Archive for the ‘Restaurant Reviews’ Category
An Oakland Interlude
t says: The $1.5 billion powerball was coming a week or so ago (spoiler alert: we did not win) so I had to find a place to buy a ticket. Being that I have been spending a large amount of time working in Oakland, I searched: “where to buy lottery tickets in Oakland” and one place in particular jumped out at me … Golden Gate Donuts. Yea man! I knew I had no chance of winning anything, so I might as well get some donuts out of it!
This was not one of those hipstery, artisanal donut shops. No “crazy” flavors, no cutesy decor, no ironically tatooed beards behind the register. Just donuts [and lotto tickets]. I ventured the chocolate covered buttermilk donut which was absolutely amaze-balls (it tasted more like a classic sour cream donut with a dark chocolate glaze). I got a raspberry jelly-filled glazed for g, who liked the texture of the donut, but found the jelly to be a little “meh” – so that one might have been less successful of a donut. Next up for me: Kruller and Apple Fritter – I’ll have to pace myself to avoid coronary atherosclerosis … I’ll let you know how they go.
On a separate occasion, we met up with a friend of one of g’s cousins who lives/works in Oakland. He’s kind-of-a-big-deal, but we don’t want to divulge his true identity so we can protect his big-deal-ness – maybe sometime in the future, we’ll introduce you! In any case, he suggested we try out Portal in Oakland, for which we were more than happy to trek across the bridge! The above is a ricotta-caamelized-banana-and-pear French Toast. It was absolutely crazy. I ate it all. Seriously. I haven’t demolished an entire stuffed French Toast dish in ages (e.g. not even Sabrina’s). The outside had a crisp sugary-cinnamon coating, while the inside was as light as a cloud, with chunks of the aforementioned cooked fruit. The blackberries were a bit of an afterthought, but the pomegranate was a nice punch to keep things lively.
The chilaquiles were a bit different than we had ad in he past – it was more like “breakfast nachos” than the egg-dominated chilaquiles with which we were familiar. g still showed it a thing or two, but maybe it could have used a bit more egg …
In all, we liked Portal and would totally go back, as they had a few other items on their menu worth trying. We’ll have to remember to show up a few minutes before 11, though because the place fills up fast (with a small line outside), and before you know it, it feels like Friday night at a bar, with people loudly talking but downing bottomless mimosas rather than beers.
My most recent foray into Oakland’s dining scene allowed me to stumble across this nondescript space:
The place was SO nondescript that I actually had difficulty finding the sign to take a picture of it. This is Bakesale Betty. It has apparently been there for years, but being that we’re new here, it was my first time. They sell some baked goods (scones and cookies), as well as friend chicken sandwiches with coleslaw …
… that look like this! The shells was super-crispy, and the chicken was nice and tender. Actually – the above picutre is a sham – it’s the buttermilk fried tofu sandwich! Somehow they got the perfect fried chicken exterior on the outside of the tofu – beautiful texture with a slightest spicy kick in there. The cole slaw was fresh and zippy. And the bread was spot-on (I actually think g loved the bread most!). Sure the scone and cookie were fine (it ain’t no Talula’s Table/Daily scone), but the chicken sandwich was the real winner.
A productive week in SF!
t says: Since moving here, g and I needed to re-visit a few places we’ve eaten – you know – just to make sure they were still good. It’s not that we’re afraid of trying some place new, but we needed to start off with the familiar before venturing out to the boundaries of the SF dining scene!
