This is another awesome Tasting Collective dining club event we attended. (You can read about the previous posts about Tasting Collective events here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/fish-cheeks/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/win-son/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/f-o-b/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/xixa/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/huertas/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/bessou/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/maharlika/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/traif/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/lalito/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/noreetuh/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/traif-2/ http://www.foodlovergirl.com/txikito/ and http://www.foodlovergirl.com/oka/). Tasting Collective is a dining club for food lovers, and they offer brunch and dinner at great NYC restaurants. They close off the restaurants for the club, so we get to have the entire restaurant and chef(s) all to ourselves. So, this is more than just eating food at a restaurant, but you get to have the background story and its passion from the chef(s), eating 8- to 12- or more course brunch/dinner created specifically for Tasting Collectives.
This event was held at Tuome, eight course East Meets West Feast. Chef Chen served inventive American dishes mixed with Chinese cuisine he grew up with. We enjoy Asian fusion food, so we were exited to try their dishes.
The inside was small, but cozy and welcoming. The décor was mix of sleek, modern fixtures and reminiscence of the past with the red brick wall throughout the space. I liked the pop of red here and there. They had a small bar with a handful of tables, and then another smaller room to the left with more tables.
We decided to get a cocktail, The Blushing Dragon Sangria, made with white wine, kina, lichee, and Thai basil. It sounded really good, but it didn’t taste anything like I expected. It was not sweet, nor strong. I understand it is made with wine instead of liquor, so it makes sense that it wasn’t strong. But, the small ice cubes kind of watered down the drink. It didn’t really have much of lychee flavor that I was looking for, which was disappointing.
The first course was Watermelon & Ricotta, with farro and chrysanthemum. Watermelon was juicy and sweet with nice salty flavor to balance it out. Crunchy farro was great with the watermelon! Chef told us that it takes a long time to prepare the farro, which was cooked, dried and then fried. A nice refreshing item to start off the course, kind of like a palate cleanser to prepare for the decadent food.
The second course was Fried Chicken with general tuome’s honey and herb ranch sauce. We each got one piece, and the chicken was cooked perfectly. It was succulent with crispy exterior. And sauces were great too! Ranch has lots of garlic and herbs, with a bit yogurt-type flavor to bring all the flavors together. The General Tuome (funny name!) has nice balance of sweetness from honey and spicy-ness from chili pepper.
The third course was Chicken Liver Mousse with maple syrup and milk bread. I am not a big fan of liver-anything, but this one was much better than expected. A perfect combination of liver mousse and maple syrup, quite tasty. The crunchy toppings were great too, adding extra flavor and texture. The bread was fluffy and toasted just right.
The next one was something I was very curious about when I read the menu. It was Crispy Deviled Egg with chili. And I must say I was pleasantly surprised when it came out. The egg white part was fried!
It was great, delicious and flavorful, and totally loved the crunch! Not too spicy but just right amount of spicy flavor. Creamy and fabulous!
The fifth course was Shrimp on Chip with smoked crème fraiche and “everything” spice. This was a was fun dish with lots of spices, the shape of it made me think of sombrero hat… It had two cooked shrimp on top of the chip, covered with the spice. A bit hard to eat since the shrimp was not cut up, but plump and fresh.
Up until this point, I was wondering if I was going to be full after the dinner course was over. But then, next item looked very promising. It was Snow Crab with noodle, squash and dashi butter. This dish was served individually instead of family style. It was creamy and buttery, total comfort food! But, I felt like the main ingredient, Snow Crab was underwhelming, I wish if it had more crab… Anyways, this dish did the trick, I was getting full after I finished the bowl.
Lucky number seven was Lamb Shank with red quinoa, herb sauce, and bibb lettuce. It had a few lamb pieces under the glaze and star anise. Chef told us that the lamb was cooked for four hours! He said that the lamb recipe was passed down from his mom.
We were told to take the lamb on the lettuce, add the sauce and eat it like a wrap. The lamb was soft and moist, fall off the bone good (even though there was no bone). A great ending of the savory dishes.
The last but not least, dessert! It was Beignet Ice Cream Sandwich with goat’s milk caramel. Everything about this item sounded mouth-watering good… And it was awesome with crunchy Beignet, sweet without being overly sweet. A bit hard to eat but super tasty! The caramel added extra flavor that went perfectly with Beignet.
Chef Thomas Chen came out and greeted us, and answered a few questions. This is one of the special thing about the Tasting Collective, that we get to have the restaurant and chef all to ourselves. Listening to their background, history and passion is always interesting and fascinating.
We sat with wonderful sets of people, who were also great food enthusiasts. They certainly made the dinner experience extra fun! It is always nice to meet nice, friendly people who shares the same passion – food! We had a really nice dinner, everything was tasty from the beginning to the end. I would love to go back to taste other innovative dishes, but will stick with the food and not the drink…
For those of you who are interested in joining this great dining club, Tasting Collective, you can use this link to get a discounted annual rate of $115 (over 30% off the normal $165/year): https://tastingcollective.com/?invite_code=JUN4346
Tuome – 536 East 5th Street, New York, NY 10009