Alcoholics and Rosarians Unite!
t says: The flower show’s in town! For the small fee of $23 (for advanced tix online), you get to see a lot of flowers and plants (some of them are quite spectacular – and I know nothing about flowers, gardening, horticulture, etc.). Additionally, there are tons of seminars on how to care for your rooted loved ones – they were way over my head. BUT – there’s also a complimentary wine and spirits tasting! g and I spent about an hour looking at flowers and an hour and a half tasting wine. It was fun! (Although we were carded twice … they card people at “random” …) If you do go – there are TWO tasting areas – and they’re different – so make sure you check out both. While the vast majority of the wine was “ok”, there were some diamonds in the rough: an Italian Barolo, a Portugese Vinho Verde, a Mumm Brut Rose (g loves bubbles – pink bubbles especially), and a Spanish red from Bierzo. This Saturday’s the last day – so get there soon! (They also had a DiBruno outpost, but that cost additional money, so we avoided it).
Giwa: Homely Korean
t says: g and I desperately wanted to go to Zavino for some free wine (while they lacked their liquor license, they were offering patrons two free glasses of wine with purchase of food). Anticipating that everyone else also wanted free wine, we figured that we’d go during the first night of our second “big” snowstorm in Philadelphia. Dumb idea. Everyone else figured that, too. Turned off by the 2 hour wait, we went out looking for a new place to go. We eventually remembered that there was this small Korean place that we’ve been wanting to try called Giwa. We trekked on over through the falling snow and got there safely – it was small, but inside it was warm and not precipitating, so we were happy.
2/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. Giwa’s dishes are not “fancy” or “fusion” Korean dishes – they’re plain ‘ol Korean (with a little bit of polish/pizazz cuz the place is still new). The selection isn’t huge, and perhaps it’s more geared towards a lunch-ish crowd, however, most people, Korean or not, will find something on the menu. I recognized quite a few menu items, so g and I were in good shape.
When we first sat down, we were presented with an assortment of tiny little dishes of various items, pickled and not. This is test #1 for any Korean place – how is the kimchi. Giwa’s was pretty good. I ate it. Theirs had a little more funk than I like, but I’m sure the older crowd (i.e. mom) would like it.
Our first dish was the Haemul Pa Jun appetizer, or, as it was called when I was young, “the Korean pancake”. That name’s a lie – it’s not a pancake – it’s more like a seafood-pizza-pancake hybrid. Imagine you take some seafood, mix it in some pancake dough, and fry the dough into a large disc on a frying pan, cut it like a pizza, and then serve it with a soy sauce based dipping sauce. It was very good. They didn’t skimp on the seafood and the dough still had good crisp – two common problems with haemul pa jun in restaurants. Note that this appetizer is definitely large enough for two people – I’d say more like 3 people (we had plenty leftover).
For my main dish, I had the eel dolsot bibimpap, which is not available for take-out – only for eat-in. The dish comes out in a super-hot bowl. It has rice, veggies, eel, and a delicious spicy sauce that you mix together as the bowl heats the ingredients and browns the rice, giving it a nice flavor (like when you sear a steak to get the outside nice and caramelized). It was hot and spicy and had a lot of different textures and flavors – I liked it a lot. Actually, I would take this dish over every other rice- or noodle-based dish I’ve seen at fancier Asian fusion restaurants (including Morimoto). In my mind it had the same soul-soothing quality seen in Sampan’s pork banh mi, except for a larger quantity (although it does cost about twice as much). It’s just so simple and hearty, especially on a cold day. (n.b. there are a lot of things that those other fancier places do better, however, like having raw fish or desserts).
g went for the kimchi fried rice – it was good, but a little “blah” because it was a lot of rice and super-finely-chopped ingredients, so it was texturally monotonous. It was more like a dish that everybody would share some as a side rather than one person eat all of. But, then g stole some of the spicy sauce from my dish, and she felt the fried rice could take center stage. I guess her dish just needed a flavor that was more dynamic than what it had originally.
In summary, I’d highly recommend Giwa for some not-fancy food. If you’re afraid of spice, there are still things to eat, like bulgogi and dumplings. Also, you could just use less spicy sauce in your dolsot bibimbap. The dishes will come in around the same price as pastas at La Viola, but for me, I’d take dolsot bibimbap over anything at La Viola, so I have a clear personal winner. And for those who might not have such nostalgia attached to Korean food, I think it’s still inexpensive enough to give it a whirl.
