Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
Our very special meal at Gage & Tollner was bookended by two incredible dishes. Last week I wrote about the dangerously smooth martini that started our meal. This week, I’m going to delve into the historic dessert that sent us into the happiest sugar coma.
We were not expecting to eat at Gage & Tollner after our visit to Brooklyn Academy of Music. No reservations were available, but I kept checking Resy up until the last minute and amazingly, an opening popped up at the perfect time. It was fate!
And we got to experience both the hottest opening in Brooklyn in the last few years and also a little taste of Brooklyn history. This restaurant is a re-vamp of a classic Brooklyn restaurant that has been re-imagined many times over the years.
This new version, run by St. John Frizell, Ben Schneider, and Chef Shoji Kim, features some historical tastes of the different Gage & Tollner over the decades.
We tasted some decadent Devils on Horseback (bacon-wrapped dates), impossibly creamy and light She-Crab soup, luscious buttery Parker House rolls, crispy earthy Hen-of-the-Woods mushrooms, and a unique modern spin on Clams Casino (with bacon-kimchi butter).
It was a really nice (albeit not cheap) meal. But we were not expecting our final gigantic dish to be the highlight of the night.
Baked Alaska is not something you find on menus very often any longer. And some may not even know what it is.
It was not invented in the 49th state (as the name implies) but rather right here in New York at the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant. For whatever reason, Baked Alaska fell out of popularity. But if everybody could taste the one being served at Gage & Tollner, it would quickly become much more popular than even the chocolate chip cookie.
This plate was decadent, dusted with chocolate crumbles followed by a mysterious sphere of what looks and tastes like toasted whipped cream. In actuality, this white fluff is the most intense and delicious meringue (whipped egg whites) that I have ever tasted. Somehow it was ethereally light and fluffy but had the body and flavor of actual whipped cream. I really don’t understand this black magic.
Inside the beautiful composition were three layers of homemade ice cream: fresh mint, dark chocolate, and amarena cherry. This was a much more perfect and refined combination than the typical Neapolitan (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry).
Despite all the food I had put in my body over the course of the previous two hours, I could not stop shoveling in this magical dessert. Thankfully it was built for two, but even after my wife put her fork down and surrendered, I could not let this beauty go uneaten.
Don’t worry, I finally listened to my body and realized I had enough, but ever since I have digested the meal, I’ve been thinking of what an amazing start and fantastic ending we experienced at Gage & Tollner. And I’d like to go back in time once again!! Price: $24 (for two)
| GAGE & TOLLNER |
| 372 Fulton Street (at Smith Street), Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn (347) 689-3677 |
| gageandtollner.com |
