St. Henri disgusts me
t says: I was super-pumped after I saw one of these Chairman’s Selection wines: 2005 St. Henri Shiraz half-bottle. That’s a screaming deal! I stopped by the store on 19th and Chestnut, picked up a bottle, and immediately started planning how it was I was going to drink it.
After I got home, I then noticed something that took me by surprise:
2005 St. Henri ... well ... not really ...
As you can barely see in the above picture, this was a 2004 St. Henri … NOT a 2005. That’s an entirely different year. And, through some quick googling, I found that it was quite an inferior one. Darnit! Nevertheless, I pressed on and opened it up a week later for a tasting with g’s dad.
2004 Penfolds “St. Henri Shiraz″ (half-bottle; Australia; $14.99 at PLCB). Upon opening the bottle (the cork was in great shape!), I was greeted with a familiar smell, but I couldn’t quite place it. It was something vivid and in-your-face, but my mind was blocking. So I poured it into a decanter. As I swirled, I remembered: raisins. It smelled of raisins. Kind of like a port … uuhhh-ooohhhh. I tasted it, and it tasted like – surprise – raisins! Double-darnit! That’s a cooked wine if I ever tasted one. Basically, the bottle was kept at a very warm temperature for far too long a time. The result of this is a very obvious raisin taste that takes over everything. It’d be one thing if it then proceeds to taste good … trust me, this did not, as you can see from the title of this post. It was bad news, man. Bad news. I was nonplussed as some might say. So I poured the wine from the decanter back into the bottle, recorked it, and walked over to 19th and Chestnut with my receipt in hand. I returned that mo’-fo’. Got my money back, fo’ shizzle.
Other bottles of St. Henri in the state may not be cooked, but I wasn’t risking another bottle from that store. Actually, I’d probably just not bother with the 2004 at all – there’s a lot of great Australian Shiraz to be had at under $30/bottle (remember, this one was $15 for a half-bottle). If I happen to find a real 2005 St. Henri, I’d jump on it in a heartbeat. And – even if it was improperly stored like the above one, I have no qualms about returning it. They asked me no questions whatsoever. That’s perhaps the best thing about PA state stores: no one there knows a single thing about wine so they have to just take your word for it. You could probably just “not like the way it tastes” and get away with returning it.
congratulations to the 4-bellers!
t says: As many of you know, Craig LaBan has selected a new group of four-bell restaurants. Fallen are Le-Bec and Lacroix. Veterans Vetri and Fountain are joined by Bibou, Talula’s Table, and Zahav. Personally, we here at adsz don’t really think that Zahav is actually four-bell material (the food + service + ambience are all “very good”, but are by no stretch flawless in any category – it must be the novelty of the cuisine), but are happy to congratulate them on their accomplishment, as they do a phenomenal lunch during Restaurant Week.
It’s a shame that trying to get reservations at these places is now going to be impossible. Oh well. We were at least fortunate enough to have nailed down some key reservations or several of these restaurants before this whole 4-bell business hit the airwaves … I’m sure Charlotte will never have an open table on a weekend ever again …
not just “chicken” at Rotisseur
t says: Lately, I’ve been going to Rotisseur in Center City a lot. I mean a lot. g actually makes fun of me a little for how often I go, but that’s probably because her dad’s a known chicken-o-phile and could probably eat it twice a day forever if allowed. He once had chicken for dessert. He’s serious about chicken … So … back to Rortisseur. This place is incredibly close to where we live, so when I’m looking for a quick lunch during the weekday, that’s where I go. And really – I just don’t think you can go wrong there. The chicken is seasoned very well and is super tender/moist/juicy. The kale chips and cornbread are delicious. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of their mac-n-cheese, but it seems like a lot of other people like it because I see people ordering it constantly.
As good as these are, I have to say that the true shining stars of Rotisseur are those chicken sandwiches. I’ve seen Chicken Bahn Mi, Chick Italiano, and BBQ chicken. I’ve tasted the first two on several occasions. They are absolutely delicious. Juicy chicken chunks, nice condiments, and, most notable of all, absolutely perfect bread (crisp outside, soft inside, and not soggy … unless you wait too long).
chicken italiano = chicken + broccoli rabe + pepper + sharp provolone
It’s hard to make a chicken sandwich sexy-looking, but what it lacks in visual pizazz, it makes up for in taste. It reminded me a little of Tony Luke’s Pork Italiano sandwich (which I also love) except that because this is chicken, I am able to convince myself it’s healthier. It’s gotta be healthier, right?
