Aska — Restaurant in New York

Went here with my wife in Dec 2022 for a few celebratory reasons (promotion/board certified). By far in terms of taste, Aska is not afraid to smash extremely BOLD flavors together to create a crashing wave of flavored within one's palate. Truly this displays chef Fredrik's exemplary culinary art beyond securing quality ingredient sources.

The service was excellent! I asked where the restroom was located which they could have simply pointed me to the directions and I'd be fine, but they waiter stopped what they were doing and walked me to the location. My dining experience is limited, but one thing I did notice was each and every waiter did this at Aska, when they picked up the dishes, they gripped the plates using the thenar of their palms, their fingers were never extended beyond the palm. I think this is unique and I guess this is a gesture to show their fingers will never touch the areas where food might be placed.

For the food, we did not get the wine pairing option. There were about 12 courses, each and everyone was amazing in its own. Many of them were likely described from other posts, so I'll only focus on a few that stood out especially amongst the course. The Bladderwrack, Scallop, Lobster, Langoustine, and Hake.

Bladderwrack is a type of seagrape/algae, it was presented as a dried up version of this plant that's packed with the brininess of the sea...but it appears there were locations along the plant that weren't that briney, alternating nodes of blue mussel emulsion brings a depth of a different type of the sea flavor smooth/slight creamy, nutty and BOLD. The crispy texture of the bladderwrack mix with the muscle emulsion literally punches each other within my mouth as if they're each trying to be the apex flavor back and forth. This represents the essence of nature itself, animals vs plants fighting for the seat of the ocean throne that leaves a torrent of flavor waves crashing, then subsiding as the waves recede leaving the aftermath of a devastating battle on my palate.

Several courses later, the Scallop. Like most food, the scallops quality is top notch, thinly sliced wrapped around a thin cylinder of turnip to increase the surface area in order to soak up the jus, but what stood out more was the Scallop Jus that accompanied the dish. Meticulous thoughts went into utilizing every part of the animal to heighten it's flavor. The jus was crisp and clear with extreme depth of flavor of the mollusk, but this depth was a huge contrast from the previous dishes in terms of how it danced on the palate. This dish was more like the "calmness within the eye of the storm". In the cold weather of NYC December, the warmth and serene jus of scallop warms ones soul and relaxes ones mind. It's as if I'm being caudle by the mother of pearls within a giant clam in the deepest part of the ocean, undisturbed by even the storm that's brewing.

The Lobster was amazing! It redefines the term "surf and turf". The lobster It was perfectly cooked, soft, juicy in its natural sweetness, hint of smokey flavor, on the sides were caviar packed with briney and nutty aftertaste. Black truffle brings a new bold flavor of earthy and nutty flavor to top it off with foam from chanterelle mushroom. Again, BOLD flavors where I envision the funguses trying to decompose and absorb the flavors of the lobster and in turn, the lobster and caviar struggling to survive by fighting back using their last ditch effort to claim as the apex flavor.

Langoustine perfectly cooked, redgoose berry jam had light notes of sweet and tangy, mix it all up with the caramelized shell-foam of the creature, using every part of the animal to heighten it's essence

Last is the Hake fish, caviar from Kaluga and roe from trout, bathed in a mixture of jus that taste nutty, smokey, slight hint of acid, with savory aftertaste. The hake texture was crisp and firm, similar texture to a perfectly cooked crab.

Fredrick was not shy at all when playing with BOLD flavors that created these amazing masterpiece. I really hope he and his amazing staff receives a...

I admittedly walked to Aska after doing a quick google search of any unique restaurants in the area as it was my last evening in NYC and the previous night I hadn’t felt well so I stayed in I thought a treat for myself was in order. General consensus online at a glance stated reservations not necessary for small parties. When I walked in the place only had 2 tables seated out of the 10 -I was met with a couple of glares from the staff ( I was wearing casual clothing black hoodie, blue jeans , and sneakers). I was asked if I had a reservation , then I was told “let me ask the kitchen if we can serve a table of 1”, all of a sudden all 8 cooks turn their heads to look at me, the matron comes back and says the kitchen will serve a table of one and have a HEAVY reminder of the “general” ticket price of the experience ( for those wondering and I do understand why it’s expensive and limited however they can make the experience a bit better when expressing that ONLY the tasting 13-14 course menu for 1 person will cost about $295/300 a person by the end of the night if you were to get a decent bottle of wine to pair your looking at $700/person after taxes and gratitude). Being handed to a waiter I was sat in the eye of the storm of the restaurant - being front and center table between the front door and the facing kitchen it left a looming feeling since I had 1-3 employees behind me at all times within 10 feet of the door but also the chefs constant glares didn’t really help minimize the feeling of being under the microscope *Please note to the public please appropriately tip especially in areas where cost of living is incredibly expensive and when a unique service like what Aska provided - although my experience was a bit rough I still cherish the work put in by the kitchen and staff as each dish was truly amazing. In the end I ended up feeling like the freak of the show while just simply trying to explore and enjoy new experiences. I appreciate some of the staff attempting to break the ice but as someone who lands on the autism spectrum I generally don’t do well with forced conversation and would rather be left alone. All of this just led the whole experience to become a battle of enjoying my fantastic meal, and nauseating anxiety from hearing staff comments, hearing and knowing I was being judged in some way or another. Without getting much further off track general consensus : amazing food- expect the course experience of the New York/Scandinavian tough love. I hope my next visit to NYC I’m able to have a better...

To sum up my experience at aska in one word, I would go with inspired. The Chef is clearly at the top of his game and is striving to push himself to the absolute pinnacle of his abilities. Interestingly, you can clearly see the Chef's influence everywhere you look and in everything you experience from arriving at the restaurant to departing. Arriving is like discovering a hidden gem tucked away in Brooklyn just across and down and to the left of the Brooklyn Bridge when approaching from Manhattan, the location is stunning and absolutely perfect, it is clear immediately that is no accident. Upon entering the boldness of the largely black interior floods your vision, I would say a minimalistic design by someone that understands how to execute on this style. The black is expertly used to bring focus to the beauty and elegance of simple well executed pieces throughout the space. The quality of the chairs and clear effort that must have went into making them, the sign itself, the menu. Minimalistic designs can be pretty severe in nature, harsh, slanted towards extremely plain, when well executed they bring focus to simple things done extraordinarily well, the beauty of a wood grain, the complexity in the design of a table or chair, the simple yet complex exposed kitchen. The staff, top notch, fun, execute with precision with a common mission of exceeding expectations. We had the chance to meet the chef briefly, as expected, almost a bit introverted, likely thinking about how to infuse magic into his next creation, likely a genius, certainly an impressive, humble, yet confident person, exudes passion. The food, my review is already too long but oh my, to say I was exasperated with delight would be an understatement to the extreme. The food, for lack of a better term, was perfect. If I had one meal I could pick as my last, aska would currently fill that position. One can only hope in a lifetime I can find its equal, if I didn't, I wouldn't be disappointed, as close to the perfect dining experience I've ever had. Thank you everyone at Aska for a completely magical evening, I am...