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“Gaia in Greenwich CT”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Suburbs	Break the Bank	Off the Charts

el Moorehouse, of Ouest, Tabla, and Picholine, to create desserts.

Gaia is located on Greenwich Avenue—a quiet, squeaky-clean rue littered only with jewels and haute couture. The restaurant occupies a modest, cream colored two-story building that was built in 1917 as a bank by Raphael Guastavino Jr., the son of the famed Catalan architect who built the archways in the Oyster Bar and the vaulted tiled ceilings under 59th Street bridge that are now contained in Guastavino’s restaurant. As you might expect, Guastavino Junior had the same talent for magnificent tiled archways as his Dad, and Gaia is a visual masterpiece, decked out in neutral earth tones with soaring 25-foot tiled ceilings, sky-high pillars, dazzling archways, a wood-burning fireplace on the upper deck and wide, cozy banquettes you can sink into and easily never rise from. (Do try and resist the urge to take a nap; you don’t want to sleep through this meal.)

You may have already heard rumblings about Gaia because it is starting to get a reputation, in the same vain as Ferrran Adria did with his foams, as it is known as the place where the chef cooks in jars. The idea came to the chef when he was dining out in London and was served an amuse bouche in a tiny mason jars. While brainstorming with his partners about the Gaia menu, he suggested that they try to actually cook food in the jars, and not just use them as serving vehicles. Months went by, and 160 jars later, Bjorn had perfected the process and developed his menu of dishes cooked, sous vide-style, in sealed mason jars for hours and hours in a hot water bath (165F to 195F), like you would prepare canned goods in the old days. This process breaks food down, bringing it to buttery softness and magnifying its flavors. As I write this, I am craving a jar of Bjorn’s hedonistic mac and cheese ($18) made with winter truffles and sinful gobs of gruyere, or perhaps a jar of duck leg confit ($12), almost silky from being braised for half a day in its own fat, or a jar of his rich foie gras terrine heavy with sauternes, and marbled with macerated figs and grapes ($20).

As you might expect, jar cooking works especially ingredients that take well to slow, pressure-pot styled cooking. So it is no surprise that the chef also cooks braised short ribs (with turnips, carrots, orange confit and red wine, $22), and pork belly (with sauternes and honey, $20) with this jar method. Other jars are in the “s ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 11, 2004

Other restaurants in Suburbs :
+ Gaia in Greenwich CT   + North Fork Table and Inn   + Izakaya and the New Water Club in Atlantic City   + La Estacion (Fajardo, Puerto Rico) by special guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + The Lunch Truck at the North Fork Table and Inn   

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