I don’t remember where I got this recipe but if I had to guess it was Chef Eric Ripert, the French chef, author, television personality and to me, the most important part is that he is the Chef-owner of Le Bernardin, the only 3-star Michelin restaurant I have dined in. Located on 51t Street in New York City, I walked past it one evening while going to another place for a business cocktail reception. The reception was part of a real estate conference I had attended earlier in the day. I was in Manhattan for some media meetings and was heading to Philadelphia for another half-day conference the next day, then to Wilmington Delaware to stay with a good friend for a night or two. The reception was good, met people, had a couple cocktails and noshes, then walked right back to Le Bernardin about 8:30 and grabbed a seat at the bar. The bar seats only 7-8 people. I order the three-course tasting menu and started with an ahi tuna crudo.
The second course was very good. Thin slices of Hamachi tuna floating in a yummy sauce that had olive oil and citrus and something else!
The third course was the absolute winner: a surf n turf featuring a two ounce piece of Kobe beef with a roasted scallop and braised bok choy. It was the best damn piece of meat I’d ever had.
I asked the server if I could just have two more pieces of that beef. The request was so rare, apparently, that the next thing I knew the manager was standing by my side qualifying that I really wanted two more pieces of meat, because, and he lowered his voice for this, they were $80 apiece. I said, yes, and one more glass of that red wine please. The tab was over $400 (with two glasses of wine) and well worth it.
About that arugula salad dressing, it’s good with other lettuces but magical with arugula. Must be the bitterness of the arugula – some chemical reaction perhaps. I added two things to the recipe, the sugar and the dill. I just thought that would take a little of the bite out of it (the sugar) and I was right, and also the dill, to add an ever-so-slight herb flavor to the dressing. The key is the oil. I tried making this with olive oil when I didn’t have the sunflower oil. Nope!
The Ultimate Arugula Salad Dressing
½ cup Sunflower Oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar (slightly more)
¼ cup soy sauce (slightly less)
1.5 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1.5 Tablespoon minced shallot
½ teaspoon granular white sugar
A few dashes of dried dill
A few dashes of black pepper
A pinch of finely ground sea salt, kosher salt, or a couple dashes of table salt from a salt shaker