Tuome- fusion!?!

Last updated on February 13, 2016

I hate the word fusion. It’s Been so overused. And everything seems to be fusion anyway. Take Chinese food for example. Do we want to call crab Rangoon a fusion dish? Seriously, there’s no such thing as crab Rangoon in all of China. It’s clearly something Chinese Americans dream up and put it on the menu, and Americans order it. So is it fusion?

Having said that, I have no choice but to declare that Toume is a fusion restaurant. Partly French, partly american, partly Chinese. I hope that chef Thomas Chen won’t find it insulting that we call his food fusion. After-all, he is Chinese, with influence of Jean Georges, Eleven Madison Park and Commerce. Toume is a small cozy place in alphabet city. Brick walls, wood furniture, dim industrial lighting. Its a comfortable spot that feels like home.

There were 4 cocktails on the menu, and we had them all and love them. Each one has distinctive different taste. And I love the Jade Ginger the most. May be it is because of the hot weather.

THE JADE GINGER(left)—vermouth, cucumber, celery bitters
So refreshing!!! Very cucumber. There is a hint of ginger’s spicy in the aftertaste, that keeps me wanting more. The roasted sesames around the edge were very good too.

EAST VILLAGE BLOSSOM(right)—brut rose, hibiscus and blood orange
FIRE IN THE SKY

taro clip and cream cheese with spice and sesame sprinkle. But just one taro chip?!? 🙁

EGG— deviled, crispy, chili
Really like the devil egg. So simple but has so many different texture. Its like a very good scotch egg wrap with panko, deep fried and sichuan spicy sauce on top.

OCTOPUS — pork xo, brown butter, fingerling potato
House-made XO sauce (caramelized pork, Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, garlic chives, fish sauce and pine nuts) is crunchy, but a bit dry, and totally separated from the octopus. A bit disconnected. The octopus is crispy on the outside and tender insider, but the juice had been lost.

VEAL— asparagus, lapsang sochong, shishito

DUCK— pea shoot, grapefruit, chinkiang
We didn’t order the PIG OUT, just because we wanted to try more things. And also because, we believe that it would be no match to the traditional “Chinese crispy pork”. Both main courses we have were very “modernly” plated. But other than the ginger/ scallion garnish on the duck, I don’t see how these two are “fusion”. To me they are very “American”. Honestly I was disappointed. Asian, particular Chinese are known to marinate the meat. The veal and duck obviously did not get that treatment. Yes, it was cooked to the perfect temperature, but even with juice, they were blend if without the sauce.

PEA SHOOT— fermented shallot, sichuan chili
Pea shoot which is in season, is very fresh and nicely cooked. Could have use a little more sichuan chili sauce though.

Dessert is Chinese beignets with vanilla ice-cream, red bean and goat milk caramel. Doesn’t matter how you dress it up. It is still deep fried bun, and we have no interest in that… at the end of the dinner, chef Thomas came out and greet every diner. A very nice touch. so… I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. (May, 2015)