Mom's the word.

I went to New York for another whirlwind weekend with my family -- this time celebrating Mother's Day. We had a lovely weekend walking in the gorgeous weather, complete with shopping and good food as usual. We browsed a fabulous rare bookstore, where we found signed first editions of some of our childhood favorites including The House at Pooh Corner, going for $2800. Some books were easily in the tens of thousands, and the most expensive crested into six figures. Needless to say, we didn't buy anything, but we loved finding our old favorites on the shelves. (It's actually been a bit of a tradition of my sisters over the last few years, finding and buying our favorite out-of-print children's books and giving them to Mom for various holidays.)

This weekend we were celebrating not only Mother's Day but also Mom's graduation from an MBA program (her second Master's) which she just finished last week. She's been taking classes online and on the ground for the last few years, and we couldn't be prouder or more excited for her. It seems a little odd, being "proud" of your parents, but I can't think of any other word for it. In my years growing up, it's an understatement to say she was always there: shuttling me from school to various activities, lessons, practices, and rehearsals; quizzing me on spelling words, vocabulary, the periodic table; helping me glue captions on posters in the wee small hours of the morning, bringing me sliced fruit and snacks to keep me going. I just wish I could have been there to do the same as she managed getting her MBA while still running her normal life simultaneously.

An appropriately sumptuous dinner at Daniel marked both the graduation and Mother's Day occasions. Our waiter asked if there was a special occasion, and when we told him, he was so enthusiastic that he brought us not one but TWO surprise dessert plates in addition to what we ordered. Another excellent surprise, Chef Daniel himself actually walked around the dining room, but he had to leave ("for a dinner reservation") before he got to our table (I was a little star-struck anyway).

The tasting menu offered two options for every course, so we basically had the good fortune of a double tasting menu by making sure someone ordered each option for each course. Since the menu ended up being so enormous, here is just a sampling of my favorites from the evening:

Amuse bouche trio featuring spring peas: my favorite "bite" of the three was shrimp with pea puree and a pickled hon-shimeji mushroom

 
First course: Mosaic of poularde, foie gras, and daikon radish set in black trumpet gelee with hazelnuts

Second course: Maine peekytoe crab salad with hibiscus gelee, compressed cucumber, mint oil, and anise hyssop salad

Third course: Mousseron and Swiss chard ravioli with fiddlehead ferns

 
Fourth course: there was a salmon option, but I substituted a red wine reduction-marinated sea bass with bechamel braised leek and a crispy potato crouton (for the record, the cedar-wrapped salmon with bourbon sauce was so delicious and tender that I missed photographing that one as well)

Fifth course: Duo of beef: an insanely flavorful braised short rib with carrot puree, seared Wagyu tenderloin with crispy rosemary polenta and a spring garlic confit

 
Dessert: Molten Guanaja chocolate cake with milk sorbet

Passion fruit-vanilla vacherin with mango-passion fruit chutney, mascarpone chantilly, and crispy meringue wafers

A delightful (and delectable) way to celebrate Mom, all around.