The downside of Rotisseur, and the thing that makes me cringe 50% of the times I go, is that they have no good “system” in place to execute food in an efficient manner. At times when they’re not busy, things run smoothly, as one person preps the chicken and the other does the sides and rings you up. However, if you walk in at 12:30pm or at 6pm, when groups of people show up hungry for chicken, you’re screwed. It’s during these crowds that the three people behind the counter try their best to deal with multiple orders simultaneously, but the end result is a disorganized, chaotic, hell-on-earth cluster-fluff. Once, because I happened to walk in right as a group of 6 people were placing their order, I was left hanging out at least 15 mins before my order was taken and 10 mins to receive my food (and would have had to wait even longer had I wanted mac-n-cheese because they ran out). I know they’re trying to do right by their food by carving chicken to order and making their sides in small batches, however, they completely fall apart during the lunch and dinner rushes. Hell, even the tried-and-true “take a number” system’s gotta work better than the off-the-cuff multi-tasking they’re doing now. Also – they seriously need to scale up their most popular sides – it’s not like they have a ton of room for patrons to stand and wait for roasting veggies for a grab-n-go lunch. Of course, what do I know? I have no restaurant experience and am nothing more than a consumer who wants food as fast as possible. Patience is a virtue I need to work on … and efficiency is a necessity they need to work on … but hot-damn those sandwiches are so good that they keep me coming back for more!
g & t spotted!
t says: The other day, g and I were shopping in a ritzy Philly home furnishings store and came across as couch with these cute lettered pillows. And I swear to you here and now that the two letters that were on the couch when we got there were those pictured below:
spotted!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I admit that when we saw the couch, the two pillows were on opposite ends of the couch. They looked lonely that way. We fixed it for them … we’re conscientious like that … now if only we could afford them – ha!
a little pretentious, no?
t says: Anyone see the latest drivel to come out of LaBan’s mouth? “I’ll reset the landscape of Philly’s restaurant elite.” I’m sorry, but what? I normally like reading LaBan’s reviews because I, myself, don’t get the chance to taste every single dish on a menu – so his reviews are like scouting reports. But what arrogance this last comment exudes! He must be a Michelin inspector or James-frickin-Beard, himself! Taking yourself a little too seriously, eh? Come on. You eat food for a living. It’s not theoretical physics. It’s not fetal open heart surgery. It’s not curing cancer. It’s inserting matter in one end of a 30-foot long tube so your body can turn it into poo. So let’s all take a chill pill and a slice of humble pie and just say, “I’m coming out with a new list of top 5 restaurants … and my previous top 4 might not have made the cut. Please read my article when it comes out on 2/5, because if no one does, I may no longer have the privilege of making a living by doing something that every single other person on this planet can do. Thank you.”
expensive chocolate bars with almonds
t says: If there’s one thing I love to eat, it’s chocolate. Surprised? Probably not. My chocolate consumption has recently featured a few more-expensive-than-a-Hershey’s-bar options. There were highs and there were lows. Allow me to show relay my findings …
mast bros chocolate + almonds + sea salt
Cutting straight to the chase, what you see above is my new favorite chocolate bar, trumping even bacon-studded Vosges bars! Amazing! Underneath that cutely wrapped package is the good stuff:
beauty on the inside and outside
The chocolate was so impressive that I immediately opened up a browser window and emailed myself my thoughts. First off, these aren’t just “plain old almonds” – these were toasty and smoky and accompanied by a sharp twang of salt. This was opposite a rich dark chocolate that wasn’t the least bit crumbly and had only a hint of sleep. It was funny, but this time I didn’t mind that the chocolate came on kind of late (the almonds are definitely front-and-center in the beginning). Actually – this bar epitomizes the kind of chocolate chip cooking that I one day aspire to make …
But, because these bars are hard to come by (and ridiculously expensive – who can afford $8 candy bars?), I have found an acceptable alternative:
These guys are under $3 around the corner at the grocery store and come off a bit sweeter than the Mast Bros bar, and the almonds aren’t as toasty-tasting, but not too shabby. When feeling a little down, I know that I could stop by and grab one of these bad boys for an instantaneous pick-me-up. Delish!
And it’s way better than the far-too-sweet, far-too-mild Theo bar:
organic and fair trade ... but not quite as delicious ...
So, for me, I’ll reserve Mast Bros bar for special occasions, but I guess I’ll have to stick with ChocoLove (ugh, I hate that name) until our wallet gets a little deeper.
re-found Monsu brunch pix!
t says: I was clearing out my inbox and found some pix I sent myself from our brunches at Monsu. I uploaded them in that post. I got hungry just look at them!
after dinner sneeze 