Docsconz- The Blog

Mas Noca

(Full disclosure: Noca owner Eliot Wexler is a good friend of mine and I did get comped on my cocktail)

When it was clear that my friends and I would be getting together in Phoenix over Thanksgiving, I knew that I had to bring them to Noca, the year-old restaurant owned by my good friend Eliot Wexler, written about by me here. Since it opened, Noca has received much critical acclaim and a number of honors and awards including being named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant in the United States for 2009. Aside from wanting to see my friend, Eliot, again, I felt Noca was the perfect choice for a group like this. Knowing Eliot, I know that the restaurant uses top quality ingredients. The dishes chef Christopher Curtiss makes are interesting to more sophisticated diners, yet remain accessible to those who may be a bit more finicky. While not inexpensive, the price point remains an excellent value for the quality.

Knowing that the lighting at the dining tables leaves a bit to be desired for culinary photography, I arrived a little before my friends to take some photos at the pass and to video Chef Curtiss preparing a couple of dishes. While waiting for my friends and family to arrive for our reservation, Eliot treated me to a cocktail. I had a Thai Martini, that incorporated jalapeño infused Vodka with lemongrass and Thai basil for a satisfying result.

Once everyone arrived, we were seated at a table overlooking the busy open kitchen. Each of us ordered an appetizer and an entree. In between I arranged for a tasting of all the pastas on the menu. I had the “Duo of Crudo” appetizer consisting of fluke with citrus, ponzu jalapeño tempura, watermelon radish and rice “krunchies” and hamachi with Seckel pear, ginger crème fraiche and smoked paprika oil. This was one of the dishes I videotaped Chef Curtiss making. It looked good not to order and it was. The combinations worked well individually and as a dual unit. While adding flavor and texture none of the supporting elements overwhelmed the essential flavor and freshness of the fish. Unfortunately, while I did video the dish being made, I failed to get any good still photos of the plate.

Out of the other appetizers available, the foie gras was clearly the biggest star. The dish was seared artisan foie gras with Arkansas black apple brunoise, pomegranate seeds and apple cider reduction. It was an excellent combination that added depth while avoiding the overt sweetness present in many contemporary foie dishes. The other appetizers ordered were well received though I did not try them. Our garnacha blanca proved to be a lovely option for this course.

The pasta dishes were ordered to share with one Organic chicken egg yolk raviolo with ricotta, pecorino and sage brown butter per couple and two plates each of the Spinach Tortellini, Maine Lobster Gnocchi and the Pappardelle with Red Wine Braised Duck shared amongst the 9 of us. The pastas were all delicious with the pappardelle being the favorite of the table as a whole. My favorite was the lobster gnocchi. That dish consisted of shredded and diced lobster meat with braised artichoke hearts, crispy gnocchi and lobster cream. The flavor was provided by the lobster while the crisped gnocchi added a pleasant textural contrast. The raviolo was a very good example of a classic dish, though not quite as heart-stopping as the first time I had a similar dish at Schwa in Chicago. The tortellini were also very good, albeit not as exciting as the other pastas. It was, however, savored by the vegetarian in our group.

Speaking of our vegetarian, since the Spinach Tortellini had already been shared as part of our pasta course, and another vegetarian main course was not listed on the menu, Chef Curtiss prepared a special plate that she found quite satisfying. Everyone else was satisfied with their mains as well, each of which featured the color red, as in red meat, from land and sea. The three mains that were ordered included the Big Eye Tuna, the Flat Iron Steak and the Veal Scallopine. Each of the dishes were accompanied by interesting and tasty sides and sauces, but the one element they all have in common was that the main proteins were all cooked absolutely perfectly.

Noca's signature cotton candy arrived as a pre-dessert. That night's flavor was green apple. While I presonally do not eat much of it, it is a fun touch that adds even more of a festive note to the evening and reflects Wexler's playful nature. The desserts that followed including their famous donuts with malted milk and a lovely passion fruit and coconut dessert proved to be excellent finishers to the meal.

Noca does not have a beautiful location, nor does it have the fanciest décor. It is not the most creative restaurant in the country nor the does it serve the most opulent food. It is, however, a superb restaurant that suits a wide variety of clientele in terms of food, style and price. Wexler and Curtiss seem to have found the perfect blend for today's economy to create a restaurant that is nice, but not too nice, comfortable without downmarket, classy without being snobbish and gourmet, but approachable for all but the pickiest eaters, all at a price that provides real value. That real value extends to their wine list. While not voluminous in depth, it has sufficient variety at very reasonable prices such that oenophiles can be entertained while people just looking for a good bottle with dinner don't need to break the bank. At a little over a year since they opened, Wexler, Curtiss and their team continue to do things right. I am looking forward to visiting again next time I am in Phoenix.

Matt's BIG Breakfast - A Breakfast Renaissance in Phoenix

The food is big, the restaurant isn't. Matt's Big Breakfast, located in a relatively nondescript part of downtown Phoenix has no trouble luring diners looking for good, hearty, down home breakfast and lunch cooking into its two small, but very pleasant dining rooms. Fortunately, waiting in front for a table to open up for a small group of six on a Sunday morning was not the least bit unpleasant, after all, this was Phoenix in November. Had it been July, the story may have been different.

Once seated with menus, choosing proved difficult, as there were simply too many mouthwatering choices. To solve that problem, we ordered a few extra dishes for all to taste and share. Prices are reasonable enough that we didn't have to worry about breaking the bank.

Most of us started with a glass of fresh squeezed Arizona red grapefruit juice, possibly the best grapefruit juice I have ever had. Between the delicious citrus fresh from our friends' garden and this juice at Matt's, I have become a believer in the Arizona citrus industry. It may not get as much notice as California, Florida or even Texas, but from my experience those industries don't have anything over what I have tried in Arizona as far as quality.

