2010 Dining Guide 2010 Fall Dining Guide By Tom Sietsema Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010 Michel Richard has me at the amuse bouche. The opening act of tonight's bravura culinary performance brings together a golden snail fritter, a pinch of warm potato salad held together in a sheer clutch of green radish by a minuscule red clothespin, and a tiny Parmesan-flavored "cupcake" capped with salmon mousse. Three exquisite bites. How clever! How sublime! (Writers are warned against overusing exclamation points, but it's hard not to when describing some of the best food in this country -- or any other, for that matter.) Citronelle is where you'll find the most glamorous pizza in town, its delicate, saucer-sized crust spread with scallop mousse, decorated with sweet peekytoe crab and sparkling with caviar. There might also be crisp-skinned bars of succulent duck breast flanked by tender, sweetly spiced duck leg meatballs neatly lined up on a strip of carrot gelatin. The chef's divine sablefish "dressed in red" is indeed scarlet (he marinates the fish in beet juice, soy sauce and lime zest), and my favorite dessert is a plate of cracked-open eggs -- no, wait: The shells are designer chocolate, the yolks are tart lemon curd, and the whites are soft French meringue. Richard, with the support of chef David Deshaies, is a master wit. The underground hotel dining room is desperate for a makeover, but the buzz of a well-fed crowd and expert service help diners forgive appearances. The fresh gleam in the glass-fronted kitchen isn't just from the pots and tiles. A life-size silver toque is now on display in the window. It's a tip of the hat from the prestigious Association des Maitres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chefs of France), which honored its native son in September. Lucky him. Lucky us.
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