For a “chill” last meal in SF with my folks we did some pizza. They had just returned from a trip to Monterey/Carmel-by-the-Sea/Big Sur and we wanted to get some comforting take-out. Having been introduced to Little Star by kp, we ordered it up and had it delivered. My parents loved the deep dish (in the background), while I preferred this white pesto pizza with all kinds of other toppings. We got the chicken wings as kind-of-a-joke, but they were actually quite tasty! (Their size was just microscopic – I guess those chickens weren’t given the normal growth hormones that we’re used to – I’m sure they were free range and lived happy lives …)
We broke fast one morning at Plow in Potrero Hill. An interesting place, Plow, as reviews suggest that this place warrants huge-ass lines on the weekends in excess of 2 hours!! While it is a cute place, and while the pancakes ate exactly as a perfected buttermilk pancake, I’m not sure they’re worth obsessing over …
… g did however love the “Plow potatoes” and the “perfectly” poached eggs. Our decision: Plow is delicious, and we had no faults with a single thing we ate. They weren’t redefining brunch as we know it, but they were merely doing no wrong in the delivery of any of their dishes. So they get a bravo … but maybe just a bravo we’d rather visit during the week when there are no lines …
Enter Sightglass roasters. They have some tasty coffees, and even tastier pastries from a smattering of bakeries across the city. The spacious seating area is nice, but I have to say that the folks are being too nonchalantly cool for my taste – either that or I am neither nonchalant nor cool enough to hang with them … g did mention some insane-sounding scone that included cherry and chocolate that was SO good that she didn’t save me any :’-(
So g and I wanted to hit up “DogPatch” the “up-and-coming” area just to the south of us on New Year’s Eve. It’s a peculiar neighborhood, not so much “seedy” as it is “unpopulated”. That said, there are a few cool places to visit including a cheese shop (Fromagerie) and this place: Smokestack. One part bar, one part bbq cafeteria, the food was super-tasty. They do ribs and brisket and sausage and duck by the half-pound, with an assortment of sauces. While the ribs ar ethe most eye-catching (they’re huge and wagyu), go for the brisket, which was absolutely, positively insane (and that’s not just the kimchi bbq sauce, talkin’). I also did notice their brewery onsite (it’s Magnolia Brewing) which most people would love (we don’t do beer), and an adventurous whisky list (at usual SF-inflated prices). Their cocktails were reasonably priced (surprise!), including one I got call Dutchman’s Flat, that included rye with ginger and lemon as well as savory hits of nori and beef bouillon. In the end the latter were very subtle (so it was more rye + ginger + lemon), but I appreciate the thought! We texted kp while we were there to tell him we “found” a place to take him when he visits … yea … he already knew about it and was here – you can’t pull one over on kp! We were surprised, however, to find out that the place is in some financial troubles, according to a recent Eater article; whatever is going on, we had a delicious meal and want to bring my sis and her new fiance here pronto! (I hope they’re still open!) We did also go to The Third Rail (no pictures) – also some reasonably priced cocktails! And Whisky-Jerky pairings! We’ll have to come back to do an official review sooner or later.
On a return to Absinthe on a rainy afternoon of window-shopping, g and I were allured by their burger and portobello-grilled-cheese sandwiches (guess who got which). And while both were solid, I have to say that the star was the carrot cake dessert. I don’t know what was in that white-looking shmear ont he plate, but it had a sour kick to it that was amazing with the sweet carrot cake. The lavender ice cream was useless, however. It was a dessert that flirted with perfection – next time, Absinthe!
g and I have also been searching for “our new Gusto”. When we lived in Philly, we were right around the corner from Gusto’s Pizza, which was our go-to every two weeks for a quick take-out pie, at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, around us, in Mission Bay, there ain’t much in the way of pizza. I mean, yea, Domino’s and Papa Johns would probably deliver, but we want something with a better neighborhood connection. We went with Goat Hill Pizza, which I have to say was quite good! Their sourdough crust’s flavor was subtly (i.e. I didn’t object, which normally I hate sourdough) and there was something especially “creamy” with the cheese which was a nice touch; and the sauce wasn’t sweet! Yay! It’s no Zavino’s “Stache” pizza, but it was solid! We’d definitely try it again.
