Archive for the ‘in Philadelphia’ Category
Bibou: Their Hanger Steak Reigns Supreme
t says: After a seemingly never-ending hiatus, we’re back!! And there’s tons to do. The problem is that the longer we’ve been away, the less I remember about the places we’ve been, so I guess I’d better get crackin!
6/2010, Sunday 9:30pm, Party of 2. Ahhh, Bibou. How we love thee. Not the least bit pretentious. Not super-spendy. No glitz or glam. Just good food. We had to choose one BYO for our anniversary dinner, and Bibou was our first choice. We had originally scheduled dinner there after the Idina Menzel concert at the Mann Center in Fairmount Park, but sensing that she would run late, we rescheduled to a Sunday. As a side note, Idina is absolutely silly … but we think it makes her awesome-er. Yea – and she can sing your socks off (the Philadelphia Orchestra was also great, too!).
We arrived at Bibou and were promptly seated. I forgot how small the place was. It didn’t matter – we wanted small. The waiter asked if we would like our wine, and, noting that it had already been opened (I wanted the wine to breathe some before we actually got to dinner), asked if I wanted it decanted any more. I had never had such an offer at a BYO. I kind of wanted to say yes just to test their wine service, but didn’t really want to draw attention to ourselves – after all – it is a small place.
The meal was their fixed price Sunday 4-course dinner.
The first was a chilled cauliflower soup. It was surprisingly good. No, it wasn’t super-complex, but it had a lightness despite being what appeared to be a creamy soup (maybe it was just a really smooth cauliflower puree). It was perfect for summer, and a great start to the meal.
For the second course, I went for the escargots and g went for the duck liver terrine. Yes, the escargot were as good as I remember. g was perfectly happy with the duck liver terrine, but confesses that it’s not the type of dish that she dreams about … Sorry we’re short on details for these two – but it’s because the next course was just too memorable …
We actually both ordered the same dish for the third course – there’s just something about the hanger steak that just KILLS IT. It has just the right balance of savory and herb. The asparagus reminded me of the asparagus omelettes my dad would make on Sunday morning breakfasts when we used to invite over the extended family. The potatoes were addictive. The meat had bite, but was tender, and, unlike at some places, was substantially large. g said she liked it even more than the steak served in Cochon’s steak-and-eggs brunch dish … and that’s a LOT.
I opted for the pistachio ice cream, while g had some sort of berry tart. Alone they were good. Together they were a perfect combination that lent an air of humility to the meal – it was like eating a warmed slice of pie with a scoop of ice cream … well, except better. Thus, the dessert was good, but not not quite Zahav-good. But with a meal that was so splendid overall, I really can’t complain. Somewhere in the meal Pierre Calmels came out to greet us. He seemed like such a nice guy. Of course, it would be hard to seem like a bad guy in the face of all of the praise that we were showering on him, but he humbly accepted our comments and wished us a happy anniversary. Indeed, it was a happy anniversary.
g says: i’d like to take a moment and recognize how delightful the tiny complimentary madeleines are at the end of the meal. they are about one-quarter the size of normal madeleines, but probably contain the same amount of butter… mmmm… a must-eat!
also, a note about pierre’s visit to our table — i was a little starstruck, i have to admit (i get that way sometimes, i just can’t help it! and it feels oh-so cool to have such an acclaimed chef offer us his personal attention) but i could barely understand a word he was saying through his thick french accent. it didn’t really matter, though, because every syllable was so dreamily smooth, i just stared at him smiling for most of the conversation. conclusion: i thought he was an impressively nice guy! t thought he was impressively tall…
GTC vs. Distrito: Battle French Toast
t says: That’s right – you read it – a Jose Garces vs. Jose Garces battle. We’re absolutely sure that Jose is going to win. What’s more interesting is that this battle was kind of … accidental. It all started on Saturday morning …
6/2010, 11am, Party of 3. g, her mom, and I were in the neighborhood at our appointment with the hair doctor when we found that we were quite hungry. Whole Foods failed miserably to satisfy my desire for breakfast (no pancakes? no French toast? why!!!), so I managed to make some not-so-subtle suggestions that we should revisit GTC for lunch. Little did we know that GTC now does weekend brunch! It didn’t really change much for g or her mom, as they again went with the lamb sandwich and the insalada semplice. But not me – I stepped outside the box. I asked to have the blueberry muffin French toast as a separate order ($25 worth of brunch is a lot of brunch! I just wanted some starch!) for ~$10-14 (I can’t remember). Yes, the other two had delicious, delicious things to eat … but this French toast was amazing. What could possibly taste better than getting a soft Blueberry muffin, dipping it in an egg batter and then frying it (I imagine it was fried)? Nothing. Well – almost nothing – more to follow. There really isn’t much more to describe about the dish, and there’s only one thing left to say, “duh! why didn’t I think of that?”.
