Fettuccine (w/ oysters, mascarpone and tarragon)

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
November 22, 2006

ESCA
402 W 43rd St
@ 9th Ave
New York, NY 10036
212-564-7272

Well, who would have thought that towards the end of the month, my meals just keep getting better?!

Whenever my sister and I go see a Broadway play, we usually have dinner at Esca afterwards. It’s the perfect choice because by 10pm, we inevitably think that we just want something light and the crudo — Italian raw fish — at Esca fits the bill. Of course, once there, we always end up eating more than we had anticipated. But there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when your tummy is so tickled by all the good food coming out of Dave Pasternack’s kitchen. This was the night before Thanksgiving, and Dave was at the restaurant still cooking and taking care of customers until close to midnight.

So the story goes like this: Mike Osinski delivers his Widow’s Hole oysters to top Manhattan restaurants every Wednesday, including to Esca. Mike mentioned that Dave had made a soup with these oysters once, so for a week straight, I kept calling the restaurant, asking if they were serving oyster soup for dinner. The answer was always, “No. Call back tomorrow. We change our menu daily.” Eventually, I gave up. The agony of not being able to taste this soup and trying so desperately to track it down was eating me up inside. So I chose to forget about it. Naturally, I mentioned this to Dave, and he said that it was Wednesday so he would make an oyster pasta for us, using the shipment of Widow’s Hole oysters he just received, even though it wasn’t on the menu today. I was elated!

We started with the taste of 3 types of scallop crudo: Peconic Bay served simply natural, Nantucket Bay with chervil, and Diver with tangerine pressed olive oil. The Diver scallop is what’s normally on the menu and is the largest of the three types of scallops, but the other two were a special treat. I love raw scallops in general but am not a huge fan of Diver scallops. Of the three, my favorite was the Peconic Bay in its natural state. The Nantucket Bay was also yummier than the Diver, and slightly brinier than the Peconic Bay, which is smoother and sweeter. We enjoyed the scallops along with a mixed green salad that was also delicious! Despite being slightly overdressed, the quality and variety of greens were superior to most salads I’ve tasted.

The star dish of the evening was definitely the fettuccine with oysters, mascarpone and tarragon. While this pasta sounds heavy, it’s pleasantly pure and clean tasting. I prefer my oysters raw, but Mike’s oysters were cooked and well used in this instance. Combining the creaminess of the mascarpone cheese with a hint of anise aroma from the tarragon showcases Dave’s faculty in using the subtle strengths of different ingredients to create a unified masterpiece! I’m still dreaming about it. But I know I will probably have to wait until next Wednesday before I can head over to Esca again for my oyster pasta fix.

While the play we saw turned out to be a dud, our dinner at Esca was spectacular and stole the show for the evening!

Also in Hell’s Kitchen, Italian, Pasta, Seafood