I confess...I am tempted...
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The Omelet and I
The News' foodie drops a 'grand!' on ritzy caviar frittata: Our Pascale Le Draoulec tucks into creamy confection of lobster, caviar and egg yesterday.
By PASCALE Le DRAOULEC
DAILY NEWS RESTAURANT CRITIC
May 19, 2004
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What happens when you order the $1,000 frittata at Norma's?
You may not get it.
So convinced was our waiter that no sane person would ever drop one grand on breakfast eggs - even some blanketed with caviar - he assumed I had ordered the pedestrian $21 egg-white and rock shrimp frittata instead.
I found it odd that he didn't flinch when I ordered a dish that costs as much as a couch at Crate and Barrel. Are New Yorkers that jaded?
It all became clear when the assistant manager placed the poor man's frittata before me.
His eyes grew wide as poached eggs when I specified which frittata I had ordered.
"Really? You wanted the Zillion Dollar Frittata? Are you sure?" Even he knew this was more gimmick than gastronomy.
The frittata has been on the menu for two weeks but only one person has ordered it thus far: A reporter from the Mirror in London devoured one with vodka Monday after reading about the overpriced omelet in the Daily News.
The profoundly apologetic waiter came around with an impressive fruit plate to tide me over while I waited for chef Emile Castillo from Toulouse, France (more famous for its cassoulet than its omelets), to prepare the frittata personally.
The dish arrived 25 minutes later. No brass band, but some bubbly on the house and a delighted manager clanging a large brass cow's bell.
"This is the first woman to order our famous $1,000 omelet," she announced to the crowd at Norma's, long famous for its decadent all-day breakfasts.
Guests at the Parker Meridien eatery craned their necks to steal a peek - first at the plate and then at the self-indulgent person behind it.
Do not order this dish if you're trying to keep a low profile. Do order it if caviar is your weakness.
The round, six-egg frittata, about 3 inches tall, is topped with 10 ounces of sevruga cloaking succulent chunks of sautéed lobster, which are also incorporated into the fluffy, creamy egg mixture. The omelet itself sits on a raft of sautéed potatoes.
Surprisingly, the frittata, which sports three chive sprigs, comes on the same humdrum, slate "blue plate" as every other dish.
Oscar Varela, a manager at nearby Petrossian Cafe and Boutique, said 10 ounces of sevruga should set you back $500. And though I thought the eggs and the potatoes helped temper the saltiness of the caviar, he disagreed.
"We tell our customers that the best way to eat caviar is by itself."
No matter, the frittata, ample enough to feed four (that makes it a relative bargain!), is delicious.
But can anything ever be $1,000 delicious?
Jean-Max, the Haitian cabbie who drove me back to the office, put it all in perspective.
He couldn't think of a single item he had ever spent $1,000 on. "Six years in this country and I've never thrown away a scrap of food," he said, shaking his head. "Back home, if you told anyone you spent $1,000 on an omelet, they'd call you crazy."
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