This is another awesome Tasting Collective dining club event we attended in September 2024. (You can read about the previous posts about Tasting Collective events here: Jaz Indian Cuisine, Fish Cheeks, Win Son, FOB, Xixa, Huertas, Bessou, Maharlika, Traif, Lalito, Noreetuh, Traif #2, Txikito, Oka, Xixa2, TabeTomo, Houseman, Nowon, GAUDIr, Contento, NAR, Cecily, 8282, and Meadowsweet). Tasting Collective is a dining club for food lovers, and they offer brunch and dinner at great NYC restaurants. They close off the restaurants for the club, so we get to have the entire restaurant and Chef(s) all to ourselves. So, this is more than just eating food at a restaurant, but you get to have the background story and its passion from the Chef(s), eating 5- to 12- or more course brunch/dinner created specifically for Tasting Collectives. There is a discount code at the end of this blog for those of you who are interested in joining.
This event was held at Ernesto’s, 5-course Bounty of the Basque Region Tasting Event. This restaurant has been features in great lists such as GQ’s List of “Best New Restaurants” and New York Times’s “Top 10 New in the US” and “Top 50 in the US” Lists.
The inside was rather dimly lit, with brick walls and beautiful bar as the main feature. It had that nice cozy, romantic atmosphere. It is not a large space, but big enough to accommodate many customers who loves Spanish cuisine. They had plenty of bar counter seats, and a good amount of table seating.
I liked their lighting fixture, had that modern and antique feel to it mixed together in a cohesive way. Simple yet interesting. The minimal artworks in there were elegant and match the atmosphere perfectly in the space.
We started off with a couple of cocktails. We ordered Hell in a Hand Basqu-ette ($18) and Dicha del Higo ($18). Hell in a Hand Basqu-ette (love the name!) made with Tequila, Lime, Ginger, Pimenton Honey, and Dry Vermouth. It was delicious with a nice kick to it, without being too spicy. Deep mellow flavor from honey, refreshing note from lemon, and strong tequila. Really nice drink. Dicha del Higo is made with Bourbon, Oloroso, and Black Fig. It is like a nice twist on old fashioned, with amazing black fig flavor, so good!!! Amazing drink to relax you in the evening.
The Chef/Owner Ryan Bartlow, who worked at 3-Michelin-Starred restaurants, came out to greet us. He talked about his background, the restaurant, and of course, the food. He talked about his time he spent and trained in Basque region in Spain years ago. Also, how he wanted this restaurant, Ernesto’s, to have that European feel to it, so he designed everything with that in mind with care.
The first course was Tartaleta de Txangurro, which is a crab tart. It is made with stewed, Basque-style Spider Crab, Onion, Carrot, Leek, Tomato, Brandy, Cream, all inside their housemade Tart Shell. It had so much soft juicy crab, and the flavor from the leek and butter was present to compliment the crab. Tart made it easier to eat handheld, so good! The second course was Morcilla con Pimientos, which is their housemade Blood Sausage with 7-hour Roasted Red Pepper, Egg Yolk, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The sausage was soft and juicy with a nice crunch. Super flavorful and earthy. Pepper that was roasted for 7 hours in EVOO was amazing with sausages! Chef Bartlow said they make all of the Pinchos and charcuteries in-house, which is awesome!
The third course was Pescado a la Brasa, which is a Grilled Monkfish, Potato, Onion, Olive Oil, White Wine, Toasted Garlic & Chile. The potatoes that looked similar to scalloped potatoes were great. Its creamy sauce had the perfect amount of seasoning. Monkfish was a bit on the tough side, since they are a more of a tight, firm textured fish, like a lobster, it was just how the fish is, I believe. Still nice and flaky, and really tasty.
The fourth course was Confit de Pato, a Duck Leg Confit, Pommes Purée, Port & Foie Gras Sauce. Duck felt ever-so-slightly overcooked, but the tangy sauce was delicious. I really enjoyed the silky, buttery pommes purée, which was infused with garlic to give extra deep flavor. Speaking of deep flavor, the sauce was really amazing, with duck stock, port wine, and foie gras. That sounds alone is superb, but tasting it was another level. The fifth and the last course was the dessert. It was the Tarta de Queso, a Basque-Style Cheesecake. I love Basque-style cheesecake, and I have made a few myself. It is traditionally made without any curst, just like their cheesecake. It was rich, velvety, and delicious with a little bit of tang. Chef said that he prefers more of a firm texture than most others make to be medium rare. I love it either way. It had a hint of lemon that brighten up the whole thing, and made this rich cake feel a bit light.
Their bathroom is all the way to the left in the back, down the stairs. They had two gender neutral bathroom. I liked the design of the doors, that had the similar lines from the light fixture and such in the restaurant.
The door only had a small metal hook to lock, which was a bit nerve-racking. It doesn’t let others outside know that it is occupied, so others tried very hard to open the door… The inside was a nice size, well-lit, and clean.
Chef was very friendly and talkative, provided lots of great information to us. He talked about he tries to source the ingredients locally and create delicious dishes with simple yet high quality ingredients. We can tell he is very passionate about food and cooking. We had a nice time here at Ernesto’s. Another successful event by Tasting Collective!
For those of you who are interested in joining this great dining club, Tasting Collective, you can use this link to get a discounted annual rate of $125 (over 25% off the normal $165/year) for the first year: https://tastingcollective.com/?invite_code=JUN4346
Ernesto’s – 259 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002