The Aureole experience

Note: This is a very old post (last November) I never got around to publish.


The wine list was a bit of a letdown because I expected a better representation of varietals. It is mostly american, and while it is a very good american wine list, it is still too one-dimensional for me. I wanted a Beaune, and had to settle for a very good Oregon Drouhin. Still no Burgundy though...

The "spanish composition" tuna tartare with romesco was a great way to start the evening.

The main dish was a rack of lamb that was very tender and flavorful.

The wife's selection of monfish with pancetta was a good surprise. Better than expected.

We had the chocolate decandence dessert. pot de creme, chocolate molten cake, raspberry sorbet and a blueberry compote. Awesome and paired great with the wine.

While the place was nice, I don't see the attraction to return, given all the other choices that are now available in Vegas. Maybe with a group dinner, it might be more interesting, but I have other places to check out before I think about returning.

Later,

Vegas trip dinner 1: Le Cirque

The day of our arrival at the Bellagio, we were celebrating my Wife's birthday. We chose to try Le Cirque for dinner. Two of our good Friends from California met us for dinner to celebrate, and two more were scheduled to arrive that night and possibly join us for dessert.

The venue is located at the front of the main floor overlooking the famous fountains. It is a very intimate setting with probably not more than 15 tables. The Decor is (surprise) reminiscent of an old circus tent with vibrant colors and overhanging draperies. Our waiter was a great gentleman originally from Beaune (Burgundy) with great flair and sense of humor to match :)

We started with cocktails. I stuck with one of my new faves: French 75. The wife ordered a Framboise (raspberry puree and champagne), Our friends had a Lychee martini and a margarita. Everyone loved their choices.

With the help from our new friend from Beaune, we selected a Nuits St Georges bottle of a Gran Cru burgundy that was superb. Everyone loved it! Even our friends who don't drink red wine that often.

For a starter, I chose to be daring and order the Escargots. My wife chose the Foie gras terrine with fruit chutney and Gewurztraminer jelly. Our friends had the Le Cirque lobster salad with truffle dressing.

My escargots were phenomenal. I usually don't order them because my previous experiences have been mixed. I was at Le Cirque, so I had to trust them this time, and they didn't disappoint. They had the right balance of buttery goodness along with the herb and garlic finish that lasted on your palate. My wife concurred. Her Foie gras terrine was good, but we have that so often that it had to be outstanding for us to comment on it. We felt the chutney was overly sweet for our palate. It's hard to do outstanding terrine all the time, so no fault there.

For the meal, Our friends ordered the sea bass paupillete and the Rabbit prepared three ways over a bed of mashed potatoes. My wife and I ordered the rabbit and the tenderloin with Foie gras and asparagus, respectively.

I did not have a chance to taste the fish dish, but the consensus was that is was very good.

I tried the rabbit dish and it was very well executed. The meat was tender and the rabbit flavor was very good without being too overpowering. The ravioli version (it was three different preparations of rabbit) was particularly good.

The tenderloin dish was probably the best meat dish I've experienced to date. The meat was perfectly seasoned, and the seared Foie gras on top added that extra level of decadence one can only feel "okay" doing in Vegas. (side dish? asparagus?). It was a puff pastry short of a magnificent beef wellington. Frankly, it didn't need it. It was decadent enough as is :) To be honest, I usually ignore tenderloin because they lack in flavor. My preferred cut of ribeye. This dish was the first time I've felt this happy about ordering tenderloin. It was buttery tender and the seasoning was out of this world. It probably was just plain sea salt and pepper, but it made the meat just perfect. Every sip of the Pinot made a great experience even better. My wife had a taste, made essentially the same comment I did, and kept coming back for more :) Overall, a wonderful dinner experience.