The food started coming out and quickly filled our two small tables. I am never one for quantity over quality. Matt's offers both. I believe that unless one is a vegan, it is impossible to leave this restaurant hungry or dissatisfied. While there was no lack of quantity (The restaurant is aptly named), the well-trained Matt Pool (formerly of Chris Bianco's Bar Bianco), his family and staff , know their business and how to do it well. They don't source their product from Sysco or other mass suppliers. The restaurant primarily gets its top quality ingredients directly from the best area farms such as McClendon's for citrus and producers such as The Pork Shop the area offers. From the special scrambled eggs with jalapeño, pepper jack cheese and pork tenderloin to the pancakes to the home fries to the sausage to the pesto-marinated pork chop to the hash browns to the chicken sandwich, everything was top notch. The only slightly disappointing dish was the breakfast sandwich with bacon, fried egg, cheese and onions on a roll. Perhaps preferences are different in Phoenix, but this was one dish that in my opinion could have easily been better. It wasn't that the ingredients weren't top notch. They were. As I have it back east, where the breakfast sandwich originated, I would have preferred the roll to have been grilled and the cheese melted. Despite not meeting my preference, the sandwich was still good owing to its quality ingredients.

Matt's Big Breakfast is the kind of place that before the advent of fast food, one would think was common place across the country. Unfortunately, it is not common place any more. To be sure, good breakfasts can still be had almost anywhere, but finding a good straight forward breakfast combining the elevated quality, ambiance and enjoyability of Matt's BB has become all too rare. So rare, in fact, that even in July, I would likely find it worth the wait.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - November 2009

While I did not have the same depth of top restaurant dining as I did in September and October, November still provided top notch restaurant dining, from old standbys to new discoveries. I had my usual fine meals at local standbys Cafe Lazio, Max London's and The Chocolate Mill, supplemented by some excellent restaurant food in Arizona. Though not in my top three, The Cameron Trading Post in Cameron, Arizona was outstanding, and a very pleasant surprise. My top three for the month:

1. Noca – Phoenix, Arizona. Noca is owned and run by my good friend, Eliot Wexler. He, Chef Christopher Curtiss and their staff do a tremendous job creating a unique fine dining experience in an otherwise ordinary Phoenix strip mall. Aside from the well conceived, well crafted food using top notch ingredients, the meal was made extra-special by the company, including my wife, my two eldest sons and my three best friends from high school and their spouses. Life is good.

2. Cafe Lazio – Queensbury, N.Y.. Chef Adriano Di Mario's cooking has become a personal favorite and a regular destination for me. My top Lazio meal this month, though was the special crab and clam sauce over pasta that he prepared specially for me. Right up there with that was another occasion at which I had a fabulous old school Veal Piccata.

3. Matt's Big Breakfast – Phoenix, Arizona. The place is tiny, but the food is big in every way, not least so in flavor. This breakfast and lunch restaurant defines good, down home American cooking using top notch ingredients and using them well.

There will be more detail forthcoming on my Arizona meals including a visit to the Grand Canyon and El Tovar Hotel. Stay tuned!

Aldea Delights Again

My first visit to Aldea was right around its opening this past May. The food was great then. When I returned to NYC this past September, I wanted to see how George Mendes and the restaurant have fared over the ensuing months. This time, though, I sat, with two friends, at the kitchen counter peering directly in to the hive of culinary activity. A hive it was, since in addition to the full downstairs dining room, the restaurant was hosting a party in their upstairs space for GQ Magazine including their star food and restaurant writer, Alan Richman.

For parties of three or fewer with an interest in food and cooking beyond the ordinary, sitting at the kitchen counter is a special treat, adding entertainment in the form of the kitchen ballet to go with outstanding food and wine. The night my friends and I were there, we had the benefit of sitting in front of Jade, a lovely, personable and talented young cook covering the cold apps station. Once our party collected the festivities began.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - October 2009 - NOLA!

As September was all about NYC when it came to restaurants for me, October was all about New Orleans. The Crescent City is a marvelous food destination with plenty of great Creole and Cajun cuisine as well as cooking representative of other areas. We ate extremely well in that fine city, making it very difficult to choose a top three. I had outstanding dishes at The Acme Oyster House, Herbsaint, Coquette, Cochon & MiLa, but the meals were not as fully wonderful from top to bottom as the ones I chose for my top three. The one dish I had at Stanley - Eggs Stella!, which are a version of Eggs Benedict that also included a beautifully fried, generously sized and delicious soft-shell crab, was great and worthy of adulation but fell short because I had only that one dish. The same is true for the always wonderful beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde. At Cochon Butcher I had one great sandwich - the Cubano - and one mediocre - shrimp salad (the raw onion left me with a terrible, long-lasting after-taste). Domenica, John Besh's New Orleans Italian restaurant in the Roosevelt Hotel was solid throughout, but never spectacular. That leaves these as my top three meals:

1. Stella! - I have already written about it fairly extensively. I can't say that I have ever had a better meal in New Orleans. This would have been a great meal anywhere and Stella! would be a great restaurant anywhere, even if it was slightly different depending on its location. The fact that Chef Scott Boswell's food has such a strong New Orleans base, yet manages to be a truly global (in a good sense) yet personal restaurant is what makes it so special. Stella! has become, on one visit, one of my favorite restaurants in the country.
2. Bayona - Susan Spicer was in the kitchen the night we were there just as she was 15 or so years ago when my wife and I first dined there. The cooking is not particularly trendy, but it doesn't have to be. The food is just delicious and served in a lovely French Quarter setting. I particularly enjoyed the sweetbreads, which were as good as any I have ever had. The andouille stuffed rabbit roulade with fried leg was also stupendous. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera that evening.
3. Willie Mae's Scotch House - open just for lunch, the fried chicken deservedly gets top billing, but the chicken fried pork chop is no slouch either and the sides of butter beans and red beans are just wonderfully tasty and the definition of comfort food. This New Orleans institution was devastated by Hurricane Katrina just like much of the rest of New Orleans. A lot of the area around the restaurant has yet to recover, though the restaurant made it back relatively quickly largely thanks to the assistance of The Southern Foodways Alliance.

Stella! is Stellar

 

Pierre Gagnaire, Scott Boswell and Daniel Boulud at Starchefs ICC 2009

Scott Boswell is a man driven to be the best at what he does. He has spent stints at many of the country's and the world's best restaurants from NYC to Chicago to Paris to Tokyo and many places in between, all in an effort to learn in order to apply to his own personal craft. His globetrotting with a purpose is evident in his food. Chef Boswell has become known for seeking the best ingredients from wherever he can find them. I can only imagine that his Fedex bills for his flagship restaurant, Stella! are larger than many a restaurant food budget. Despite his global outlook, Stella! remains a restaurant of New Orleans, blending his exotic ingredients with local techniques, foods and tradition.