Welcome to SF!
t says: So as we’ve alluded to in the previous posts, we have now moved to what some call “The Best Coast”. Moving to SF was full of issues, as it seemed that every little thing we planned did not go smoothly, from finding an apartment, to giving up our Philly apartment, to the movers arriving in SF, to the weather waiting for us (RAIN!) … it was a nightmare. g and I think that the next time we move, we’re just going to burn all of our possessions to the ground and buy everything new …
Fortunately, we had the moral support of family to remind us that the terrible parts of moving would be short-lived, and they have been. Despite the moving-related drama, we have had quite a few delightful meals here in SF!
The first meal in SF we found was at a nearby restaurant called STEM. While it’ll not likely win any awards for being the “most creative”, “most innovative”, or “most anything”, it had some very solid offerings that were just what we needed, as we had just been torrtentially rained upon. This pumpkin soup was a warm hug …
… while this bright farrow and broccoli rabe salad reminded us we were in California.
And their accidentally-heart-shaped pizza really hit the spot – it was a pizza with no fuss, no frills – just the way we needed it to be.
Our first meal with our parents was at Anchor Oyster Bar. Jeez. It’s been almost a week since we’ve gone as I sit down and write about it now, and my dad still can’t stop talking about it – and for good reason! The mussels were HUGE. Every bit of seafood was perfectly cooked. And the broth in the cioppino was so good, we actually took it home and made a pasta dinner the following night! While I had been there once with cm and k, it was even better this time. Crazy-good! We followed it up with some Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream (omg the creme brulee is insane) for a perfect evening.
For our “fancy night out” we went to “The Progress”, courtesy of j, as suggested by kp. It was a fabulous meal that hinted at the creative frontier of SF cooking. While yes, there were some things my mom is convinced she could easily do at home (looking at you, kimchi wax bean tempura), it was quite tasty overall. We approve.
Yea, the pork was CRAZY good – and the crushed broccoli underneath was so much fun!
We took my parents to House of NanKing that was hilarious. I warned my parents, “So at this restaurant, don’t expect any niceties” … which was immediately followed by the server throwing down plates in front of us and telling us to move over so they could seat people at the adjoining table. Sure, they are rude as hell, but the food was so good. Fried shrimp packets are a must, the black bean sauce dumplings were amazing. When the food is this good, you write your own rules about customer service, I guess.
Finally, we also went to Brenda’s French Soul Food for brunch, but as we’ve covered it so often here, it should be no surprise that it was nothing short of every bruncher’s dream – eggs, carbs, sweets, beignets. Just go there.
“Helm … it’s like Star Wars …”
t says: So, for our last visit to Philly before the big move, the gang (g + t + a+ v) decided we go out with a bang. a and I thought it’d be fun to see Star Wars. g and v disagreed, feeling it would be more fun to get manicures. So the boys went to the movies, and the girls went to the salon. We met up at Helm to compare notes.
December 2015, Friday Dinner, Party of 4. We Uber’d our way to Helm as it is tucked away in north-east Philly (although not too north-east – wouldn’t want to go beyond where the hipsters live …). Jus having seen Star Wars, a and I had to control our conversation as we strolled in with our bottles of wine in hand, as we did not want to reveal the super-not-so-secret-plot-twist. Fortunately, we were promptly seated and introduced to the menu. The format of the introduction was was weird. Really weird. How? Well, they have a super-“cool” chalkboard menu on the wall (i.e. the entire wall is essentially the chalkboard), on which they have scrawled all of the dishes. But unlike classy chalkboards (e.g. Little Fish), this one was only one part informative and one part hipster-cool and 18 parts kindergarten disaster. Seriously. There were colors everywhere, changes in font size everywhere, no empty space whatsoever; it was super-hard to read. That’s ok, we found out that they must feel that reading would be “soooo 2000’s”, because our trusty waiter walked us through the menu. Like the whole menu. Like every frickin’ dish on the menu. Like every ingredient in every frickin’ dish on the menu. Like how every single ingredient was prepared and assembled to make every frickin’ dish on the menu. And he did so with the gusto of 1980’s robot; it was clear that he was going to finish his memorized speech come hell or high water. So we let him … not even calling him out on the dish he forgot to tell us about, or the disparity between some of the ingredients he was mentioning and those listed on the menu. But, to be fair, he probably forgot those, himself, because the chalkboard menu which was supposed to remind him was illegible. There is only one way to summarize our first impression of the restaurant: foodie-douche-baggery. Fortunately, we were able to get the waiter to open up as the meal went on (and we were among the last diners remaining), but we had to break down his forcefield of douche-baggery to get to the actually nice, pleasant, Philly-BYO-attitude underneath. We’re glad we found it before we left, otherwise the title of this review would have been something different entirely …
The food? Well, it had lots of potential, but felt short:
This guy, an assortment of nature’s bounty, ultimately had every texture coming out identical …
… meanwhile the Brussels sprouts (with almond, not hazelnut as on the board) was inundate with salt and fried garlic so that your palate was beaten to within an inch of its life. (Although death by garlic wouldn’t have been that bad – I do like garlic).
