le blog de tranny

Willkommen zum Dezember — I have an early Christmas present for you — the photos from when Paul and I went to Benu for his birthday last Tuesday. I broke da bank but I just wanted him to have the best birthday ever, like last year, when I took him to Commis. (Don’t you wish I was your girlfriend? I’d force you to be my domestic slave in all arenas outside the kitchen but you’d get a few nice meals out of it.)

Before I delve into the 12 Bites of Benu (+ 3 Dessert Bites), let me first discuss how unapologetic I was about taking photos at the restaurant. There were two other tables in that relatively small dining room (of 12 tables total maybe?) with patrons much older than I who were constantly taking photos of their food WITH FLASH. Way to give Asians a bad name guys. (Actually one of them might have been a whitey.) The constant flashing coming from two different directions was indeed a bit disturbing; the subtle noise my no flash camera makes when it’s adjusting its lens was not. I firmly believe that it is acceptable to take photos of your food in a fine dining setting as long as you are respectful about it, i.e., not taking photos while your server is trying to talk to you and not using flash. After all, if I pay for food, I should be able to do what I want with it within reason right? The staff seemed to condone it anyway — one of the servers saw me peeking at the kitchen and told me I could “set up and photograph it” (“set up” like with a tripod?). I guess it’s free publicity for them.

It seemed silly not to do the tasting.

[buckwheat flatbread with nori and sesame]

I hated this dish. JUST KIDDING. BUTTER AND CAVIAR ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? I wish I had 10 of these. I wish I could eat this every day, for breakfast.

[pistachio pain de mie with butter and caviar]

I guess the “thousand-year-old” egg is a Chinese technique that usually takes several months, but at Benu they use a lye solution that brings up the pH so that it ferments in a matter of days. It was a tasty egg, with flavors of soy; I love me some umami. They recommend you eat the egg first and then follow it with that gelatinous bubble thingy, which floods your mouth with a ginger, citrus and star anise juice when you bite into it. How refreshing.


[thousand-year-old quail egg with ginger, citrus and star anise bubble]

Well if I had to pick a least favorite dish I think it’d be this one. The green apple ice was a bit too clashy for me and didn’t vibe well with the texture of the sea urchin.

[sea urchin, sunchoke, green apple ice]

Now this was delightful. The tofu was set in a mold resembling a little pouch, and the inside of the pouch was filled with dashi sauce and more roe! Aren’t the matchstick radishes on top cute?

[sesame tofu, salmon roe, radish]

You would not believe how perfect the texture of this abalone was. The perfect melange of crisp and chewy. Everything on this plate tasted fantastic.

[abalone grenobloise with cauliflower, caper and lemon]

Here we have what Paul refers to as an “eel taquito” with all the fixin’s. The eel is braised and then wrapped in a pastry dough called feuille de brick, after which it is fried in clarified butter. Eel taquito, you’re mah beesst friend.




[caramelized anchovy, peanut, lily bulb; mountain yam and shrimp souffle; eel, feuille de brick, creme fraiche]

On my sixth bite of Benu, my true love (Corey Lee) gave to me…. the infamous monkfish liver torchon, handily presented with some brioche to spread it on!

[monkfish liver torchon, cucumber, turnip, salted plum, brioche]

Another fried sea creature! With a fermented red pepper aioli of sorts. I love CL’s use of fermentation to bring azn flavors to the table. The results are so savory and satisfying.

[crispy cod milt, pickles, green yuzu]

The faux shark’s fin soup is not only one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten (maybe my favorite on the tasting menu), but provided for a sensual eating experience. Our server brought our bowls, which had been custom-made with Corey Lee’s mama’s artistic rendition of a black truffle on each lid, with black truffle custard embedded in the shallow cylindrical bottom and strands of gelatin and morsels of crab leaning against one side. He then poured a steaming dashi broth into each of our bowls, covering the custard at the bottom. The truffle custard was rich and velvety; the crab was moist and delectable. Not only does CL kill it with this dish, he’s saving $500 per lb on shark fin! What a guy. Remember when Alice Waters said shark fin soup would be her last meal of choice? ROFL ~memories~~



["shark's fin" soup, dungeness crab, Jinhua ham, black truffle custard]

I was feeling pretty stuffed at this point, but managed to eat every last bite that was set in front of me.

[pumpkin porridge, lobster, black truffle]

The chicken Cecilia dish was comprised of chicken breast and leg stuffed with woodear mushroom mousse and served with lettuce and yellow chive.

[chicken Cecilia]

We also managed to kill two bottles of wine that evening. The first was an August West 2008 pinot from the Santa Lucia Highlands that appears to be going for around $40 per bottle online, which even if you add the corkage fee, adds up to a bit less than what I paid for the bottle. So basically, you’re paying for the bottle, plus the $40 corkage fee, plus $10 to avoid the opportunity cost of going to the store. Which makes sense I guess and is probably pretty standard but I’ve only just now realized that you still get charged the corkage fee when you order off the wine list.

[beef rib cap, abalone mushroom, pine needle honey, pear, mitsuba]

Good thing we brought one of the 2006 syrahs Greg gave us from his winery as our second bottle. Delicious.

The satsuma sorbet was served in an almond milk and white chocolate soup with caramelized olives and almond cake I believe.

[satsuma, olive, white chocolate, almond]

[persimmon pudding, burnt acorn ice cream, mace]

Last but not least came an assortment of chocolates and black tea, with a green tea chocolate I adored.

[chocolates, tea]