Friday, May 18, 2007

Alinea: More Complete Account, Part 13


[Tyler] This was the ice cream, or perhaps sorbet, course. The rectangular item was orange ice cream, but the most amazing flavor on the plate was the olive oil ice cream on the left. It was a little dab of whipped and frozen olive oil, with sugar and lots of vanilla (the gray color is from the vanilla seeds).

Our server said this was her favorite, and I can see why. Frozen olive oil sounds gross, but because of the kind of fat that's in olives, it doesn't get that stick-to-the-roof of your mouth texture that some cold fats do. Instead it was simply a nice, not-too-sweet, subtly nutty ice cream. It was also a good compliment to the orange. Think about how good orange-infused olive oil is, and you have a hint of how well they pair.

This was Rob's favorite dessert course. The white thing is a long ribbon of coconut, twisting in and out of the other elements on the plate. I don't really remember what all was in this dessert It actually seemed to me like too much was going on, and I couldn't concentrate on the different elements -- which is funny, because that's always my main complaint about Rob's desserts. "Focus on one element. Why do you have to throw in the kitchen sink?"

However, I do remember the grilled kiwi slices tucked under the coconut on the left-hand side. Grilling kiwi really brings out it's flavor, in case you ever want to try it at home.

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