will’s a little fussy
t says: g and I joined m and n and kp for n’s birthday the other day! It was a blast – good friends, good wine, and somewhere-around-good food. Check it out!
March 2013, Saturday Dinner, Party of a LOT. m was smart and arranged a fixed price menu. We were promised 4 courses for $65 (1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 dessert, 1 piece of cake) I thought that that was a bit high to pay, but m had already calculated in the tax and tip, so then it came about equal to what g and I refer to as “a special occasion meal” … and n’s special, so we were cool with it!
garlic leek soup: it looked pretty, but g felt it was nothing more than a solid soup – nothing profound like fond’s soups – just some garlic and leek flavors that predominated, with a rich base. It was solid.
escargot and chicken liver: at first the sweet and sour flavors tasted kind of like general tso’s sauce on the escargot, but then when mixed with everything else, the dish made more sense (it needed the oomph from the liver to balance out the sweet). However, it was short-lived as there were FIVE total escargots on the plate – five! booo. It was a shame because when all the favors combined, it was actually a very nice symphony in there!
the tetra-chicken: there were at least four preparations of chicken on this plate, and while some of them were snoozeville (the poached breast had a nice texture but underwhelming flavor and was underseasoned), others were great (that chicken skin was ridiculous). It was good fun trying to figure out what was chicken and what was not (given all the shapes of the items on the plate), but ultimately, as soon as you found your favorite “piece”, you were less inclined to go back and eat the other pieces …
steak and mushrooms: this dish was a little disappointing. First off, let’s just put it out there: it failed to reach Garces Trading Company goodness (and certainly would come in at a higher cost). The cut of meat was nice, and the application of heat was technically sound, however, the flavor was underwhelming – it was reminiscent of the steak we had in Paris (the one at Le Chateaubriand, not the one that gave us gastroenteritis). So in the end, it tasted like steak, which is good, but it just didn’t taste like a $30 entree steak. Does that mean it’s kinda-sorta-a-fail? The veggies and mushrooms were a nice touch (although underseasoned), but weren’t enough to carry the dish home. Sorry will.
In all, as the title of the post suggests, we found Will to be a little to “fussy”. We like the idea of pushing the envelope, but sacrificing flavor depth is not an adequate trade-off. For example, the food at Fond is not quite as “fussy” as Will’s, but in the end Fond’s dishes are reliably delicious and will knock you on your ass if you’re not ready for them (and will likely be cheaper to boot!). Sorry Will – for right now, I can’t join the love-fest of all the critics, and I’m going to have to pass. Fortunately, the friends and wine that night more than made up for the food – it was a fabulous dinner overall! Oh – I almost forgot – the desserts were actually quite good – including the chocolate cake they made for n’s birthday! I think that I enjoyed the desserts more than the meats, so that was a splendid finish to the meal – I give them props for not snoozing on dessert!
a cheu dinner … gesundheit!
t says: kp, a, and v went out to dinner without g and me. That’s cool – I’m sure we were working or something. In any case, here for you, they recount their tales of that wonderful April night …
April 2013, Thursday Dinner, Party of 3. We had a one hour wait and and decided to hit Varga Bar before Cheu Noodle Bar.
Varga Bar Chicken Wings: We got their chicken wings, knowing we’d get wings at Cheu. Varga’s were very approachable. They had a nice tang glaze which could have used a touch more heat. Overall, refreshing with tender, juicy meat with mild duck fat flavor. The blue cheese dip was much more for the celery than a needed accompaniment of the wings.
And now for the main event: the newly opened Chew Noodle Bar:
Uncooked ramen with spice: Brought us back to college with a great crunch and impressive heat.
Scrapple: The sweetness of the dish was the most memorable note. A subtle scrapple, not the typical savory punch you in the face type pork concoction. The crunch of the outside had the perfect sizzle but the overall loaf was soft.
Dumplings: Light and airy, again a subtle way of presenting pork with a mild deficiency in salt.
