would you sell your soul for a beignet?
t says: g and I found ourselves in San Francisco (and Bay Area) recently, and, like our last trip to Cali, we made sure to go around and frequent delicious restaurants and cupcakes. But rather than bore you with every single thing we ate, I will instead tell you about the awesomest thing we ate. On the Saturday morning before leaving, g and I wanted to get some brunch. Unfortunately, the places we remembered from our research for our last trip were primarily Sunday brunch spots. The Ferry Building could have been had, however, we did it once before and we were taunted by g’s cousin: “Don’t do that again – you’ve already done it once – do something else!” We pulled out the iPad and started googling “Best Saturday Brunch” and limiting our scope to within walking distance from our hotel. A place called “Brenda’s” popped up, and it felt like a place I had heard of before. Boasting “soul food”, it promised to offer a little something different than we were used to.
When we arrived, we promptly put our name on a giant chalkboard that allowed us to see where we were on the waiting list. As far as two-top tables were concerned, we were fourth in line. We secured some seats in the waiting area (g does not like to wait standing) and cast hungry eyes in the general direction of the diners. The specials on the board in the dining room included Bananas Foster French Toast and Pork Belly with Brussels Sprouts and Grits … simply put: I refused to go anywhere else.
Now, I could tell you all about how the French Toast was delicious (but honestly, Cochon, in the hayday of the Elvis French Toast does it better), and how the watermelon iced tea was very refreshing, blah blah blah. But really, the dish of the meal was our first dish:
four beignets, lined up in a row
When we ordered them, we figured they’d be tiny, kind of like Talula’s Garden’s beignets. They were not. Seriously, one order of Beignets would have KO’d both of us had we finished them (we saved some to go for later). The three powdered sugar ones consisted of the following: plain (i.e. unfilled), apple-filled, Ghiardelli chocolate-filled. The last one, which did not have powdered sugar on it, was “crawfish-filled”. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself.
get in my belly!
The crawfish one was delightful. Chunks of seafood in a delectable sauce of creole spices all inside a perfectly fried crust. Sooo good. It was like some sort of seafood stew but shoved inside fried dough. But as good as it was, it was only second place in my book because that chocolate one haunts me to this very day. It has single handedly ruined beignets for me. The chocolate tasted exactly like Ghiardelli chocolate chips (trust me, I’ve eaten enough of them in our chocolate chip cookies to know). It was powerful and rich and wonderful. It made my bananas foster French Toast seem kind of “boring” in comparison – that’s how good it was.
g, who’s a sucker for doughnuts, was similarly in heaven. I’m not sure which one was her favorite (maybe the apple one), but I can tell you that by the time we were leaving, she was adding Brenda’s to the short list of restaurants we absolutely have to eat at the next time we’re in town (actually, “the list” only includes Kiss Seafood and Kara’s Cupcakes so that’s pretty impressive!).
Long story short: go to Brenda’s for brunch – the beignets are worth the wait. That’s right – it’s a brunch spot worth waiting for – a g&t first!
wine that saves lives
t says: What do you look for in a “nice” bottle of wine. A pretty nose? Complex flavors? A long finish? Yes to all of those! How about a wine that saves lives? That’d be like icing on the cake …
In contrast to our last post about Dreaming Tree, it’s time to focus on some “spendier” wines: Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Wines from this region are famous, pricey, and, unfortunately, not always tasty. Those under-$20 bottles are very hit-or-miss (with the hit:miss ratio being very low). Meanwhile, you start getting to the $35+ and now things start to improve rapidly … but there’s still a wide range of hitting and missing. Damn. In a world of limited income, there’s just not enough green to waste on “ok” wine, much less bad wine. Well here’s a deal that was introduced to us at The Wine School at the “Luxury Wines of Napa” class we all went to:
2006 Ehlers Estate “1886” (USA, CA, Napa, St. Helena; $49.99 at PLCB) First off, note the sexy bottle. This is one of the few times when you’re allowed to judge the book by its cover. It’s pretty! Also note the heart-shape hiding in the E (n.b. it’s not an anatomically correct heart). So what gives? Well, you see, Ehlers Estate began with Jean Leducq, a philanthropist who started the Leducq Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding international cardiovascular research. As a future cardiologist, I approve of this link between drinking wine and increasing cardiovascular health (albeit indirectly) because it turns out that that whole “a glass of red wine a day is good for the heart” might not actually be true. That’s a shame … oh well … Ehlers to the rescue!
a’s parents visited Ehler’s Estate a few years back and had a wonderful time. (Check the vineyard out here.) The tasting was well worth the $25 which can usually be circumvented with schmoozing or a wine purchase. Their “lower” Cabernet, if you can find it, is also quite good – a Merlot-lover’s Cab thanks to the luscious fruit and soft tannins.