Stella!, a difficult restaurant to categorize. Including influences from his native New Orleans as well as French, Italian and Japanese, Stella! is none of those nor is it like any other restaurant that I have been to. The room is cozy and comfortable, reminding me of a French country restaurant. The service is polished and formal, more reminiscent of a European location than most of its American cousins, yet despite its relative formality, it is neither stiff nor condescending.

I arrived with my wife and son on the Friday evening before Chef Boswell and his lovely wife, Tanya, were to leave for Spain to celebrate their second wedding anniversary at elBulli. It was no accident that I dined there on that evening. I met Scott Boswell and his lovely wife, Tanya, in NYC this past September at the Starchefs ICC. We discussed New Orleans and the fact that I would be visiting for a medical meeting as well as to see our son, who is attending Tulane. Stella! had already been on my radar for some time, which had been accentuated this past spring when my wife and son dined there without me while on a visit for his college orientation. It was in NYC that I learned that the Boswells would be leaving the day after my wife and I were to arrive. Happy that we would have at least one night's overlap, I made my reservation for that night.

Our flight to New Orleans was delayed out of Tampa putting us a half hour late for our reservation. I was starting out the evening a bit irritated and that is never good. I called ahead to the restaurant. They told me not to worry and once we arrived, we were seated without a hitch. Now settling down and relaxing, I was in a mood to welcome a nice Pimm's Cup, while my wife enjoyed a glass of Piper Hiedsick Champagne. We elected the 7 course tasting menu at $115pp to give us a sense of the restaurant's breadth. With that, my wife and I opted to indulge in the wine pairings for an additional $75pp.

A Return to Corton

My first dinner at Corton last November turned out to be my top meal of 2008. At that time Chef Paul Liebrandt told me that his initial approach was to keep his food reigned in and approachable as opposed to  some of the more unusual devices he had developed a reputation for in previous stints at Atlas and especially Papillon or the ultra-luxe approach of Gilt, his most recent restaurant experience stint prior to Corton. That 2008 meal at Corton, while certainly approachable and not flaunting anything other than great culinary talent hit the mark and despite the advent of a new recession showed that an ambitious new restaurant could still succeed. I wrote at the time,

"The techniques remained in a supporting role and the combinations were novel if not groundbreaking. The creativity that Chef Liebrandt has become known for was relatively muted but certainly visible. The astonishingly  impressive aspect of this meal, however, was how consistently Chef Liebrandt perfectly balanced his flavors and textures to get the most out of each one and more importantly to have each one get the most out of each other. That a meal of this caliber can be presented at the relatively inexpensive price of $110pp for the tasting menu makes it an outstanding value as I found my meal to be better than many a meal in NYC and elsewhere charging multiples more. Given the economic reality of our times, that is not a bad description to have."

Since that meal, the price of the tasting menu has risen to $135, though somehow, even at that price, it remains a superb value. While the cooking has evolved into more adventurous territory, it remains eminently accessible and manages to avoid titillation for its own sake. Technique, modern and otherwise, is clearly employed, but somehow always manages to remain in the background, subservient to the overall flavor and gustatory goals of the food. Platings are designed to impress with visual beauty, but never at the cost of deliciousness. 

TASTING MENU

The Menu / $135

'Rock Pool'

    Crab, Uni, Ayogai, Grapefruit

"Foie Gras Cherries"

    Beet, Blackberry, Shiso

Turbot

    Pimento, Sicilian Pistachio, Ricotta Crème

Duck

    Pumpkin, Honey | Turnip Jelly, Mead Jus

Cheshire

    Black Fig | Smoked Tomato

Fennel Sablé

    Grape, Roasted Almond Butter, Fennel Crème

White Chocolate Palette

    Cardamom, Mango, Coffee

Top Three Restaurant Meals - September 2009

With a bit more than a full week in NYC and at a Chefs congress, no less, how could I not have eaten very well. My favorite meals were at two places at which I had also previously had outstanding meals - Corton and Aldea. The reality is that it is quite difficult to pick between them for the top meal of the month. Corton is more elegant and romantic. Aldea is more hip and high energy. Both have fabulous food - Corton's more elaborately prepared, Aldea elevating rustic simplicity. Each evening was totally outstanding. I will, however, choose Aldea on the basis of the additional entertainment and interaction I experienced by sitting at the Chef's Counter looking in to the kitchen.

1. Aldea - my return to George Mendes' primarily Portuguese influenced cooking was simply sensational. More will be forthcoming in a future post with photos.
2. Corton - Once again, a return visit that showed that not only has the restaurant not slowed down, it has picked up the pace and is producing absolutely exquisite food. As with all the restaurants on this list, a report will be forthcoming, though due to Corton's relatively new policy banning dining room photos, any photos I post of the meal will have come from the restaurant.
3. Gramercy Tavern - Unlike the other two restaurants on this list, Gramercy Tavern has been around for quite some time. Under Chef Michael Anthony, it continues to serve stellar food in a lovely environment with great service.

While these were my most highly ranked restaurant meals of the month, honorable mentions go to Caffe Lazio, The Bar Room at the Modern, Keste and Co.

Taste of the Week - September 6th - 12th

This was another week of very good eating with the likes of the Crab cakes at The Acela Club at Citi Field and all the good food at the Slow Food Saratoga Labor Day Eat-In, a fine meal at Max London's and a marvelous steak dinner at a friend's home to finish the week,  but ultimately I am a sucker for crustaceans, mollusks and pasta. The Seafood Fra Diavolo ($19) I had on Wednesday at Chef Adriano Dimario's  Cafe Lazio in Queensbury, N.Y. was simply sensational, packed with littleneck clams from Maine, mussels from Prince Edward Island, calamari and shrimp from the Gulf. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with my that night (I did tweet and FB an i-phone photo, though) but the dish was so good, sweet, spicy and perfectly cooked,  that I returned later in the week with my camera just to photograph it! That same Wednesday night meal also produced my runner-up taste of the week. Chef DiMario made the best cannolo that I have had in quite some time. The cannolo shell remained crisp as Chef DiMario stuffed it with his freshly made cannoli cream just prior to serving.

