Bite of the Best

“Outstanding!”

“Hot.”

“The most talented young new chef.”

That’s New York culinary folks talking about George Mendes, the Portuguese-American chef whose open-kitchen restaurant Aldea — the Portuguese word for village —  in the Flatiron District has become the talk of the town.

Most everything I tried was an interesting melange of colors, textures and flavors.

The only disappointment was one of his small-plate petiscos — sort of a pre-appetizer tapas — the Sea Urchin Toast ($9) with layers of  fresh sea urchin laid over a thin toast stick that had been spread with cauliflower cream. Although other reviewers rave about this dish, the flavor blend was too bland for my taste buds; I may need to try it again.

From there it was all uphill. The appetizer of Migliorelli Farms’ Peas and Tennessee bacon ($15), was an ethereal blend of a soft-poached egg, green garlic, smoky bacon, peas and truffle slivers with flavors that exploded with each bite. A must try. The other appetizer of Baby Cuttlefish ($14), consisted of tender baby cuttlefish that were soaked in brine before being seared on the plancha, then combined with coconut-curry foam, squid ink and caramelized lychee.

He serves the trio of just-seared Maine Diver Scallops ($27) with a farro risotto tossed with lightly pickled cucumber.  My favorite dish: his Arroz de Pato ($22) — a sort of modern paella of saffron rice with olives and crisp rounds of chorizo in saffron rice mixed with soft chunks of duck confit and crisp duck cracklings, then topped with tender pink duck breast slices. Superb.  A glass of Tempranillo Pesquera Ribera del Duero ’05 ($16) perfectly complemented it.

The ending: a delightful Chevre Cheese Parfait ($8), with a delicate chevre, poached plums, nectarines and honey ice cream.

StarChefs (said to be an online magazine for culinary insiders) selected George Mendes as one of New York’s Rising Stars for 2009, basing their choice on creativity, ambition, exquisite presentation and, most importantly, a delicious product — which I can vouch for!