my road not taken …
t says: A long time ago, when I was a wee lad, I tried to use this Robert Frost poem for a school-related speech.
But little did I realize that “The Road Not Taken” was not at all about the righteous choosing of a road less traveled, rather, an anticipation of remorse when choosing from two equally attractive roads. What does this have to do with a food blog?
This might be my road not taken:
I’ve seen my fair share of Matyson’s menus show up on Foobooz or in my inbox. This one is perhaps the most delicious-sounding one I have ever seen, with not a single item that doesn’t make my mouth water – right down to the deconstructed KandyKake at the end! But ultimately, I couldn’t justify a weekday $45 splurge (not including tax, gratuity, or the wine I’d bring), and it was torrentially raining outside. Thus, I opted to stay indoors and whip up a full-on homemade meal – which turned out great! But now, after several hours have passed, as my shiftwork insomnia sets in and I’m left to sit and stare at Matyson’s menu I cannot help but wonder if perhaps I should have chosen the other road?
I guess we’ll never know …
(well … unless you go tomorrow – then you can tell me how awesome it was!)
P.S. Dear Matyson … if you could just offer this menu on a weekend, I’d be extraordinarily grateful. I’d gladly share some wine with you!
EDIT:
t says: it turns out that a loyal adsz reader went to Matyson to check out the menu. Here is the official report, copied from the comments attached to this post, and the photos from foobooz’s website!
rch says: Verdict: It was really delicious, one of the best I’ve had at Matyson. Standout was the roast pork. I could have eaten 3 more of those. Oyster was nice, really refreshing with the blood orange and cilantro. Pretzel was a little odd, actually – super delicious, but it didn’t really call back “pretzel” at all – more just Philly Italian food. The wagyu beef with gougere was tender and awesome, though I would have liked more onion flavor. But that’s just nitpicking; it was delicious. Dessert was good too, but we seriously considered asking for a second helping of roast pork instead of dessert, and I’m still sort of sorry we didn’t! Wish you could have been there with us – fingers crossed they’ll add a couple of these to the regular menu…
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
Credit: foobooz
luke … i am your lobster
t says: First things first: yes, I know that the actual Star Wars quote is one of the most commonly misquoted quotes ever, as it is much longer than “Luke … I am your father”. Ok – now that that’s settled, let’s talk about the real topic of this post: Luke’s Lobster. Armed with the knowledge of a relatively new outpost on 17th street, g and I decided to make the most of a beautiful weekend day by ordering us up some lobster rolls.
April 2014, Friday Lunch, Party of 2 … at home! We picked the lobster rolls from Luke’s , and it was quite packed! But, the staff knows how to move through the line pretty quickly, and most people flocked to the street with their Luke’s bags, likely to go back to work.
the board tells all: the menu is small, but do you really need anything other than lobster, crab, or shrimp rolls? not really. sure, there are things like soup and crab claws, but who really cares about those? we want us some rolls!
when we saw all these maine-sourced sodas, we had to take a pic for bw.
they run a tight ship in their little sub-ground shop – it does feel kind of like a little out-of-the-way shack somewhere in New England.
the crab roll: this 1/2 crab roll was loadd to the brim with beautifully succulent crab meat – it was quite delicious indeed. and with the light sprinkling of some seasoning, it was clear that the name of the game was “taste this crab”. My only criticism is that the chunks of crab are quite small, so you do miss out on the feeling of biting into a nice big piece that might have come from a crab claw, but i guess i can’t complain if i’m not the one doing the meat picking.
now here is the main event. don’t be fooled by this extreme close-up. luke’s “rolls” are quite small. I’d say about 6 inches for the whole. They do load it up with an impressive amount of intact claw meat, and the flavor is quite nice. once again, the dressing is kept to a minimum, so you’re really enjoying a crapload of lobster on a buttery bun. for me, the lobster roll was superior to the crab … and that says a lot because i’m actually not that big of a lobster fan – i’m much more of a crab guy. but there was something about biting into a huge chunk of well-prepared lobster (it was not tough/dry/rubbery at all) that put a smile on my face. g was all about it, showing her roll no mercy.