 

Chef Adriano DiMario of Queensbury's Cafe Lazio

Chef Adriano DiMario, who has been cooking professionally for roughly 40 years, considers himself "retired" while cooking at his intimate little restaurant. Only open for lunch and dinner from Monday through Friday, Chef DiMario cooks what he wants focusing on Italian and Italian-American classics and some of his own "special" creations, all done with skill, knowledge, heart and generosity. DiMario's early cooking days started in his native country of Italy. When he came to North America, he initially moved to Mexico, where he started the restaurant, Mama Mia, in San Miguel de Allende in the 1970's. While cooking there, DiMario cooked for the President of Mexico as well as a visiting Queen Elizabeth.

From Mexico, DiMario moved to the United States, specifically to Connecticut, where he eventually opened a couple of restaurants, that became quite popular in the 80's and 90's, in particular, The Bridge Cafe in Westport and Spagone in Ridgefield. His diners there included Martha Stewart amongst others. DiMario sold those restaurants and left Connecticut a few years ago to retire to a farm in Washington County. Ever the cook, he was lured into starting another restaurant up here, this time in Hudson Falls, on the site of what is now one of my other favorite local restaurants, El Mexicano. Unfortunately for DiMario, he was injured in an automobile accident and had to give that restaurant up. After some time for recovery, he came back up to open The Cafe Lazio in its current location with his partner, Charlann Hurley. Originally conceive as primarily an Italian bakery and cafe, Cafe Lazio evolved into a savory restaurant featuring DiMario's delicious cooking (he grows a lot of his produce himself and imports other items from Italy), while maintaining his pastry touch with a few well-executed desserts including outstanding classic Italian pastries and an amazing flourless chocolate cake.

The restaurant, small and non-descript, will never win any awards for design, nor will it draw patrons for its wine list or stellar views. However, patrons can bring their own and the atmosphere has its own special charm. Nevertheless, the clear draw is the food, generously apportioned and very reasonably priced for the quality. Although, the restaurant has now been open for a couple of years, I only "discovered" it earlier this summer. It has quickly become a personal favorite and my most visited restaurant of the summer.

Cafe Lazio

313 Bay Road

Queensbury, N.Y. 12804

(518) 792-7990.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - July & August 2009

Ok, I was remiss and didn't do a July Top Restaurant List. To be honest, unless I am traveling, the summer months are not big restaurant months for us. There is simply too much good produce available for cooking. That being said, we did enjoy some lovely restaurant meals.

1. Pepe's Pizzeria Napolitana - New Haven: The pizza is as good as it gets. The white clam pie is my favorite, but the others are no slouches either.

2. Sripraphai - An old favorite in Queens is still putting out top-notch, delicious Thai cooking.

3. New World Bistro & Bar - Albany: The Slow Food Saratoga Region dinner was fun and satisfying as well as a great value. If it wasn't so far, it would be a regular destination along with movies at The Spectrum

4. Lazio - Queensbury: This small, unprepossessing place is simply wonderful, producing great southern Italian cooking at a very reasonable price. It has become a regular spot for us. I have yet to have a dish that is less than excellent.

5. Max London's Restaurant - Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: I usually try to stay away from Saratoga restaurants in the summer, but a light post-polo meal here was just the ticket despite the Saratoga crowds.

6. El Mexicano - Hudson Falls & Saratoga Springs: Now with a new branch in Saratoga, both restaurants are models of consistency, value and good & satisfying Mexican food.

I don't typically list a breakfast here, but The Chocolate Mill in Glens Falls, N.Y. deserves a special mention. The "Eggs Boursin" I had were simply delicious.

September should be fun.

Sripraphai Still Fine

I have been to Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas and Arun's in Chicago, amongst others. While that is not an exhaustive list by any means, my favorite Thai restaurant remains Sripraphai (pronounced See-pra-pie) in Woodside, Queens, N.Y. It had been a while since I've eaten there, but I recently had the opportunity to stop in for lunch on my way out for a few days in the Hamptons. It didn't disappoint.

We started with some drinks, soups and appetizers. The coconut water was delicious, not overly sweet and quite refreshing. It also worked well to counter the tongue numbing effects of the Thai spice. The longan juice was tasty, but much sweeter, having a flavor strongly reminiscent of maple syrup. Both drinks had tasty chunks of the base fruit in the glass.

 

Longan juice

 

Coconut Water

Well spiced, the soups were full of flavor and extremely well balanced. Both the Tom Yum Shrimp with Mushrooms in a hot and sour soup and the Chicken Soup with mushrooms, coconut milk and galangal had extraordinary depth of flavor with the acid, sweet, salt and umami in perfect harmony. The chicken in the soup was feathery, moist tender and packed with flavor. the soups were extremely satisfying.

 

Tom Yum Soup

 

Chicken Soup

An old standby, chicken satay sticks were expertly done and quite pleasing, especially to our ten year old son. Infinitely more interesting, though, the aggressively spiced (medium) Papaya salad with crispy catfish meat always astounds me with how perfectly crisp, greaseless and airy the catfish always comes out. Delicious, it is a protein that has been totally altered and unrecognizable in origin.

 

Chicken Satay

 

Papaya Salad with Crispy Catfish

The Larb is as well made and tasty as I have had, hiding a spice level that sneaks up to bite.

 

Larb

Our savories finished with Drunken Noodles with shrimp. These wide noodles were spiced more mildly, anticipating that our son would be more interested in them than the other dishes. This dish was flavor bound by one of my favorite Thai flavors - basil. There was enough to make a difference, but not so much as to hijack the dish. While the dish was built around shrimp as the main protein, they were somewhat ordinary, providing not much more than textural contrast to the noodles. With other dishes i might have been disappointed, but here, it simply didn't matter.

 

Drunken Noodles with Shrimp

For dessert we shared a generous portion of green tea ice cream. This was nothing extraordinary, but it was a comforting finish to the meal.