Next, note the original price and the PLCB price:
it's like a 50% off sale!
It’s no lie – this bottle really did sell at $95 at one time. Nowadays, the cheapest I’ve seen it for is about $87 … except in PA where it’s being blown out at $50. Must mean it sucks, right? WRONG. It does not suck – quite the opposite! In the glass it’s super-dark and opaque. On the nose, it’s dark berry-ful. On the palate, you get dark fruit meets cola meets a hint of raspberry (that little bit of sour). a gets a little more cherry and chocolate on his palate. I didn’t get the classic “green bell pepper” of Cabernet Sauvignon, but maybe I’m just not keen enough. The mouthfeel is reasonably plush, but there’s still some mouth-watering acid and integrated bitterness (tannins) there, giving structure. The finish lingers for a while – 30 seconds or so. Keep in mind that this wine should ideally be decanted for a bit before drinking so that it’s allowed to open up and show off its flavors and soften some of its tannins.
So why the “deal” of $50? I suspect it’s because Wine Spectator scored it 87/100. Never mind the 94 points that you’ll see on the PLCB’s website from the Connoisseurs’ Guide or the 92 it currently has on Cellartracker, that 87 is a scathing published score for a Napa Cab and usually spells doom for a particular vintage’s bottling … which is probably how PA ended up with so much of it (PA likes buying the excess at a “good deal”). So I guess then the real question remains: is it worth the price? Well, I’d say that for the $100 original price it is not – when I taste a $100 wine (not that this happens very often – I can count them on one hand), I expect to be moved – to be brought to silent pause in order to fully appreciate the evolution of flavors throughout the finish. This wine is delicious, but not quite “moving”. Is it worth $50? I’d say so. It stands above all those standard under-$20 bottles that I normally pull out on weekend dinners. So it’s “special”. In our book, it deserves a special occasion – something like Valentine’s day. It deserves to be decanted and served with nice stemware. It deserves the respect of the $50 you spend on it. And, even if it turns out you don’t “love” it, you can at least be happy that your dollars might have gone to support medical research. And those who are environmentally-conscious will be happy to know it’s 100% organic and biodynamically farmed.
Buyer beware, however, as whatever the state has is whatever the state has (and they’ll likely never get another shipment), so find a way to get a bottle either at your local PLCB (the item code and store locator in the above PLCB page will help – search “Philadelphia” in the city field as your only criteria – searching by zip codes sucks) before it’s gone. Even without a real “cellar” to store it, keep it on its side in a cool, dark place (i.e. not in the kitchen) and drink it sometime over the next year or two. Those with wine cellars can keep it for longer but it’ll be hard to wait …
Oh, and one last thing … before you plunk down the credit card (or cash if you’re bawler) at the Wine and Spirits Shoppe, look at the cork (you can do this because there’s no foil on these bottles). Ensure that the cork is not protruding out beyond the rim of the bottle. ALSO, turn the bottle on its side and then rotate it about its long axis, and look at the cork to ensure that no purple of the wine is encroaching beyond a centimeter or so up the cork. If the purple color makes it all the way to the top of the cork, put the bottle down and walk away – it’s likely a compromised bottle. I would say go and tell a worker there about it, but that might be an exercise in futility (e.g. when I spotted one such compromised Ehlers bottle this past weekend at a PLCB store and told someone, they just took the bottle from me and put it behind the counter without asking for any clarification or even looking at the bottle – I sense that after I left she just put it back on the shelf). So … y’all be careful out there …
Lightning Round: Il Pittore, Pub and Kitchen
t says: g and I need to get up to speed on some restaurants that we visited in December but didn’t quite get around to blogging about – so here we go:
Il Pittore. Dec 2011, Dinner, Party of 2. We went to Il Pittore after I took a fairly important exam (medical licensing exam). It had been a long day and I wanted me some good-old-fashioned-pasta. Normally we go to Melograno for such things, but we had an OpenTable gift certificate burning a hole in our wallet, so we figured that it’d be good to use it for something we’d never have done before (i.e. go to a Starr restaurant instead of a BYO). Props: The service was superb. The food was very un-Starr-like (i.e. it tasted like someone was trying to turn out some good food for the sake of the food, itself, not just to conform to a restaurant’s theme). The ricotta was quite delicious, reminding us of a lighter/springier version of Barbuzzo’s. When coupled with the foccacia from the free bread basket (i.e. which was jaw-droppingly good on its own), you were left with a stunning combination.