One of our mains was a filled pasta with a duck-containing sauce that would have been delicious had not been for the excessive saltiness … which was similar to our complaints with the other three mains on the table (so I’m not going to bother showing them to you). For all of the praise that Helm has been getting, is it possible that people are mistaking “flavor” for “excessive salt”? And what gives with all the blank space on the plates? This is a Philly BYO for godsakes – get over yourselves. Give us an appropriately-sized plate or give us more food (with less salt).
Dessert … *sighs* … how did I go wrong? I chose “the chocolate one”. (g says: oh gawd. that looks awful). t’s back: Why is it a puddle of goo? Covered in what appears to be blood and dirt? Ok – that’s an exageration (blood is more opaque) – so let’s just say that it was not a feast for the eyes. It did taste better than it looked, which is a plus, but it’s not like I was taken to the highest clouds of chocolate heaven …
But this is Helm’s redemption. A Basque cake. Really. This little P.O.S. cake was insane. While it didn’t totally make up for every one of Helm’s wrongs, it came pretty darn close. We should have just ordered four of these for our mains and called it a night, as it was butter-sugar perfection.
So, in the end, we have no choice but to compare our experience at Helm to a’s and my experience at Star Wars. A lot of critical acclaim built up some high expectations, followed by a lot of buzz by normal people who loved it, too! But ultimately, from our firsthand experience, we are left wondering, “gee, were we in the same theater/restaurat as everyone else?”. Don’t get us wrong, Helm and Star Wars weren’t “bad”, but we were left wondering, “where’s the magic?” For The Force Awakens, yes, it was certainly better than Episode 1, but it lacked some of the “wow”/”magic”/”attitude” of Episodes 4-6 that presumably inspired it, with its super-fast-moving plot and “twists” that were not at all unpredictable, while being marred by excessive CGI. Similarly, Helm was better than eating at McDonalds, but it lacked some of the “wow”/”magic”/”attitude” of the old guard of Philly BYO’s that presumably inspired it, with its stupid chalkboard and foodie-douche-baggery “twists” that were not at all unpredictable, while being marred by excessive salt. Helm is no Django. Sorry guys. Time to go back to Mercato …
3 months and no post – what gives?
t says: It’s true! In the history of adsz, we have never had such a break! What happened? Where did we go? Well, it’s complicated. About one month ago, we moved to NJ. But it wasn’t the “oh, let’s move to the NJ ‘burbs” maneuver that most people might try, rather, it was a “oh, crap, we shipped all of our stuff to California and have no place to live” maneuver. So we lived with our folks for a bit, which was surprisingly awesome. But because there was so much commuting time, the blog kind of fell off the radar (if only I could blog and drive at the same time …). Well, anyways, let’s make up for lost time.
I had a sad-looking burger from Good Stuff Eatery (Asian-inspired – I think there were some Vietnamese influences given the pickled carrots) – it was uninspiring, thus I was not surprised when they closed soon thereafter.