Our other friends made it to the hotel in time to meet us for dessert. By the time they met us, we had the place to ourselves. The staff was so gracious to accommodate our new arrival in our table they made us feel great. They chose an ice cream bomb presented in an ice sphere that looked awesome. Their smiles and rolled eyes confirmed it :) My wife had the creme brulee (she must have it everywhere) and I had a crepe suzette prepared with a grand marnier sauce that was right on the money.

By the time we finished, everyone had a big smile on their face. My wife was so happy everyone made it that could not stop smiling. It was as perfect of an evening as we could have hoped.

The annoying part of Cabo San Lucas: What I DON'T like

After being and living together for 18 years, my lady and I decided to get married. We decided to go to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for our vacation/honeymoon. The experience was mixed at best.

we get out of the airport looking for the shuttle to the hotel. a nice man with airport credentials asks where we're going and directs us to a desk. When we researched the whole thing, we found that the shuttle services don't depart from the hotel (or the hotel cannot help us schedule it), so when this guy tells us he can arrange it, we feel a little relieved. What happened was we got roped into a time share promo for 60 dollars (same price as the R/T shuttle ride). Once the duh moment settles, we try to bail out of the whole thing, but instead wind up negotiating with the promoter for money instead of activities and all the other junk they offer.

The irony of it was that my wife was commenting how she might be interested in checking out the possibilities of a time share in the area. They say: "careful what you wish for", and boy, was it apropos this time!

The basic hook of these setup goes like this: They ask you for some deposit (varies all the time depending on how you get roped in) and ask you to go to a 90 min presentation. In exchange, you get free transportation to and from the place, breakfast or lunch, one or two tickets for activities, dinner certificates, and in our case, transport back to the airport. You need to bring an ID and a Visa or Mastercard because (supposedly) they're sponsoring the promotion. Sounds pretty harmless, doesn't it? Just listen to a sales pitch and that's it...

We go to the place and do the initial meet and greet. Somehow, we know this is going to be a bit awkward. We meet the sales guy (Ernesto) play along regarding questions, etc. and tell them straight up not buying. we're just curious about the process.

The easy stuff begins. We're explained the way this particular setup works. Shared ownership, not a time share, premium properties better than four seasons, ritz, etc. They show us the grounds and pitch their other properties (only in mexico and south america). How the owner is a mexican guy with oodles of cash and how they got an american corp from Texas to manage the place, etc. We go to the breakfast, which was good. So far, everything is going okay. we still mention that we're primarily curious about the experience, etc. One of the things I notice is that we're probably one of the youngest couples there (we're pushing 40, by the way), so we're felling a bit funny about that. The guy chats up about how successful they are about getting people to buy (50% supposedly), and how owners love their setup, etc. To me, it sounds like a load of crap, but that's mainly because I don't trust sales people especially.

Then, the fun starts: we go to what I like to call the kill room. This is where they sit you on a table with the guy that gave you the tour and talked you up, tell you all the other deals they have with other companies (so you don't feel like you're buying just mexican property), and all the other poo. The initial salvo gets tossed: You can buy 4 weeks with a huge apartment for 189K and you can easily start with a 17K deposit using your Visa or Mastercard.

Now, remember how Visa/MC supposedly sponsors the promotion? well, depending on how you look at it, it may be true. Considering that there's a percentage fee associated with credit transactions, you could say they're promoting the whole thing. I seriously doubt the CC companies have any direct involvement in this bullshit, but I give them an A on creative shit shoveling. :)

Back to the "present": we repeat that we're not buying anything. The price and options begin to drop, giving at least 6 or 7 more times to say "No". The guy's face begins to turn to frown... By the time we're done with him, the price dropped to something like 5K for a week, timeshare-like bennies, for a 600 Visa/MC deposit. We repeat: no, and now, I add the closing argument: "we're done".

