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Le Bernardin New York City.

It has been almost 11 months since I returned home from NYC which makes this post long overdue.

3 months before I set out for New York City I had made a dinner reservation at the restaurant of my favorite chef, Eric Ripert.

Le Bernardin  at the time of my visit was ranked number 1 in New York and number 17 in the world for french inspired seafood.  I hit the reserve button and got the confirmation email and instantly had butterflies. It was all I could think about for days.

Eric Ripert is a bit of a personal hero of mine, sharing the same philosophies.
in life and intense love of good food, but aside from that I had never at that point been to a place quite so upscale, quite so polished or so fantastic.

My best friend and I who were traveling together had the dinner reservation booked for the Thursday of our trip. I had purchased a dress , made sure I was hungry despite the food tour we had been on earlier that day , and with child like anticipation we approached the door.

Our reservation was for 6 pm which was the first round of reservations for service that night.

The dining room was quiet and unassuming. You did not feel like  you had walked into one of the worlds finest dining establishments, just that you had walked into a place that you were welcome to be, no matter what walk of life you chose.



We had opted to go for the 8 course  Chefs Tasting Menu with 8 wine parings.  It of course changes slightly with the season so the linked menu has a few variations of what we had but most are the same.
















Dinner took over three hours , we never felt rushed, we were treated as honored guests and each dish that came to us surpassed the last.  We were sent home with a copy of the menu , full bellies and more that a little bit of intoxication for the 8 not so small wine parings.

I have never been so excited, delighted and gob smacked by food in my life. It was the meal that you actively think about and replay in your mind, like a movie you love or really good sex. You go back to that moment in your head and it brings you joy. This was what I took away from Le Bernardin NYC. Joy, and a feeling of peace.
On a side note, I will have to visit again, in the hopes that possibly next time I would get to shake the hand of the man that is responsible for it all, until that day comes I will continue to return to that dining room and feeling of joy in my mind . Thank you Le Bernardin for being absolutely everything I expected you to be.

Cheers and Bon appetite

Whiskey G
10/10

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