Last night, I went with a few girlfriends to the Tribeca restaurant Rosanjin, one of the Kaiseki places in the neighborhood. I feel like Kaiseki has been all the rage these days, between Brushstroke (also in Tribeca, run by David Bouley), the East Village’s all-veggie fare Kajitsu, and at least half a dozen other chic Japanese eateries.
So what makes Kaiseki so special? New York Magazine describes it as "esoteric cuisine of the Kyoto Emperors." To me, kaiseki is essentially a fabulous parade of beautifully executed, technically brilliant, not to mention delicious small dishes (think Japanese tapas). Each sequence is prettier than the next, and so precious it makes me really hesitant to dig in. In a way, it’s like a form of art cuisine, or a gastro-symphony.
We opted for the seven-course tasting menu, which left us more than full and in maximum food coma mode (much of which we devoured in about five seconds flat). The highlights for me, apart from my wonderful company, were the flavorful chestnut rice (quite the combo!), the tile fish wrapped in delicate flowers and shiso leaf, and the salmon fish cake and eggplant cooked to sheer perfection. It was truly a treat, and a wonderful way to spend an evening with some of my favorite people in New York. As one of my dinner companions noted at the end of the evening, the food was so great and the space so intimate, “we could have easily spent another hour in there.” So true! Although we were the last ones to close the nine-table restaurant as it was. Now – onto the next girls’ night out culinary escapade!