Kanella: Doing the Robot …
t says: g and I anticipated a weekend without any plans, so we decided at the last minute to go out for a date night! We visited Tria first, which was delightful as always. And, after we each had some wine, a bit of tete de moine cheese, and a salad featuring grilled asparagus, white bean, and artichoke, we headed down the street to go to Kanella. Kanella (transl. cinnamon) has gained some attention recently – a lot of people on chowhound enjoy it, claiming that it was one of the best BYOs in the city, and, as I found out right before we went, a dish was going to be featured on Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate”. We didn’t know which dish it was, but were happy to go and check out Kanella’s dinner.
2/2010, Friday Night, Party of 2. When we arrived at the restaurant for a 9:30 reservation, we were told that they were running a bit behind. So we, and at least three other couples, crammed ourselves into the super-tiny entrance-way (it was very cold outside, so we stayed indoors). While some of the other waiting people were getting frustrated, I was still happy from the wine I had at Tria. After the first half-hour, I could only laugh that we were still waiting while no patrons had left the restaurant (we figured someone would have to leave for us to move in). The hostess was super-apologetic for the wait (she apologized every five minutes), but there clearly was nothing she could do. Then, she came with a dish of the grape leaves appetizer “from the kitchen”. Then the chef came out and apologized, bearing a plate of the fried halloumi cheese appetizer. I have to admit that g and I weren’t particularly impressed with either of these. The grape leaves had a nice sour punch, but the stuffing was quite bland. The cheese was just that … cheese. But, these aren’t the kinds of appetizers that we would have ordered, anyhow, so we were happy to try something different and greatly appreciated the sentiment. Eventually we were indeed seated – we were the last couple they were seating that night, so we had a nice four-seater to ourselves. On our way in, an older couple dressing to leave commented, “don’t worry – it’s worth the wait!” We hoped so.
When we sat down, we were greeted by a very friendly waiter. He was super-enthusiastic about the food here, so that was great! But things changed a little when we asked him which dish was being featured on the Food Network. He kind of rolled his eyes and admitted that it was the Cyprus Breakfast. Later on, when I returned home and googled it, it turned out that the Cyprus Breakfast had been garnering quite a bit of critical acclaim recently. The waiter said that he was shocked that it was the dish getting such favorable comments, as he felt other dishes were superior; we appreciated his honesty. But then he commented that they would get a LOT of people asking for it at breakfast, referring to them as “robots”. During our conversation, as another server passed by, ours broke conversation and said, in a robotic voice, “cy-prus-break-fast”, to which the passer echoed “cy-prus-break-fast”. Apparently it was a common joke among the servers that patrons mindlessly order the Cyprus Breakfast. I felt a little awkward by this exchange as I felt that even if it is a “simple” dish, if people are willing to pay for it – who cares? Also, had the dish been a dinner dish that I could have ordered, I think I would have been one of those robots they were making fun of. This possibility led me to conclude: if you like something else better, then that’s all you have to say – you don’t have to put down patrons – have some tact! *steps off soapbox* So, that put a sour taste in our mouths to start.
Having had some food at Tria and also the “ok” appetizers we were given while we stood, we decided to go straight to dinner. g ordered the pork tenderloin with chickpea fritters while I had the lamb with some sort of orzo concoction (?giuvetsi?). g’s pork tenderloin and my lamb were good; they were cooked well and seasoned well, but they just didn’t sing to us – it’s hard to be pleased by a pork tenderloin after having had one at Cochon. But perhaps the meats being only “good” was not the fault of the pork or the lamb or the chef, rather, it was the fault of the orzo side on my plate – it was fabulous. We agreed that it was the most delicious thing on both of our plates. It was rustic and tasty – it could have been a dish by itself. And there was so much that I brought some home and reheated it for lunch the next day – it was still phenomenal (so I knew it wasn’t just the wine talking the night before).
Before our entrees were cleared, we had another odd encounter with our waiter. He dropped by specifically to ask g if the pork “was too rare for her” – but something about the way he said it didn’t make it sound like he was being helpful, rather, being critical – I interpreted it as, “are you too much of a wuss to eat pork the way it’s supposed to be cooked?”. The answer was no, the pork was fine and she was just full, but I was tempted to say “no, it’s just too unremarkable for her to eat the rest”. I bit my tongue and let her do the talking (she doesn’t even remember this happening, so perhaps it wasn’t that big of a deal) …
For dessert, we had their assortment of ice cream which included cinnamon, coffee, and pistachio. The cinnamon ice cream was absolutely delicious – the cinnamon flavor wasn’t overpowering and the texture was great. The coffee and pistachio were also very nice and worked well with the cinnamon – we liked these ice creams very much.
