We’re not crazy!
t says: Philadelphia Weekly went to C19 (like we did) and had a shockingly similar experience! See? We’re not crazy!
Pumpkin Flavors on the Rise!
t says: You know it’s fall when foobooz has 76-bajillion “fall menu debuts”. That said, I am resistant to change and made plans to get some good ‘ol fashioned Korean Fried Chicken from Meritage. Yea – it’s still delicious (order it “extra spicy”), but I think they’re discontinuing it at the end of the month (sadness). In honor of fall (and what made me think of posting), g and I concluded the meal with some pumpkin creme brulee (even though I recently vowed to not eat another creme brulee unless it was chocolate … g convinced me that it might be just as good … she’s crafty like that.) It was like pumpkin pie filling, but lighter on the fork, silkier and creamier on the tongue, and had that characteristic crisped-sugar flavor with a hint of that egginess. It didn’t blow me away as much as the chocolate one (but it was still damn good and superior to normal creme brulee), but it did make me wonder why we don’t straight-up brulee pumpkin pies. Or, better yet, … if you somehow put this filling inside of a pie crust (or maybe a graham cracker crust just on the bottom), I just can’t see myself ever choosing a slice of normal pumpkin pie again … no matter how much cool whip you put on it …
Sorry j, if you’re the pumpkin pie from Jim Main’s, I’m pumpkin creme brulee pie …
Napa/SF Recap: Day 3
t says: Our last full day in Napa. What to do, what to do! We started off the morning right with a trip to Boon Fly Cafe with k and cm. We had their trademark delicious doughnuts – they were pretty good. I think they were especially good because they were fresh, but, having had some fresh doughnuts from Mary Anne’s in Sea Isle City, I have had better. I had their chocolate chip pancakes, which were also quite tasty, but they reminded me a lot of something I could have made at home. Don’t get me wrong – the food at Boon Fly was good, it was inexpensive, and it was filling. But coming off of such great food the night before, I was kind of expecting to have my mind blown. Alas, my mind remained intact. Bummer.
We drove off to di Rosa Preserve, and, after a detour through Sonoma (we missed an important turn), we finally arrived … only to find that most of it was closed due to renovations. Double-bummer. We did see their car they had on exhibit:
Pretty wild, right?
We could have reserved a spot to tour their grounds, but we kind of didn’t really want a tour. We wanted to chillax. So we left. But at least we saw their sheep!
In any case, we journeyed across the street to make an unscheduled visit at Domaine Carneros! They seemed like they had patio umbrellas, which sounded like the perfect way to chillax on a beautiful day. First … we parked next to an inferior rental convertible …
Yea, their faux cheateau was a little … faux … but it got the job done. We sat on the balcony and peered over all that is wine country. It was beautiful. We enjoyed a cheese plate and g had a glass of … surprise … bubbly!
After an hour or so, we took their tour. And wow … Domaine Carneros was totally geared for tourists. They had big windows to look through, and a well-appointed tasting area. They did discuss the making of bubblies, which was fun, but it wasn’t really down-and-dirty – it was kind of like “look – we do it there – see?”.
Sorry for the blur – I was trying to be nonchalant!
These are their huge mechanized riddlers!
Touche.
So … where to next? Another bubbly winery!! We hit up Domaine Chandon for a slightly different experience. I won’t lie – Domaine Chandon was also geared for tourists, but there was more walking through the winery involved, which I appreciated. Also, our tour guide was fantastic. Yes, he was on auto-pilot mode (he must have given that tour a billion times), but he was still energetic enough to keep our attention. He also had a huge black eye, which I originally thought was a birthmark of some sort, but turned out to be the result of too much wine and “acting stupid” (his words).
They did tell us something interesting: when the winery was built, the surrounding area protested. They did not want a big ugly massive structure from LVMH. And so … they made a winery that you really cannot see from the road whatsoever. It was pretty well concealed. Here’s the front door. I’ll spare you the other photos of inside the winery … you’ve seen enough for this post …
We did a “mixed drink” tasting at Domaine Chandon. It was … interesting. Our tour guide hammed it up, and we have now learned the beauty of the ginger-mint mojito (with bubbly!) … but I think it was the people around us that made it most fun. cm sat at a table with some Turkish people who were involved “in textiles”. They apparently did not want to discuss their involvement. At the table with k, g, and me was a couple approximately our parents’ age who turned out to also be from the South Jersey area! When the woman found out we were from Philly, the first question she asked was, “So … do you go clubbing in Old City?” “Nooo … we just live there.” Throughout the course of the tasting, as she came to know more about us, she kept referring to us as “such good kids”. I guess the four of us are goody-two-shoes.
