Outback Steakhouse - Review

Intro
Outback Steakhouse - Recommended
539 River Rd, Edgewater, NJ 07020
Phone: 201-840-9600

After a rough week of work, Porthos and I needed to meet up but we were too lazy to travel into the city. So, as a joke we decided to "let's go outback tonight." Damn catchy song. Surprisingly, there's some tasty stuff there for the price. Overall, I give this restaurant experience a 77/100.

My Menu
1) Kookaburra Wings ***
2) Bloomin' Onion
3) French Onion Soup ---
4) Baby Back Ribs **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) A serious what the f moment. We were expecting nothing from this place and these wings kicked massive ars. By no means, am I saying these are the best wings I've ever had, but the what the f was for being completely shocked by how good these wings were after expecting average food. Not the traditional floured and fried chicken wings, but these were lightly breaded and almost baked. Very juicy and very flavorful - we could have eaten 5 orders of these.
2) Outback's signature app. Basically a whole onion, opened up like a flower, breaded, and deep fried. Kinda like onion rings I guess. This was way too salty for me and pretty greasy - definitely pass on these.
3) Outback allows you to swap out sides for your entree, so I decided to swap in the french onion soup. Bad idea. This was a what the f moment in a bad way. The soup was almost like a paste...thick and way too salty. Definitely a pass...the chips that come with the ribs are pretty f'n fun to eat so stick with those.
4) Again, these are not the best ribs I've ever had, but they were still great. Very tender and very flavorful. Now, if we were served this at a real bbq joint, my opinion probably would be different. Porthos and I both noted the smokey flavor, without any smoke rings around the meat...definitely some liquid smoke probably going on here.

Overall Restaurant Experience (77/100)

• Food 7.6/10 – Some hits and misses at this restaurant, but still pretty surprised that this place delivers. Porthos ordered the prime rib which was pretty flavorless, but very tender.
  
• Service 9.5/10 – Our particular waitress was insanely knowledgeable and friendly. Whatever questions we had about the menu, she was 100% right with her enthusiastic suggestions. Food came out quick. Now, I'm assuming you're not getting this at all Outback's, but it was a healthy change of pace to a lot of the a-holes you get at some restaurants in the city. I wish all fine dining restaurants could learn from her attitude.
  
• Atmosphere 7.0/10 – Standard chain restaurant design - it could have been Chili's, Applebee's, etc. Wooden booths and panels. We got there at 9pm on a Thursday and were seated in 15 minutes. Place consisted of all ages and groups - young and old couples, families, groups of guys, etc.
  
• Price 8.0/10 – For the food above plus beers, it was around $40 a head including a generous tip. Decent value for what we ate, but the service definitely made it worthwhile. What was surprising was the cost of the steaks - some were around $30-40 which would be equivalent to steaks from a NY steak joint. Obviously the portions would be bigger, but the quality would be way less.
  

Closing Comments
Although I used to love Chili's as a youngin', I really haven't visited a huge chain restaurant in a long time. Now, I could definitely see myself "Going Outback Tonight" again for some wings, ribs, and beers with the fellas whenever too lazy to venture in the city.

At the Table With Anthony Bourdain

Just finished watching the show "At the Table With Anthony Bourdain" and although I like Bourdain's No Reservation show, this show really wasn't entertaining. It was probably unscripted, but that was a bad thing. No real focus or continuity - more Bourdain throwing random questions out to people that he's asked before during his No Reservation show. Plus, I really wasn't that interested in anyone comments either. Now granted, it probably would be a fun time if you were there and participating, but watching as an observer - it was kinda dull. For a better show in the same format, check out After Hours With Daniel.

Sour + Salt = Good?

Was eating a nuclear level sour apple and some Indian co-workers mentioned to add some salt to the apple to mellow the sourness. At first, I was relatively skeptical but I was figuring why the f not. A great what the f moment...the sourness of the apple becomes slightly sweet and pleasantly sour. Give it a try next time on your next sour green apple and you'll avoid the "bitter apple face"...

Diet Coke + Mentos

I know mom told us to never play with our food. But sometimes, boys just need to be boys.

Review Updates and Extras

Matsugen - (-) My buddy and Sous Chef from a NY Times 3 Star restaurant texted me saying,
"Never going back. Food was not good and service was aweful..."

Tori Shin - (-) A co-worker of mine in the food biz said,
"Dude, you were right... I'm not going back..."

Lan - (+) Great as usual. Can't really say much else. The dishes from the menu are consistent and the service is always very warm and attentive. If there's a weakness to the place, it would probably be the bar. The blonde bartender could use a quick Bartending 101.