If planning on dining at Sripraphai, it is best to go with a group to sample more dishes, but be prepared with cash since they don't take credit cards. Fortunately, the prices are not exorbitant, making cash payment more approachable in this often cash-less world and still placing Sripraphai as an outstanding value for delicious and satisfying food.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - June 2009

I ate well throughout June, but it was mostly home-cooking, except for one glorious weekend in the middle of the month. This month's top 3 is a bit unorthodox as only one of the top 3 was a classic sit down, order off-the-menu restaurant meal. The other two involved restaurants, but they varied from the typical restaurant experience. I will include them anyway.

1. Momofuku Ssam Bar - This was an outstanding meal - delicious and fun -  that erased an earlier disappointing meal at the same restaurant. I had not previously been able to understand what all the fuss was about, but now I do!
2. The Big Apple BBQ - This was not at a restaurant, but involved restaurant food from a number of different restaurants. The Q was delicious, the weather fine (on Sunday) and the socializing superb. As a chance to sample a number of different styles of BBQ from some of the best in one spot, this is an unbeatable event.
3. The Four Seasons - While at the restaurant, this was essentially a cocktail party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the restaurant. I'm not quite sure how I was invited, but I'm glad that we were and that my wife and I undertook the 3+ drive each way to go down for the evening. The food was good and the experience even better. Sadly, Four Seasons chef Christian Albin, newly diagnosed with cancer, passed away the following weekend.

A Redemptive Meal - Momofuku Ssam Bar

To many in New York and elsewhere, when it comes to food, David Chang and his staff at the burgeoning Momofuku culinary empire in NYC can do no wrong. I had not been in that camp and had been somewhat critical based on an earlier experience at Momofuku Ssam Bar. It wasn't that I thought the food bad. I didn't. I simply didn't think that the value of the food at the time was sufficient to justify some of the drawbacks of the restaurant, including tight spaces, long waits, and a lack of serving utensils for dishes that in common practice are often shared. I simply thought that the restaurant wasn't quite as good as many made it out to be. Then I went Saturday night.

We had a wait of about twenty minutes before our party of three was seated (we were told that it would be 45 minutes) at a perfect table overlooking the kitchen. While it was a shared table, we had plenty of room for ourselves and our plates without overlapping the others sharing the table or even encroaching upon each other. We were already off to a good start, this being around 9:30PM. The kitchen under Chef de Cuisine Tien Ho and sous chefs Francis Derby, Josh Kleinman and Sean Gray would not let us down.

I ordered house sake and we started with some seafood dishes. The sake was good and the dishes started coming out at a good pace, neither rushing us through the meal or making us sit too long before the next course. Much to my delight, many (though not all) of the dishes actually came with serving utensils in addition to our personal utensils and the never-ending supply of chopsticks available on the table. The dearth of serving utensils in a restaurant like this had been one of my most significant criticisms. One should be very close to one's dining companions when dining here had been my thought. While that remains a good thing wherever one dines, it no longer was an essential piece of advice for this restaurant, I am pleased to say. The service, too was extremely efficient and very friendly from the hostess to each of the waitstaff who worked with us. This too was an improvement from my previous visit. I was no longer feeling like a piece of cattle who was lucky enough to be in the stockyard. Quite the opposite. I was able to relax and enjoy my dining companions and the meal.

This was a good thing, because the meal was certainly quite worthy of being enjoyed. The food was all very well conceived and executed with great exceptionally balanced and creative flavors and textures.

We shared quite a few plates including:

  Beausoleil oysters with kimchee consommé and Cracked Empress jonah crab claws with harissa mayo. The oysters were very good though not as special as the ones I had had earlier in the week at The Four Seasons party. The crab claws were excellent. The sauce was vibrant, flavoring the crab without overpowering it. On my previous visit I had had the crab claws with a yuzu mayo and was left unimpressed. Whether it was the harissa mayo or the claws themselves, I was much more receptive to the claws this time than last.

 

Santa Barbara uni with lemon, celery and nori was a lovely dish. I am a sucker for good uni and this dish had good uni that married well with the disparate ingredients that together proved to be greater than the sum of the parts. This synergy is what good cooking is all about and was something apparent through the remainder of the meal.

Asparagus and Burgundy snails with onion dashi and market greens was another hit, the combination muted the individual contributions of each ingredient, blending them into a new, cohesive, whole. The kitchen sent out what was a truly great dish, the Migliorelli Farm (N.Y.) snap peas with mint, egg and XO. Unfortunately, I did not get a presentable photo of the dish, which was all about excellent ingredients in perfect harmony, epitomized by the mint. Mint is a flavor that I really love, but it can be very assertive and easily overpower other ingredients, especially some of the more subtle ones of a dish like this. The mint, however, was used sparingly, but totally effectively, providing a haunting back note that played brilliantly off the other ingredients.

Being in town primarily for the Big Apple BBQ, one might think that the last thing we would want for dinner would be more ribs. Well, it was precisely because we were in for the BBQ that I felt compelled to order the BBQ Rib Sandwich (Newman's Farm, MO) with reed onion slaw. We didn't regret it. The sandwich was nothing like the Q from the BABBQ and was quite delicious. Besides, at that point we had only paid a brief visit to the BABBQ before venturing to Yankee Stadium for the Mets-Yankees game.

This was a weekend for pork as we had Bev Eggleston's Pork shoulder steak with zucchini and ramp dressing along with pickled papaya. While everything worked well together, the meat was so tasty that it really didn't need the additional support.

The roasted branzini with sea beans, gremolata and anchovy was a smash. Perfectly cooked fish with wonderfully crispy skin worked beautifully with the rest of the plate.

We finished the savory portion of our meal with Crispy pig's head (Newman's Farm, MO) with lime pickle and frisee. Essentially head croquettes, they were well cooked, but light on flavor, to me the least successful plate of the evening. My favorite part of the plate was the lime pickles, which added some needed pizazz. The dish was not a clunker. It simply paled at this stage of the meal compared to what came before. It was probably the one dish of the evening that I wouldn't order again, though I would be happy to eat it again if it was there.

I had asked for the check, but instead we had fresh utensils placed in front of us. They were not going to let us leave without dessert. This was a treat in more ways than one as the desserts were wonderful wexamples of the synergy I mentioned above.

