"Can a tasting menu restaurant inside a caviar store from a two-time Top Chef winner avoid feeling gimmicky, even when it has roe sprinkled on a chocolate tartlet, and a bump of kaluga comes standard with the $40 “Dirty Rich Martini?” Huso, which migrated from a 12-seat backroom on the Upper East Side to larger, more elegant digs inside Marky’s Caviar in Tribeca, rises to the challenge with a dozen pretty, earnestly tweezered courses. It’s hard not to be drawn in by the details over the course of three hours. The evening’s first bite looks like a micro terrarium with its own gardening staff: flowers and leaves arranged just so, with a central dollop of caviar that resembles the compound eye of a pollinating insect. An orange blossom meringue comes printed with a painting of orange blossoms. photo credit: Andrew Bui photo credit: Andrew Bui Ultimately, our favorite bite here is an indulgent mid-meal bread service. No quenelle of kaluga or osetra quite reaches its buttery, brioche-y heights. And with the exception of the dessert course—a white truffle mountain served over burbling dry ice—the enchantment mostly fades by the time the check arrives. Still, there are beautiful things to see at Huso, and a few glimmers of greatness. Check it out if you're a deep-pocketed tasting-menu enthusiast who’s happiest when seated behind a crisp white tablecloth. Don’t forget your macro lens. photo credit: Cayla Zahoran Photography photo credit: Cayla Zahoran Photography photo credit: Cayla Zahoran Photography Food Rundown Tasting Menu The 12-course tasting menu is $265 (before tax and gratuity). Four courses come with some form of roe, but additional caviar pairings and caviar flights are available, starting at $120, as well as beverage and truffle pairings. Dishes may change, but here are a few from our last meal: photo credit: Cayla Zahoran Photography King Salmon, Crème Cru, Kaluga Caviar Eyes closed, this is a surprisingly convincing play on lox and cream cheese, but we found ourselves yearning for a proper bagel—or at least a more favorable carbs-to-fixings ratio than the too-few everything croutons included here. video credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Alsace Bacon, German Butterball, Reblochon Cheese This Alpine Munchkin, a gold leaf-topped donutty take on a tartiflette, eats a little gummy, but the small bowl of bacon consommé on the side is lovely, infused with toasted buckwheat for unexpected grassiness. photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick Foie Gras, Shallots, Brioche Housemade brioche appears alongside what looks like a cake pop that lost its stick, but is really a sphere of foie gras parfait, coated in Hudson Valley butter that was churned in Normandy. The brioche is basically poundcake, and all that animal fat atop animal fat sounds like it could be too decadent. Instead, it’s the kind of lifespan-shortening delicacy you don’t often get the chance to eat. Which is probably for the best. photo credit: Cayla Zahoran Photography Dry Aged Duck, Beets, Shiso Before you actually get to eat it, the duck is paraded to your table, surrounded by a wreath of flowers that makes us think of Ophelia drifting down the river. It’s dry aged for 12 days and dipped in maltose, lending it a remarkably crisp and caramelized skin, and served in a beet sauce that makes the plate look like an abstract purple finger painting. An enjoyable dish, but for all the effort, we don’t expect to think about it ever again. video credit: Molly Fitzpatrick White Truffle, Hazelnut, White Chocolate An homage to Alba—famed for its white truffles and views of the snow-capped Alps—this dish is as beautiful as it is bizarre. Served over a misty babbling brook of dry ice, alongside a postcard of Alba and a rhyming poem, it’s a white chocolate-coated mountain of hazelnut caramel and truffle sponge, finished with buttermilk snow. All together, it tastes a little like corn cheese ice cream. It’s a dish we’re not likely to forget, though we're still not sure how we feel about its truffle-on-steroids flavors." - Molly Fitzpatrick
