just keep winning, just keep winning … just keep winning, winning, winning …
t says: g and I, having had multiple great experiences at Little Fish, especially for their Sunday fixed price menus, decided it was time to crack the whip and demand that a and v and kp accompany us on our next visit. kp couldn’t make it, but that didn’t stop the four of us from seeing the task to its end … for the sake of the blog! …
May 2013, Sunday Dinner, Party of 4.
Sunday dinners work like this: for $35, you get 5 courses, no choices (they can entertain some dietary restrictions), and that’s it. There are two seatings, and they’re typically booked a few weeks in advance. But I tell you this here and now: this is the absolute best way to eat at Little Fish and one of the best deals in all of Philadelphia. Do it. We usually go to the later seating so we can bide our time, but if you go to the early one, you can catch a glimpse out the window (and get actually reasonable lighting for photos of food and wine!). We brought along 4 bottles of wine that night – one of which was a 2011 Alexana Revana Vineyard pinot noir (arguably the wine of the night …)
Course #1: salad with rhubarb: Little Fish’s first course always rides the line between “simple” and “fancy”. There really isn’t a lot of extra super-cool stuff in the salad. No weird things foraged by an anarchist farmer. No super-exotic fruits. No special plating. Just a clump of fresh, bright greens and a touch of ?pickled? rhubarb, some nuts, a light toss, and bam – first course done! Our palates were energized and ready to go!
The second course of hamachi, radish, and cashews was so beautifully balanced that my mouth simply could not believe it. Well – I take that back – that ?buttermilk? smear was a bit overwhelming, but I just cut back on it and the other flavors came out like a rays of sun through clouds. The salinity of the fish, the meatiness of the nuts, the unique crunch and flavor of radish – ah, beautiful.
Welcome to v’s and my favorite dish: speck, scallop, and ramp purée. This scallop was so beautifully seared that v and I could do no more than sit back and wonder exactly how a mortal man accomplishes such a feat. We didn’t ponder for too long, though, as before we knew it, the scallop was gone. Once again – the balance between the seafood and the speck and hauntingly smooth ramp flavor was a beautiful thing.
g and a’s favorite was the swordfish with spinach purée, fava beans, and asparagus. Maybe I just don’t appreciate swordfish – if I wanted something that was this meaty, I’d just eat cow or pig! But g and a enjoyed how the denser, richer texture stood up to the dense, rich puree and sauce. Personally, I woulda gone for another scallop, but whatever!
This was perhaps Little Fish’s weakest dessert ever. Which is shocking because it’s strawberry shortcake! I guess I was expecting more. The cake was a little on the dry side – and I half-expected there to be some sort of small twist – maybe a ribbon of cinnamon in the cake or a dash of mint or basil in the whipped cream. Nevertheless, it was a comforting ending to a wonderful meal (g loves strawberry shortcake!) When all was said and done, we had enjoyed 5 courses and 3 good bottles of wine (and 1 disappointment – that stupid rose from Moore Brothers that was hawked as “the finest rose in Provence” – what a load of crap). What a wonderful Sunday night!
the plcb gets some taste!
t says: I’m not a huge fan of the PLCB – the selection is very often limited and the people who work in the stores are of no help. That said, even the blind squirrel finds an acorn … or five … While these are some of the pricier wines that the PLCB offers at its 19th and Chestnut store, I have to say that I was impressed to see them there. It’s not that I’ve had any of them (as a matter of fact, I’ve had none of them), but it’s the first time in a while that I’ve actually been excited to see something in a state store! No, I didn’t buy any of them (I’m not made of money!), but I’m hoping that in seeing these, it’s a sign that some more-better wines are in the pipeline …
So you need Bordeaux, but you’re stuck in a state store? Go for an ’09 or ’10. Supposedly fabulous vintages in Bordeaux, the saying goes, “If you couldn’t make a good Bordeaux in ’09 or ’10 … you shouldn’t be making Bordeaux.” I spied a bottle or two hanging out with some recognizable names. It’d be worth a shot …
Tucked away behind all those distracting chianti was this bottle. You see, the 2009 Sughere di Frassinello was a phenomenal wine at ~$17. Well … this is that wine’s older, more sophisticated brother who went to Ivy League school, is a tennis phenom, and drives a Porsche. What does it taste like? I have no idea. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen it on a shelf, so I’m VERY intrigued. Am I $40 intrigued. Oh-so-very-close …
Dunham Riesling. One of a’s favorite American Rieslings, this is a great bottle to try to see if you’re down with Riesling (beware, it is going to be off-dry). I’m actually wondering if, upon reading this, a will “stop by” tomorrow on the way home and pick up a bottle or two …
2011 Ayoub Memoirs. This is the more plebian version of the estate bottle below. Ayoub makes some fine Oregon pinot, and a previous version of this that I’ve had was pretty darned tasty. For $34, it’s not exactly a “steal”, but I’m glad to know it’s there in case I need something for a “nicer” weekend BYO dinner.
