Chanterelle

Chanterelle has a quite formal dining room with bare walls and a high ceiling. The rather hushed reverence is not matched by the service, which managed to make a number of slips throughout my meal here. The tasting menu varied wildly in standard: best was a butternut squash ravioli with a stunning oxtail ragout and a little sage cream. The pork, which was extremely chewy, at least had a reasonable Sauternes and mustard sauce. Most troubling was a wild striped bass that was cooked on the outside but was raw inside: this was positively dangerous, tut the waiter took the relaxed “ah, you prefer it cooked more” approach; in a place as litigious as the USA this kind of slip could be expensive. 

The cheeses were reasonable, including some from the UK (though why no Stilton?) while a maple walnut soufflé was well made, accompanied by a ginger ice cream. While the best cooking on display here was very good indeed, there was great fluctuation in execution, which at nearly USD 200 a head with modest wine is hard to excuse.