That night, we had dinner at Ad Hoc. We pre-gamed by hanging out at our hotel with a bottle of white from Castello di Amorosa, a loaf of bread from Bouchon, and a deck of cards. We had to get ourselves mentally prepared for Ad Hoc. It was going to be our only TK-inspired meal. We had high hopes …
When we arrived, I was impressed with how bright and open it was. Bistro Jeanty was a little dim, and Tra Vigne was dim as well. Not Ad Hoc – they wanted you to see everything that was about to go down. It was also a little loud – it reminded me of a crazed BYO in Philly. I felt at home … Let the feast begin …
Things started off with a salad. With bleu cheese. And Bacon. And Beets. You know – I will confess that I was disappointed with “salad” when I read the menu, but I was thinking of some sissy, summery salad. No, this salad is the salad that beats up other salads and takes their lunch money. It would have made kp proud.
Then we moved on to the main course, which was chateaubriand. Cooked beautifully. It was some of the best steak that I had had in a long, long time. I think what made it so noteworthy was that I had grown used to tougher cuts of meat like hanger steak and the like – but no – this was tenderloin … and it was tender. We added on two servings of the “optional” bone marrow and our jaws dropped when we saw the size of those suckers – they were huge! Normally the marrow is barely more than how much butter you’d use on a dinner roll. But I swear there was enough per bone to adequately cover the entire blade of a butter knife.
There was so much that cm couldn’t handle the richness past a single half-bone. It took some real arm-twisting, but I had no choice but to man up and enjoy three half-femurs of bone marrow. It was awesome. My blood probably flowed yellow with the amount of fat I ingested that night, but it was worth it. Vegetables? Yeah, there were some vegetables, too. There was a baked-then-fried potato with bacon, and there was some ?squash? – I really can’t remember, because by the time it mixed with the jus, steak, and bone marrow, it might as well have been meat.
The cheese course was fantastic. I remember thinking to myself, “you know – if this was the last thing I eat tonight, I’d be happy”. And that says a lot – because when it comes to dessert, I always have to have something sweet. But no – not this time – I was fine with cheese … until I saw the dessert:
Now, don’t be fooled by this picture. Sure, it seems like it’s one haphazardly arranged, normal-sized sundae. No – it’s a MASSIVE sundae (as everything served at Ad Hoc is served family style). And it’s not just a normal massive sundae, it’s a massive sundae inspired by s’mores. Graham cracker cookies, vanilla ice cream, marshmallow creme, and rich, luscious chocolate (the kind that puts meat on your bones and sticks to your ribs).
Really, in my opinion, as far as the food goes, Ad Hoc presented us with the most decadent food we ate the entire time we were on vacation. I’m not sure if that made it “better” than the food we had any other night, but it was executed perfectly – I had zero complaints (rare for me), and there was a lot of food. I think it was definitely worth the $50 price of admission.
And you know what … if you wanted more of any course, you were able to order more!! It was all you can eat! Holy crap! Who in their right mind could possibly eat any more than they had served? Afterwards, I actually thought to myself “darn, maybe we should hit up saladworks tomorrow or something for dinner instead of going out”. I snapped out of it, but you get the idea!
Vega: Tasty But Tacky
g says: l and i are spending the weekend working on some top secret projects (more on that to come), so i hopped a train and am visiting her and c up in hartsdale. we worked hard all day long, and were so excited to get out of the apartment to try some mexican food for dinner. you’ll notice that l and c haven’t made many appearances on the blog, but that has changed tonight! we are joining forces and reviewing this restaurant from all angles, telling our readers what we write about best — i will discuss service, l will talk about decor, and c will be telling us about the food.