Ayoub 2011. It has a big-ass bottle with a stupidly ostentatious waxed cap. But I love it. Or at least, I haven’t had this one yet, but I have had other Ayoub (2008 and 2009) that have all been beautiful very elegant pinots. Now, I know that 2011 was a rough year in Oregon (which is probably why the PLCB had a shot at attaining ANY of these Ayoub wines at all), but if I needed to find a $50 bottle of pinot in a hurry at a state store, this is what I’d get (P.S. never have I EVER had to find a $50 bottle of ANYTHING in a hurry …)
gettin’ crazy sushi
t says: A little while ago, I hopped on a groupon for the new sushi eatery: Crazy Sushi. I figured for $20, I could get $40 worth of food, which isn’t that bad of a deal. g and I went on a Monday night and let’s just say that the sushi was a bit crazy, indeed:
We tried out some rolls like the ichiban roll and some other roll in the middle there that were both salmon-based. As soon as this dish hit the table, we knew that we were in for a different kind of sushi … This wasn’t the refined/elegant sushi of Zama. This wasn’t the simple Sunday-night sushi of Tsuki. No, this was over-the-top sushi with big fat rolls piled high with panko and goopy sauces and the like. The problem we ran into is that all we could taste was the sauce! And all our tongues could feel was either the dryness of the breadcrumb or the mush of the spicy salmon. Meanwhile, the bigger pieces of fish in the centers of the roll got lost int he shuffle. Hell, the taste of fish was actually nowhere to be found because of the sauces – which is pretty striking because that pink one in the middle looks to have a huge amount of fish. g and I were scraping off the way-to-sweet or way-too-creamy sauces in an effort to let the purity of fish shine through. But alas. We failed. BUT – on the flip side, we got full REALLY fast (those specialty rolls are filling!).
This plate had a “sashimi roll”. This is perhaps the weirdest affront to sushi anywhere. It’s a huge piece of salmon, but then stuffed with what seems to be ?spicy salmon? and a dollop of sauce. Ugh. The sauce. Furthermore, the pieces of fish, themselves, were so gratuitous that it was a little overwhelming to take all in one bite. I would have rather have had 6 appropriately-sized pieces of salmon by themselves – skip the other crap (but sashimi, itself, is actually very pricey on the menu)
I also ventured the yellow-tail scallion roll, which was a bit below average – it was a very petite size and the scallion had an unusual resiliency to it – must not have been fresh. I also tried the banana tempura roll which was also rather unremarkable (?where’d the crunch go?).
In summary, I think that Crazy Sushi was a ok groupon deal – you can get some raw fish at a reasonable price. But without it, I’d much rather go down the street and over one block to Tsuki. No, Tsuki’s not as “crazy”, but at least I can feel the fish. But, if you’re going with those who are still in the beginning stages of sushi and might be “in” to over-the-top dish ornaments (serious! what’s the deal with that row of twigs near my sashimi?), this place might be fore you. As for me … I was just happy it was BYO! (yea, that Novellum in the background is pretty much the best $10 chardonnay I’ve ever had – think Chardonnay, but without the obnoxious oak and add on a nice touch of zip.)
my new yogurt addiction
t says: Since our head-to-head of some popular Greek yogurts, I’ve been plugging along, doing the Fage thing (on the days that breakfast can be had), adding granola or honey or whatever else my little heart desired, watching as the Chobani tide at work slowly receded. Now, some two years later, I guess Greek Yogurt just isn’t as “cool” anymore. It was an interesting fad while it lasted. And throughout, Fage remained, in my opinion, the king of yogurt (or queen – I’m unsure of the gender of Greek yogurt). But now, upon rolling up into Wegmans, I spotted two other shnazzy-shining-armored knights invading the refrigerated section, ready to contest the throne:
sigi: this one, despite the hip packaging, failed to impress. there was an unpleasant bitterness – no, not “twang” like Greek yogurt, rather, something in the background profile that assaulted my palate and made me think, “gee … this is kinda gross – strawberries be damned!”. maybe it was the Icelandic skyr that scared me off (I confess I had to google “skyr vs greek yogurt” to figure out what they were referring to)
noosa: the section was also littered with the short-and-wide containers that had some brightly-colored globs of fruit preserves/jelly peaking out from the corners. it reminded me of a cooler/hipper dannon … except that it. tastes. awesome. seriously, the yogurt is dense and creamy and sweet – it’s like dessert. and the flavors are ridiculous (strawberry rhubarb and mango are my favorites …). this was surprising, because with all the mentions of “all natural” and “probiotic” and “rBGH-free-ness”, i entered the bowl with some skepticism … but whatever they’re doing to this “yoghurt” to make it taste like this, i applaud them. to that end, it’s probably-most-definitely not as “good” for you as Greek yogurt, but i don’t care …
noosa after my wrath … feel free to insert an obligatory jar jar binks joke involving noosa/”yousa”/”mesa”, etc.
cmmp brings sexy back (to 2011 prices)
t says: Still pricey as hell … but the suits are awesome!
after dinner sneeze 