So, I was right about to write up a “best French toast in the city” bit for adsz … then we found another contendor …
6/2010, 1pm, Party of 2. g and I had some recent success at Distrito for lunchtime. As a mini-review of that meal (too lazy for a separate write-up), here we go … The Blue demon special is a REAL DEAL. The nachos ignacio (vegetarian nachos) and queso fundido (duck and cheese) are an insane combination – I couldn’t finish it (but brought it home and ate it for lunch the next day)! And that chocolate flan is my new favorite chocolate “thing” – displacing chocolate bombs, chocolate gelato, chocolate brownies, chocolate cakes, etc. Seriously – this place really REALLY has surpassed Tinto in terms of food. And, if you go at lunch, you leave with money still in your pocket. it really only lacks Tinto’s selection of cheeses and its dark, seductive atmosphere (which I like – it makes me feel suave, like I have style – but of course, some people might actually prefer Distrito’s funky pink interior).
g and I decided to go back to Distrito for the Mexico vs. Argentina soccer game because cm reported a Jose sighting when he and k went there for a World Cup game. We were destined for a chance to flirt with celebrity and indulge in nachos. We walked in, were seated, and were handed a menu. As I stared at the page, I wondered, “Where’s the blue demon?”. ALAS! We went during weekend brunch! Frick! I was upset, as I recalled brunch at Tinto, which, while absolutely delicious (I’ve enjoyed brunch at Tinto several fold more than dinner), is very pricey if you want to leave feeling full. I maintained composure and reasoned, “well, the game will come on soon, and Jose might show …”. As I contemplated an exit strategy, my eyes found “Tres Leches French toast”. A fellow coworker [and his wife] made a tres leches cake and brought one in to the workplace that was ridiculous! It was so good that I wanted to use pieces of that cake as sponges to bathe myself (I’m not actually sure why that imagery popped into my head – but it was so weird that I had to type it). So I figured, “well, if this is half as good, I’m set”. I ordered it and waited, wondering if French-ifying tres leches cake would do wonders the way it did to muffins.
It came to the table and I was beside myself … there were two large, golden brown deep-fried pieces of cake in front of me. I had no idea that it’d be that large. I had no idea it’d be that … fried. As my fork broke through the super-crispy crust, I knew good things were to come. As I chewed through the crunch, I got a super-indulgent mouthful of creaminess, caramelized sugar, butter, etc etc. g said it reminded her of funnel cake. Funnel cake is less fried than this dish (read that again and contemplate it). Basically, this is exactly what one should NOT be eating if you want to live to see 28 (it was the day before my 28th birthday). But I couldn’t stop. I chuckled as I ate the strawberries and blueberries – they couldn’t cut through the fried sugar goodness of the toast at all. So if you like things fried, you will like this French toast more than anything in the world. BUT, there’s an evil side. I felt full for the rest of the day. But not just “full” – it was more of a “disgusting, uncomfortable full”. It’s the kind of full you’d get if you ate two bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits from McDonald’s. AND – I didn’t even finish it!
So, yes … For taste – go and try out that Tres Leches – but I’d share it if I were you – maybe foil it with something lighter and less greasy (unless you want digestive troubles later). For something a little less heavy, although not much healthier (muffins are notoriously unhealthy), head on over to GTC.
