All that glitters

I finally had a chance to try the food at Gold today.  We're no strangers to Harlan Goldstein's magic, as a few of us actually had lunch at Tuscany by H on its last day of operations.  Now that this place has been running for around 3 months, I figured it was time that we came and checked it out.

I had gathered a bunch of foodies for this lunch, and Harlan very kindly put us in a private room, next to the wine treasures whose glass doors needed the right fingerprint to open.  I could only stare and drool at the jero of 1945 Mouton which was purchased for a pretty penny at the Acker auction last November.

A few of us started lunch with a tall glass of warm pear juice with almond and sea coconut (南北杏海底椰雪梨茶).  While some may be surprised to see this very Chinese/Cantonese drink in a place such as Gold, in reality I've always thought Harlan was actually very Asian.  After all, he's been here for 20 years... and I figured he's picked up a few things from us along the way. BTW there was also some lily bulb (百合) in the drink, too.

I didn't want to do the set lunch, and declared that I was going to order two starter-portions of pasta for myself, when the rest of the gang decided it would be a good idea for us to share everything.  So the 6 of us ended up sharing a pretty generous amount of food - 6 starters and 4 main courses.

Harlan suggested that we start with some flat bread.  Let me tell you, that's some tasty flat bread!  Loaded with mushrooms, onions, cheese and then black truffle shavings!  Not a bad way to kick off...

Iberico de bellota 48 months aged 5J ham - good stuff, served with tasty pan con tomate.  If only there were more on the plate...

The finest of cold cuts from "Cinta Senese" - I've been munching on some lardo made from these Tuscan pigs this week, and I jumped at the chance to have some more of this yummy stuff.  I could just eat charcuterie all day...  I thought the dollop of bitter orange marmalade was pretty awesome.

Hokkaido sea scallop carpaccio, slow-cooked egg and white truffle dressing - OK, so we know that Hokkaido scallops are big, and it definitely shows here!  I'm not sure that these thick slices still qualify as "carpaccio", but it was definitely very, very fresh and tasty.  Of course, the lovely egg with the orange yolk (Japanese taiyoran(太陽卵)?) made things even better!

Burrata and tomatoes - I just love it when I get to have creamy, delicious Burrata, and there are only a handful of places in town with stuff of this quality.

Mini HG burger - devoured in two bites.  Very, very good.  Miles better than that stupid Japanese beef burger they serve at Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon, whose patty is waaaay too juicy so that I end up with juices all over my hands, fingers and on the plate.  The fries come with truffle mayo.  Slurp.

We ordered 3 main course-sized pastas as well as some more pork...

Lobster spaghetti, Napoli tomatoes, fresh herbs, crispy garlic and extra virgin olive oil - the spaghetti had plenty of bite, and the whole thing was very yummy.  The tomalley was very black, and very delicious.

Italian wild boar ragout tagliatelle, melting organic egg and shaved Pecorino cheese - I don't know why this isn't listed on the menu as one of HG's classics, because for many of us at the table it is THE dish that defined Tuscany by H.  If I had to pick one dish from Harlan, this would be it.  Glad to see that it stayed on the menu, and that it was as delicious as we all remembered.

Wagyu beef cheek ravioli, "12" hours slow-braised wagyu beef cheek, foie gras and black truffle sauce - I was curious about this so I added this to the list.  Sooo rich... sooo sinful... sooo yummy...  To be honest, though, I probably wouldn't be able to handle anything else after a full portion of this.

5J Iberian pork rack, spinach, melting Scarmoza cheese on a fresh tomato basil sauce - for some reason we were expecting a bigger piece of pork chop, but then again it's not always about the size, is it?!  After having had some disastrous Iberico pork chops recently, this was a very welcome change.  Sooo tender... sooo juicy...  Why can't others get pork chop right?!  Is it too much to ask for?!

A very sinful and filling lunch.  Harlan generously offered us some dessert, but most of us - except Mrs. Dyson - were too full to handle any.  We decided to end the meal with some coffee.

I've been away from Harlan's food for too long, and I'm glad to see that nothing has changed - other than the glittering, bling-bling interior.