Momofuku Ssam - (+) Friend and Japanese culinary authority, James Beard nominated cookbook author Hiroko Shimbo called me the other day to tell me she had a wonderful time at Momofuku Ssam Bar.
She said, "...very well thought out. Lots of Korean accents, and cleverly created for the American audience."


(+) Positive Review
(-) Negative Review

Toro Toro Toro

Toro is the fattiest portion of the Tuna's belly. The fattiness of the meat helps insulate the large fish when it travels through the frigid ocean waters. Generally, the larger the fish, the more fat it holds.
Fat = Flavor
Flavor = Delicious

Every so often, in my line of work, the need to sacrifice one's body comes into play.
In the name of "science", in the name of "duty", in the name of... "god i love this job!"
October 15, 2008
9:00 am
...was one of those moments

We were instructed to taste test Blue Fin Toro. The sushi gourmand's most prized fish. The best of the best.
Our objective was to compare the Toro of the larger (over 500lbs fish) fish to the small (under 500lbs) ones, and predict how restaurants in the NYC market would react.
So although it's great to taste test, most of the meeting dealt with issues such as :
- Are restaurants able to afford this?
- Are restaurants able to properly store this?
- Are chefs knowledgeable enough to use this product?
- If so, how many chefs (accounts) can appreciate the product?
- Then how would the public react? Would they know and appreciate the difference?
- How does it compare to what is currently out there?
- How do we enter an unfamiliar market?
etc...

Anyways... enough with the boring stuff. Let me tell you how it tasted.
Large (>500#) - Richer flavor but a bit too fishy, and very very oily. The sinews are tougher and not very pleasant. If the chef is talented, they will take advantage of this stronger flavor and work around the sinews and remove them all together. A considerable amount of labor is needed but when done right, it can be very rewarding.
Small (<500#) - To me, the better of the two. Well balanced oil and flavor. Plus the sinews were considerably smaller and palatable. I am confident this product will be making it's way into the NYC restaurants in the near future.

The Secret’s Out as Japanese Stock Gains Fans

My friend and extreme food enthusiast had his article picked up by the Times 2 days ago. Congrats Dude!

• By HARRIS SALAT (NY Times)

Published: October 14, 2008

YOU would think that chefs trained in French technique, in which slowly simmered stocks are the carefully concocted foundations of almost every dish, would find it laughable to rely on a quickly steeped broth of kelp and dried fish.

Photographs by Mark Ostow for The New York Times

Gabriel Bremer uses dashi in dishes like pan-roasted fluke with cockles, above.

Related

Recipe: Dashi-Glazed Carrots (October 15, 2008)

Recipe: Pan-Roasted Fluke With Cockles and ‘Chowder’ Sauce (October 15, 2008)

Recipe: Kombu and Bonito Dashi (October 15, 2008)

But that Japanese broth, dashi, is finding a place in the kitchens of many Western chefs.

“It’s basically water, but fantastically perfumed water,” said Eric Ripert, the chef at Le Bernardin. He complements Kumamoto oysters with dashi gelée, finishes mushrooms with the stock, and brushes it on raw fish before layering on olive oil and citrus. “The dashi is invisible,” he said, “but it brings more depth.”

At Per Se, its chef de cuisine, Jonathan Benno, weds the stock to preparations of Japanese fish, like a grilled hamachi belly canapé with dashi poured tableside. Jean-Georges Vongerichten adds dashi to a light mayonnaise at Perry St., and at Jean Georges he accents caramelized sirloin, grilled foie gras and slow-cooked snapper with it. “I realized its umami flavor can go anywhere,” Mr. Vongerichten said.

Kelp and bonito are loaded with umami, the taste of mouthwatering savoriness.

Dashi, which simply means “stock” in Japanese, is prepared from many ingredients. But dashi made from kelp and bonito holds pride of place. For much of Japan’s history, eating meat was taboo. So instead of animal fats and butter, which flavor Western cooking, dashi evolved to infuse umami-rich taste.

Kelp, called kombu in Japan, grows for up to two years before being dried into cardboard-thick green-black ribbons. Japanese bonito (skipjack tuna) is filleted, boiled, smoked, covered in mold and sun-dried to the hardness of oak — a technique dating from the 1600s — then shaved into translucent flakes.

Combining them in dashi synergizes their rich umami compounds — glutamates in the kombu and inosinates in the bonito — creating an umami impact greater than the sum of its parts, explained Dr. Sue Kinnamon, a Colorado State University biomedical professor who studies the mechanisms of taste. It’s an effect not lost on Japanese chefs.