ricotta + apple + thyme
The Paccheri tasted like what you imagine the ocean would smell like in a fantasy Disney world (clean, fresh, delicious seafood).
paccheri = clams + rock shrimp + salami pieces + broccoli rabe
The Corzetti was a unique mix of goat, mint, and chili oil – it was like Han Dynasty meets minty goat meets al dente pasta, with a pretty delightful result. In retrospect, none of the food was “bad” – as a matter of fact – it was all at least “good” … but I’m going to be picky now … Slops: The portions are a bit small overall. The pappardelle with wild boar is unfortunately not as good as Melograno’s which has a far deeper flavor and more strands of meat. In retrospect, the pasta dishes as a whole were not as “deep” or developed as those we’ve had at Melograno’s, which usually tastes as if more was “going on” in the pot beforehand. The EtOH is pricey, matching the “dressier” feel of the place vs. Noble that had been there before. Conclusion: Thus, it makes it hard to go to Il Pittore knowing that Melograno is so nearby … but what Il Pittore may be good for is for “classier” evenings when you want pasta on white table cloths without tons of ambient noise … like when parents are in town.
Pub and Kitchen. Dec 2011, Lunch, Party of 2. a and I went on a lunch adventure together. We invited the girls, but they were too “busy”, claiming that “someone needs to work to make money” or some such nonsense. Props: Nice fun ambience – the worn wood look. Food was “good”. Slops: Food was only “good”. Allow me to illustrate:
pulled pork sandwich +chipotle mayo + cheese + fried pickle + slaw
As you can see in the above blurry picture, I had the pulled pork sandwich. It tasted fine (like pork and sauce and cheese). But it wasn’t as nearly as good as Village Whiskey. And that makes me frown. I hoped the slaw could punch it up, but it was insipid. The fried pickle was the best thing on the plate.
a’s was a bit happier with his pot pie and his Brussels sprouts, but still, it’s not like they rocked his socks:
dude ... my camera skills SUCK
Conclusion: The meal wasn’t bad, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a glimmer of hope that their dinner will step it up. I’d give their dinner a try …
Dave Matthews + Wine = ?
t says: It happens all too often. You need to pick up a bottle of wine to have with dinner with friends and it has to be fast. You run into a PA “Wine and Spirits Shoppe” (the -pe to the end of “Shop” means it’s classy, right?) and now you’re faced with an odd selection of wines from all over. What do you do? The thing with the PLCB is that their supply is very erratic, so we’re starting this little sliver of blog to highlight (or bash) wines from the PLCB stores. It should be noted that we, ourselves, aren’t always going to have procured the bottles from PLCB stores, ourselves (it may be a buck or two cheaper in NJ or DE), but just so long as it can be found in Philly or shipped to a Philly PLCB, we’re going to include it in the “PLCB-approved” portion of our wine reviews.
Having been a high school student in the 90’s, I was a huge fan of the Dave Matthews Band – it’s one of the few concerts I’d attend routinely (actually – in retrospect – it’s one of the few concerts I’d attend, period). I’m pretty sure that “Before These Crowded Streets” was my most-played CD of that decade – I just loved the music. Nowadays, Dave’s a little different and has an all-new style. Some say he sold out big time. Others blame the unfortunate loss of LeRoi Moore to the band’s new sound and feel. In any case, there will always be a special place in my heart for Crush, Halloween, Watchtower, Spoon, Dreaming Tree, Little Thing, etc.
