Jose Andres’ The Bazaar, Ritz Hotel, NoMAD, NYC

I had been to Jose Andres’ Zaytinya, also in the Ritz Hotel, a couple times, but this was my first The Bazaar experience.

The three of us met to celebrate our birthdays together. Two of us had one in June, the other in October.

I started with their Leatherette ($22), a blend of Torres 20-yr brandy, rye whiskey, east India sherry, sweet vermouth, and lavender bitters garnished with a fresh lavender bud. One other friend had a glass of crisp Godello ($18), Rafael Palacios Louro, Valderorras, Spain 2022; the other with Touriga Nacional Tinta Roriz, Carlos Paposo Ideal, Dão, Portugal ($19).

Our first courses arrived almost at once with our drinks. We couldn’t miss the marinated “Ferran Adria” olives dish with four stuffed with peppers and the exploding ones to be eaten in one bite. I learned that these were an homage to José Andrés’ mentor, Ferran Adrià from the legendary El Bulli in Spain, who first created them.

While enjoying those morsels, the server delivered the not-to-be-missed Wagyu air bread, a tiny baguette injected with Manchego foam and onion jam ($18/piece) and topped with tiny sliced Wagyu. I made a mess, dripping the cheese foam as I bit into the bread, licking my fingers so I wouldn’t miss a drop.

While immersed in savoring those two mind-blowing little starters, a server was at our table slicing jamón Ibérico de bellota to create Josés taco, a one-bite wonder on nori topped with the sliced ham, Ossetra caviar and quail egg! ($16/piece). I would have liked to have had more time to watch him create, but I was still licking the liquid cheese off my fingers.

The food came way too quickly; our drinks and the three little starters were served in the first 10 minutes after ordering! I would have liked more time between courses to savor the fabulous flavors.

We tried the Rossejat “Negra,” ($30) a paella-style squid-ink pasta with sepia sofrito and (5) head-on red shrimp from the Plancha menu. The server told us to twist the heads off and drip the juice onto the pasta to add more flavor. We three scraped the pan to be sure we got every last drop. I’d recommend that, as I would the tender honey-miso glazed eggplant sprinkled with pine nuts, sesame and crispy rice pearls ($16).

The only disappointment was the pricey short rib ($60) missing the menu-promised kombu buttered rice. Don’t get me wrong, the meat was tasty, especially topped with piquillo pepper pil pil, but one small piece for $60?

We all shared the pan chocolate, a tarta de Santiago ($15) with thinly piped chocolate cremeux topped with olive oil ice cream ($10), and one sipped a pot of hot black tea ($18).

Once we reminded them that we mentioned — when asked — that we were all celebrating a birthday, they brought us one delicious slice of birthday cake to share.

We had cocktails, wine, six menu items, a regular dessert, and the birthday one, and were in and out in an hour. That’s way too rushed for a high-end, uncrowded restaurant.