PS No, Jose didn’t even show up to the game. Mexico didn’t even win. But at least we got to try out something new!
Amis: We Mees You Already
g says: our finer things club skipped the month of may (gasp!) there was just too much going on between graduations and moving apartments, holidays, and vacations. okay, so maybe kp was just doing all of those things, but we couldn’t have a meeting without him. (kp is worth waiting for – a stupendous dining partner, for sure! hear that, ladies?) anyway, so we held off until june, and made this month really count by trying a new restaurant that all 3 of us have been talking about visiting since its opening: amis.
this is marc vetri’s newest venture in center city, and all of us had fabulous previous experiences with vetri restos (t and i had a spectacular dinner at vetri for my birthday last year, then kp highly recommended osteria to us, and we confirmed his suspicions of there being some of the best gnocchi in town there). we had been looking for the perfect opportunity to try what promised to be a more rustic, casual version of vetri, but not quite as casual as osteria. the only negative we heard was that although the prices on the menu looked reasonable, the portions were smaller than one would expect, therefore nullifying a seemingly great value. oh, and it’s not byo — which is a negative by our standards, but none of vetri’s restaurants are byo, so we weren’t expecting anything different.
6/2010, 9pm, Party of 3. it was a perfect friday evening — warm, yet comfortable — and kp was not working (hooray!) we cruised in to the restaurant right on time for our reservation to find the nice-sized, yet cozy restaurant completely abuzz with diners. there is a full bar with an interesting selection of cocktails, round tables for groups, and also a large sort of communal table where they seat smaller parties together. although we had a reservation, there was no table ready for our party of 3 — we could either wait for a regular table or sit at the communal. i suggested we sit outside at one of the patio tables instead, which turned out to be a great idea. we were seated immediately, and got to work crafting our wish list of items to order.
it was the moment of truth — we heard that plates are small at amis, yet as we looked around at other people’s food, some dishes looked fairly generous. we decided be cautious and to order 4 dishes and share them all; if we were still hungry, we could always order more. our server was professional and friendly, answering all of our questions with ease. i appreciated her calm much more than the hostess, who seemed frazzled when we showed up for our reservation and did not have an open table for us.
when our server showed up with our drink order, i knew it would be a good night. my prosecco came not in a champagne flute as i would have expected, but in a white wine glass, generously filled at that. there’s that value i was looking for!
our “imported bufala ricotta and black pepper” bruschetta came out first. it was so simple – just a small bowl of fresh ricotta, olive oil, and black pepper served alongside thick slices of grilled italian bread with sesame seeds. holy. crap. i don’t know what they did to that bread, but it was fantastic! it was really flavorful, and a great pairing with the cool ricotta that we smeared on top. AND they would bring us unlimited amounts of this deliciously rustic bread, which enabled us to try it with the rest of our dishes as well.
following the bruschetta, we had 2 pastas (“gnocchi alla romana with oxtail ragu” and “bucatini alla “matriciana” with pork jowl, chili flake and pecorino”) and a “mixed vegetable grill with seasonal vegetables and balsamic vinegar.” i’ll break it down by dish for you:
oxtail gnocchi – as you know from t’s posts, we have to try anything with oxtail or gnocchi everywhere, to satisfy his need to know who truly makes the best of these items. with both ingredients bring presented in one dish, we thought this would be a home run. the oxtail ragu was tasty, but the gnocchi was texturally challenging. they were shaped unlike any other gnocchi i have tried, and instead reminded me of sliced korean rice cakes called “ddeok” (not sure of that spelling), which i don’t particularly care for. spooning it out of its baking dish reminded me of scooping lasagna that had not properly set — i wasn’t spooning separate gnocchis onto my plate, which was strange. they were a little soft and mushy, and of course, diplomatic as we are, the three of us launched into conversation of how difficult it is to make perfect gnocchi.