So, all in all, we had an “good” meal at Kanella. There were two shining lights (cinnamon ice cream and the orzo). As for whether the rest could stand up to Kanella’s reputation – maybe it was a rough night in the kitchen with how busy they were? Maybe the attitude of the service influenced our perception of taste? Maybe we were just too full from Tria? I don’t know. But I do know one thing … we will be going back … for the cy-prus-break-fast.
Pepe’s Pizza: Makes Us Happy As Clams
t says: One day I told one of my bosses that I was driving to and from Cape Cod for a wedding. His immediate comment was, “You should stop by Pepe’s pizza in New Haven.” Well, maybe it wasn’t the first thing he said (I’m sure he said other, more normal things like, “why?” or “have a safe trip!”), but it’s definitely the comment that stuck out in my mind. Not one for superlatives, my boss claimed that Pepe’s pizza is the best pizza. Now, I didn’t inquire whether he had gone to New York, Chicago, Italy, etc and tried their pizzas (although he was in New Haven for a bit, so maybe he just feels it’s better than that other famous place to get pizza in New Haven), but for such a positive testimony, I knew that we had to go. He did attach one caveat, however (I knew there was a catch): “you have to like clams …”. What a peculiar thing to say?
9/2009, Sunday Lunch, Party of 2. On our way back from Cape Cod, we took the exit to New Haven. Google maps had surprisingly good directions with the exception of a single left turn onto a street that was not marked (that wasn’t google’s fault, that was New Haven’s fault). Sensing that there was going to be a wait, we called ahead of time and ordered a pizza as I was instructed: “White Clam Pizza”. It’s a good thing we called – Pepe’s was mobbed. People were waiting outside to get in. The parking lot was full. Fortunately, we just wanted to pick-up instead of eat-in, so we walked in the express-door, told them we were there, and watched the show while they prepped our pizza. It’s actually quite impressive how big their pizza-sliding-device is. We picked up our pizza and dashed out the door, not looking up at the eyes in line staring us down for our food. We jumped in our car and locked the door (it is New Haven, you know). We drove off to a nearby park we spotted on the way in and sat down to have a picnic-bench-lunch. Here is what we saw:
Say hello to my little friend ... Frank Pepe!
It's heart-shaped!!
How did it taste? Well, I actually will admit that if you consider this a pizza, then yes, this was the best pizza I’ve ever had! The crust was a smidge thicker than the thin crusts at Osteria, but it was still nice and crispy. There was lots of roasted garlic, and those clams were oh-so-tender. I still wonder if they put raw clams on the pizza and let the oven cook them or if they cook them before the pizza goes in. In any case, if you like garlic, cheese, and clams, this pizza will blow your mind (and I like all of those). However, some might say that this is not a pizza – no tomato sauce! Clams? Blasphemy! So, maybe it’s unfair to call Pepe’s the best pizza I’ve ever had (I mean, how can I compare it to others?) – but it was certainly a delicious thing. I’m glad we ran out because I’m pretty sure I would have eaten myself sick … Next time, we’ll try out the other pizza place (?Sally’s?).
Osteria: More Than Pizza
t says: We loved our visit to Vetri – everything was superb, from the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out. That said, we wished for a similar quality of food, but for less expensive dishes, like pastas and pizzas, as g and I are not yet bawlers. Then we heard of Osteria, a second eatery by Vetri that promised just that: delicious pasta and pizzas. So, when an out-of-town friend came to visit, we took her to Osteria (actually, she treated us, which was very kind of her).
1/2010, Tuesday Dinner, Party of 3. Despite an 8:30pm reservation, we had to wait ~20 minutes. Normally waits don’t bother me, but the place just didn’t really seem that “packed” (and open tables were in plain view), so I just didn’t know the cause for the wait. Fortunately there were seats at the bar so took the opportunity to relax and get reacquainted. As we made chit-chat and ordered some of their mixed drinks (I had an espresso martini – it was ok), we looked around and took in the space … there was a lot of it! I guess I would have never guessed that a place with rustic foods could occupy such a large venue – both by square footage and by height – then again, it’s a little out-of-the-way, so there’s probably a location-space trade-off.
