after dinner sneeze

t says:  g and I revisited one our faves, Talula’s Garden.  Yes, it’s still a great place to go.  Let me just hit you with two highlights because anyone who’s seen our blog already knows that we talk about it WAY too much:

lamb belly appetizer

A long time ago, back when JG Domestic first opened 2 years ago, boasting a whole animal tasting menu featuring lamb and including lamb belly, I knew I had to try it.  After all, I had my pork belly phase, so I reasoned that lamb belly would be just like it, but mo-better by virtue of lamb.  Alas, JG was out of lamb that night (which to this day I haven’t forgiven them for), so I was S.O.L.  Since then, I’ve seen lamb belly on virtual menus, but never at the same time when I was actually in the restaurant serving it … until the above dish.  And yes.  Lamb belly is as good as pork belly in every aspect, but better, by virtue of being lamb.  Go to Talula’s and try this dish.  It’s soft and sweet and gamy.  Beautiful.  Yea, there were some vegetables on the dish, too, but to be honest, I totally forgot about them because I was too busy enjoying the glazed belly …

striped bass with curry sauce, pumpkin, greens

This fish is my new most-perfectly-cooked-fish-in-the-city.  Seriously.  And it didn’t just because the meat of the fish was oh-so-tender-but-cooked-through-perfectly, and not just because it was perfectly infused with flavors that balanced the bass-ness and curry, but also because that skin was absolutely perfectly crisped.  This is a fall fish dish.  Not fussy.  Not complicated.  Just some damn good fish and balanced accompaniments.  Everyone else take note.