I managed to find this little treasure on FineWineGoodSpirits.com and had it sent (for free) to a local PLCB branch. It was quite good. If you’re looking for a not-so-boring-yet-not-in-your-face-Merlot with some bottle age on it, Matthiasson ’07 can do no wrong – I’d say it’s worth about 40 of the $50 they charge (probably would have been a little more exciting of a bottle a year or two back).
Who could do wrong, however, was Serpico. No – it wasn’t the food’s fault, rather, it was the service’s fault! We brought the aforementioned ’07 Matthiasson there, thinking that they were still corkage-free. The server gladly brought over glasses and poured our wine with nary a mention that they WERE charging corkage. We weren’t told a thing until after I noticed the charge on our bill! When I brought it up to our server, she realized that she neglected to tell us anything and went to “ask the GM about it”. He came over, apologized that they had done away with the corkage policy some 6 months prior, and said that he COULD NOT forgive the charge just this once (even though it was his own server’s fault for not telling us about the charge!). We have been to several restaurants with the intention of paying corkage, and they always always ALWAYS remind us at the beginning of the meal, “just so you know, there will be a corkage charge” – which we gladly accept. But if you do not tell the diner that they are on the hook for the cost, serve them the wine, admit that you forgot to tell us about the cost, you should not charge the diner. I’m sorry you made a mistake (#SorryNotSorry). In any case, the food was fine at Serpico, but now there are two strikes against it – #1: no more BYO, #2: intolerable service practice. adsz will go there no more.
We did a DiBruno After Hours Party (if you don’t know what it is, google it now), and it was FLAWLESS. Gawd. We ate so much cheese – and it wasn’t just stuff we already knew we liked (or stuff we had before) – there was new stuff! Like this blue which is my new favorite; I’m not a fan of blues, so when I had this one which had only mild funk, but a salty minerality that was so addictive, I knew I had to buy some.
And then they paired this other blue with this chocolate bar and my face melted. I’m currently faceless. Thanks DiBruno.
We made a trip to NYC just to bid it farewell until our return to the East coast. Brunch started off at The Smith, which had dishes as scrumptious as this – that’s a serious mashup of Florentine + Benedict + Waffle …
… and the day continued on to dinner at Freeman’s, which is one of my favorite NYC restos – it’s just too darn cute!
and the food is nothing to sneeze at either. I have to say that it was pretty good – I think that it didn’t really hit any notes that we couldn’t find in Philly, and it was, of course, at NYC prices, but for the super-cute ambience, it was totally worth it.
g and I visited Frog and Peach, one of a and v’s favorite restos near Rutgers on our return from another NY trip. It was kind of surreal to finally be sitting in the place – the food was good (their take on a carbonara), but surely would have been made better had a and v been there.
The gang gave Bistrot La Minette another chance, and while they had me at escargot, I’m just not sure everything was drool-worthy. Nothing made our eyes roll into the back of our heads, followed by urging others to try such-and-such dish. Where’s the magic?
I’ll tell you where the magic is – it’s at Mercato. It’s always at Mercato. Frickin’ Mercato. We show up with a bottle of Ayoub, order us up the pasta specials, and they just wreck it. Every. Time. You know – I can’t even remember what we ordered, but I do vividly remember thinking, “you know, after being in Philly for 10 years, I will now put down Mercato over Melograno for BYO Italian”. *Begin Slow Clap Here*.
Some people are crazy for FedNuts sandwiches. I’m not sure why. I mean, sure, it’s tasty, but it’s chicken, pickles, and some cheese. It was reminiscent of the KFC Chicken Little sandwich, which, while being delicious circa 1980’s-90’s, really shouldn’t draw the attention that FedNuts gets for these. Oh well.
Remember Freeman’s? Well, one day, I snuck back to NYC and had brunch there. And as the scent of the carrot cake pancakes you see above triggered a tidal wave of drool from my mouth, I realized that while dinner there is good, the brunch is to die for (or to kill for). Imagine carrot cake. But make it about 436% better. And make it for breakfast. Of every food in this post, this is the one dish where only expletives can fully capture how good they were. Those f*****g pancakes were so f*****g good. End rant.