At Kyo Ya in the East Village, Chikara Sono prepares his dashi daily. It is a careful process of extraction and infusion. He chooses among two varieties of kombu and three kinds of bonito he keeps handy, adjusting proportions to vary taste. Mr. Sono gently heats kombu in water to tease out its essence, removing the kombu before the water boils. Then he adds bonito flakes to simmer gently or steep in the liquid, like tea. When the dashi reaches “koku” — a sublime density of flavor — it is ready to strain.

The result is a lively, satisfying savoriness, a clean taste and an alluring smoky fragrance.

But how does it compare with a classic French chicken or veal stock, also naturally rich in umami? Chefs familiar with both Japanese and Western cooking say it’s simpler. With only kombu and bonito, dashi yields a lighter, less complex flavor than a stock produced from bones, mirepoix and bouquet garni. So it magnifies rather than masks the taste of other ingredients.

“To us, it’s an element of flavor as opposed to an element of tradition,” said Café Boulud’s Gavin Kaysen. This approach is taking dashi in new directions.

For David Kinch, chef at Manresa, in Los Gatos, Calif., dashi is applied as a seasoning or it serves as a versatile blank slate, delicately infusing soups and vegetable dishes. “It imparts that savoriness in anything it touches,” he said, “even in small, negligible amounts.”

Laurent Gras of L2O in Chicago, who coaxes his dashi with the aid of a high-tech Gastrovac vacuum cooker, metamorphoses a chicken bouillon into intense chicken dashi bouillon. “You can take chicken and bring it to a meat level” of taste, he explained.

Dashi’s smoky nose is what appeals to Gabriel Bremer, the chef at Salts, in Cambridge, Mass. He suffuses a light cream sauce with dashi to subtly mimic the smokiness of bacon, applying the emulsion in a deconstructed New England fish chowder.

At Cyrus, in Healdsburg, Calif., Douglas Keane prepares a broth of dashi and citrus (sudachi) to serve as an “umami canapé,” balancing the savoriness with the acid. “Your palate actually wakes up and goes, man, that’s good,” he said.

Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta contrasts the stock’s lightness with rich French butter to glaze root vegetables, sharpening and coating the ingredients at the same time (recipe at nytimes.com/dining).

“It adds a new and exciting dimension to your cooking,” said David Myers of Sona in Los Angeles, an aficionado of Japan who has traveled there four times this year. For Japanese chefs, he explained, cooking with dashi is an art. “For us, it’s an exploration.”

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana - Review

Intro
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana - Highly Recommended
157 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT
Phone: 203-865-5762

NY'ers can usually lay claim to having some of the best hot dogs, best bagels, and best pizza in the US. Sadly, after checking out Frank Pepe's in New Haven, CT; I think Pepe's clam pie is the best non Sicilian slice I've had outside of Italy. Definitely lived up to the hype. Overall, I give the restaurant a 86/100.

My Menu
1) Clam Pie with White Sauce ***
2) Tomato Pie with Mozarella *

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) A serious what the f moment that made me consider moving to New Haven. Well...not really, but it was a hella good slice. The 'za had such a unique dough - insanely flavorful, uber thin and crispy, and slightly chewy throughout the entire pie. When you picked this bad boy up, it didn't sag like a NY slice. NY slices, while I love them, don't get that crispiness throughout the entire pie - it's chewy, but usually more wet. This slice was exactly like what we had in Rome. But, where it diverges is the toppings on this sucker. Topped simply with sweet, juicy, briney, earthy, clams, oregano, some type of grated cheese (maybe pecorino?), tons of garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. So f'n good and a great continuation of our New England seafood fest. I so f'n want a whole pie right now...
2) Same dough as the clam pie, so of course it kicks massive ars. But, the topping here reminded me more of the slices I had growing up in NJ - evenly covered shredded mozzarella and tomato sauce. I liked this pie, but I like the great NY tomato/mozz pies better (e.g. Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, Totonno's, etc.) where there's an even coverage of tomato sauce (Pepe's was a tad too sweet for me) and small pockets of mozarrella. Also, the bottom crust get's a better char/flavor in the NY pie's that are still allowed to have a coal oven which complements the tomato and mutz nicely. Any who, good stuff, but after eating the clam pie anything would be a letdown. This sucker is amazing straight from the fridge though.

Overall Restaurant Experience (86/100)

• Food 9.0/10 – The best dough and the most like Italy. I basically ate the whole clam pie by myself...my wife had one and half slices :) Oddly enough, since the pies are super thin, the pies get cold very quickly...strange, but I didn't have that problem with the clam pie.
  