vega is about a 5 minute walk down the street from l’s and c’s apartment building – a pleasant enough travel time on a brisk fall evening. it’s easy to spot this trying-to-be-hip mexican joint, as its glass facade and bright colored lights set a mood unlike any other restaurant on the block. we walked in without a reservation, so we were given the choice of a 20 minute wait for a table, or to eat at the bar. c likes eating at bars, so we decided to give it a try. our bartender was a bright, friendly girl in her late twenties, literally running back and forth behind the bar, but smiling the entire time. she was actually pretty calm compared to some of the other staff, who were hustling to accommodate the packed dining room on a saturday night. she took our drink order, followed by a long hiatus, then took our appetizer order, followed by an even longer hiatus, and finally took our dinner order. we were not in a rush to get out of there, but we were absolutely famished, and wished that we could have sped up that process a bit. but, eating at a bar, such is life, right? just about the time when we expected our entrees to arrive, a food runner came to our seats with an order of chicken fajitas (which i flagged as mine) and some chicken enchiladas (which we did not order, so we sent away). about 5-10 minutes later, as we waited for l’s and c’s dishes to emerge from the kitchen, the runner came back with a manager confused and speaking in spanish about the order. our bartender cut in quickly and diffused the situation – apparently the order was for another couple sitting at the other end of the bar. one point for bartender-girl. she then proceeded to pick up the plates of food (which again, had been sitting in front of me for about 5-10 minutes as the three of us nibbled on tortilla chips) and brought them to their rightful owners. upon seeing this, i leaned over to c (who has spent a bit of time in food service himself) and asked, “can she DO that??” i had always been under the impression that once food hits a table, it cannot be served to another table, but rather, must be discarded. c confirmed this theory, and i snatched that point back from the bartender-girl for being gross. the other couple didn’t seem too bothered by it, i don’t think, so i guess all’s well that ends well. our correct order did finally hit our table a bit later – everything was what we ordered, and nothing seemed to make any stops between the kitchen and our seats, so we were ready to roll. from then on, it was pretty smooth sailing, sans a fairly long wait for l to receive a water refill. all in all, service was not bad for bar seating (not that i have dined at many bars before, but we had fun, so i wasn’t too bothered by the small hiccups). as for the food, c would be the expert in this area (since he lived in LA for many years and knows good mexican food when he eats it), so i will turn it over to him…
c says: the 5 second review is… i thought it was delicious once we got the food we actually ordered! but on to the details: meals at vega always start with hot homemade tortilla chips and refreshing salsa. we started off with an appetizer of house made guacamole, made to order right at your table. the girls thought the guac needed more onion and salt, but i disagree (onions give me heartburn anyway). next course was the main meal. both g and i had fajitas, she with chicken, i with steak. they came out so piping hot, that you could hear it sizzling from across the restaurant [l says: he is exaggerating – it was so loud in there, you couldn’t hear a thing]. the steak fajitas were very tender and tasty! as for the others, i didn’t have a chance to have any because i was so full, but they looked good. we did take lots of food home, though, so i’ll let you know tomorrow how the leftovers are. i had a margarita, too – cuervo with rocks and salt. very good, but a little strong, so i finished l’s white sangria instead. she was feeling whoozy after the first two sips. she’s a lightweight. g had some pee colored drink that she says was okay, but they should definitely serve in an opaque glass due to the unappealing color. [g says: it’s a shame that they have that listed as a specialty cocktail on their menu – there are so many more interesting combinations that would have both looked and tasted better. it’s not that it was undrinkable, just not expertly crafted]. i’m tired and the mlb playoffs are on, so i’ll let l take over… g’night!
l says: g already hinted at the exterior decor so i’ll fill you in on the interior. when you arrive there are two sets of clear glass doors that i always manage to crash right in to because they look like they aren’t there. then there is a tropical floral wallpaper on the wall behind the hostess and after about a minute of trying to look through the colored glass window in to the next room you realize that the colors on the window are actually a portrait of frida kahlo! (side note: when they were doing construction and gearing up for their opening they had a sign up on the door which said “frida coming soon – mexican cuisine!” so I think they couldn’t get the rights to name it frida and had to settle for “vega” which has no meaning as far as i can tell except that its a town in mexico – i googled.) after you get past the entrance you’re kind of overwhelmed by a mix of decor elements having nothing to do with each other which kind of makes the place look schizophrenic – but at least its actually really fun! here are the details: there are crazy-ass metallic chandeliers made of metal cone shapes above the bar that remind me of sea anemones. (could these have anything to do with the water wall dividing the center of the restaurant between the bar and the main dining room?) above either side of the bar area are blinking tube lights (purple. orange. cyan. green) which strobe at random times (they are not in sync) which feel kind of like an 80s disco tech, not that i’ve ever been in one. an element which i do enjoy is the whole left wall of the space which is an open window in to the kitchen where you can view the chefs at work. props to them for the modern white square serving dishes, the ball-ish-jar-with-a-handle and straw water glass, and the wooden platters used to serve the hotter dishes. best of all there is beautiful and classic patterned white anaglypta wallpaper along the whole back wall of the restaurant – i feel awful for it – the only in-good-taste element stuck in this crazy room having to be stuck in the middle of all this crazy crap.
g says: So like we said, tasy but tacky. But definitely worth a visit!
