December 14, 2021
Frasca’s annual Truffle dinner. If you could only make it to Frasca once a year, this would be the time! The courses are named for what they are or their main dish. The first course was Assaggi or tasting. The second was Rombo, which translates to Turbot and so on.
Martin started out with the Frasca Cosmo. This is spring in a glass, bright, Bright, Bright!
Champagne Georges Laval M.V. Extra Brut “Garennes,” | Cumières, Vallée de la Marne, France
We started off the celebration with a champaign, a Georges Laval extra brut.
The champaign paired perfectly with the trio of dishes in the Assaggi or tasting course. In front is the kumamoto oyster, with brown butter, lardo and black truffle in a bed of hot salt. The oyster was smoked, but just right so that it didn’t overwhelm and the oyster came thru nicely.
The arancini is on the back dish, with one opened up on the left and a whole one on the right. The white truffle on the arrancini made it bigger and fuller, simply the best arrancini Martin had ever had.
The venison sausage on a rosemary skewer is in the middle of the back dish. It was perfectly seasoned and smoked. The venison was just right, fresh and full flavored without even a hint of gaminess.
Rémi Jobard 2019 Bourgogne Blanc | Burgundy, France
Butter topped with gold foil for the sourdough.
The turbot was in a burre blanc foam that was light and fresh, it really brought out the turbo which the black truffle then amplified. The sourdough with butter topped with gold foil was a rather surprising compatible complement.
Marengo 2017 Barolo, La Morra | Piemonte, Italy
Cappelletti, “Little Hats” in brodo, filled with rabbit.
The rabbit with white truffle shaved on it at table was really neat. The broth was a really great, crystal clear
Mayacamas 2015 Merlot | Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, California
F U N G H I
maitake . porcini espuma . grilled radicchio . rosemary . ciccioli . black truffle
An over the top celebration of MUSHROOM! Black truffle let each type of mushroom take center stage.
Rene Rostaing 2017 Côte-Rôtie “Ampodium" | Northern Rhone, France
B R A S A T O
D I
M A N Z O
short rib . celery root . black truffle jus
The truffle worked its magic on both the short rib and the celery root.
We got a surprise duck breast. It was amazingly tender and the potato purée really worked with it.
The start of the 3 dish dessert. Martin didn’t get a picture of the wine:
Domaine de Durban 2017 Muscat de Beaumes de Venise | Southern Rhone, France
which was a fresh and light dessert wine.
The 3 desserts were off-the-charts and we simply can’t describe them, so the pictures will have to suffice! Here’s the menu entry for dessert:
D O L C E
pre-dessert
persimmon . calamansi . coconut
brownie . pear . caramel black truffle . macadamia nut