Buns: First, ask nicely and get all three types. The pork had mild crunch on the bun with subtle sweet meatiness of ridiculous soft pork belly. Maybe the crunch in all three was due to cucumber? The “burger” had perfect cilantro pop to a meaty party, but our party disagreed on how good it was overall. The mung bean is best described as an Asian, falafel so good my mother would eat it!
Wings: Sadly undersalted, but great crunch and no grease. Juicy and tender, much like Varga’s, but again a need for more heat.
Cold sesame noodles: Light airy noodles with less starch and more flavor… Dare we say better than Han’s? (t interjects: for real? no way! now I have to go there!)
Briskest noodle soup: What. A. Mess. By far the weakest link due to a starchy Asian broth (that was more like gravy) and overcooked soggy noodles. And again, the dish lacked salt.
a and v say: So … in summary … right now, the feel of the place is a hybrid between Alla Spina & a typical Philly BYOB (with an Asian flare!). Would we go again? Definitely but be ready for some inconsistency and to have “minor” dishes stand above the big boys. This place has promise but they need to get their noodles/soup in order. The undersalting is a surprise but could be due to a lack of MSG-type flavor enhancers (a good thing) or a want to be “under instead of over” (a less good thing). Oh, and one final note, GET THERE SOON WHILE THEY ARE STILL BYOB.
pancake-off: cochon vs. honey’s
t says: There are two kinds of brunch spots in Philly … the kind that everyone knows about and waits for religiously every Sat/Sun morning … and the kind that, for some inexplicable reason, go unnoticed. (Actually, there’s a third kind, too: the expensive kind like at the Four Seasons or Lacroix … but who can afford that regularly?) For this post, I’ve put adsz fave Cochon vs. everyone-and-their-mother’s-fave Honey’s for Battle Pancake …
Challenger: Cochon’s Banana and Chocolate-smothered Pancakes – just as fluffy as it used to be, but now served on a plate so you can behold it’s massive height! It features this banana-nut-laden bread (that’s different than before when the banana and walnut were just on top of the pancake) – and I know that it looks burnt (I was about to complain when I first saw it), but when I tried it, it actually added this really addictive toasty flavor and a super-light crunch to the outside – it’s more like a burnt sugar than a burnt bread – very weird. I’ll dock them the points for the appearance as it looks a bit dark, but I’ll leave the points alone for taste, as the pancakes were truly delicious – I can almost finish the entire plate!
“Champion” (by wait time): custom concoction of banana-chocolate-PB pancakes at Honey’s. Ultimately not as fluffy and loses points for undercookedness in the center of one of the pancakes – likely due to poor distribution of stuffings causing concentration in the center, thus making it more difficult to cook … sorry guys – i can’t take the blame if you’re a little sloppy. I ate around the undone area – it was fine, but at +1.50 per topping, the bill racks up so it’s as expensive as Cochon’s.
Winner: definitely Cochon. And that’s not to say that Honey’s was bad – aside from the uncooked part, it was quite delicious. But I think the problem is that it’s not remarkable; I could make the same exact pancake at home … actually … I could do it better. However, Cochon’s fluffy pillow of love is something that I know that I can’t make at home no matter how hard I try (if someone gave me a recipe, I could give it a whirl). Consequently, I have to give Cochon the nod for better pancakes. Because of this, I just don’t foresee us waiting in line for Honey’s on the weekends, ever. Plus, Cochon has other little “perks” of going … like this:
“Widowmaker” … no – that’s not what it’s called on the menu … but it should be! This guy probably has ~2500 calories, 2473 of which are from fat … it’s totally crazy (and crazy-delicious! it’s sr’s favorite! and i think that v even tackled it once!)
France Days 6-7 (and 8 and 9 …)
t says: The remainder of our time in Paris was spent doing a varied assortment of activities … including eating, drinking, and shopping (i.e. vacation g + t style!). So here’s the final blitzkrieg of photos …
We started off Day 6 at Merci, a store full of all kinds of interesting clothes and lifestyle objects … including white-enameled eating utensils! if they weren’t 15 euro a piece, i would have picked up a set or two – they were pretty cool!