Mix the above sandwiches with a glass of lemony 2012 Ransom Riesling from our cellar, and what we had was a perfect outdoor lunch on our patio. It was just the right size to quench our hunger but keeping our stomachs un-bursting enough so we could enjoy walking, shopping, errands, and whatever else it was we had to do outside. But, there was a pretty obvious corollary here: these suckers are quite small. At around 6″ each, my dad could easily down two of these things … which would make for a pretty darn expensive lunch. We now know why so many people were getting “combos” with chips and soda – the other items would help fill them up. Does that mean “it’s not worth it” … no! It was absolutely worth it. We envision a summertime outdoor party, with lots of white wine, some home-made sides, some fruit-filled pies, and a platter of lobster rolls. Now THAT is how we party.
just when i thought oreos couldn’t get any gooder …
t says: The chicken one is the only weird one … (but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try it).
seen in the wild: water cartons
t says: A funny little thing I came across recently:
a box of water?
This half-liter of water comes in a cute white paper carton. As you can tell from the design elements, it appears to be aimed at hipsters and clearly costs more than a bottle of Dasani or Poland Spring or BJ’s brand water. Why’d I buy it? I had to know: is boxed water better? A few things struck me as odd upon further reading the label. Apparently, the box is not made from recycled paper, rather, from paper that can be recycled … but plastic can be recycled too, right? And it clearly says that “our boxes are recyclable only where facilities exist” … so I guess it means that I have to do some legwork before sticking this in the recycling bin (at least they gave me a website to look at: recyclecartons.com). Furthermore, they boast that the trees they used to make this paper came from some kind of certified forest – I presume one in which trees are replaced as they are “harvested”? Does that make it alright/better? I have no idea. Is there still net negative trees? Maybe. I did like the idea of being able to ship flattened boxes more effieciently – so that’s probably a legit environmental benefit. BUT, there’s also a dirty little secret that isn’t obvious until you buy one of these: the inside of the box appears to be lined with some kind of metallic liner – so there’s probably additional materials and processing going on that further hurts any environmental claims (once again, what do I know about making paper cartons?).
But really – the big question is about taste: does it taste good? Answer: nope. It tastes like plastic … which is peculiar because it’s not from a bottle. It reminds me of a Poland Spring that had spent all day baking in my beach bag at the shore on a 100+ degree day. ‘Nuff said.
A high-cost source of water, that tastes not good, and of dubious environmental benefit. Bummer. I guess I should mention then the only real reason to buy this product: you look cool drinking water out of a paper carton. Duh!
Stop and Smell the Rosa Blanca
t says: It’s been a while since we’ve dined at a Jose Garces joint. Sure, Amada will always hold a special place in our hearts, it’s a bit too pricey for “normal” weekend dinners (as is Tinto). JG Domestic has pretty much fizzled out in our eyes. Distrito’s a bit of a hike. Village Whiskey is fun, but I can’t put away those shortrib-smothered-fries like I used to. Garces Trading Co is pretty much dead to us now, after deciding to charge corkage, the disbanding of the market, and a previous bad experience. So now what? Enter the new Cuban Diner inspired Rosa Blanca. The crew met up a week or so ago and put it through its paces …
March 2014, Weekend Dinner, Party of 4. The atmosphere’s cute. Garces is trying to walk the line between a take-out business and a sit-down business, so the front of house has this come-and-go feel, while the main dining room is more “formal” … but don’t let that word scare you – this is not a formal place by any stretch of the imagination. To be honest, it’s probably the most casual Garces restaurant I’ve been to. I was happy to see children around – it really added to the diner-esque atmosphere!
I don’t remember what these were – I want to say they were the croquetes de jamon. It’s funny because my memory fails me, but I do recall the urge to eat them forever, as they were fried to perfection and filled with oozy cheeze. It was like a chicken cordon bleu … without the chicken …
Empanada de Picadillo with beef and green olives. This empanada was fantastic – g’s not even an olive fan and she enjoyed her share of empanada with nary a crumb left on the plate. v agreed that the filling was pretty spot-on (oh, did I mention that v is Cuban?)