• Service 7.0/10 – We waited in this foyer thing and I guess it worked like an honesty system. No sign-in sheets, the waiter just comes in and ask who's next. We waited for 5 minutes and this other couple that just walked in said we were. Before we could say anything, they were already seated. Uber irritating, but didn't want to cause a scene as there were plenty of families eating there. We were seated like 2 minutes afterwards, so not that bad. The service was slightly slow, but the waitress was nice.
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – Oddly enough, the place reminded me of a New England seafood restaurant/bar. Booths, white walls and a long bar. The cool thing is seeing that massive oven and a huge pizza paddle that they wield to get the pies in and out of the oven. Crowd consisted of lots of families. Got there at 12pm on a Sunday and there was no line. At 1pm, the line was 15-20 deep.
  
• Price 9.0/10 – For the 2 small pies, it was $25 - a great deal considering how happy I was. We ended up having 4 slices as leftovers too, but if we forced ourselves we definitely could have finished them.
  

Closing Comments
This clam pie is my favorite non Sicilian slice ever...no joke. I've had the clam pie from Lombardi's a couple of years back and I don't remember having this same what the f moment with it. I will def try again to compare. If I could have a Pepe's Clam Pie and an LB Spumoni's Sicilian slice I would be uber happy...not sure which I would like better, but it would be a hella fun time trying to decide.

Abbot's Lobster in the Rough - Review

Intro
Abbot's Lobster in the Rough - Highly Recommended
117 Pearl Street, Noank, CT 06340
Phone: 860-536-7719

After the average chowder experience at the Mystic Seaport Chowderfest, we needed some classic New England seafood to pick us up. Hoves got a rec from his sister about this joint called Abbot's. Although very difficult to find (even the mighty Iphone failed us), this place is out of control good. Great seafood, no frills place with a view that can't be beat. Overall, I give the restaurant a 88/100.

My Menu
1) Shrimp
2) Clam Chowda ***
3) Mussels and Clams **
4) Lobster Salad Roll **
5)1 1/4 lb Steamed Lobster **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Not a great start here. Way overcooked, but drenched in loads of tartar sauce it was OK. You only get 3 small shrimp here, which kinda sucks.
2) Now this is the chowda that I was expecting. This is more of a Rhode Island Chowda with a clear broth that tastes amazing - great clam flavor with surprise, surprise...loads of clams. Never had this style chowda before, but it sure kicks massive ars. Since it's not buried in cream or tomato, you really taste the sweet clams.
3) Plain and simple. Steamed mussels and clams that are uber fresh. Dipped in the clam broth and clarified butter and you get something special. Some were a tad gritty, but for some reason I still loved them. It was probably the view that we had...
4) The perfect lobster roll. Unlike, the pulverized lobster meat we had at the Mystic Seaport - this roll had big chunks of juicy flavorful lobster in a perfectly sweet creamy dressing with a hint of celery. The buttered white bread folded over like a hot dog bun was genius...so stealing that idea whenever I make any seafood sandwiches.
5) We caught one of the last lobsta's of the season here (last one served Monday, October 13th) and oh mama it was wonderful. Perfectly cooked, sweet, juicy lobster dipped in clarified butter overlooking a beautiful bay. I forgot how much I loved steamed whole lobsta...haven't had one in years and I'm going to try to get some more before the year's over.

Overall Restaurant Experience (88/100)

• Food 8.5/10 – Nicely cooked seafood with Italian sensibilities (aka simply prepared and eaten). Even with the slight grit in the clams, I was still very happy.
  
• Service N/A – Basically, wait in line, place your order and pick a seat. When they call your number, you go pick it up. Simple and efficient.
• Atmosphere 10.0/10 – Eating outside in picnic benches overlooking a beautiful bay - what could be better. You could say we were sittin on a dock by the bay...or maybe not. Slightly cold on an October night, but it didn't matter. Great place. Crowd consisted of families and elder couples. Got there at 5pm on a Saturday and there was no line. At 6pm, the line was 10-15 deep and the place closes at 7pm.
  
• Price 10.0/10 – Got the New England Lobster Feast and it was a wonderful deal. Basically everything above (minus the lobster roll, but including chips and a great cole slaw) for $31. 100% worth it. Oh ya, the place is also BYOB which kicks ars...plenty o' people brought coolers with tasty beverages.
  

Closing Comments
If you're ever in the area, this is a must visit. Although Pearl Oyster Bar does some solid New England style seafood, eating outside by the water truly ups the seafood dining experience and is something no NYC restaurant can recreate. Sad that I haven't found a place like this in the NY/NJ area, but I'm sure there are some places out there...

