Is Corey Lee’s Benu better than Thomas Keller’s French Laundry?

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Resident Foodies say: It’s the two year anniversary of our first pilgrimage to Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Yountville, California, currently one of only two 3-Michelin starred restaurants in the Bay Area. To our chagrin, we found the food to be mediocre that weekend and the service even worse–after waiting for 1 hour after being seated to receiving one morsel of food or bread. C’mon, kitchen, it’s not that difficult. Click here for our 2010 review of French Laundry.

Later, someone on the inside advised us that the reason The French Laundry may have been so bad on that July 4th weekend was that Chef Corey Lee had left to start his new restaurant Benu. Lee was the former Chef de Cuisine at French Laundry, and his departure left the kitchen at The French Laundry in transition–read: utter disarray-at the time.

Well, this past weekend we decided to try out Chef Lee’s Benu in San Francisco on the 2 year anniversary of our dismal food weekend at French Laundry. Happily, the experience we had at Benu was fantastic. We all were blown away by the creativity and taste of the 18 plates in the food tasting. There’s no surprise that Food and Wine Magazine named Lee (35 years old) one of the best new chefs of the year.

Each plating was visually beautiful. And the flavors were amazing, with an unbelievable crescendo building up all the way through the dessert. After several wonderful dishes, we did not think Chef Lee could top the last dish, but Lee kept proving us wrong. Each dish in the 18 courses kept amazing us with the creativity and distinctive flavors. Based on a head to head comparison, we believe that the young upstart Benu is already better–in terms of plating, creativity, and taste–than the old vanguard The French Laundry. It will only be a matter of time before Benu claims its third Michelin star, and The French Laundry quite possibly loses one. Benu is on the cutting edge of culinary creativity. Chef Lee deserves all the accolades he is now receiving. Bravo, Benu!

18 Course Tasting at Benu

thousand year old quail egg, potage, ginger

oyster, pork belly, kimchi

potato salad with anchovy

monkfish liver, peach, daikon, brioche

brioche for dish above

wild salmon 2 ways: fillet, cherry, hot mustard, roe, eggplant chip, perilla

salmon second way

eel, feuille de brick, creme fraiche, lime

tofu, basil, xo sauce

mozzarella, basil, xo sauce

hearts of palm, shrimp, yellow chive, lovage

salt and pepper squid

foie gras ciao long bao

chicken velvet, abalone, abalone mushroom, chrysanthemum

sablefish, lobster, black bean, corn

duck, celery, scallion, Shaoxing wine, black truffle bun

beef rib, wood ear mushroom, lettuce, pine nut, fermented pepper

“shark’s fin” soup, dungeness crab, Jinhua ham, black truffle custard

raspberry, tonic, lavender, olive oil

spice cake, blueberry, yogurt, oatmeal ice cream

chocolates

Bar Toma pizza in Chicago

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Resident Foodies say: We hit up Chef Tony Mantuano‘s new Bar Toma, a hop, skip, and a jump away from his renowned Spiaggia restaurant on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. Bar Toma is known for its small Italian fare, plus wood oven pizzas.

Yesterday, we ordered the Smoke and Cure pizza–Vermont artisan pepperoni, mozzarella, and smoked garlic. The crust is thick at the edge, but thin inside. The wood burning oven gives the crust a great texture and nice char. We really enjoyed it and would definitely come back again.

The atmosphere at Bar Toma is warm and inviting–and the layout is pretty spacious for a bar in this area. We had no trouble getting seats at the bar on Thursday night, and, although we had reservations for a table, there did not appear to be a long wait.

The Dish: St. Patrick’s Day cupcake

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Resident Foodies say: March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, the occasion when everyone is Irish for a day. In Chicago, the City dyes the river green and holds its annual parade at noon, probably the biggest in the country. This year the Chicago river will be dyed green at 10 a.m. and the parade will start at noon.

Although green beer is usually the beverage of choice, we are opting for a tall glass of milk and this decadent chocolate cupcake, with buttery frosting, topped with chocolate and green-dyed sprinkles and, of course, a shamrock. The cake is mouth-watering moist, with just the right amount of chocolate to savor. Partaking of this delectable creation is not for the faint of heart. It’s gooey, chocolatey, and so unbelievably good. Erin go bragh!

The Dish: Panera Bread pecan roll

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Resident Foodies say: Panera Bread is one of our favorite “fast food” places. Their bread is yummy, and their stock is on a tear these days. Today we picked up this glazed pecan roll, baked to perfection.

What we like most: The color of the bread matches perfectly the color of the pecans. This is an incredible feat–no doubt the result of much testing and perfecting in the oven. The combination of pecans and soft bread gives the roll an incredible texture, softness with a nice crunch. And who can forget the sugary glaze that coats the roll–and, afterwards, your hands–with guilt-laden gooeyness.