bucatini – this was a more generously sized portion of pasta than i was expecting, but we made short work of it. the pork jowl bits were soft, but not too mushy, and had a great flavor. the dish was just spicy enough, and the pasta was a great al dente texture. thumbs up!
grilled veggies – a great call if i do say so myself (this was my pick, as i thought i spied another table with this dish earlier). there was eggplant, zucchini, peppers, fennel, and polenta, sweetened by the balsamic and all grilled to perfection. again, not a fancy preparation, but it was a great foil to the other rich pastas we ordered and lightened our meal considerably.
afterwards, we all split the dessert special tiramisu (how could we pass up tiramisu at a yummy italian restaurant? you gotta test them with the classics, ya know!) the tiramisu was delicious, not unlike other homemade tiramisu that family and friends have made for us. but certainly not a bad rendition, even though there wasn’t anything too different about it. there are a couple other dessert items on their regular menu that we would probably try on a return visit, and there is also an ice cream shop called philly flavors about a block away…
all in all, we had a lovely time. the service was pleasant, we were all quite full after sharing the 4 plates plus dessert, and the tab wasn’t too bad, either. we will definitely be returning, especially on a nice evening, as the outdoor seating did make the night for us, i think. if there are any volunteers to go with us for round two, please do let us know, as i can definitely see amis in our near dining future.
t says: Amis was quite delicious. I feel that its bucatini was on par with those from Melograno, which says a lot in my book. I agree that the gnocchi and oxtail dish was not the best I’ve ever had (i.e. at Babbo), but it was also drastically different than gnocchi I was expecting. I normally expect gnocchi to be soft and pillowy, but still with just a bit of bite. I think that Babbo and Osteria probably have had the most texturally pleasing gnocchi ever. Vetri’s gnocchi is far softer than either of these; almost like a stiff mousse (I think they call it a “volatile” gnocchi). It was still good, but just very different. I think the gnocchi at Amis was similar i texture to that Vetri, except that unlike large pillows, these were served as very large discs hiding underneath the oxtail and cheese. As a result, it was kind of like a lasagna, but the “pasta” was a little on the mushy side (overcooked? too much liquid in the dough?). We still ate it. Also, I don’t think it was like “duk” at all, as duk normally has more bite (i.e. stiffer) than any gnocchi should have, but to each their own (I love duk).
Raw Fish Day: Pod and Morimoto Deliver the Goods
t says: I had the opportunity to visit both Pod and Morimoto recently. Rather than do a full-on review of each, I figure it’d be fun to compare-contrast the two.
I went to Morimoto with cm for lunch (6/2010). The inside was as swanky as I remember, but for some reason, it was quite empty! Who knew that lunchtime would be so dead? I hope this is not a sign that Morimoto is on the decline!
We sat at the sushi bar where we observed some cookery of a squid – very interesting stuff. After staring at it staring at us for a bit, we decided it was time to eat. We each ordered the chirashi sushi. On one hand, this was a little lame, ordering the same thing, but who can say no to ordering sushi when you’re sitting at the sushi bar? I had originally had my eye on the far less expensive pork belly ramen, but I figured that I ate enough pork belly at Percy Street to last me a month; in the name of health, I went for the raw fish. It came with miso soup and a salad that was quite tasty. Neither of us could really identify the components of the dressing, but it had a nice salty and sour flavor. The main dish featured layers of sea-weed, rice, and assorted raw and cooked seafood (the shrimp was cooked). What surprised me the most was the size – there was a lot of fish, and there was a lot of food! I thought I was still going to be hungry, but I was not – I even left some rice because I wanted to avoid food coma! There’s not really much I can say about the dish aside from it tasted like deconstructed sushi. The fish was spot-on, the rice was wonderful (and was studded with small bits of mushrooms). There were these delicate shreds of egg that I’m still not sure how they did. In any case, it was a satisfying meal that made me wonder if I could somehow eat there for lunch every day.
