I had an extremely busy and successful business week in New York with Nagatani-en (the donabe producer) people from Iga, Japan. On our final evening, we had dinner at David Chang's Ma Peche. Everything in the menu is meant to share here. 4 of us ordered many dishes and enjoyed many different flavors.
Vermont Cultured Butter with Ma Peche's housemade sourdough bread. Oysters (3 different kinds) from East Coast.
Summer Rolls (with shrimp), Crispy Pig's Head (from Newman's Farm, MO), Summer Bean Salad (from Satur Farm, NY), Beef Tartare (Niman Ranch).
Veal (from Provitello Farms, NY), Swordfish (from Montauk, NY), and Pork Chop (from Bev Eggleston, VA). Pork chop was a $68 platter and it was huge! The meat was so succulent and very tasty.
Side dishes...Cavalo Nero with duck ham, Pea Shoot.
Cheese course...Coupole (Vermont), Battenkill Brebis (New York), Harbison (Vermont), Pawlett (Vermont), Landaff (New Hampshire), and Caveman Blue (Oregon).
I also liked their wine list. It's not huge, but it's a very smart list, with a wide selection of wines from Jura! We even had Macvin du Jura (by Domaine Macle) at the end of the dinner.
Godme Pere et Fils, Champagne 1er Cru Reserve (Verzenay)...50% Ch, 15%PN, 35%PM. Very elegant and smooth. Baguette, spice, minerals.
2007 Thiery Weber, "Gebling", Gruner Veltliner (Kremstal, Austria)...from their top vineyard. Dry herbs, spice, medium-rich body.
2004 Ar.Pe.Pe, Valtellina Superiore, "Grumello Rocca de Piro" (Lombardia)...Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo) 100%. Aged for over 2 years in large oak barrel. Very intense and rich/ smooth body. It was really great with the pork.
What a feast! We had a great time. Our waiter, Aaron, was very nice, too.
After dinner, we walked to the bar at MOMA for more drinks.
It was a wonderful night. I had such a special time with Nagatani-en people and shared our love for their donabe and Iga-yaki. They went back to Iga and I went back to LA the next day. Now I miss them so much.
Happy donabe life.
