This year, Meta Knight surprised me with a beautiful Valentine's Day dinner at Diva at the Met. Remember my 'Dine Out Pick of 2013' post? Diva at the Met was one of my picks and he knew I still haven't tried it yet even though I've wanted to for a long time.
The set Valentine's Day menu was split up into two. A 'Divo' menu for the gents and a 'Diva' menu for the ladies. What a cute idea!!
We got seated in at 6:30pm which was great because we beat the dinner rush and was able to find parking pretty easily. Plus, it's always nice to have more time to walk, take in each others company, and digest after dinner.
LOVED the open kitchen idea. Felt like I was watching The Food Network (my favourite channel... obviously) during my entire meal.
First came the bread. But by no means were they 'normal' bread. This sampling platter consisted of warm rye, walnut, ciabatta, flat bread and butter with a crumbled brown butter topping. All delicious. All left us feeling warm and satisfied.
I'll be writing the his Divo menu first. His first course was the Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Parfait with pickled winter vegetables. We were really looking forward to it but the foie gras turned out to have a funny taste to it. As well, we would have liked the crisps to be thicker, so as to hold the foie gras better.
The Veal Cheek Pastrami had popcorn sweet breads, celeriac, and porcini foam. His popcorn sweet bread was amazing and tasted like popcorn, and bread at the same time!
This was what Meta Knight was waiting for.. the Roasted Beef Tenderloin with truffle puree, bone marrow, smoked lentils, and natural jus. I wish I had this as my main because the beef was amazingly succulent. As well, I do like myself some bone marrow so this dish had all the right components for a winning entree.
Again, his Chocolate Praline Bar with caramelized milk semifreddo and hazelnut crumble left me wanting to order one for myself.
What you don't see is a thin crispy biscuit layer nestled underneath the chocolate ganache. When you bite into it, it will catch you by surprise and make you fall in love with this dessert. If this is on their regular menu, get this. You will not be disappointed.
Now onto the Diva menu. My appetizer consisted of an Olive Oil Poached Lobster Salad with oyster, egg, shallot, trout roe, and hearts of palm. The large chunks of lobster tasted like half sashimi with its barely cooked interior and exceptionally fresh taste.
Underneath the mushroom emulsion laid the Truffled Sole with fingerling potato, melted leeks, and crispy rice cracker dyed with squid ink (hence the black colour).
I normally would never ever choose a dish with rabbit because all I think about are their cute furry coats and 'Thumper' from Bambi. However, this was on my menu and the foodie in me also did not have the courage to pass up trying something exciting in the culinary world. This was called Saddle of Rabbit and the rabbit (the circular and rectangle pieces) were indeed delicious. A little tougher than normal meat but it had great flavour. Trust me when I say both Meta Knight and I were both sad and happy while trying the rabbit.
My dessert is based on a breakfast meal. How? It is called Butter Toast Ice Cream with skim milk crisp, earl grey tea cake, and homemade black currant jam. The ice-cream delightedly tasted similar to butter on toast but without losing the essence of what it is, ice-cream. It was still sweet and barely savoury so my taste buds did not mistake this for anything other than dessert. I loved the concept of this dish but Meta Knight's Chocolate Praline Bar still took the cake.
All in all, our meal at Diva at the Met was exceptional and we were able to try things we never would have normally been able to (*cries* poor rabbit!). You get what you pay for here and this is a meal I would remember for a long time.
Service Rating: 4.5/5
Food Rating: 4.5/5
Price: $$$$$$$$ ($70+)
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Happy Eating!
courtesy of http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Thumper_(Bambi)
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