And finally, there was a trip to Lo Spiedo that impressed drb quite a bit. While he was disappointed in the charge for whisky, he was more than happy with the food (including a not-pictured avocado bruschetta). The roasted fish was indeed delightful – very simple and so good.
BUT – we’re not done yet!! There’s one more Philly post in us!
crap – I forgot one!
t says: In my last post, I did forget the other adsz adventure we went on: the suckling pig at Amada!
Screw pictures containing the “sides” and cut straight to the main event: the frickin’ suckling pig. Now, a and I have done this before, but for g and v, this was their first time. Let me make a few comments: 1) Yes that is one-half of a pig, and it was plenty for our 6-diner party. (There were tons of leftovers). 2) If you want the head, you have to let them know ahead of time (we didn’t think to do that). 3) The absolute best damn part of this pig is the skin. Seriously. I must have eaten the whole carcas of this thing – it was like “sesame cracker” that you start off with at Serpico, but expressive of the most profound “sense” of pig (fatty, salty, sweet). Gawd it was insane. 4) When you dine at Amada, bring magnums to avoid excess corkage fees (they still charge only for one bottle). 5) Take photos with the tableside carving person – he doesn’t mind … <pictures omitted to protect our identities>
Amada’s suckling pig was fantastic. If you’re only in Philly for a limited amount of time (e.g. for school, residency, fellowship, whatever), I highly recommend you do this at least once before you leave. It is true that Jose Garces is no longer as cool as he once was, but it’s good to know that when the fame goes away, his crew has the skills to pull of a damn fine looking pig like this.
(and yes – the head is mandatory if you have the option: the cheek meat is incredible).
Some Things Old, Some Things New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
t says: There’s seemingly a lot of grown to cover with this month’s post. With so much to tell you about, where do I begin?
The most logical place is to begin at the beginning: we went to Bibou – I mean, Le Cheri. Having caught a “special” two weeks at Le Cheri where they were bringing back “THE bone marrow” and “THE pig’s foot”, we had to go. Just in case you didn’t know, Bibou, long before they were fixed price, had these two wonderful dishes frequently on their menu (the latter moreso than the former). So dedicated was v’s and my love for the pig’s foot, that despite the number of times we went there (probably in the double digits in total), both of us combined have probably only ever not ordered the pig’s foot twice. Seriously. But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, as the picture above is not of the pig’s foot, rather of the bone marrow. This bone marrow is done up a little differently than most I’ve encountered – the marrow having been done up with bread crumbs to form more of a “stuffing” before being reconstituted in the bone – so lovely!
g got a fish dish. shocker, I know. But no matter what I saw, she swears that this dish “won” dinner. How? I’m not sure – I mean it was downright delicious, but could it really compete with … you know …
… the mother-flinging pig’s foot? NO! NO WAY! Because it is perfection. Unctuous meat: check. Dose of foie: check. Fiber (lentils): check. Veggies: … there are some pieces of carrot there … As kp, v, and I have said on multiple occasions: if we could bathe in a single food item it would be those lentils … It’s an oldie, but a damn fine goodie.
Our meal at Le Cheri was wonderful for so many reasons: great food, great friends, great wine. We also hatched a plan, with the help of some very special friends (I can’t go into details), to replicate the beloved dish …
… not bad, right? Well, we can’t take more than 2% of the credit. Those who can know who they are … I hope this qualifies as “something borrowed”.
g, v, a, and I also went back to Tria Fitler Square (damn, we must spend a lot of time with a and v – doesn’t it seem like we go everywhere with those guys?). It’s personally our new favorite brunch, as I love love love their pancakes. This time, however, I ventured their French toast with strawberries over marscapone, and while the French toast, itself, was killer, I have to say that the unripe strawberries and rather boring marscapnoe really biffed it for me. Oh well – better stick with the pancakes if what you desire is carb-on-carb action.
g, however, had more success, going for the eggs benedict carbonara. She threw caution to the wind, forsaking her usual “omelette”, and liked what she saw, calmly remarking, “you know, if more people used pancetta instead of Canadian bacon or ham, I choose eggs benedict more often!” Well if that ain’t some I-talian superiority, I don’t know what is! But in any case, I agreed with her: Tria’s take on eggs benedict was a simple, yet effective, delivery. Nice job!