Thai iced tea parfait with lemon mascarpone and almond tea crunch was a lovely combination of great flavors and textural contrasts - marvelous!

Beet & lime ganache with goat's milk frozen yogurt and pistachio did nothing but please on every level. These desserts were light years better than the mochi from my first vist and of world class caliber. Both were pleasantly sweet without hitting one over the head with sugar. The balance of flavor and textural components was executed with a measured and competent hand. They provided a superb end to the meal.

While my first visit to MSB was decidedly underwhelming, this one showed me why David Chang and his crew have the following that they do. The food is not cheap, but this time I felt the value was clearly there. The food was creative, expertly prepared and delicious. I am a convert.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - May 2009

The best of this month's meals are right up there amongst my top meals of the year so far - truly outstanding . More than just great food, they were truly memorable experiences. It is particularly difficult to separate the top two meals of the month. The food and company were extraordinary at each, but the extra special circumstance of being able to celebrate my 50th birthday with my siblings at a wonderful new restaurant put Aldea over the top.

1. Aldea - George Mendes and his staff did a great job of cooking and serving a wonderful meal to me and my often picky (but fun) family. This was no easy chore, but Aldea managed to keep things interesting for me and accessible for the rest of my family.
2. Ideas in Food Meets Studio Kitchen - Alex Talbot and Shola Olunloyo are two of the most talented cooks I know. To eat their food is always a tremendous pleasure. To have them both together in one evening makes for an extraordinary experience. To do so with interesting and fun dining companions such as we had makes it even better.
3. Toro - I love Spanish food, whether traditional or avant-garde. The food at Ken Oringer's Toro was not avant-garde and it wasn't always truly Spanish in terms of ingredients or inspirations (see the corn on the cob), but it did a wonderful job of interpreting the spirit and flavor of Spanish cooking  and produced great food in a fun environment.

Two honrable mentions must go to Taranta, though that was more of a spontaneous bit of food preparation by Chef/owner Jose Duarte than a true restaurant dining experience and the Italian wine dinner at Max London's Restaurant. Dining during the week of my 50th birthday rivaled that of My weeks in Madrid and Lyons. This was a great month of dining!

Aldea: George Mendes Puts Iberia on a Plate

Poemas da Nossa Aldeia

Ferreiros 22-2-77

Bello largo da republica
o teu nome e um luarao
foi daqui que naseu
lindo Ferreiros Do Dao

Ferreiros quando nasceu
ja com vontade de trabalhar
fazia umas enxadas
para a terra descravar

Foi baptizado de Ferreirós
e logo coberto de glorias
fez a festa dos mil anos
esta gravado na historia
- Haranho

The above poem written in Portuguese, by Horanho, the grandfather of Chef George Mendes, celebrates the history of the family's village Ferreirós Do Dao in Portugal and is the inspiration behind the name of Chef Mendes' new restaurant in New York, Aldea. The term translates as small village, which is the feel that Chef Mendes hopes to convey with this restaurant. Chef Mendes has taken culinary traditions from the Iberian Peninsula, especially Portugal and created a personal cuisine meant to convey those traditions and enhance them.

The restaurant is set in an elongated room with a bar in the front and an open kitchen in the rear. It has two levels for dining. The decor is evocative of the coast with light aqua blues and sandy earth tones. The feel is one of relaxation and comfort, as if one might be enjoying a lovely dinner in the Algarve. While Mendes' Portuguese heritage dominates his style, his approach and horizons extend well beyond Portugal's borders and includes Spain and even a bit of France. Neither should be a surprise given his experience in top end kitchens of both countries. It is primarily that experience that he combines with his Portuguese heritage to come up with what, ultimately, is a very refined and personal cuisine.

With the restaurant just set to open to the general public, I had the chance to dine at Aldea, to cleberate a special birthday with members of my family. That I was able to celebrate with my family in a restaurant with such deep familial feelings of its own as evidenced in the poem above, meant a lot to me. That I was able to enjoy such fabulous food, made it even more special.

Our party was welcomed with a lovely fino sherry aperitif and shown to ur table. I had left the menu up to Chef Mendes and he did not dissapoint. The meal opened with his version of the signature dish of one of his mentors, Alain Passard and the Arpege Egg. Chef Mendes' version blended a Knollcrest Farm egg with bacalao, black olive, and coriander to create a silky, soft, sensual and utterly decadent commencement to the meal.

Chef Mendes' platings , always refined varied from simple to more complex, some with large and beautifully composed color palettes. The next dish, Spring consommé with mushroom ravioli, peas, chorizo, flowers and bulbs was just such a dish. The presentation and colors reminded my wife and I  of the beautiful platings of Sanchez Romero at L'Esguard in Catalunya (and soon to be NYC?). This was paired with Sauvignon Blanc, Diogenes, Lake County, CA. 2006.

The next course was suppose to have been Sea urchin "toast" with cauliflower, seaweed and mustard, but some unadventurous eaters in my party were afraid of sea urchin so Chef Mendes sent out that plate to half the party and Shrimp "Alhinho", a Portuguese version of Shrimp in a garlic sauce to the other half. Both dishes were spectacularly delicious. Those who didn't think that they would like the sea urchin, loved it (really, what is not to love?). Ultimately, being able to taste both plates added to the pleasure. The large shrimp were cooked head on. Fortunately, the same unadventurous relatives allowed me to suck out the wonderful juices from their shrimp heads. Outstanding! This was serve with Albarino, D. Pedro De Soutomaior, Rias Baixas, SP 2007.

Razor clams from the planxa always remind me of those I have eaten at Kiosk Universal in Barcelona's Boqueria Market. The Razor clams a la planxa with natural juice and bay leaf powder served by Chef mendes took those to another level. Plated simply, they were perfectly cooked and delicious! The pairing for this course was Chablis, Jacky Renard, Burgundy, FR 2006.

The following dish, Wild striped bass, crab "caldeirada", tomato and saffron was even more sensational. The bass was perfectly tender and full of flavor with wonderful, crisp skin. The combination of flavors danced on my tastebuds. This worked well with Pinot Noir, Praxis, Monterey, CA 2007.

