Moody Tongue expanded their brewery to include The Bar, a casual restarant with snacks and drinks, and The Dining Room, a fine dining option which is paired with beer at the highest caliber, striving to unite beer and cuisine in an unprecedented, interactive way.  Chef Jared Wentworth was recruited by Moody’s President and Brewmaster Jared Rouben when they expanded their operation to include fine dining in 2019.   The small 28 seat dining room offers only a 15 course tasting menu alongside specialty beer pairings.  The Dining Room has recieved a 2 Michelin star rating.  It’s a dark room with dark wood walls, black tables and chairs and low lighting.  Music is in the background and some windows looks out to the street but they are covered with blinds.  They offer 2 seatings (5:30 & 8:30) each evening that start promptly and have a tough cancellation policy, so be sure before you book.  Everyone seemed to get the beer pairings with their tasting and they are a bargain at just $45pp.  It was a younger, more casual crowd but the service people felt programmed with their introductions of the dishes and often picked up the plates while you were still chewing.  The plates were often lost with so many ingredients.

Facility

 

Tasting Menu

The Aperitif Pilsner is served first in a tall flute and that stays with you all evening with endless refills, in addition to the specialty beers made to accompany the courses.  I’ve posted pictures of some of the beers with the courses they came with.

 

Kaluga caviar was underneath a pink moon oyster, and nasturtium oil that were cradled in a white chocolate shell. Warm oyster vin blanc was added at the table which mostly melted the white chocolate.  You were to stir it all together before you ate it.  It was creamy and the chocolate made it on the sweet side of flavors.  It was a very good start.

 

Bussan Crab chawanmushi with shungiku no goma-ae, mashua, dashi, peanut and chili were presented in a small cup on a plate of rocks.  It did have some chili on top that made it seem really spicy but it gradually blended in to the dish and wasn’t too much.  The custard was smooth and good with the tasty crabmeat.  The few peanuts mangaged to add a strong flavor to the mix.

 

Hokkaido Sea Urchin was on beet falafel and seasoned with fermented tahini and shiso.  It was supposed to be picked up as one bite but I found it way too large for that.  The falafel was very dense and gritty and overwhelmed the lovely delicate flavor of the urchin.

 

Madai Sashimi was plated with parsnip misozuke, ginger purée, sudachi and wasabi.  It was a jelly-like fish and very mild so good to mix with all the other flavors. The wasabi was fresh and way mild to the usual stuff.   It was good.

 

Japanese Ezo Scallop was plated with buttered popcorn grits, rutabaga, preserved lemon and brown butter tamari espuma.  The scallop was seared to a nice crisp on just one side and fairly tough inside – almost like lobster.  It had good flavor though and I really liked the popcorn grits.

 

Striped Bass was plated with brandade galette, winter citrus, chorizo hollandaise and red bean tuile.  The fish was seared nicely but fairly strong tasting.  Not a favorite.

 

Surf and Turf contained Maine lobster with veal sweetbreads, seaweeds, black truffle dashi, lardo and smoked eel.  The sweetbreads were nicely fried and on a separate plate with scallions and aioli. They were not creamy but cooked perfectly with a frying technique.   The bowl had the lobster sitting on a slice of something with smoked eel, truffle and seaweed. I wasn’t sure if the lardo melted but I couldn’t find it.  The lobster didn’t have much texture and the other parts gave it a ‘fishy’ essence that I didn’t care for.  They didn’t give you a knife with the course and that presented some challenge.

 

Hudson Valley foie gras creme caramel was topped with finger lime and puffed lentil in a sauce of satsuma orange.  The lentils added a good crunch to the smooth custard that was infused with the foie gras.  The sauce went well with the dish.  It was rich and good.

 

Perigord truffle, percorino, al tartufo and koji butter topped a ParkerHouse roll.    Some white truffle was stuffed into the roll.  The dark truffles on the top had the most flavor.  The roll was not warm, which would have enhanced the effect, and on the dry side.  It was nicely done but only tasted okay.

 

Roast Long Island duckling breast was presented with smoked pumpkin, quince, sweet potato, hedgehog mushroom and kumquat gastrique.  The sweet potato dumplings were good as was the duck.  Some apple mostarda was there to enhance the duck.  There were a lot of things on this plate.

 

Westholme wagyu was plated with escargot, tallow poached roots, pomme la roue and madeira.  The potato was crisp and the snail nicely chewy.  A variety of poached root vegetables went okay with the nicely cooked beef.

 

The first dessert was Blakeville creamery afterglow with air bread, candy cap mushroom and red onion jam.  Most of the things on the plate were good but there were just so many.

 

Cranberry sorbet with grapefruit and pear was floating in beer – the apricot berliner weisse.  This had nice fruit flavors and blended nicely with the beer.

 

 Chamomile panna cotta was accented with honeycomb candy, aperol gel, black sesame and citrus.  The panna cotta was smooth and creamy and the gel tasty.  This was a good one.

 

Carré au chocolate with candied hazelnuts, balsamic vinegar and tonka bean ice cream was the last dessert.  The chocolate was brownie-like and helped by the ice cream.  It was good.

 

With the check came a passion fruit jelly that was tart.  You also got a single bottle tote with a ‘Michelin beer’ to take with you and a copy of the night’s menu.