Who so poor after splurging at Huso? This girl. (*CRY*) While my tongue and my stomach were pretty happy when I walked out, I'm pretty sure my wallet died of grief. $285pp + $280 premium caviar add-on + many drinks = heartbroken credit card. Le sigh. Anyway, we caught the Fall Tasting Menu last week just before Huso earned its recent Michelin star and--financial pains aside--had quite a lovely experience. I think what I appreciated most about Chef Buddha Lo's cooking style was that, unlike many other fine dining chefs, he wasn't afraid to let simplicity take center stage at times rather than force convoluted flavor combinations that are muddled and confusing. Let me break it down: - Spot Prawn, Honey Nut Squash, Caviar: A lovely tinned bite where the prawn was very obviously the main attraction despite not even being visible. - Kampachi, Roasted Sesame, Seaweed: A simple, crunchy and tart...uh, tart. I can think of at least three Michelin-starred restaurants who've served me much more complicated (and frankly, less appealing) versions of this hors d'oeuvre. - Wagyu, Smoked Eel, Feuille De Brick: Another prime example of letting simplicity reign--95% of this cigar was the smoked eel pate. And it was seasoned with...nothing. Allowing the smoked eel itself to just shine. How about that? - Egg, Guanciale, Caviar: Probably my favorite course of the night, I would eat this fancy eggs benedict every day if it wouldn't bankrupt me in a week (it was also the first one to include the premium caviar). My only complaint? All that beautiful plating was instantly wasted when they poured the (albeit) delicious egg sauce over the bowl. I'd suggest having it on the side. - Milk Roll, Foie Gras, Truffle: The obligatory homemade bread course, but this one served with a perfect sphere of foie gras butter. Creamy and rich but not overly decadent. I liked this more than expected. - Scallop, Apple, Makrut Lime: Another one for the simplicity book. Some might find this dish boring. I nearly licked my plate-bowl-thing because of that scrumptious apple-lime sauce. Uglboadfskdjfhsss...that's the sound of me drooling. - Lobster, Cauliflower, Salmuria: I could've used more lobster on account of it being so perfectly cooked, it melted in my mouth without chewing. But yeah, aside from that, no notes. [Intermission: Here be unexpected kitchen tour offer, followed by said kitchen tour and wonderful conversation with Chef Buddha Lo where we geeked out on the NYC restaurant scene. I also thanked him profusely for the next item...] - Quail, Black Trumpet, Albafura: (Was offered a preview of this before the kitchen tour). Thank you, Chef Lo, for NOT serving the sad, seared slab of meat (usually Wagyu beef) with sad, single vegetable side that nearly every Michelin-starred restaurant seems to think is an uspcale meat course. Thank you for having the actual creativity to forego the red meat, choose a lesser known (but more delicious, IMO) animal like quail, and dress is up with a host of sides that were decidedly NOT sad. - Venison, Beets, Civet: As if the previous meat course weren't already a much-needed deviation from the norm, here comes our Aussie chef to help us solve America's over-population of deer by serving some delicious filets of venison. Mmmm - Pear, Jasmine, Fromage Blanc: The obligatory palate cleanser. I didn't really care for it, but that's partly because pear is always used as a palate cleanser in fine dining restaurants these days, and I don't actually think it's that refreshing. - Pecan, Maple, Brown Butter: Don't let the autumn basic b*tch nature of this dessert's flavor profile fool you--every bite of this dessert will have you seeing sunset-colored foliage while a chorus of angels serenades you with songs about trees. It's that effing good. - Petit Fours: Ours featured flavor combos like Oishii Koyo Berry, Cranberry and Orange, Dark Valrhona Chocolate and Caviar, and Madeleines made with cinnamon sugar. All soft, all chewy, all tasty. So in sum, Huso gets a (slightly reluctant) four stars from me--while the portion sizes could've been bigger and the prices were higher than I'd like, overall, our meal was great quality and our kitchen tour/chat with Chef Buddha Lo was delightful. Or maybe I need to figure out how to be a caviar dealer. I'm pretty sure the one counter at Marky's Caviar is worth more than I'll ever make in a lifetime. read more