Mystic Seaport's Annual Chowderfest 2008

Stopped by Mystic, Connecticut to check out the Chowderfest held in the Historic Mystic Seaport. The event wasn't so much a Chowderfest, but a small gathering and a pretty average one at that too. This had the makings of something special, but the quality of the food was average (except the fresh clams) and there were only 3-4 chowder food stalls to choose from. All of our friends weren't very impressed with the chowder either - we probably tried all the chowders there. The good news was Mystic, Connecticut was a beautiful town to visit and there was good food to be had in town...more on that in tomorrow's post.

My Menu
1) New England Clam Chowder
2) Whale Rock Oyster *
3) Bluff Point Littleneck Clams **
4) Mini Lobster Roll
5) Corn Chowder *
6) Kettle Corn **
7) Lobster Mac and Cheese ---

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

1) Average chowda flavor (tasted cream only), with 2 puny clams in the whole chowda.
2) Solid oysters, nice and briney. Surprisingly tasty with a drop of sambal and lemon juice.
3) Great clams. Rich, juicy, and tasted like that sea.
4) Lobster was pulsed in a food processor or something, so you couldn't tell it was really lobster meat. Obviously, the texture was pretty bad and they could've snuck canned tunafish in there and you wouldn't know...
5) The best chowda there in my opine. Loads of corn and vegetables with a relatively thin broth. Great corn flavor, but pretty salty. Adding a bunch of common crackers solved that problem.
6) Forgot how much I love this stuff. The perfect balance of salt and sweet and a nice roasted flavor.
7) A complete what the f moment in a bad way. Gummy penne in a cheese paste (not sauce) with lobster that looked like canned tunafish. Not good times...

Soft Shell Crabs

I woke up particularly early this past Sunday knowing I had some soft shell crabs in the fridge I needed to fry up.
It was 7am and I felt particularly productive that morning, since Sundays don't usually start till 11 or 12 noon.
I put on the tellie and caught up on my politics. What a circus eh?
(I miss Tim... RIP)

So onto the crabs.
I knew I wanted to fry these bad boys, but needed to work on a coating so that they would fry up crisp and have a little flavor to them.
Wondra, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, a pinch of Sea Salt and a ton of Black Pepper.


















That sure did it. I made a little pan sauce to accompany.
(reduction of chicken stock and a little butter)

These babies came out niiiiiice.
I should have whipped up a salad to plate with the crabs but I wasn't in the mood for that.

sue his ass...

if not for sexual harassment, for his bad food. 

TIMES SQUARE— David Burke's people respond to the allegation that he groped a Hawaiin Tropic Zone employees, brought forward today in a $600 million lawsuit against the restaurant: "The allegations targeting Chef David Burke, a consulting chef for Hawaiian Tropic Zone, are without merit. Most significantly, Chef Burke is not a party defendant to the suit. His name appears gratuitously for reasons known only to plaintiffs' attorneys." [The Feed-Bag]

courtesy of Eater.com

Eating Flushing

When in Flushing Queens, I can't think of many other things to do other than to eat.
There is the $8 haircut, or the $15 foot massage...
But for the most part, eating in Flushing pretty much defines the modus operandi.

The food court at the Flushing Mall is this lower level eating space. Not very appealing to the eye, but they dish out some nostalgic goodies.
As Aramis mentioned a few weeks ago, he had a nice bowl of shaved ice.
Think of this place as a quick fix to some hometown/homeland favorites.

Nan Shian Dumpling House (Flushing)

Nan Shian Dumpling House
38-12 Prince St.
Flushing, NY

To all who appreciate, obsess, crave, or just simply need a good xiao long bao, here is one that represents. Nan Shian Dumpling House.
Their dumplings are perfectly steamed, with a rich soupy juice inside a well crafted thin dumpling skin.
I've gone 3 out of the past 4 weekends. I can't remember the last time I've gone to a restaurant with such enthusiasm.
I simply love it.











Things I look for when enjoying a Xiao Long Bao :
1. Skin - This is where you separate the men from the boys. To make the skin so thin... yet strong enough to hold the soupy juice from the filling and not let it break when you pick these things up with chopsticks is a culinary marvel. Remember, anyone can make a skin stronger by making it thicker and texturally harder. We want to go the other way and look for thin and springy.
2. Clear Soup - A good broth has a ton of flavor. And having that flavorful soup run clear is a sign of a skilled chef.
This shows that the master stock is made in house and should be the backbone of the restaurant's dishes.
Making the master stock for Chinese food can be just as laborious as making a French Consomme or even a Demi Glace.
3. The Filling, Flavor & Texture - After the first 2 check points, what a shame it would be to not have a plump, and slightly fluffy filling. The pork should be well ground and seasoned nicely.
(Remember, a ton of flavor will be coming from the soup inside. Which is simply gelatinized so that it's a solid, mixed into the seasoned ground pork and spooned into the folded skins)

