an open letter or two
t says:
dear Meme,
Thank you very much for all of your time here in the Rittenhouse/Fitler Square area. Saying goodbye is sad for us, as we have no doubt that you worked very hard to make things work. While we didn’t always get along, we have to say that we were recently surprised by your talent: you were one sparkle/twinkle away from joining the ranks of some of our favorite eateries. Thus, we have nothing but the sincerest wishes for your success in the future. Best of luck.
sincerely,
t
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
dear Bibou,
There’s a new open space that’s right down the street from me – and it’s set up to be a restaurant. Plus, because I know that the Calmels and I are very nearly neighbors, that means that it’s right down the street from them, too. You should move. If you do, I’ll personally help you remove all of that ridiculous yellow paint.
sincerely,
t
little fish dominates summer sundays
t says: So I had to work the night shift for a week. I have to say that it was the weirdest experience because to me, it felt like one extremely long day with some short naps interspersed throughout (i.e. I’d wake up and there’d be light outside, and I’d go to sleep and there’d be light outside). I did well on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. Friday night was the hardest – I just couldn’t keep up my usual enthusiasm and focus. But Saturday … Saturday I was gung-ho. Why, you might ask? Because Saturday night shift meant that I was going to leave work on Sunday morning … and Sunday was date night! To celebrate, g and I went to Little Fish, one of our favorite places to go for seafood. Armed with a chilled bottle of Alexana Riesling we had picked up from Oregon, we hopped into a cab and rode off to 6th and South-ish …
July 2012, Sunday Dinner, Party of 2. Oh Little Fish. Your restaurant is so cute and quaint. It’s not quite Bibou-small, but it’s pretty darn small. And it’s relaxed, too. The servers donned their tattoos and strutted about with an air of “home” (and they were on top of their shiznit, too!) – it’s just what I needed to make me feel at ease after the week. I glanced at the menu (i.e. the chalkboard on the farm wall) and prepared myself for the series of dishes. OH – I forgot to mention – when you go to Little Fish on Sundays, there’s only one option: a 5-course, $33 fixed price meal. If you don’t like it, then get out. They have two seatings – 5:30 and 8 (?or is it 8:30? I forget). Even if there was something on the menu that I didn’t particularly want to eat, I’m pretty sure I would have lacked the oomph to get out of my seat and seek out another last-minute Sunday dinner option. Fortunately, the menu looked pretty good:
And now, on to the food:
My first leafy green in weeks …
So we started with a pretty simple salad. On one hand, it was a simple as simple could be (arugala, tomato, cheese), but on the other, it was really the first green thing I had eaten in at least a week, if not longer – so for me, it was like a plate of some sort of exotic vegetable I had never seen. So yes, it was tasty (plus, arugula tends to have that pepperiness to it – so it is more exotic than romaine after all). Was it blow-your-face-off-good? No. But when’s the last time arugala+cheese+tomato blew your face off?
fluke
Now THIS dish, on the other hand, blew my face off. Seriously. I was not expecting it. I figured, “ok, well, they’re going to have to have some sort of raw fish preparation, and chances are that it’s going to be whatever leftover fish they had from the week (from what Kitchen Confidential has told me, Sunday fish in restaurants are suspect because no one delivers “fresh fish” on the weekends), so I set my expectations pretty low … but this was magic. It was sweet (watermelon), spicy (tamari), fresh/zippy (scallion), savory (brown sauce … soy?), and it was all perfectly balanced with the briney essence in raw fluke. Wonderful. As I sipped our Riesling (which was also wonderful), I remembered how Little Fish doesn’t screw around with namby-pamby flavors. Thank goodness.
scallop
This was the second dish to blow my face off (i.e. if I still had some remnants of a face after the first dish). So it started with a perfectly cooked scallop (an absolute requirement for any place trying to bill itself as seafood-centric). Check. Add a richly flavored corn-essenced gravy. Check. Toss in some mushrooms that were so good that even g ate them. Check. Add some green beans that were cooked-yet-crisp-yet-deeply-flavored as well as some cornbread croutons. Check. The result was this weird concoction were something as light as a scallop was made to feel so rich and earthy that it almost made me wonder what sort of mysterious grass-fed, hoofed beast these scallops must have come from. To borrow some language from some of my favorite people [of which to poke fun]: amaze!
