Dooms Day Love

A reader of NY Grub Street Blog recently wrote in saying that he was about to have surgery that might permanently impair his sense of taste and he was looking for recommendations of places to go for his potential last few meals.

Hearing of his plight, Eric Ripert agreed to cook the fellow a special Doomsday Menu at his 4-star seafood restaurant, Le Bernardin.

Ripert was the guest judge in the penultimate top chef episode. I liked how he spoke a bit in the abstract. He seemed like a genuine guy. He said that Hung was technically accomplished but his food had no soul, etc. And he reprimanded another chef for offering a choice between two cheeses to go with his dish instead of taking ownership of the flavors he constructed.

Ripert's Dooms Day Menu:

Green salad, breaded fish sticks with homemade tartar sauce. Everything paired with diet coke and an ice cream sundae for dessert.

Actually, it's going to be the following:

FLUKE
White-Soy-Yuzu-Marinated Fluke; Seaweed and Spiced “Rice Crispies”
Riesling, Château Bela, Slovakia 2003

LOBSTER
Warm Poached Lobster; Sweet-Pea-Verbena Mousseline; Chilled Grapefruit Broth
Mas de Daumas Gassac, Vin de Pays de L’Hérault 2006

CALAMARI
Sautéed Calamari Filled With Sweet Prawns and Wood-Ear Mushroom; Calamari Consommé
Grüner Veltliner Federspiel, Emmerich Knoll, Austria 2005

WILD SALMON
Barely Cooked Wild Alaskan Salmon; Daikon, Snow Peas, and Enoki Salad; Sweet-Pea-Wasabi Sauce
Muscat Grand Cru Speigel, Jean Pierre Dirler, Alsace 2003

TURBOT
Wild Turbot; Shiso-Maitake Salad; Lemon-Miso Broth
Puligny Montrachet le Trézin, Marc Colin 2004

ESCOLAR
White Tuna Poached in Extra-Virgin Olive Oil; Sea Beans and Potato Crisps; Light Red Wine Béarnaise
Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts, Daniel Rion 2001

APRICOT
Roasted Apricots, Black-Sesame Panna Cotta, Cherry Granité, Soy Caramel
Tokaij Aszu 5 Puttonyos, Disznoko, Hungary 1999

“EGG”
Milk Chocolate Pot de Crème, Caramel Foam, Maple Syrup, Maldon Sea Salt

I maybe understand 15 percent of the words on the menu.

Questions:
1) Will Ripert willingly cook a celebration meal if the guy gets his wisdom teeth removed without complications?
2) Does memory of tastes fade after losing your sense of taste?
3) Once you lose your sense of taste, does everything taste like tofu?

This story makes me want to watch "Eat Drink Man Woman" and that woody allen movie in which at a certain point he suffers from sudden onset blindness.