Day 6 then featured meeting up with m and n (did we mention that we were vacationing with them? well we were!) at Cafe Pouchkine. While I wasn’t a fan of the setting (the goal was to be tres fancy), the macarons were …
… the BEST of the trip (i.e. better than LaDuree, Pierre Herme, and Un Dimanche a Paris) – great texture, a good quantity of filling, and profound combination of flavors – superb!
after shopping at a few stores, we ducked into a wine bar for food (they stuck is in the basement … which was fine – we had the whole place to ourselves!) … and while we thought we were ordering some kind of light bruschetta to have with our wine – it ended up essentially being pizza!
this was our wine selection of the lunch – not bad, but a little pricey for what it ultimately was
one of the stores we visited was a super-secret store … well, maybe not “that” super-secret because our innkeepers did know about it – however, they had never been there. it turned out that l’eclaireur is essentially a hidden store with no signs – you simply have to know the address and buzz on the door to be let in – and then after you are, you will be permitted access to an assortment of fabulous clothes and other items that are WAY too expensive for the meager salaries of g & t … but drb got to trying on some badass leather jackets – he looks like an enemy “asset” in a Bourne film!
dinner was at Le Chateaubriand – the ?#15? restaurant in the world! we braced for excitement … the first dish was a “shot” of ceviche – quite refreshing, although I’m not sure why one had to consume all the liquid – it dominated the fish’s flavor!
i am blanking on the second dish, but i feel like the main component was razor clams …
… and unfortunately, the menu, when translated, only lists like three ingredients … oh well …
the best dish of the evening! it was fresh and uplifted (greens) with some zest (shaved horseradish) and a fabulous cut of fish (it has the iridescence you can see!). It seemed so simple, but it was fabulous.
unfortunately, the main was the most disappointing dish – the steak was “ok” (technically prepared nicely, but with so tough a cut of meat, it would probably have been better to have it cooked a little more slowly), and the accompaniments were all “ok” … but combination of the ingredients did not combine into something more delicious than the components – it just didn’t harmonize for us, which is such a shame
according to m, this was the most disgusting thing he ate on the entire trip … which is weird because it was just some bitter orange sorbet covered in creme and topped with something cardamom-y and accompanied by some rum and raisins … but somehow m felt like “it tastes like a fish market smells” … (none of us had any idea what he was talking about)
this was a bizarre dessert that apparently means “bacon from heaven” – it was like a shortbread cookie a layer of something sweet and then a bruleed egg yolk on top – all to be eaten in a single bite … when the egg yolk explodes in your mouth, you get assaulted by savory egg flavor, but then as you chew, the salt and the sugar break through, creating an evolution that’s remarkable. this was the most interesting thing i ate on our entire trip for sure – i’d want another shot at it (and the next time, i’d be ready for the ride)
at one point or another, the waiter showed up with a plate of seasoned/spiced mango. this dessert, while very simple, was quite amazing – even n was impressed with the quality of fruit and flavor combination.
Day 7 included browsing around Canal St. Martin. g drb and I decided to try out some Parisian pizza. We went for the “Obama” pizza (it’s like a Hawaiian pizza), featuring healthy pieces of ham and a pineapple chutney that was absolutely insane – seriously – it was like curry and spices and pineapple, stewed together to a perfect spicy/sweet concoction that i’d easily eate on a piece of bread. really the only drawbacks to this meal were that 1) they did not deliver to the Canal due to either lack of personnel or it being too cold (so we brought it to the canal ourself) and 2) the pizza was a little soggy/floppy in the center where the mound of chutney was – they need to engineer a better pizza
After more strolling, we located a bistro serving some creme brulee … which turned out to be prepared “correctly”, including not being pre-refrigerated and cracking into nice big pieces on a single strike. this was absolutely the last good thing we ate in paris …
The last thing we wanted to eat was steak frites. So we ventured around the St. Germain area before finally settling on a busy bistro: Le Mondrion. This was a big mistake. First, their wine list wasn’t updated with current vintages … so when I ordered a 2010 Bordeaux and was presented with a bottle of 2011, to which the waiter insisted, “nah – there’s no difference between 2010 and 2011 – they’re the same thing” … that should have been a red flag … Their steak frites were half the price of the previous restaurants … that should have been a red flag … But we persisted … 5 of us ate dinner … 4 of us had steak frites … 2 of us were praying to the porcelain gods within 8 hours … yuck.