I have had good fortune with composed beef dishes of late. The skirt steak at Studio Kitchen was sensational and so was the Wagyu hangar steak with fried quail egg, potato-oxtail terrine, horseradish and bone-marrow marmalade at Aldea. This dish certainly showed why wagyu beef demands a premium. Horseradish can be overpowering, but here it was just right, adding a subtle piquancy, but letting the rest of the flavors of the dish shine through. I brought some 1994 Pesquera Janus, which was paired with this dish. The wine could not have been drinking better, nor could it have matched better with a dish than it did with this one. Wow!

The desserts were as beautiful to eat as they were to look at. The first, Rhubarb broth with tropical fruits and eucalyptus panna cotta was colorful and bright. The second, Chocolate in textures was monochromatic and modern, both displaying a fine aesthetic touch in plating and deft skill in production. As much as I love chocolate, it is rarely innovative or surprising. This example was both - marvelous!

George Mendes clearly has great talent and skill. He also has a wonderful concept and a beautiful space. He has paid attention to detail and worked very hard to assure that everything was done right. Their price point should be very competetive for food of the quality they serve. I expect that once they get over early jitters serving the general public, they will be extremely succesful. Like I told my relatives who were surprised by how much they actually liked the sea urchin dish, "What is not to love?"

Ideas in Food Meets Studio Kitchen: The Action

In addition to world class food and excellent company, one of the major attractions of a meal at Stdio Kitchen or with Ideas in Food is the personability and interactiveness of Shola and Alex and Aki. Here is a photo tribute to the artistry of the team at Studio Kitchen on May 1st, 2009.

Ideas in Food Meets Studio Kitchen: The Dinner

I have had the great fortune to have experienced the cooking of Alex & Aki and Shola on a number of occasions both fee-based and not and have come to know all of the them to the point of considering each of them a good friend. Being acquainted with them and their cooking, it has struck me for some time that they would work very well together in the kitchen. Their styles are complementary and their outlooks similar. I have been trying to get them to come up to my area together, but for various reasons doing so jointly had previously been unable to come to fruition. With the recent move of Alex & Aki to Buck's County, PA, essentially becoming neighbors to Shola, everything changed. Though it wasn't happen in my backyard, I was thrilled when I heard that they would be collaborating on a Studio Kitchen style dinner. I simply would not miss their first effort together, which as fortune would have it, would occur on the weekend just prior to my 50th birthday. What better way to start a celebration?!

I will post my experience in three parts, including the first post, published to provide a preview of the event.This post will focus on the food, offered under the theme, Shades of Green, Tastes of Spring and the last on Shola and Alex in the kitchen.

Upon entering the studio, introductions were made by and for those who had been previously unacquainted, while those who had previously been acquainted renewed those acquaintances under the anticipatory energy of the coming dinner. As with all previous Studio Kitchen dinners, guests were encouraged to bring libations to share. We started with a delicious little French bubbly.

After a period of time to get to know each other, we guests took our seats for dinner. The initial four courses were described as an amuse, but they were served separately and in succession.

The first dish, called "Liquid Lovage" was a crisply flavored, delicious lovage soup that enveloped succulent crab, a combination heretofore unique to me and simply delightful, providing a sensational jumping off point for the rest of the meal to come. The dish captured spring on the palate and in it's palette, wearing the color that I like to call "incipient" green.

"Mozzarella Pudding, frozen rhubarb, olive oil" wasa nice concept with a pretty presentation. The most subtly flavored dish of the evening, however,  was probably the least memorable dish for me. Neither a bomb nor a home run, this dish paled next to the others presented, yet it was still good. In another situation it may have excelled.

One of the reasons the mozzarella may have lagged was its placement between the snappy Liquid Lovage and this, "Cream of Watercress Ice Cream, sake cured steelhead trout roe (Blis), croissant croustillant." This dish was the epitome of synergistic balance with the salty, smoky roe popping in the mouth, along side the slightly sweet peppery creaminess of the ice cream and the crunchiness of the croustillant. This dish would thrive on either end of the menu.

"Wild King Salmon, pecorino, fava beans, pimenton" consisted of three main parts. The first was a slice of salmon sashimi, the second was a salmon tartare that incorporated oregano and the third, resembling wasabi, was a combination of favas, pecorino and pimenton. Those three ingredients along with lemon olive oil and some others were combined and ultimately extruded via the Paco Jet. The dish worked nicely. Somehow I neglected to photograph it myself. Fortunately, Shola was kind enough to let me use his photo.

The first four courses were paired with a Sake from Granville Island near Vancouver brought by David & Rachel from a recent trip. We drank the JunMai Nama which was excellent.

The first four plates were billed as amuses. The "meat" of the meal followed.

Once again, balance reigned with "Russet Potato Gnocchi, ramp leaves, country ham, shaved l'etivaz." This dish was not one of contrasts working off each other, however. It was a seamless blend of silky, pillowed goodness. The benton ham provided some salty and smoky notes, but the over-riding sense of this dish was one of supple luxury.

 

"Wild King Salmon, grilled zucchini puree, lemongrass sabayon, rye bread" - how do they come up with these combinations? How can something like this work so well? I don't have the answer to either question, but clearly  they do and I can attest that it does, very, very well. Justice was done for this magnificent salmon.

At this point I opened the first of the wines that we brought, a 2000 "Y" from Ch. D'YQuem. I brought this wine specifically, since I had brought one to my first Studio Kitchen dinner on March 17, 2006. This was a tribute to that amazing dinner and experience. Despite the difficulty extracting the corks, the wine drank well. It was served with the following course.

"Chicken Marsala. egg yolk, morels, nasturtium" - this was not my father's chicken marsala, though it was no less enjoyable. The deceptively simple looking chicken was the product of an elaborate process. First chicken carcasses were pressure cooked with marsala wine and other ingredients to make a stock. This stock was then used to poach the morels, which were then set aside. The remaining liquid was reduced and pureed with the white and dark raw chicken meat, mixed with activa and set in blocks. The blocks were cooked sous vide, chilled then sliced thin. For service the silky, mortadella-like chicken ribbons were warmed in a C-Vap. The chicken itself contained all the flavors of a classic chicken marsala. Combining it with the morels, nasturtium leaves and a sauce from rich egg yolk created a delicious, fun and unique dish all their own.