tuna
But alas … the meal wasn’t perfect – but not because chef failed at cookery – quite the opposite, actually Above you see a perfectly cooked piece of tuna … and nearly-perfectly cooked chickpeas (I prefer them a little softer) … and a perfect mix of cucumber/onion/some-kinda-sauce … but they were assembled in such a way that for the life of me I could not taste the tuna at all. GASP! Nooooooo! <Ok, I’ll stop being over-dramatic.> I think that after the previous two courses, this one came out the weakest – and it really had to do with the balance. Despite the size of that healthy slab of tuna – it just couldn’t lend enough flavor to compete with the quantity of sauce and other stuff on the plate; it got lost in the jumble. I’m sorry Little Fish. You were so close!
chocolate cake
So, after we remembered out experiences with the coffee cake the last time we were here, g and I knew that we shouldn’t underestimate their dessert prowess. But unlike “coffee cake”, this dessert seemed like it was going to bring in a new twist: chocolate and beets. I was skeptical. Don’t mess with my chocolate by putting crap in it it doesn’t need (citrus, berries, and bacon are acceptable). I am glad to report that this dessert was awesome. Not – it wasn’t as sensational as the coffee cake, but it was a nice, filling dessert with moist chocolate cake (as moist and fluffy as a boxed cake, but not as sweet), with some creamy whipped topping (I forget what it was flavored with) and that beet sauce that turned out to be a wonderful accompaniment (kinda like how raspberry+chocolate works – this works in the same way – the beets came off as kinda-fruity, which was great!). So in the future I might flirt with chocolate+beets some more.
In the end, g and I had a superb meal. Sure, there were a few mis-steps, but when you consider consider how reasonably priced it was, it’s one helluva-deal! Our mouths were happy. Our stomachs were happy. Our wine was empty. It was a great night. Thanks Little Fish!
a different kind of Olympics opening ceremony
t says: So I know that there may be a lot of people who are reminiscing about the Beijing opening ceremony … so much so that maybe they’ve even re-watched clips on youtube or something …
But not me …
For me, the highlight of the last Olympics is this single race:
Supper’s fried chicken shows promise
t says: So I recently talked up Supper’s Fried Chicken Tuesdays to some friends, thinking that it’d be a great deal … even if it only half lives up to the Food & Wine hype. But perhaps it was foolish of me to make mention of the “deal”, as I, myself, had never had this mysterious “pastrami-brined/seasoned” fried chicken. I began to fear that maybe Supper would make me eat my words … so the FTC got together on the first convenient Tuesday and did some top-notch investigative reporting …
July 2012, Tuesday Dinner, Party of 4. kp kinda-sorta-forgot to show, so we were down to 4. While we missed kp, we knew that we had to soldier on … for the sake of the blog! We’d have to raise a drumstick in honor of our night-shift-working friend …
veggie teaser
Feeling that perhaps we needed some veggies to blunt the inordinate amount of fried chicken we were about to consume, we decided to go for some appetizers. Above, you see the pickled veggie tray. First allow me to draw your attention to that egg-salad-looking-concoction in the center. That, my friend, is their house-made ricotta with some olives. Let it be known that this stuff was surprisingly good, with a creaminess and lemon zing that reminded me almost of a lemon curd (but not as sweet). Good stuff for sure. As for the other pickled veggies, they weren’t bad. I can’t say they were at all that mind-blowing, but I guess it is nice to get exactly what you ordered: well-executed pickling of tomatoes, beans, okra, and rhubarb.
a also ventured the gazpacho. As gazpachos go, it was a pretty impressive with surprisingly bold vivid flavors for a cold soup. We discussed it a bit, and it seems like everyone had comments about it, but I’m not sure there was a single conclusion on what was successful/lacking. For instance, I found the acidity to be quite refreshing, but v felt that maybe it was a bit too harsh. a wondered whether the bacon was necessary, but of course, in my opinion, bacon is always necessary. I found the corn flavor (“corniness” as I called it) to be quite a pleasant surprise, whereas I feel like others appreciated it but were not-so-surprised. In the end, I think we all liked one thing or another about it, so I suppose that makes it a successful dish?
bring on the chicken (on a very large plate) …
… and the sides: slaw and smokey potato salad
Don’t be misled by the pictures above – there was actually a substantial amount of food – all of it just happened to be served in ridiculously large plates/bowls (much to my chagrin – all that wasted space!). I firmly believe that there was plenty of food for two people, so the two orders was more-than-enough for the four of us (I only shot a picture of one order above). So let’s dissect the chicken first. The skin was hands-down amazing. Super light, super crisp, firmly adherent to the chicken, and full of that pastrami seasoning that really brought a complementary element to the chicken. Beautiful. The chicken, itself, was “ok-to-good” at the least and “good-to-very-good” at the best – I think it depends on which cut you happen to pick up. The white pieces were a smidge over-cooked (kinda like how every piece of chicken I cook at home comes out), while the dark ones remained nice and juicy. Thus, the chicken, like the appetizers, was also controversial. While I felt that the skin could more than make up for the chicken cookery, g felt quite the opposite, as no amount of fried magic can distract her from the meat, itself. a and v fell somewhere in-between g and me.