Here are a list of dishes I've tried.
Xiao Long Bao *** (this alone is worth the travel)
Guo Tie * (fried dumplings)
You Tiao ** (a chinese churro if you will)
Dou Sha Guo Bing * (red bean crepe)
Tsong You Ban Mien *(scallion sauce noodles)
Dou Jiang (soy milk, sweet or savory)
Zong You Rou Bing ** (folded pancake with beef and hoisin sauce)
Jiou Tsai He Tzu * (chives, eggs and rice noodles in a dough pocket)
Sweet and Savory Glutenous Bean Curd *** (upper right hand corner of the 4 pics)



















An important thing you need to know about Chinese restaurants here in the states is they are never consistent.
Over a period of months, cooks come and go and more often than not, the flavors go with them.
So when a restaurant is scoring big on the recommended list, you just gotta go before it's too late.

Michelin Ratings 2009

Here's my 2 cents following Porthos's article about the NYC Michelin 2009 Ratings. Below are the actual ratings snagged from Eater.com. Massive disagreements for me include exclusion of Daniel in the three star category and the inclusion of Le Bernardin. Also, ridiculous how Sushi Yasuda gets excluded when they mention other sushi joints in the city. And funny how a dump like the Salted Pig (aka the Spotted Pig) gets included with the likes of Aureole and Gramercy Tavern. Any who, restaurants are like football teams, when you can get a different experience with a team any given sunday...or any day of the week. Also, like most movie reviews, you either agree with a critic or not. Hopefully, we give you enough information in our reviews where you can choose to agree or disagree with us. With Michelin you get the star rating and the 3 sentence blurb which tells you nothing.

2009 Michelin Guide NYC
3 STARS
Jean Georges
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se

2 STARS
Adour
Daniel
Del Posto
Gilt
Gordon Ramsay
Momofuku Ko
Picholine

1 STAR
Allen & Delancey
Alto
Annisa
Anthos
Aureole
Blue Hill
Cafe Boulud
Cru
Dressler
81
Etats unis
Fiamma
Fleur de Sel
Gotham Bar and Grill
Grammercy Tavern
Insieme
Jewel Bako
JoJo
Kyo Ya
Robuchon
Modern
Oceana
Perry Street
Peter Luger
Public
Saul
Spotted Pig
Sushi of Gari
Veritas
Wallse
wd-50

2009 Food Guides

Today is the unveiling of 2009's Michelin and Zagats guide for NYC.

What are these pocket sized books really good for?
You should treat it like the yellow pages.... A general guideline at best.
Don't underestimate your friends' advice. They know you better than any guide book will ever.

I've spoken to numerous chefs, food writers, and journalists about Zagats... and they all say the same thing.
It's completely bias. There's no transparency in the voting...
You either have to stroke Tim or Nina, or you can pay for points. There, I said it. Sad, but it's true.
(Just ask Mr. B about it)

And the Michelin story. What the hell guys!? They totally screwed the pooch on their US program. Mr. Naret really compiled a team of idiot "inspectors" to field the streets of NYC. Is it really surprising Per Se, Le Bernardin, Daniel are all 3 star joints?
Then on the other hand, Peter Lugers, Public, Oceana, Spotted Pig all received 1 star ratings.
Huh?
Who knows the NY restaurant scene better than New Yorkers...? So why have implants from abroad critique as if in Paris?
Ridiculous...

Save your money and just go on Yelp or Chowhound for guidance.
Or better yet, just write to us "dudes". We'll happily give you a piece of our mind and hopefully steer you in the right direction.

L'Arte Del Gelato (West Village) - Review

Intro
L'Arte Del Gelato - Highly Recommended
75 Seventh Avenue
(Between Bleecker & West 4th Street)
New York, NY 10014

As usual, I'm always looking for the perfect gelato and we found a pretty, pretty, pretty damn good one in L'Arte Gelato. This has overtaken Bruno Bakery as my favorite gelato spot in the West Village (much less sweet than Bruno), but I think Grom in the Upper East Side still takes the cake for me.

My Menu
1) Hazelnut Gelato **
2) Pistachio Gelato **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
Usually, hazelnut and pistachio are perfect gelato tests and this definitely passes the mark. Solid gelato here. Great texture, perfect balance of sweetness (not disgustingly sweet), and pretty good intensity of the flavor ingredient. Overall, very very good.

Closing Comments
I definitely need to return to Grom in the Upper West Side for a comparison. My memory of Grom was the concentration of flavor was more intense at Grom. This comes pretty damn close though.

