On the search for the best fine dining in Connecticut brings us to The Luke Brasserie in New Haven.
The Luke
Inside the space is beautiful, with high ceilings and simple tables.
To the food!
Bread and butter
A bite of the bread gives you this extremely dry sensation.
You first think it’s the bread, but then realize the butter is somehow drying your mouth out.
The butter is in texture closer to a fresh cheese, with some olive oil and fresh herbs in it.
Because it is! It is a pea and spring onion ricotta (had to be corrected on this).
It’s nice, but its still just bread and butter ricotta.
The Rating: Bread & Butter
6/10
White Asparagus
White asparagus with cheese and black truffle.
The truffle flavor is incredibly heavy.
So overpowering that you can’t actually taste the asparagus.
The asparagus is more of a chilled vehicle for fatty cheese and truffle flavor.
Everything is in balance, although the sensation of cold asparagus with a creamy fatty cheese is odd.
It’s still good.
The Rating: White Asparagus
7/10
Duck Breast
Candied hazelnuts, Pears, and a port sauce.
The Duck itself is a little undercooked, which can be concerning for some people.
The quality, however, is excellent.
The skin is fatty with and excellent crispness to it.
There is a lot going on on the plate, with each bite being some slightly different combination of flavors.
But it’s still very good, and you can just dig in wherever you want.
The best part, however, is when things get simple.
Just the duck, with the skin, and the port sauce.
The Rating: Duck Breast
7/10
Almond Pots de Creme
This is almost like one of those little Italian almond cookies.
It is incredibly mild on flavor, so much so that you aren’t actually sure you are eating anything.
The dominant flavor is close to graham cracker.
It’s okay, not the best end to an otherwise really good meal.
The Rating: Almond Pots de Creme
6.5/10
If that were the meal I would say The Luke is a nice fine dining establishment.
But there was one other piece to the meal that was breathtaking.
One I’ve saved for last, but it was actually the first course.
Yellowfin Tuna in Brown Butter
This is three chunks of lightly seared but mostly raw yellowfin tuna in a butter sauce covered with fresh herbs.
When it is brought to your table, a pot of scalding hot brown butter is brought along.
Then, a spoonful of brown butter is placed over each yellowfin tuna piece, giving it a quick flash fry at your table.
Theatrics aside, this dish is one of the best things I have eaten this year.
The yellowfin tuna is providing the bulk of the flavor, with the brown butter lending an even heavier fattiness to it, while the fresh herbs, slightly charred by the brown butter, gives a freshness.
It is incredible.
I wanted to keep this by my table and eat it slowly throughout the whole meal.
Even after the yellowfin tuna was eaten up, I eyes the bread, and hoping no one saw me, just started dipping it in the brown butter and herbs.
The whole dish is amazing.
Let’s hope it becomes a staple.
The Rating: Yellowfin Tuna in Brown Butter
9/10
Address: 261 College St, New Haven, CT 06510
Hours: Sunday 2pm to 10pm
Monday Closed
Tuesday to Friday 4pm to 10pm
Saturday 2pm to 10pm