t says: I spent the weekend working … at home … by myself … eating a single large pizza over the course of 4.5 meals …
Napa/SF Recap: Day 2 (the rest of it)
t says: Yea, so I left you hanging on Day 2. Sorry about that – my bad! Just to finish off Day 2 …
After we failed to get into Dominus, we picked up cm and k and went off to our 5th winery of the day (although in actuality, we only really actually visited 1 of the four). We chose to go to Castello di Amorosa, a winery which primarily makes wines from Italian grapes. While one of their recent releases has earned great marks from wine critics, they are more known for the fact that their winery is a giant castle. For real:
Yes, there’s a drawbridge, and yes, there’s a moat. I will say that the tour was fun. They took us around the castle, which was definitely a tourist destination and not a “real” castle (I mean it was finished sometime in the past twenty years, so you know it’s not going to be a “real” castle), and taught us about … well … castles. It was interesting that they really didn’t focus on the wine too much. Yes, there was some talk of vini- and viticulture, but I really don’t recall much. Our guide was nice – she was Austrian (“G’day mate! Let’s put another shrimp on the barbie!” … Dumb and Dumber, anyone?) The tasting was … intense. There were a lot of wines. And because one of us got the regular tasting, and one got the “premier” tasting (or whatever they call it), g and I were able to taste every wine they had. What was interesting was that I (and maybe g) were the only ones not swallowing the wine (well, the pregnant woman was also not drinking wine, either – she looked so bored – we felt bad for her); as the DD, I was making extensive use of a spitoon. By the end of the tasting session, I would say that k was pleasantly buzzed and cm and g were quite smiley/happy (they were trying to master the art of jumping into a convertible). And one more thing … we were all hungry! After all of the Italian wines, all we really wanted was some pasta … and some meatballs …
Our guide told us of a place called Tra Vigne that was supposed to have good Italian food. I figured that she’d just tell us of whatever restaurant they had some sort of “deal” with, but still, it couldn’t be “bad”, right? Plus, at this restaurant, there was no corkage fee for the first bottle of wine (if it was a bottle from Castello di Amorosa), so that was $20 more to spend on food – woohoo!
We called them up, secured a reservation, and drove to St. Helena. We were leaving everything up to chance and being spontaneous. It was vacation … k and cm style! When we arrived, we used the pricing of the menu to determine whether we were dressed appropriately – we didn’t want to walk into someplace too fancy. All the pasta dishes were under $20 with the exception of the one with scallops – we were good to go.
It was awesome. The indoor space was big and open, but it was the outdoor space that was oh so beautiful. It was kind of like a very large backyard patio with lights suspended from trees. We sat on a little porch that looked out onto the patio and thought of how cool it would be to hold some kind of classy outdoor gathering there.
Then we met our waiter. He was an older gentleman. He had a very … monotonous voice. But you know what – he was superb. At first, I thought he was going to be a very dry character – there’s something about his voice that sounded like he was so bored with what he was doing. But it was part of his act. Using this voice, he had perfected the art of delivering punchlines with no change in expression – gotta love the dry humor. He was happy to tell us what he liked from the menu (e.g. he felt the fig pizza was the best pizza that they’ve offered in years), and he didn’t have a problem with saying a dish was only “ok” (one of the desserts). He even snuck in a little bit of song and dance when he was describing what would happen if we ate some other dish that was his favorite. I trusted him.
And he was right. Their food was fantastic. From their fresh mozzarella cheese and tomato caprese to their fig pizza to my dish, which was a braised rabbit and pappardelle (that was easily as good as anything I’ve had at Melograno – which says a lot!). It really was a most excellent meal. g took a picture at the restaurant, but I noticed that there wasn’t any food in the picture. I guess the food was so good that neither of us wanted to pause eating for a pic. I think k got one!
I remember that their desserts were also quite good, but I can’t remember specifics – maybe one of my dinnermates can fill in the details? The point: Tra Vigne was fantastic. I was worried that it wouldn’t have lived up to Bistro Jeanty the night before, but it did! Later on, we found out that Michael Chiarello had opened Tra Vigne (although no longer there); whoever’s there now knows what they’re doing! What a great night!
What is up with Just Desserts?
t says: g’s been waiting for Top Chef: Just Desserts since the very first preview she saw. I was looking forward to it as well. For me, this past season of Top Chef (in DC) was just “ok” in my mind – I absolutely loved last season with the Voltaggio brothers, Kevin, Jen, etc. So now I was hoping that Just Desserts would be able to fill the void in my heart that Top Chef DC should have filled. So now we’re like 4 episodes into the season of Just Desserts and all I can say is:
What the hell is going on?
This show has had so much drama in it, it’s been CRAZY. If you’ve been wanting to see a cooking show with a disproportionately large dose of stupid drama, then this is your show! I will say that the drama resolves by episode 4 … well, unless episode 5 has something new …
Biba is open …
t says: So, Biba, the newest wine bar related to Tria, was supposed to open Friday. They were open last night! Looks shnazzy in there! I don’t know if it was a “soft opening” or not, but the doors were open, so it looked like I could have walked right in. Too bad I was in too much of a hurry to stop and have a glass of wine. Next time, Biba, next time.
If they’re open again tonight, I’ll take pix.
after dinner sneeze 