Tacos Huevos Rancheros

I've been craving some Mexican food recently, so decided to cook something up. Completely different style of flavors from what I experienced during my honeymoon, but still hella tasty nonetheless. I opened up my reference book for Mexican cooking: Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen for some inspiration. Below is what I made - a take on Huevos Rancheros which is usually not served directly in a tortilla shell, but I figure why the f not.

Ingredients
4 Ripe Tomatoes - cut a small x on top to help remove the peel later
3-4 chipotle chiles (canned)
4 cloves garlic
4 eggs
cilantro, leaves only
white onion diced
avocado diced
black beans (canned, but to amp the flavors up saute onions, garlic, add the drained beans, and add pork stock to simmer)
4 tortillas warmed (either steamed or microwaved for 30 seconds)
salt/pepper

1) Place tomatoes in a tray under a broiler. Once blackened on the top, flip the tomatoes over and add garlic cloves under the broiler (maybe 10 minutes?). Once the tomato is blackened on the other side remove add to a blender and cover (don't blend yet). Remove garlic cloves when blackened.
2) Once the tomatoes and the garlic cools, peel the tomato skin and remove the garlic peels. Add the chipotle chiles and blend till smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Should be smokey, sweet, and slightly spicy.
3) Add the chipotle salsa to a saute pan and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. This will thicken to an almost thick tomato sauce consistency.
4) Make a well in the salsa and drop an egg in. Drop 4 total eggs in making sure there's enough space for the eggs to poach in. The eggs should not really touch each other. Salt and pepper each egg, cover the saute pan and lower the heat to a simmer. Saw this technique from America's Test Kitchen and it worked out perfectly.
5) Once the egg fully sets (maybe 3-4 minutes), remove from the heat. The egg centers will be completely runny.
6) To serve, add eggs being careful not to break the yolk, salsa, black beans, onion, avocado, and cilantro to the taco. The combo of flavors and textures are so on. Creamy black beans and avocado, smokey spicy salsa, crispy sweet white onions, but the runny egg yolk really makes this dish. For the second taco, the residual heat in the pan made the egg yolk firm up which created a totally different style taco. Served with some rice pilaf and a side of collard greens, this was a healthy and insanely delicious meal. The best was eating the rice, beans, and chipotle salsa together. Buen Provecho!

Seabass - Gordon Ramsey

The Lion's Den

Max Brenner
Corner of 9th St and 2nd Ave
The ultimate date spot for the young and naïve.

(The following dialogue took place 7:55pm on a Thursday night at Max Brenner. I was conveniently seated right next to this couple on a date)

Boy - I've had hot chocolate in Paris, I've had hot chocolate in Rome, I've had hot chocolate in Berlin... But this is the best cup of hot chocolate I've ever had and I'm glad I'm sharing it with you.

Girl - Oh WOW! You've been to France?

Boy - Oh yah... I stayed there for a summer and picked up the language. I'm fluent now.

Girl - That is amazing.

Boy - But I totally prefer NY to anywhere else because everything here is real. We just have more substance.

Girl - What do you mean? More substance...

Boy - I'm an architecture major and being raised in the neighborhood where Frank Lloyd Wright lived really gave me a solid foundation, an eye for art.

Girl - That is so cool.

Are you about to barf yet? This went on for another good 10 minutes.
I can't stress how bad the desserts are here, but if the only chocolate you've ever had is a Hershey's bar, this is a step up.
Did you take a look at the pic?
Confectioner's sugar dusted everywhere. Pleez!!!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Kamebishi Soy Sauce

Many times, especially here in the states, Soy Sauce is misunderstood and thought to be a substitute for salt.
Not the case. The real stuff is a unique sauce all it's own.



















Good soy sauce has a distinct flavor, that is used to enhance and compliment dishes.
It has levels of sodium which lead to a saltiness, but a quality soy sauce will never be over powering. It is well balanced and pleasant to the palate.

I had the pleasure to learn first hand what true soy sauce is, from the President of Kamebishi Soy Sauce Company of Kagawa Prefecture in Japan.
Ms. Okada's family has been making soy sauce since 1753. It is one of the oldest soy sauce companies in Japan, and the only one left making it the traditional way, using Mushiro-Koji (a certain type of mold that is needed to break down the starches in the soy beans)
This method is laborious and takes much longer to yield a finished product.
Many companies now a days rely on modern technology to tweak their recipe. Whether it's to increase sweetness, acidity, salt, or color, there are many ways to cut corners. But Ms. Okada believes the traditional way is still the best way to brew her soy sauce and will not settle for any other method.

I love that!