Pod was a little different. Whereas Morimoto’s interior was chic yet edgy, Pod’s was … gaudy. There were a lot of colored lights, which was somewhat distracting given that they do keep the place a little on the dark side. I will admit that the loungey red leather sofa-esque things looked intriguing (I kind of wanted to sit on them), but the rest of the place looked like a cross between Continental and Morimoto. Or maybe that’s what it’s supposed to look like? Cheesy? As we walked to our table, I was reminded of my personal mantra: “I’m never going to Pod unless someone else is paying.” But tonight was different …
The built-in seats (we were seated against a wall, so the seats were built-in like booths) were moderately comfortable. The atmosphere was … “energetic” (fortunately, g and I could lean in so we heard each other just fine). Does this sound like it’s going to be a horrible time? It sure does. But the story took a turn for the better – and there are two reasons why … The first was our server who was very nice and had a great attitude. He made multiple trips to ensure that we were happy with our food and that we didn’t need anything more – I like that. The second, more important factor was the “special” of the day: all-you-can-eat sushi for $25. There were 8 or so hand rolls, 8 or so nigiri, and 8 or so maki rolls that you could choose from; you could choose as much as you like of whichever you like. Me – I’m a big fan of nigiri – rice, fish, and wasabi – that’s all I need (and maybe a half-a-drop of soy sauce)! So that’s what I went for. I tried some salmon, some tuna, some yellow-tail, some eel, some fluke, some sea bass … thirty-eight pieces of sushi later (that’s 34 pieces of nigiri and 4 pieces of rolls that g needed some assistance with), I came to the conclusion that the quality of sushi was pretty good (obviously good enough to eat 38 pieces worth). Furthermore, it’s kind of a “deal”, if you think about it. At Pod, one order of nigiri is two pieces and costs around $6. Of nigiri alone, I consumed approximately $100. Of course, Pod is ridiculously expensive (which is why I refuse to eat there unless someone else pays for it … or if it’s all-you-can-eat night), so perhaps a more reasonable estimate of the damage is $70 (and tack on a few bucks for that roll I helped g with). Still, I think that I made it worth it.
So, what’s the conclusion? If I’m picking out a place to go to eat, I’m going to choose Morimoto nearly every time. The atmosphere is better. The food is great. And really, for $20, I had a very nice lunch – the kind of lunch you could bring home to mom … Be that as it may, even the mighty Morimoto may have trouble if faced against a Pod all-you-can-eat night. The fish at Pod, while maybe not quite as awesome as Morimoto (I had some fluke that was a little dry, but the yellowtail and salmon were great!), was still solid. The volume of fish consumption is just so much larger at Pod, and unfortunately, size matters. Consequently, Morimoto and Pod hold two special, yet different, places in my heart. One, I’ll go to when I’m looking for great-tasting food – it’s the food that I actually wouldn’t mind paying a lot of money for. The other, I’ll go to when I’m looking for the ability to eat myself into oblivion … on a budget.
GTC: Pasta Challenge
t says: We went to GTC again this past Friday as a follow-up to the last time we went. You see, last time, we went with a bottle of white and opted for some white-friendly dishes, vowing to go again to sample those items that escaped our wrath. This time, we went with a red and sought some red-friendly dishes. I’ll tell you right now: it was quite the tasty and educational experience.
6/2010, 5pm, Party of 2. We showed up with a bottle of Spanish red and went straight for the margherita pizza and the pappardelle with lamb ragu. The pizza was great – thin and delicious (and the red sauce wasn’t too sweet – hooray!). But forget about the pizza – let’s talk about the pasta. Now, this pasta dish had beautifully thin, wide, and al dente noodles. The lamb ragu was also cooked superbly, with plenty of soft shreds of lamb amidst a sauce that had some unique other ingredients (e.g. sunchoke). But, something was … missing. It seemed that the noodles and sauce were winners on their own – but there was something about the dish that was a little lacking. The pasta dish as a whole was not quite at the level of Melograno‘s pastas. I think it has to do with the way the pasta absorbs the sauce. At GTC, the pasta, itself, didn’t have much “taste” to it – it actually tasted just like plain pasta, thus, the pasta was a vehicle to transport sauce. Meanwhile, at Melograno, the pasta takes on the flavors in the sauce, meaning that every strand is preciously delicious. It was amazing to me how such a seemingly small difference could lead to such a large impact on the dish. Don’t get me wrong, though- we ate every last noodle, shred of meat, and drop of sauce (seriously – I used the table bread to search and destroy any drop of sauce that remained).