One of the new Dave ventures is wine. Check it:
2009 The Dreaming Tree “Crush” (USA, CA, North Coast; $16.99 at PLCB) Gifted to me by lc for Christmas, I was happy to give the bottle a try. I liked Dave and I like wine, so why not? Upon reading the label, it was clear that whoever is producing this wine for Dave is basically just blending together a mish-mash of all kinds of grapes from all over California. This made me very suspicious. I expected it to flop. I poured myself a glass and was greeted by the sweet smell of strawberry preserves. Mmmmm. Upon first taste, I got hit in the tongue with an onslaught of Smuckers strawberry jam (although this is a dry wine, so not “sweet” like actual jam) – but it didn’t have that “artificial” taste like Manischewitz. Cooked down strawberries kept on coming strong for a few seconds after swishing/swallowing and gradually drifted away over 10-15 seconds or so. What didn’t happen surprised me a lot: there was a noticeable lack of burn (usually the cheap wines burn like bad vodka) and very soft tannins (i.e. my mouth didn’t get all dry and puckered). In the end, this wine was quick to please, simple, and smooth. It might not impress a wine snob, but I was particularly impressed because I can see myself bringing it to a dinner party with complete confidence that it’ll disappear by the end of the night faster than Yellowtails and Arbor Mists. I could even grab a bottle for myself should I need a little pick-me-up.
a (who’s far more terse than me in his wine reviews) felt similarly about the Cabernet Sauvignon version:
a says: 2009 The Dreaming Tree “Cabernet Sauvignon” (USA, CA, North Coast; $16.99 at PLCB). Nice forward fruit, soft tannins, and enough backbone to keep things lively. Should be a crowd-pleaser, good dinner party gift, or everyday table wine.
t says: So there you have it. Dave’s wines are easy to drink and a sure bet for simple satisfaction. It’s less like a beautiful song and more like a pleasant chord, so it’s probably not the best for wine snob pontification … but who really wants to invite that to a dinner party anyways?
pillaging restaurant.com’s booty
t says: For those who might not be familiar, there is a website called restaurant.com that has a rather interesting proposition: pay some amount of money now to receive a gift certificate for a restaurant for an even larger amount of money. For example, $20 will get you a $25 gift certificate. j was kind enough to gift us some of these certificates some time ago and we thought they were quite fun. What’s even better is that now, if you join the mailing list, restaurant.com will very frequently send you discount codes that will allow you to get a full-price gift certificate (e.g. $25) for a nearly insignificant amount of money (e.g. $4). The code right now is “ENJOY”. Unfortunately, restaurant.com’s restaurant list is a little lacking. Our recommendations from the current list are City Tap House and Kabul. I’d say that City Tap House is pretty consistent in terms of providing satisfactory food, but the drawback is that the place is very often full of undergrads and the like (not that there’s anything wrong with that – but they do make me feel pretty darn old). Kabul is kind of like a hole-in-the-wall Afghan restaurant that’s been there for who knows how long but is still cranking out delicious food. They’ve been flying under the radar for quite some time now, so I hope the restaurant.com promotion works for them to draw in some patrons. If it weren’t so far away, I know that g and I would go there all the time.
introducing … wine
t says: Lately, I’ve found myself getting more and more into wine. After having completed the CSW course at the Restaurant School (probably the hardest exam I’ve taken outside of the US Medical Licensing Exams), I knew a whole lot about wine but focused primarily on Bordeaux, Australian Shiraz, and that’s about it. Our friendship with a and v as well as our trip to California last year broadened my horizons to look into more domestic wines as well as a lot of new [to me] wine regions and varietals. We’re going to post about our wine finds in addition to our restaurant trips and our kitchen adventures.
Recently instituted was the “the cellar” section which has bottles that we [try to] keep on hand. And [very] soon, we’ll start posting about other bottles that cross our paths. So let’s raise a glass to fermented grape juice!
replacing the Saturday brunch spot
t says: A little bit ago, I described the disappointing brunch at Supper that g and I had, which resulted in a demotion from its former title on our Gold Standards list as our pick for Saturday brunch.. While we will eventually find our way back there to re-evaluate their offerings (how do you argue with free parking at Whole Foods?), we needed to find a reliable replacement for Saturday brunch. We looked far and wide and found two potential contenders.
The first is Monsu. These guys are seriously kicking some brunch ass – and I’m pretty sure no one’s noticing, as it was dead-quiet both times g and I visited in November. Regardless, we were pretty darn impressed with the food and the pricepoint. I’ll smoosh together the visits to show you what kinds of things are going on over there.