Kamebishi Soy Sauce is made of only 4 natural ingredients. Soy Bean, Wheat, Mushiro-Koji, and Sea-Salt Water.
Basically, the Soy Beans are steamed, inoculated with the Mushiro-Koji, Wheat is added, Salt Water is added and mixed together to ferment in 200 year old ceder tubs. Natural microbes and yeasts from the brewery's walls and ceilings fall into the tubs and the fermentation is underway.
Under the watchful eye of the brew master, it is left to age for 2, 3, 5, 10, even 28 years. Yes, they have a 28 year aged soy sauce.
Amazing!

This stuff is absolutely delicious. You feel it coat your tongue with balanced acidity, sweetness, saltiness, and umami. If you have the chance to try any of Kamebishi-ya's soy sauce, do it. It's like no other soy sauce I've ever had.

This is a must get...

Octoberfest arrives

Now that we are in October, what's more October-ish than Oktoberfest.
Prost! Sante! Kanpai! Na zdorovje! Kedves egeszsegere! L'Chaim! Viva! Cheers!

thanks wiki...
The Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September (and running to early October). It is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, and is an enjoyable event with an important part of Bavarian culture. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.

Cellentani with Chicken Hearts and Spinach

I've been making lots of Asian food lately, so naturally I needed to cook some pasta to balance things out. I knew I wanted to use cellentani (one of my faves) and some combination of chicken livers and spinach. Couldn't find any chicken livers, but got some jidori chicken hearts at Mitsuwa, our local Japanese supermarket. It was my first time cooking chicken hearts and it surprisingly came out tender with a very meaty flavor. Whenever cooking something for the first time, cook a small batch first to see if any adjustments need to be made to seasoning or cooking technique. It definitely helped, as I found searing it on both side quickly leaves a very tender and flavorful chicken heart. A very, very fun dish to eat and don't worry - chicken hearts tastes like dark chicken meat, but with a richer flavor and more chewy texture.

Ingredients (all are guesses, since I never measure)
1/2 pound jidori chicken hearts, soaked in water for at least a half hour, then drained
1/4 pound jidori chicken thighs, bone in
1/2 box cellentani
5 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 small onion thinly sliced
4 cups baby spinach
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Grated parmiggiano reggiano
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

1) Add sliced onions to a saute pan, salt/pepper, add some olive oil, and set to medium heat. Caramelize the onions - basically cooking over medium heat for 5-10 minutes and stirring occasionally making sure onions don't burn. Remove onions and set aside for later.
2) Salt and pepper the chicken thighs on both sides, add the chicken skin side down to the same pan you cooked the onions in. After the skin gets very crisp (5-10 minutes), flip the chicken over to the other side.
3) After another 5 minutes, move the chicken to the very edge of the pan turning on a side that hasn't touched the pan yet. Now, there should be plenty of chicken fat in the pan to cook the hearts in.
4) Set large pot of water to high heat. When the water comes to a boil, salt the water heavily and drop the pasta in. This could be done between steps 2 and 3.
5) Add chicken hearts to the saute pan and season with salt and pepper. After 1-2 minutes, flip the chicken hearts as they should be nicely seared on one side. Cook for another 1-2 minutes on the other side and cut the heat to low.
6) Add spinach, garlic, caramelized onions, and balsamic vinegar (for some sweetness and a contrast of flavors), season with salt/pepper, turn a couple times gently, and cover. This should only cook for 3-4 minutes max on low heat.
7) After 10 minutes of pasta cooking time, take the pasta out and add to the pan. Cook for one minute, cut the heat, add 1/3 cup olive oil and taste. May need to add more salt and pepper. If it's too dry, add some pasta water. If it's too watery, cook it down some more. There should be a rich flavorful, slightly sweet, brown sauce from the hearts and chicken thighs that clings to the pasta. Serve immediately and add healthy coating of parmiggiano-reggiano. Buono appetito!

Korean Restaurant Week 2008

There's a Korean Restaurant Week in NYC starting today, Monday September 29th lasting till October 4th. This year's event focuses on bibimbap - basically a Korean style fried rice. Restaurants participating in this event will include an app, bimbimbap, and dessert for $15 (dinner and lunch). I've been to a couple of places on this list, but I would only recommend Persimmon or KumGangSan for bimbimbap. Thanks to Hoves for the heads up.

Lamb Saddle - Gordon Ramsey

WMD - Weapons of Mass Dogs???

There was a bomb scare outside the Phillies' ballpark, but not to worry. Looks like the hot dogs they shoot out of a cannon at baseball games caused a mighty scare in Philly. Authorities ended up detonating 3 hot dogs that looked like bombs I guess. I wonder if they called in Gallagher for the job?

Quote from the pitcher:
"I'd rather them blow up some hot dogs or some ketchup and mustard and relish than have it be a real bomb," reliever Chad Durbin said. "Better safe than sorry."