In conclusion, the meal was great, the service was great, and the price was kind. Yes, I am being overly critical about the pasta, but really, it was quite good overall!
Max Brenner: Chocolate Pizza and Chocolate Soup
t says: We went out looking for some place in Center City with drinks and dessert. Naked Chocolate is wonderful, but they have no liquor license. West Philly was too far away, otherwise we would have considered Capogiro. Instead, g, kp, and I went to Max Brenner. Here’s the short-and-sweet tale …
6/2010, 9pm, Party of 3. It was melting outside (stupid humid summer nights), so we were relieved that the inside was well air-conditioned. Of course, they also opened the windows to the joint – so we were confused. Do they want the chocolate to melt? Do they like stressing their air conditioners? Do they like paying PECO a ton of money? Or maybe they just hate the environment? Or maybe they wanted to mock me as they sat us in the warm part of the restaurant after we knew quite well that they were capable of cooling the place sufficiently …
The ambience … in a word … dark. We could barely read the menu. It was definitely someone’s idea of a joke to have those tiny candles on the table be our sole source for lighting. It was also super loud … which is weird, because the space is quite open (and the windows were open), so we’re not sure why it felt like we were in a shoebox BYO at peak dinner time. Maybe everyone was experiencing a sugar-high?
kp and I split the half-order of the chocolate pizza with “the works” (marshmallow, peanut butter, and bananas). Holy crap. It was great! Of course, it was unbelievably rich – but because of this, it was also very economical as we were barely able to finish it (kp had to abandon some of the crust). But, in reality, I guess we could make this at home. As a matter of fact, kp now has possession of two pizza stones, so we might just go ahead and try it one day. Ok, so it wasn’t an ingenius invention … but it was tasty.
g had some sort of “euphoria sundae”. On one hand, it had similar components to what was on our pizza … except it was supposed to be on top of ice cream. Well … much to g’s discontent – ALL of the ice cream had melted! She was basically eating a cool soup. This was a major disappointment for her, as she was expecting a cold, refreshing dessert because it was so warm in there! Good flavors (she really liked the caramel sauce), but poor execution.
For drinks, I had the chocolate milk … it was “ok”. It wasn’t as nearly as cold as I would have liked (it was supposed to be over ice, but there was not a single cube in it!). kp had the tiramisu cocktail. The Courvoisier was quite potent in it, but I’m not sure if he’d ever really complain about too high an alcohol content (ask him about his “Grape Monster”).
In conclusion … If you go, the best dessert in my opinion is the pizza, as it is quite filling and inexpensive. If you get ice cream, make sure it’s cold. Alternatively, if you just stock up on chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, bananas, and marshmallow, you can open up your own Max Brenner in your living room.
GTC: A Flammenkuche by Any Other Name …
t says: g has “summer Fridays”. Basically, every Friday between Memorial Day and Labor day is a half day at her workplace (the idea is that you work a little extra Mon-Thurs, and then earn the ability to cut out early on Friday). Crazy, right? Well, wanting to never look a gift horse in the mouth, we decided that it would be good to go out of our way to celebrate!