The mixed feelings persisted when evaluating the sides. I quite-liked the smoky potato salad, but g felt the potatoes to be undercooked (g held no punches today). Meanwhile v was quick to point out that while she enjoyed the sides and the chicken, she just couldn’t quite justify this particular combination of flavors. In retrospect, I kind of agree – I felt that each component was good on its own (the chicken, the slaw, the potatoes), but it’s not like putting them together resulted in a symphony greater than the sum of its parts … but maybe we’re being too picky? I mean, come on, it’s two-people’s-worth of food for $25 – that’s a good deal, right? <Insert a moment’s pause while I stroke my fake beard and ponder this question> Hmmmm. <Insert squinty eyes and a cocked eyebrow.> I’ve decided: “a conditional yes”. FedNuts has better chicken, but not-as-devilishly-crisp skin. “Pastrami” is not one of their flavors, but I’m sure that if they put their mind to it, they could get a similar taste with a juicier product. However, Fednuts lacks the sides. However, they have donuts. However, they’re far away. So, three howevers later, I guess it’s a tough call … but surely as soon as FedNuts opens a closer branch, they will completely eclipse Supper’s chicken in my mind (I prefer donuts to sides – you may feel differently … but I doubt it). Perhaps a better comparison would be between Supper and Rotisseur, as they both do “normal” sides. Right off the bat, Rotisseur has better chicken, but lacks the skin-advantage because it’s not fried. Supper has better sides. Rotisseur is BYO. Supper has more seating. Agh! It’s too hard to declare a victor! You know what would settle all of this? Simple. Make a time machine and go to Meritage circa 2010 for their Korean Fried Chicken – still my favorite fried chicken of all time. Actually, I wonder if Chef Colle (or her sous Anne Miller – actually, is she still sous at Meritage? No idea.) still does Korean fried chicken every now and then. If it’s the same as it was two years ago (and if the sides are still as good as they were back then), then they could totally out-chicken all these guys. Oh well … I guess you’ll just have to go to all these places and decide for yourself.
tiramisu returns!!
t says: A long time ago, there was a restaurant named Tiramisu that we never went to. It’s “shtick” was Jewish-Italian. Given his love of all-things-carb, we expected dz would have loved to have gone … but then it closed … but now it’s back! Hey dz (or more appropriately, “hey dz’s fiance, smn!”)! Dinner soon!?
Diner en Blanc
t says: We’re in. a and v are in. kp is in (and might be looking for a dinner-mate). Will we see you there, too?
Can’t wait to acquire some chairs and a table and awesome clothes and some awesome food … and don’t forget the wine …
being a hoarder … t-style …
t says: I’m sure that faithful readers of the blog will have noticed that our posting frequency is decreasing. Sorry about that! It’s just been so busy on the new job that I haven’t had much time to type. Actually, I haven’t really had much time to dine finely – just too busy!
Fortunately, I have had the chance to eat something new!
So … it’s a candy bar … based on a cookie …
I love Girl Scout cookies – particularly the “Caramel Delite” or “Samoa” as I like to call them. I also love Crunch bars. So if the two were put together, what would the result be?
candy bar in cross-section (which actually does look like the picture!)
So … it’s hard to see in the photo, but this actually doesn’t resemble a Crunch bar at all. It’s more like a series of sandwiched wafers (like Little Debbie Nutty Bars) – so there’s no puffed rice! But the interesting thing … is that it does taste remarkably similar to Samoa cookies! The coconut and that chocolate are exactly like the cookie. That’s pretty darned impressive! Plus, unlike the cookie, I don’t choke on errant coconut flakes. Bonus! I don’t know if these are a replacement for the real-deal-cookies, however, these are individually wrapped, meaning that I won’t “accidentally” eat them all (i.e. I’ll have to make a conscious effort to unwrap each bar before consumption) and they’re immediately transportable … which is awfully convenient.
So now that I found something awesome … but is supposedly “limited edition” … what’s a t to do?
… hoard the crap out them, of course!
- My name is t and I have a problem …
after dinner sneeze 