So the “bonus” days in Paris were spent getting over gastroenteritis and advancing diet to solids … so there wasn’t much to report … we stayed in our BnB for one day then relocated to a hotel near the airport. The morning of leaving, we were flummoxed at CdG by some USAirways stupidity (despite online check-in, they made us wait in line to print out boarding passes) and sign confusion (we went through customs 3 times by accident …). We did, however, discover some cool things: 1) the wine store in the airport is AWESOME 2) the USAirways “preferred status” upgrade (~$30) is totally worth it – you zip right through lines in a jif (how else could we go through customs so quickly so many times?!).
And so … there’s our trip. We omitted some details such that there are some details still to discuss in person …
sbraga: taste of the south
t says: What follows is a blow-by-blow account of a dinner kp had at Sbraga. It is rare to hear kp gush about a restaurant like this. So now that’s twice that Chef Sbraga proves that he can cook (for the first time, see here)…
kp says:
Duck Fat Biscuit with Bell Pepper Jam (no pictures): The biscuit looked nice and fluffy with multiple buttery layers. It was definitely nice and airy on the first bite with a nice subtle hit of duck fat. The bell pepper jam was delicately sweet with small amount of heat at the end; I wish though it had a been a little more heat like a jalapeño jam. For a Southerner this was a nice way to start off the meal.
Pimento Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño: Now I was happy they were taking a Southern Staple and stuffing it into a jalapeño- something I have always wanted. So on first cut the cheese comes oozing out. It was warm and gooey with nice heat of paprika too. The outside crust was perfectly crunchy and not too heavy. It was served with some creme fraiche that was a great cooling element after the warm heat.
Collard Green Oysters Rockefeller: I love oysters and these crunchy delights were just amazing. They had this beautiful parmesean bacon crumble on top that was perfect to the salty ocean water flavor the oysters. The substitution of collards for typically spinach was money because that mild bitter taste was just perfect.
Eggs over Easy and Grits with Benton’s Bacon Crumble: By far the standout of the meal was this grits dish. I am very particular about grits (t interjects: no seriously – taste kp’s grits one day and you’ll find out why) and these were perfectly cooked. They used broth from poached bacon to start the grits. They were perfectly creamy and seasoned to perfection. The eggs and bacon were a nice cut of salt into the grits. The romano cheese and prosicutto on top were a nice cold contrast to the hot eggs and grits. You could tell a lot of love was put into this one.
Crab Fritter, Pickled Green Tomatoes & Hominy: I really liked the fact they switched up the classic fried hushpuppy into a crab fritter. I loved how they resisted frying the green tomato too. The crab fritter was nice and crispy on the outside and then interior was nice a soft. The tabasco mayonnaise as the dipping the sauce was a nice subtle heat with meal. The acid of the pickled tomato was nice cut into the heaviness from the fritters. I do wish though that fritters were a little more crunch and browned a little more for my tastes.
Tennessee Hot Chicken, Cole Slaw, White Bread, Pickles: WOW! So this a traditonal Nashville fried chicken dish. Typically fried chicken with paprika and cayenne in the flour and after being fried the whole thing is dowsed in hot sauce. Now the most drastic thing about Sbraga’s version was NO sauce. But I won’t harp on him for doing this because the crunchy batter was perfectly seasoned with the right heat and even a little bit of tang too. The first was a heavenly mix spicy crunch crust with juicy meat of the guinea hen. Each bite had great heat (I wanted more but I like spicy) that didn’t set your lips on fire. Now the coleslaw and ranch dressing was a lot of cream to accompany the chicken and I think a little overpowering for the chicken. I wish they had put a little less ranch on the plate and made the coleslaw with just vinegar and no mayo. There take on white bread was amazing, a simple crustless small piece served with the pickle was nice and simple and a good contrast to the slaw and chicken.