We were seated at the table, and, after perusing a menu of very appetizing-sounding dishes, we opted for … surprise … some pizzas and pasta. We placed our order with our slightly awkward server and waited with excitement, enjoying the bread and oil they had provided. The octopus pizza and the margherita pizza (gotta try the classic) were both delicious with perfectly-thin thin crusts. The octopus was still tender, and the margherita, despite being so basic, sung tomato and basil. Our friend’s side of kale was a nice complement to the pizzas. I, on the other hand, had the potato gnocchi in a mushroom sauce with piave vecchio. I was flabbergasted by the texture – it was so soft and airy, but not mushy – perhaps a little more dense than the gnocchi at vetri, but the lightest potato gnocchi I have ever had (I got the spinach gnocchi with the brown butter at vetri). And the sauce was perfect – mushroom flavor without overpowering the other herbs and cheese. I found myself trying desperately to slow down sending the gnocchi to my mouth – they were so good. I will confess, however, that I wished there were more on the plate for $16 …
Desserts on the other hand were hit-and-miss. We ordered the chestnut crepes, but found that there was just too much honey for the chestnut flavor to handle. The polenta budino with hazlenuts was spot-on; it was a new dessert to me, and one I hope to try out at other places, too (if anyone else serves it).
In my opinion, the pizza was very good – I look forward to trying out the other combinations on the menu. However, the possibility that the other pastas on the menu could be at least as half as good alone warrants a second visit. Now if only they were BYO …
10Arts: Too Much Hype?
t says: One of our favorite shows is Top Chef – we’ve been watching since season 1 (although we skipped season ?3?). We used to love how ridiculous the challenges were, but now we’re moreso drawn to how talented these chefs are! One of the chefs on this past season was Jennifer Carroll, who is the head chef at 10Arts by Eric Ripert. She definitely had “personality” from the very first episode of the season, and her dishes in the beginning and end seemed quite good (she muddled in the middle a bit). As soon as I spotted 10Arts on last fall’s restaurant week participants list, I knew we were definitely going. A new restaurant with a semi-celebrity head chef and an association with the michelin-starred Eric Ripert? How could we go wrong?
9/2009, Friday Dinner, Party of 3, Restaurant Week. A “bistro-lounge”, this restaurant is in the ground floor rotunda of of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. The majority of the dining space is not actually set apart from the hotel’s super-large rotunda, making for a very bizarre atmosphere in that it feels both fancy and cheap at the same time. The hostess was nice, however, our waitress was not – no smiles, no excitement, and no enthusiasm when presenting our dishes. However, maybe restaurant week was taking its toll on the staff? It’s a shame because we knew that we’d have to pretty much ignore her soullessness for the rest of the meal, which can put a damper on the food. But in any case, as we were there for the food, we placed our order and held our breath …
The three of us (g, t, and kp) sampled the Octopus and Heirloom tomato (x2) appetizers; the scallop, hanger steak, and shortrib entrees; and the “frozen snickers” (x3). The octopus was a bit overcooked and thus, a little tough; however it was indeed well-seasoned and had a nice smoky flavor. The heirloom tomato was also “ok”, as it could have used a bit more salt and pepper to make the tomato shine (that’s a weird sentence – maybe nonsensical). All of the mains were well-executed, so we were happy. That said, nothing was super-novel or screamed out “awesome” (well, except for the fries with the hanger steak – everyone agreed they were exceptional spuds!). The dessert, on the other hand, was innovative, and did remind me of a snickers bar (although moreso of a Tasty Kake Kandy Kake, which is even better!). So we were definitely satisfied with the final note of the evening.
Given the paucity of writing/description/criticism (which is unusual for me), you can see that 10Arts had only a “good” showing. Perhaps quality suffered because it was restaurant week? Maybe. Maybe our server’s craptacularocity tainted the meal? Maybe. What however is a little scary is that for those portion sizes, even if they managed to cook everything perfectly, it’s just not worth the prices that I’ve seen on their normal menu (?maybe they give you more if you actually went a la carte? or maybe they’re really aiming for a higher price-point altogether?). This, in combination with the bizarre atmosphere leads me to believe that most people like us with limited budgets are not going to come here for multiple meals – maybe just hotel patrons, food tourists, and super-fans of Chef Jen. I hope she/they can prove me wrong!
after dinner sneeze 