Telepan

Tonight was part two of our restaurant week escapades, and our stop was Telepan, a farm to table inspired restaurant on the Upper West Side.  We always try to go to at least one new place, and my sister chose this as our new place since she had read great things about it.  For some reason I thought it was an italian restaurant at first, but it is American inspired and focused on fresh ingredients.

They really embraced the whole spirit of restaurant week here, and offered pretty much all of their menu options.  For the three courses, you have the option of choosing three savory courses or two savory courses and a dessert, but everyone at the table has to agree on which option to choose.  So, if you are going with a bigger party it may be a bit difficult for everyone to agree, but since it was just my sister we easily settled on the dessert option.  For the appetizer, I chose the seasonal salad and my sister chose the smoked trout appetizer, which was a $3 supplement but it is one of their most popular dishes.

The salad was really light and fresh, and had a very interesting combination of flavors.  It looks like a simple salad upon first glance, but there was a very unique blend of lettuces, spices, and vegetables with a light coating of lemon dressing.  I definitely tasted some licorice which I was not expecting, and there was some corn and radishes as well.  There were a few more things that I was unable to identify, but it was all delicious.  My sister really enjoyed her smoked trout appetizer, and said that it got even better after a few bites.  I should also mention that before the appetizers came, the waiter came over with a large bread basket and you were able to choose from 4 different types of bread.  I chose one that had a lot of seeds on it, and it was good but I only ate half to save room.  The waiter also brought an amuse bouche to the table, which was four little cheese puffs.  This was a nice little touch, and was a really great way to start the meal.

For the main course, I got the roast chicken (which is my standard dish of choice in most restaurants), and it came with some egg pasta and roasted mushrooms.  My sister had a harder time choosing what to order because there were a few things she wanted, but she ultimately settled on the burrata mezzaluna with veal meatballs.

The chicken was really delicious, and was cooked perfectly.  It was served over a nice sauce with egg pasta, mushrooms, some spinach, and something that was crunchy (but I couldn't figure out what it was).  The portion size was perfect and all of the components of the dish worked great together.  The burrata mezzaluna was also great.  The mezzaluna were pretty thin so they weren't overly stuffed, but the cheese on the inside was still super creamy and came oozing out when you cut into it.  I didn't try any of the meatballs because I don't eat veal, but my sister said they were really good (which is evidenced in the fact that the plate was cleared). 

Both of my courses felt light and fresh, so I was definitely ready for the dessert course!  For me, the choice was a no brainer and I ordered the S'more.  I used to go to sleepaway camp over the summer, so having s'mores was always a summer staple for me.  When I saw it on the menu, I got really excited because it felt like a much more decadent way to enjoy the classic treat.  

The presentation of this was spot on, and the taste definitely lived up to the hype.  This dish had every component of a s'more that makes it so good, but it was elevated to an even higher level.  The bottom was a dark chocolate brownie, then a layer of fluffy marshmallow with crushed graham cracker around the border, then graham cracker chocolate chip ice cream, and finally a dark chocolate square to top if off.  The plate was also surrounded with dollops of toasted marshmallow and dark chocolate ganache, which not only made it look prettier but it made it taste better.  Every aspect of the dessert was perfect, and it was just what I had been craving.  The brownie was really chocolatey and rich, the marshmallow was super sweet and fluffy, and the ice cream actually tasted like graham crackers!  I finished this whole thing up, and did not look back for a second!  My sister got the cheesecake sundae as her dessert, and while it was good it did not live up to her expectations.  It was basically a parfait of cheesecake ice cream and blueberry sorbet with crushed graham crackers on the bottom, which she said was fine except for the fact that she was expecting actual cheesecake and felt a little duped. 

As opposed to our last restaurant week experience, we left feeling satisfied with the food and the service.  The servers at Telepan were much more friendly and attentive, and all of our courses came out pretty quickly.  Even though it was really crowded, they did not seem overwhelmed by it and I still felt like they paid personal attention to each table.  When they brought the check, they also gave us two little coconut macaroons.  I waited to eat mine since I was stuffed, but this really reinforced their attention to detail and focus on good service.  This was a great restaurant week experience, and even though I am usually weary of trying new places, this one passed the test!