Smothered Pork Chops, Brussel Sprouts: So these were a delight, typical of Southern “smothering’ which means onions, tomato gravy that a meat is baked in. There version was just beautiful the meat was perfectly cooked and the gravy was nice and fatty with sweet onion taste. The gravy had the right thickness and salt and just really brought out the mild pork flavor.
Pecan Pie, Bourbon Ice Cream: Now I love pecan pie, probably my favorite dessert after red velvet cake. The portion size was perfect after such a large meal. The crust was nice buttery flakiness. The filling was just the right amount of sweet with the pecans. But the real star of the plate was the bourbon ice cream- just phenomenal- sweet caramel and honey with nice bold smokey bourbon flavor.
France Days 4-5 (Burgundy!)
t says: Our little side-trip to Burgundy was kinda-sorta awesome …
First off – the TGV puts Amtrak to shame. You buy tickets online, you get assigned/reserved seats (woohoo!). All the trains we saw were on time, including ours (woohoo!). The trains travel of >250 km/h (woohoo!). Really … it was exactly how a means of transportation should operate. True, it was spendy at ~50 Euro, but it was totally worth it.
After arriving, we checked into our bed and breakfast, which was humorous primarily because there were no signs for the BnB anywhere. Furthermore, the older lady working at what seemed to be a pool supplies store, did not parlez l’Anglais. She instinctively pointed to the 2nd floor of her building which was indeed where our bed and breakfast (Les Chambres de l’Imprimerie) was. Fortunately, even though g had some initial concern (she always has “initial concern” with every place I choose), the room was off the hook (as with nearly every place I choose). The room we stayed in (the “printer’s room”) is the first pic on the tripadvisor page … and looked exactly like the picture. It was well-appointed, well-temperatured, and ginormous. It was a little dark in there (lots of black), but in the early morning, that was beneficial (it was super-dark!). Furthermore, there were cute niceties:
cute, right?
After checking in, we ventured into Beaune for a bite to eat. It’s a shame that the town was essentially a ghosttown! No shops were open, and half the restaurants (that we knew of) were closed. Fortunately, we were told of La Part des Anges, which was indeed open. And so, g and I were the only other table in the entire restaurant … that was weird (to this day, we’re not sure why it was so dead around there!)
g went with shrimp and risotto
i went with what turned out to be an escargots sandwich over lentils – it was SUPER-good – perhaps not quite the tenderness of Bibou’s, but a deeply flavored sauce
we finished with chocolate “pudding”, which ended up being more like a molten chocolate souffle (not as good as bw’s but they did give us two orders for the price of one, so how could i complain?)
It actually turned out to be quite a nice lunch. Even the “cheap” wine we got (a crisp Burgundian chardonnay) was nice … even if it was still ~$9/glass.
After lunch, we trolled around town and eventually wound up at Hospices de Beaune, which was originally a hospital for the poor. Nowadays, it’s primarily known for a huge wine auction. It was a super-impressive building and had a fun audio tour (with voices!).
panoramic view of the main room where patients would go (yea, i had a LOT of fun with my iPhone on this trip)
We then proceeded to a wine tasting at La Cave de l’Ange Gardien. Unlike the tripadvisor page’s main photo, it’s actually far more like a warehouse (much larger, and more grey). The tasting was led by a 70-something year old dude who was hilarious (he spoke English and French and who knows what other languages). He waxes poetic about each wine’s flavors and tosses in anecdotes. Basically, it was a 17-wine tasting, lasting 3 hours (and we only left because we had to go to dinner!), and it was free. That’s right: free. CRAZY! If at the end of this tasting, you didn’t know what Red and White Burgundies tasted like, then you just weren’t going to get it. It was very informative and we’d totally go again!