This was the second wine we brought, 1997 Gaja Barbaresco. Still in its youth it paired well with the next course, my favorite of the evening.

"Skirt Steak, honeydew melon, rosemary, fermented vadouvan" married perfectly cooked skirt steak with the plate's principle green element, the honeydew in sublime fashion. Cooked sous vide and finished on the grill, the meat melted in my mouth. The best part was that additional meat remaining after the initial plating was passed around for much appreciated seconds. The rosemary actually came from rosemary flowers, which left a lovely, yet subtle perfume. The vadouvan provided a perfect compliment.

This dish surprised even though the menu description was explicit. "Langres, strawberry-lychee mostarda, red ribbon sorrel" clearly stated lychee and not rhubarb as one would expect from looking at the strawberries and considering the season. This was an original and tasty composed cheese course.

Our final wine of the evening, 1993 Royal Tokaji Co. Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos. Made from botrytised Furmint grapes, this was the dessert wine of choice for the Russian Czars. The 1993 vintage was one of the first after the fall of communism in Hungary. It provided an excellent much for the evening's final course.

Listed on the menu as "Aero Chocolate, blood orange infusion, crispy cashews", this was a tasty and satisfying dessert despite the fact that the "cashew" missed its intended "crispy" texture. It was chewy rather than crispy. Ironically, the texture worked anyway. The flavors were on and the chocolate was indeed light and airy. If any of the descriptions had to miss a little, then ththe cashew's was the best one to do so.

Ever since Ferran Adriá participated in a Q&A on eGullet in December of 2004, I have used a quote from that session in my eGullet signature: "Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster." Since then, Adriá has expounded further on that idea, emphasizing the pleasures of taking ordinary, non-luxury ingredients and using the alchemy of a chef, creating something special from them. With the possible exceptions of the beautiful wild Alaskan King Salmon and the morels, none of the ingredients utilized by Alex and Shola for this dinner can really be classified as "luxury." There were no truffles, foie gras, bluefin tuna, Wagyu beef or Ossetra caviar. Neither lobster nor Mediterranean gambas found their way onto the menu. That is not to say that the ingredients were poor or inferior. Far from it.The ingredients were chosen with care and were top quality. The Blis roe, though not readily available, are the product of a superior artisan who has taken relatively mundane ingredients and created something special. The same goes for the Benton ham, the vadouvan spice mixture, the cheeses and any other quality ingredient that was used to prepare this meal. The greatest alchemy, however, came from the minds and hands of Alex and Shola themselves. Their creations are original, beautiful and most of all delicious. Combine that with the intimate setting of Studio Kitchen, fine wines and great company and the result is an unforgettable evening. An experience like that makes a drive from upstate NY a no-brainer. I look forward to the possibility of making that trip many more times for any future collaborations between these talented individuals that may occur.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - April 2009

April was a relatively light restaurant month for me, as we ate a lot at home. I did have some nice restaurant meals, however, the foremost being:

1. Max London's Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - Max always does a very nice job. One evening I was at home by myself, so I drove down to Saratoga to have a simple meal at Max London's.That was a charmed night as I ran into and had dinner with my friend Rocky and saw a number of other people I knew as well. Sitting at the bar, my dinner rocked. I had a bit of a special pastrami sandwich, some perfect ricotta croquettas and a delicious porchetta-like stuffed rabbit loin wrapped with crisp serrano ham. The pear and almond tart for dessert wasn't too shabby either.
2. Carpenter & Main in Norwich, Vt. Though nothing groundbreaking or overly audacious, chef Bruce MacLeod, does a fine job of using excellent regional ingredients and skilled technique to produce satisfying French influenced food in a lovely setting.
3. The Jewel of India in Hanover, N.H. - An excellent Indian restaurant in Hanover? I never would have predicted it, but there it was. We had a number of different dishes without a clunker in the bunch. I particularly enjoyed the Shrimp Saag.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - March 2009

March was a month of quality over quantity when it comes to my top restaurant meals. We ate at home a lot, even hosting a couple of small dinner parties while also attending a couple of dinner parties. Since this column is supposed to be for restaurant meals I will not mention those home meals any further in this context.

1. Le Bernardin. Without a doubt this was my top restaurant meal of the month and will certainly finish the year high on my top 10 list. Both savory and pastry progressions were tour de forces with beautiful plates, creativity, and above all deliciousness. That the food was served amidst lovely surroundings, paired with well-complemented beverages and served with skill and panache did not hurt either. Returning after a long absence to an old favorite and finding it to be better than ever - priceless!
2. Chez Sophie - The Slow Food Dinner held on the 11th was just a lovely evening with excellent food, good company (and plenty of it) in a perfect setting at an unbeatable value. What is not to love?
3. Porchetta - I'm cheating a little bit here, because I didn't actually eat at Porchetta and I didn't have a whole meal of Porchetta's food, but my porchetta sandwich from Sara Jenkins' Porchetta at the Choice Eats event on Tuesday evening in NYC, was a very bright spot amidst an otherwise disappointing event. The crusty bread was filled with just the right mix of tasty pork loaded with juices and the contrast of crisp cracklings. I haven't been to the actual restaurant yet, but after tasting this, I must make a point to do so.

Top Three Restaurant Meals - February 2009

Unfortunately not every month is going to be like this past January when it comes to dining out. That doesn't mean that I ate poorly in February, but my top 7 meals of January were better than any in February. January just happened to be a stellar month that included a culinary trip to Madrid and Lyon. February did not.

I did take a trip to Philadelphia though and my top restaurant meal for February came from that trip. Here are my top three:

1. Yang Ming in Bryn Mawr, PA. This was the best Chinese-American food that I have eaten in some time. Everything was cooked perfectly with great flavor balance. That it was part of a large party made it all the more impressive.
2. Slow Food Dinner at The Beekman Street Bistro in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - solid food at a solid value.
3. El Mexicano in Hudson Falls, N.Y. is almost everything that a local, family oriented restaurant should be. They have great food and plenty of it at a great price with excellent service and a great atmosphere. I get cravings for their refried beans.This is as much of a regular restaurant for our household as we have. It isn't far, the food is really good, it is reasonably priced and everyone in the family loves it.