Archive for September 2012
Fond keeps killing it
t says: A gaggle of peeps went to Fond recently. I was slated to go, however, felt a bit under the weather, so the other 7 had to go on without me. Fortunately, a and v and g paid attention and reported back … (but took no pictures …)
August 2012, Friday Dinner, Party of 7.
g says: The crudo was the best crudo they’ve ever made! And I had the beef … it was delicious as always.
a says: We had three appetizers. The foie has no equals, and it was somehow made even better by the lemon-ricotta. (Note to Fond: Where can I find this stuff?) The speck wrapped shrimp was OK, though I was warned by Steve (t explains: Steve is Fond’s charming, bigger-than-life waiter) that it wouldn’t hold-up to the foie. I actually think the corn risotto under the shrimp was more interesting. (v jumps in: Actually, the risotto dish is second to the pigs feet at Bibou on v’s list of favorite dishes in Philly.) For my main, they do the best skate wing I’ve ever had, but I don’t know I’ve had it anywhere else. Whatever, it rocks. v’s spanish octopus had good texture and a lot of flavor, and not surprisingly, she wasn’t sharing much. They accommodated v and I’s sharing of the cheesecake by pre-splitting and serving two plates. The cheesecake and shortbread cookie went together perfectly, resulting in a lighter, summer dessert . The service was outstanding in that we are treated like family (or at least a second cousin). We appreciated the honesty about the menu and thoughtfulness when serving of the staff. We can’t wait to go back and share a few more shots with them in their new location. Hopefully they’ll still be on the house.
t says: Sure, there were more stories and more people who had impressions about the food, but because I haven’t interrogated them, personally, I don’t want to put down what I heard they might have said – that’d be heresay. The gist, however, is that the food continues to rock at Fond. Actually. If anything, it sounds like it’s even a little better than before, as the desserts which I kinda-sorta-poo-pooed last time were very well-received by the group. We’re happy for their success and wish them luck in the future … even if they do move to a new venue with a liquor license …
imitating nutella
t says: Nutella is for me what Sriracha is for kp: it could go on pretty much anything, and I’d be happy. You can imagine my surprise then during my last grocery escapade when I cam across a Nutella imitation … by Jif!
“choosey moms choose Jif …”
Feeling the need to do some investigative journalism (and the need for an excuse to shove more chocolate-flavored goodness in my mouth), I decided to do the above three-way comparison. No – I have no idea why I thought to include peanut butter, but it seemed like a good idea at the time (in truth, I probably included it because it was right next to the other two in our pantry).
nutritional information
I decided to first compare the labels. I was tempted to call the original Nutella “healthier” than Jif’s version … but then I realized that because both are kinda-sorta-really-awful for you (I mean, seriously, who’s eating either of these thinking that they’re “healthy”?), the minute differences are silly to point out. They both have a lot of fat. They have a lot of sugar. Period. What is interesting, however, is the picture of Nutella’s “example of a tasty yet balanced breakfast”. Yea – I’m pretty sure that the inclusion of Nutella contributes absolutely nothing to the overall “balance”/completeness of that breakfast … as demonstrated by Nutella recently losing a lawsuit over the claims of promoting healthy eating. Sorry Nutella – you’re not fooling anyone.
straight-up!
On to the taste-test! I elected to start by eating a bit of each of them straight-up. I thought for sure that Jif would have a different texture than Nutella – but I was wrong – it’s very similar. Kudos to Jif for being able to emulate that oddly-soft-yet-cohesive-and-sticky quality of Nutella; I thought for sure that they’d screw it up and make it texturally similar to peanut butter. As for taste, I can say that Nutella and Jif are indeed different. Nutella is smooth-as-a-baby’s-bottom: it’s creamy/milky the whole way through, with a gradual onset and recession of a smooth hazelnut flavor. It’s like the tide rolling in and leaving. Jif, on the other hand is punchier. On top of the milk chocolate and hazelnut is some kind of tangy/zippy flavor throughout that I feel is most similar to a pistachio. Consequently, the Jif is more dynamic – it draws attention to the fact that there’s some kind of nutty flavor going on – it’s more like throwing in a few strikes of lightning to an otherwise serene rolling of the tide. Could I tell them apart had I not tasted them next to eachother? Unsure. But there’s a definite difference when you do …
and again … with accompaniments!
I then went back and tasted them again with honey wheat pretzels and then again with prunes. What was odd is that I liked the Nutella with the pretzel (that creaminess is nicely balanced with the pretzel’s salt and mild wheatiness – whereas the Jif’s extra nuttiness masked everything), but preferred the Jif with the prune (the extra nuttiness was useful against the palate-dominating plum flavor).
So I guess this means that for crazy people, there might be individual roles for both spreads. And while I’m pretty crazy, I’m not so crazy that I’d stock them both. So who’s going to “win” the next time I go to the grocery store? Well, after they run out (I mean, obviously I’m going to have to work my way through them both), I anticipate that I’ll return to the Nutella – that creaminess is just too addictive. Jif did a great job (a spoonful of Jif hazlenut spread works just as well as Nutella in picking up your mood after a tough day) – but there’s something about the original that just can’t be beat …
paris 2013
t says: It just got real. g and I have never been, but now it’s settled: plane tickets have been booked (hooray for Chase Points! It’s only going to cost us $700 for 2 tickets, non-stop, round-trip!). Accommodations are very-nearly-booked. If anyone has any suggestions of places to go/see/stay/eat, hit us back in the comments or email us: afterdinnersneeze@gmail.com.
after dinner sneeze 