Dinner was at Le P’tit Paradis., a restaurant that was way-hidden in Beaune. It was located down this super-tiny street, sitting pretty much by itself in the dark. g and I felt like we were in a super-secret restaurant (once again, there was only one other couple in there – also America), but sadly, the food was unremarkable – so unremarkable that the only pic I’m posting is my dessert:
nutella creme brulee … with POP ROCKS … do pop rocks make a dessert like this janky as hell? sure! but it was still fun! g pointed out that, technically, it didn’t follow the real rules of a creme brulee, as it was clearly pre-made and refrigerated rather than made on the spot and torched (i.e. the sides of the ramekin were chilly), but am I going to argue with a glob of chocolate-hazelnut? nope!
g finished with 4 French cheeses that killed it – we were both full and still continued to eat
The following day, we started with breakfast (it was pretty good – not as fresh as our BnB in Paris, but respectable! the home-made jams were OUT OF CONTROL!) and began touring with Sebastien (he was the husband of Marie, who ran the BnB operations). I”m 94% sure that Sebastien is a real-life “Transporter” as he regaled us with tails of driving Carla Bruni and wealthy businessmen in their Ferraris around Spain … and the best part is that he, like his wife, were so incredibly nice. And the tour was fantastic – we visited two vineyards (one small – Domaine Amiot, and one large – Chateau Meursault). Really, the saddest part of our Burgundy trip is knowing that when we return, surely their BnB and touring operation will most definitely be way more expensive as other people catch on … :’-(
Domaine Amiot is a property in/at Chassagne-Montrachet. The owner was super-nice (while still maintaining his French-ness) and the wines demonstrated a huge variation in terroir. We ultimately brought home a bottle of the Vielles Vignes because it was approachable now (and was the best combination of a “g+t wine” and “Burgundian Chardonnay”. Overall a fabulous tasting experience.
Chateau Meursault’s wines weren’t particularly remarkable (or at least, the ones we tasted). I was tempted by one of their 1er Crus, but at 75 Euro, it was a bit rich for my blood …
Lunch (included in the tour) was at Michelin-starred Loiseau des Vignes. It was a fabulous meal, opening with a multi-layer soup (a light, whipped mushroom soup over a bed of lentils), followed by duck:
fabulous duck – once again tougher than the duck breast I’m used to in the States, but with sharper knives, we demolished it
g’s favorite dessert of the trip: chestnut millefeuille – a perfect combination of delicate and soulful … and with chocolate!! yay!
We concluded our tour with visiting some shops in Beaune … which was remarkable because unlike the previous day, they were all open! What the heck!? Where were all these people yesterday?? In any case, we visited an awesome bookstore (Athenaeum), a great cheese shop (where we saw all the cheeses we had the night before as well as an assortment of Dijon Mustards … made in BEAUNE!), fabulous wine shops, charcuterie shops … Man – it was great! We could have spent a day going from shop to shop to explore (hell – I could have spent a day in the bookstore alone – it had all kinds of great wine gadgetry!).
And with that, we TGV’d it back to Paris – no fuss, no muss.
We met up with drb and ate at the restaurant around the corner from our Paris BnB: Bitrot La Pendule Occitane, which was recommended by our BnB guys. For an off-the-cuff meal, it was fabulous!
these escargs (my new word for escargots) were absolutely fabulous – the best we had on our entire trip. g pointed out that “they taste just like garlic, butter, and parsley” … as if that were a bad thing … they were great! we followed this up with steak tartare, a burger, and a steak – all of which were done quite nicely (drb was impressed with the sheer quantity of tartare he received). this was a great place.
2010 Graves – a fabulous daily-drinker of a Bordeaux
.
lustig on colbert report
t says: Finally … Dr. Lustig (UCSF Pediatric Endocrinologist) makes it onto Colbert Report.
Colbert Report from 28Mar2013 feat. Robert Lustig
It’s only a short snippet (boo!), and he’s plugging his own book (double-boo!), but the message is important. If only I, myself, could do a better job at living life on a Lustig-approved diet; I blame nature for making sugar taste so damn good …
after dinner sneeze 