Today, I had first suggested going to Tweed – it was new and offered small plates of roasted chicken and a wild boar pasta (these have g’s name written all over them) as well as a variety of burgers (i.e. hamburger, lamburger, duckburger) that I thought held great promise. I made the reservation and was all set to go. Then I noticed that opentable said it was “business casual”. Wondering what this meant, I called them up to inquire more …
t: “Hi, what’s your dress code?”
tweed: “We’re casual … jeans are ok -”
t: “Oh, great … that’s -”
tweed: “with dress shoes and a blazer …”
t: “Ummm … ok … see you later tonight …”
Not more than 10 minutes later, I cancelled our reservation. Who in their right mind is going to wear dress shoes and a blazer to dinner consisting of a burger, pasta, and chicken on a night like this? Yea, we’ll go to Tweed … in the fall … Instead, we wanted comfort (I wanted to wear shorts). We wanted BYO, so we could bring a bottle of chilled grenache gris. We wanted to not break the bank – we were considering eating burgers for crying out loud! Where to go? Vic Sushi? Nah, too hard to linger there. Melograno? Nah, we needed to go to someplace new … or maybe someplace kinda-new.
We chose to go to Garces Trading Company. Yes, we went there for lunch once, and they have been in the news lately, but today we were in the mood to try out some of the more substantive dishes. Dinner was going to be new … to us.
So, we put our wine into the neoprene sling, grabbed our keys, wallets, and cellphones, and headed out the door. About 25 minutes of walking in the beautiful weather (with the not-so-beautiful angry traffic on Locust), we were finally there. Having just come off a dinner at Distrito, it was time to test Iron Chef Garces’s more casual dishes …
6/2010, 5pm, Party of 2. We were seated immediately – 5pm is a great time to go on a Friday. Trust us. At 6pm, it was completely full. As we stared at the menu, we were faced with major problems. Everything sounded good. The only way to make a decision was to promise ourselves that we’d be back tomorrow (whether or not this actually happens, we’ll see). So we chose what we felt were warm-weather foods (and would go well with our white wine). We ordered the Tarte Flambee pizza and the linguine and clams.
Our first dish was the pizza, which sounded very similar to Flammekuche we had at Cochon. When it arrived, it turned out that indeed it was very similar, but there were some noticeable differences. The cippolini onions weren’t caramelized, rather, they looked like they were sweated. There was no mysterious orange sauce, but there was more bacon and parsley. It was also shaped more in an oval (it reminded me of a super-sized flatbread at Amada). The crust was thin with a nice balance between crust and give. And it tasted … the same, but different. Yes, you get sweet onion, creaminess, and salty bacon, but it tasted more “subtle” than Cochon’s. It was creamier, the bacon had a milder taste, and the parsley worked beautifully to brighten up the dish. It was a more mature version of the pizza. But then, it came down to the critical question …
t: “So … someone tells you you’re going to die tomorrow, and you have to have pizza between now and then … which would you choose?”
g: “Hmmmmmmm … I think it’d be Cochon … but it’s really close …”
Our second dish was the linguine and clams. The clams were tiny, but there was an additional plop of crabmeat atop a bed of pasta, peas, and bacon. Another delicious dish. To me, it tasted a bit creamier than what I think of when I think of “linguine and clams” – it was also far more buttery – unctuous even. g loved it. I thought some aspects were great (I’ll be adding bacon and peas to the next time we make spaghetti and clams), but I felt the dish to be a bit heavier than I’m used to – kind of like a carbonara. g felt the lemon added enough zip to make it feel light and summery. This was interesting because normally I’m the one with the higher tolerance for rich foods – I guess you’ll have to go and try it yourself!
I do want to mention, however, that after we demolished our pasta (we shared the large order), I then found the perfect use for all of that buttery sauce … the table bread!!! I sopped it up and it added a nice creaminess to the sourdough that they gave us when we first sat down. Beautiful.
For dessert, we went for their chocolate peanut butter mousse “bomb”. The chocolate ganache shell was divine, and the chocolate cake was moist and delicious. The peanut butter mousse was very light and tasted only faintly of peanut butter. I kind of wanted a big peanut butter punch like in Tastykake Kandy Kakes, but this was still very good, because that ganache easily carried the dessert to awesomeness.
As we finished up our bottle of wine (one of our “missions” for the night), we realized that the meal, in its entirety, was great! In the end, it cost us a bit more than eating at Melograno, but the same as eating at Melograno and Capogiro (for dessert). As we walked/hobbled home, we were full … and happy … and looking forward to tomorrow …
after dinner sneeze 