Last Night: LQ @ SK, Rabbit Albondigas & Ant Larvae Tacos

By Elina Shatkin Tue., May 24 2011 at 12:19 PM

Categories: Last Night, Pop-up Restaurants

The showstopper at last night's preview of the LQ @ SK pop-up dinner series -- that'd be chef Laurent Quenioux cooking at Starry Kitchen -- came in the third course. After an escamole amuse bouche, the ant larvae served as a spicy, tangy taco filling punched up by a peppery green leaf wrap... Before a plate of fried veal sweetbreads and blistered shishito peppers on a bed of black japonica rice that had been pureed to a sweet, nutty pulp... There were the rabbit albondigas, perfectly tender meatballs served with a slice of browned foie and a stalk of crisp green garlic tempura.

It arrived with a small pitcher of miso broth that Starry Kitchen owner Nguyen Tran carefully poured into the bowl while chortling, "Yummy, yummy, yummy." He swears that makes it taste it better, but, really, it doesn't need any help.

The dish is the apex of the French/Asian, Quenioux/Starry Kitchen fusion experiment and, hopefully, a harbinger of terrific menus to come. We're not ashamed to say that after we finished chewing, we picked up the bowl and drank the broth to its dregs.

The LQ @ SK series, a five-course, prix-fixe dinner ($45; BYOB with wine pairings suggested by Domaine LA), kicks off June 5th and happens every other week for at least the rest of the summer, maybe longer. Starry Kitchen should be announcing menu and reservation details for the series later today on their blog.