You know, when it comes to bread, there’s either “yea, here’s some bread” or there’s “hey, check out this bread”. This was much moreso the latter. I believe this was yuca bread, and it was phenomenal. The textures were just right, balancing an outer layer of crisp with an inside of some kind of intriguing gummy texture that I couldn’t get enough of.
Cordero al Caribe. This guy stuck out as the oddest dish – I wasn’t expecting such a curry-ful lamb dish. Maybe there is a secret Indian-Cuban fusion somewhere in the Cuban culture? In any case, with such beautifully cooked down lamb and such depth of spices, I wasn’t complaining. Best darn Indian-Cuban dish I’ve ever had (I apologize if this shows both my ignorance of Cuban and Indian cuisine). In the background was that RIDICULOUS ropa vieja, with brisket and rice – it was insane. Probably the best thing we ate – I declare g the winner of the evening.
Pollo a la Brasa: rotisserie chicken. Once again, garces nailed it with a succulent chicken presented in such a casual manner that it looks like child’s play – seriously – after eating this, you wonder why it is you have ever come across a dry chicken before. And, of course, well-seasoned, well-dressed, and nothing we wanted to change, as it really hit that home-made chicken note.
Masitas de Puerco. Chunks of fried pork shoulder? How could you go wrong? You can’t! Well – maybe you can, as there is only a limited quantity in the plate. v confessed that she could have housed a heaping mountain of these guys (and maybe she has when her family has made it). I would have liked to have seen slightly larger pieces this way beyond the crispy exterior would be more of a tender interior, this way you’d get some more textural contrast, but as far as flavors go, I got nothing bad to say.
Dessert smorgasboard! You see the flan, which was ok (it was flan – nothing really to report there) as well as a a chocolate dulce-de-leche cake that vanished within seconds of being put on the table. v went for the sorbet-shake-thingee and smiled for the rest of the evening.
In all, the gang was really happy with Rosa Blanca. It’s definitely not fussy, not fancy, not pretentious Cuban-inspired cuisine. v felt that there was a lot of faithful representations in there, with some notable exceptions (e.g. that curry lamb, and apparently there was one dish that was Puerto Rican, not Cuban, which for some diehards could be a point of contention). The service was still working out the kinks and trying to hit the right balance of pace, smiles, and confidence in what they were doing. Certainly the kitchen is doing a fabulous job. I only hope that the uniqueness of Cuban cuisine is enough to keep us coming back for more. It’s tough because the style of food is almost weeknight-ish, but done up a little (and priced up enough for) a weekend dinner … where there’ll be a lot of competition from the likes of Kanella, Mercato, and company. I guess time will tell … but trust us – the food is good!
just got kung fu’d by some tofu … and i liked it!
t says: a was down for a quick trip to a food truck today and noted that Kung Fu Hoagie had set up shop on 38th and Chestnut-ish. We tracked them down and had them whip up a couple of their banh mi sandwiches. Personally, I went for the tofu “meatball”, figuring that they weren’t trying to imitate real meat, rather, just moosh together some tofu and seasoning and go from there. a was bold and went for the “beef”. I don’t know how his was, but check out mine:
Up close with the tofu “meat”-ball banh mi. First and foremost, the bread was perfect. Absolutely perfect. A nice crunch on the outside and soft inside – and I believe they may have torn out some of the excess to preserve excellent bread:filling ratio. As for the filling, those pickled carrots are amazing, and the “spicy beans” are an absolute must – to omit them would be to miss out on a very important contributor of flavor. Now, for the tofu-ball, I have to say that it was pretty darn good. Do I wish it was something more porky? Sure – but it was nevertheless well-seasoned and had a firm enough texture to stand up to a few bites before disintegrating. All in all, this sandwich totally rocked my socks. I was not expecting such a showing for $5.50. I’d go back there in a heartbeat for the tofu sandwich (and I’d pay $2 if they’d give me some pig).
a says: My unpictured tofu “beef” had great flavor and freshness, but the only issue was slightly soggy bun and chili paste was less hot than usual.
t says: vendors take note: no one likes a soggy bun. Boy am I glad I ate mine right away and didn’t wait ’til later – it’s the only way to avoid bun sog.
hilarious hosemaster post
t says: I just had to share it:
after dinner sneeze 