For some reason, wordpress won’t let me rotate this image, so I’m going to leave it all silly-like – as I feel that that is also representative of the experience that g and I had with my sis at the new restaurant “Southgate”. Advertised as serving Korean pubfare, we were there to check out the Korean Fried Chicken, a dish that even our server (who was kind of weird overall) boasted, “a lot of chefs in Philly who came to check us out, love our wings”. Our take: they sucked. Yes, the skin was indeed very crispy, which is a great accomplishment, but just because you have an inch-thick crust on a chicken does not make it an excellent piece of fried chicken. The skin needs to be crisply fried, with a fun, delicate crunch – not like eating through a layer of cardboard. Furthermore, the underlying chicken wasn’t particularly tender or moist. The pieces, themselves, weren’t even large enough to warrant the steep price! The other dishes were similarly underwhelming, including the steamed buns that were so bland I had to dip them in the above fried chicken sauce, which was terribly sweet. What a sad meal! Fortunately, the company was great and was able to make up for it!
The gang (you know: g + t + a + v) also got together for an outing at Sbraga. Not having gone since our previous “Kia Cadenza Experience”, it was good to give the restaurant another go … you know … to see what it was like when a car manufacturer wasn’t paying for the meal …
Now, we initially made the reservation because they were boasting a “lamb dinner”. Sadly, when we showed up, they had none available – somehow having sold out despite it only being Friday night. Sorry Sbraga – gotta get on top of stocking that fridge! Before we go on, I do want to give props to the service there – our server was very nice and accomodating – so good job on that! Between his attentiveness and the funky music, how could we go wrong?
Well, the meal started off with a bang, as a was really impressed by the foie soup. In his words: “It’s always great when chefs make something heavy, light.” He was less impressed with his lamb tartare (“good, but nothing out of the ordinary”) Then, the above dish hit the table and we were floored! The waiter promised, “the gnocchi dish is more like a lobster dish with a garnish of gnocchi” – and he was right! It was quite scrumptious – although to be honest, I would have loved to have seen more gnocchi (they were ALSO great! it’s a shame there were so few!) But how dare I complain about “too much lobster” …
My dish was straight off the lamb menu – it was the “osso bucatini” (g says: “isn’t the name so clever?”) and it was incredible. I could have sworn that the noodles themselves were made of lamb, the way the lambiness penetrated each hollow piece of pasta. So good.
Meanwhile, g and v ventured a ?crab? pasta that they swore one-upped mine. I mean, they’re wrong, but that’s ok – just so long as they think they won, right? (More osso bucatini for me …)
There are pictures of our main dishes, as well, but the picture quality was terrible, as the restaurant got darker and darker. Turns out, if you show up with three bottles wine for four people, you’re in for a nice, leisurely dinner during which the sun will set, and nighttime takes over. Where did the 3 hours go? I’m not sure that any one of our third dishes (that’s right – I forgot to tell you: each dinner is a soup, three savory courses, and a dessert!) really showed us something lifechanging, and did border on “fussy”, but we do like that chef tries out all different manners of execution, from a homely puddle of pasta, to smears of sauces on plates. The desserts could use a little re-tooling – I mean, I liked that mine tasted exactly like Trix cereal (v swore Froot Loops), but I’m not sure if that’s really going to compete with the likes of finishers like Talula’s Garden. All in all, a very nice meal, and a restaurant we wouldn’t hesitate to try out again.
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SO WHAT’S BLUE?
after dinner sneeze 