original salad. It was so much fun and I loved seeing the food be prepared!
Still keeping up?
Dish 8 was a small precursor again. It was a small plate with lobster, razor clam, sea urchin and kale.
The larger version of this came next. The lobster was the best part of the dish! I loved the flavor and the bitterness of the kale complimented the sweetness of the seafood perfectly.
Next was celery root braised with black truffle. It was simple and light and a good in between dish for the main entree which came next!
The main entree started with a pork broth with a sausage and cheese cracker. This was followed with pork braised with cabbage, coco beans and almonds! The pork melted in our mouth and was perfect! I loved every bite!
After this, the sweet portion of the courses began.
The first sweet course was presented as a picnic basket. We were to open it at our own leisure when we were ready. Of course Ryan and I dove right in, excited to unwrap our next dish! The picnic for two was a pretzel bread, cheese braised with beer, and a dried fruit tart! This was the perfect picnic!
Next of the sweet dishes was a perfect palate cleanser before the main attraction! It was a sweet potato curd with espresso meringue and orange sorbet! All of these things alone do not sound good together, but the taste was so fresh and cleansing.
And now....the main attraction...Baked Alaska. It was presented at our table and flombeed in front of us. It was a beautiful spectacle. It was brought back in to the kitchen (to out out the fire) and brought back served with rum, raisin and maple (Ryan's was apple).
And just when you think there wasn't anymore food. A chocolate covered pretzel with sea salt was presented as well as a chocolate sweet black and white cookie to compliment and round out the meal just the way it began!
Everything was perfect and beautiful and at the end of the meal we were presented with a gift bag with homemade granola and peanut butter and jelly chocolate bars with a note inside that read "Happy Anniversary." We received the same gift bag at our wedding and the note inside read "Congratulations." I still have the chocolate bar in our freezer, so I added the new one to the freezer as well for a special day!
We walked home that night full and happy, reminded of our love for each other and what a great year it has been.