November 2011, Saturday Brunch – Multiple Visits. Monsu features a “tourista” menu in which one gets three courses for $22 (actually, it was $20 the first time, $22 the second time – no idea what the real price is). In our visits, we’ve tasted a variety of dishes and all are quite good. Here are our two favorites:
polpo
So it doesn’t look like much … but let me tell you that it was a radical kick to the mouth. Aside from Koo Zee Doo’s milk-poached polpo at dinner, this is the best octopus I’ve ever had. I mean, it beat out Amada’s polpo for crying out loud! I’ve only had it once, so maybe I should re-try it just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before making such statements … The octopus, itself, is nicely cooked, being tender and not rubbery, but what really makes the dish is the “everything else”. Now, there was a lot going on and at the time, I didn’t scrutinize the menu enough to memorize the ingredients, but there was some fennel, some sundried tomato, and something with a bit of kick. It was zingy and light and sweet and spicy all at the same time. No, it doesn’t look pretty (it looks kind of ugly, actually), but it was awesome!
steak and eggs
Similarly, the steak and eggs doesn’t look like much. The skirt steak was medium-rare-to-medium, and the potatoes looked bored next to the eggs, which had an odd paleness to them. I was pretty unimpressed when this plate showed up in front of me … but then I took a bite: it blew me away. I’m not sure if it was because I was hungry or if it was because it looked so “bleh” that I had zero expectations, but I was shocked. There was a wonderfully textured and nicely seasoned steak, perfect potatoes, and eggs that were clearly cooked in some kind of meat-fat drippings. g felt her steak was over-salted. Mine was not. I consumed the entirety of my dish (the portion you see above is the tourista-sized portion – if you ordered it alone, it would have been larger). So approach this dish with closed eyes, and you’re good-to-go.
Yes, there were starches and desserts offered at our visits, including a delicious pork belly and scallop dish and some classic tiramisu. I think lc joined us for one of the meals and left quite content. And, of course, one of the best things is looking out the window at those people waiting to get into Sabrina’s. Ha! When will they learn?
EDIT: I found more photos!
chocolate mousse, profiteroles
?scallop + porkbelly?
something g liked involving poached eggs, basil, toasted bread, roasted potatoes
And now allow me to introduce the next contender: Parc. PARC?!? Yea, that’s right, Parc. Now, I must admit that there are a lot of things we dislike about Parc. It is a Starr restaurant, so you pay big moneys for EtOH and it’s a little pricey overall (e.g. they charge a ridiculous amount for their “pastry basket” at brunch). Additionally, because of its Rittenhouse location, it tends to attract a slightly older, posher clientele that’s just not quite our crowd. And then there’s the food that I’ve bad-mouthed in the past, including a boring burger and boring French Toast. Don’t get me wrong – they’re still boring and we’re probably never going to order them again – but we’ve been recently going back to Parc again and again (and will do so in the future) for two specific dishes …
January 2011, Saturday Brunch, Party of 2. g loves the “warm shrimp salad”. As far as naming conventions are concerned, this is perhaps the most boring name ever. I think it’s because it sounds a bit like two adjectives and a noun instead of an adjective and two nouns. Also – it should be noted that this is no mayonnaise-laden shrimp salad – this is a completely different animal, being more like a traditional salad with delicious shrimp and dressing Furthermore, even I, who generally hates salads, have been known to enjoy the dish every now and then. Fresh greens, avocado, shrimp, truffle [oil], and buerre blanc sauce. It just can’t go wrong. It’s neck and neck with Tria’s “grilled asparagus salad” as our favorite Philly salad (and might win just by virtue of being closer to us than Tria).
The second dish is one that I encountered just recently:
pancakes!
That’s right – it’s just a pancake. No bananas foster sauce, no bacon ice cream, no chocolate anywhere on the plate. This is a new, more mature t in town – let’s call him “fuddy-duddy-t” (can anyone guess precisely what I’m referring to when I say “fuddy duddy”?).
fuddy-duddy-t says: Sometimes you just want a pancake. And that’s it. You want it a little sweet and a little buttery. You want it to be rich like a bisquick pancake, but still light and fluffy. You want it to be thick, but perfectly browned on the outside and still cooked the whole way through. You want it to remind you a simpler time when you were 7-8-9 years old and would eat McDonald’s Hotcakes with your grandparents before heading to the mall to play video games … except you don’t actually want to eat McDonald’s Hotcakes because their texture is that of a sink sponge that’s on it’s fourth week of use … This is that pancake. Lightly dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with plain maple syrup, it is an homage to all that is good and holy about pancakes.
after dinner sneeze 