Adam Platt Lands a Seat at Mirarchi's Counter; Three Stars for Blanca

carlo mirarchi - courtesy robert wright of nytimesBill Clinton isn't the only one making the trip out to Bushwick to dine on the Roberta's compound.  Adam Platt was fortunate enough to snag one of the twelve seats at Blanca, "the brainchild of the formerly anonymous Bushwick chef Carlo Mirarchi, who, along with two partners, has turned Roberta’s from a ramshackle neighborhood pizza hall on the fringes of Bushwick into a poster child for the great Brooklyn culinary miracle."  Platt's review gives us some insight into what goes on behind the walls of 261 Moore Street and how you might be able to get a meal at one of the cozy chairs.  He explains, "Blanca would take reservations by phone on the first day of each month for dates 7 to 30 days hence."  Blanca is booked through October, but November 1st is a Thursday.  Start planning.

The limited seating and high demand to eat at chef's counters are part of a recipe only the most patient can follow.  With the continued success of Momofuku Ko and Brooklyn Fare, newcomers Atera (three stars from Pete Wells) and Blanca show the city has plenty of patience.  At Blanca, there's a good chance Carlo Mirarchi will have some beef aging for you while you endure the wait.  Platt describes "spoon-tender Wagyu beef at this Brooklyn restaurant is aged for up to 85 days."  "Creamy sweetbreads with a lightly frizzled crust" were another standout, along with "a deliciously smooth polenta mingled with even smoother uni," and "the little stack of snow-crab legs from Alaska, which the chef grills to the perfect point of sweetness."

Tasting menu only chef's counters provide diner's with an incredibly well thought out and intimate meal.  In most instances, the meal will exceed three hours.  Blanca's twenty plus course meal lasted four, but to Platt it "seemed half that long."  Dinner concluded with a sparkling wine from Bugey; "It wasn’t a stunning wine, but on this evening in the wilds of Bushwick, as the improbably talented cook circulated among his guests in his baseball cap, and the moon rose over the garden outside, it tasted just fine. It tasted delicious, in fact."

A couple of flavor follies throughout the meal were ultimately responsible for the lack of a perfect score.  The three stars out of five for New York Mag raises the question, what would Pete Wells do?

Sam Sifton Had a Date With Blanca, a Bluefin Tuna Head, and Our Friend Paul

Former New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton sheds some light on Blanca, the new project from the Roberta's team that, compared to Roberta's, approaches eating from the other end of the food spectrum.

Sifton draws comparisons to Momofuku Ko and Brooklyn Fare, restaurants that share a similar vision.  At all three restaurants, Blanca included, the chefs only offer a tasting menu.  The dishes get served to guests seated around the kitchen, where they're able to watch chefs prepare a series of plates that get placed in front of them.  At Blanca, this happens around 20 times, at a pace Sifton defines as "measured and relentless."

Blanca is serving their $180 tasting menu four nights a week, Wednesday through Satruday, with one seating each night at 6pm.  It's an exclusive affair, one Mr. Mirarchi hopes to eventually expand to include a fifth night and two seatings.  Part of the price tag allows you to choose the soundtrack to your meal.  Records brought in from some of the owner's collections are on hand with a turntable, allowing guests to play what they want to hear.  The food, though, is all Mirarchi.

Our good friend Paul Tortora was there Saturday with his brother Jonathan.  Paul's the guy with the ponytail pictured under the tuna head, he's a (brilliant) wine rep for Rare Wine Co.  We asked him about dinner: "The meal, in a word, was dialed-in."