In their last-ditch effort, they bring you down to do an "exit interview" with a no-pressure-like young man, now from the US, to ask you what was the reason you didn't buy and to tell you that your gifts will be ready in 10 minutes because there's someone ahead of you. I repeated the same thing, and told them their switch from friend to douche bag didn't help. He concurs, and proceeds to make us a final final effort to take our cash. At this point, I'm pretty pissed off, but I refrain from calling him out, so I conclude with "I'm not interested. We want to leave now".

By the time the whole thing's done, they load you in a van that brings you to the front of the property where you pick up your stuffs and taxi money to your place. Even then, after all that, the last person that handles the cab call and pay the driver to take you to your hotel tries to sell you some other non-descript shit. I felt like punching someone at that point.

On the way back, the Wife and I look at each other and agree that it was both an infuriating and enlightening experience. When we get to our hotel, they're doing the same thing, so we proceed to set them up straight fast. That didn't stop them from trying at least twice more to get us in. Come to find out: every hotel in the area work the same way. It was so disappointing!

I will finalize the rant about the vultures soon. If you're going to Cabo, the moment you step out of the customs area, skip the fist room and go to the next one to get a shuttle and/or taxi. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

...However... If you have the stomach to withstand high-pressure sales turds and you enjoy making people suffer AND want to get free money and/or activities while there in exchange for about 2hrs time, then do stop by the first booth, negotiate for just about anything you want, then go get a free breakfast and piss of the sales people. Remembering that you can do this in every single place in Cabo, you can effectively eat and keep busy effectively for free. If I had the disposition and or necessity, I would clean these people out to the point of being black-listed. I just can't. My time is precious, and fortunately, I can afford to do the stuff on my own.

Apartment hawking notwithstanding, the town is effectively a tourist trap mainly designed for prototypical herds of tourists getting off cruise ships and timesharing people looking to golf and drink. Some activities like hiking fishing etc. are thee, but still designed with these people in mind. There's little to no character to the place. The locals are piss-poor and we're the best thing they have since we give them money all the time and tip well, even if it is in Pesos.

For the most part, it is relatively inexpensive-unless you do the american thing and stick with american franchises which make about 90% of the places. The rest of the allure is drinking on the cheap and shopping on outlets at prices that are decent but not great in my opinion. Being foodies, it was disappointing to see such a meager dining scene. The main food is seafood. It's very fresh, but it is more of the same every time, so there's no major variety. For some bizarre reason, the main cuisine attraction seems to be Mediterranean and primarily Italian. That makes no sense to me, but I'm crazy like that...

We went off the beaten path and checked out a local taqueria that served typical bite-sized tacos for 10-20 pesos (0.80 to 1.60 US) Frankly, that was probably the best food we had there.

Besides the critiques, the weather was great. Sunny, not too hot, and great wait staff at the pool keeping us well fed and hydrated. Our last dinner experience at La Frida at a resort called Pueblo Bonito in the Pedregal region. We had considered this place when booking the vacation. It is a very beautiful place, but I'm glad we didn't stay there. It was very very seculded with an entrance way at least a mile long. When I got there, I even bet the wife that they'd offer us a 90 minute presentation before we leave. She didn't think they'd do it, but alas, she lost the bet...

The La Frida choice was a recommendation from one of the locals as authentic mex, but it was mostly a fusion place. The decor was hacienda style Mexican room. The most authentic thing was a chicken in mole given to us as a chef taste (not on the menu). The wife had sea bass (again) and I had a guajillo chile short rib that was good, but not authentic mexican in any way. The wait staff was wonderful and the live singer added an extra bit of romance to the place. Once again, I noticed we were the youngest people in the room. We were very happy until they took over an hour to deliver the final dish, which was extremely excessive in my opinion. Either the waitress messed up the order, or they were killing the cow for the rib and/or went down to the water to fish out the sea bass... That alone buzz-killed the experience for me. The prices were very high compared to the rest of the experience, so that was another negative.

Would I return to Cabo? Unlikely. The place is just another american-ready tourist trap with good weather. It's just another box checked on the list. My verdict? skip it unless you like the trap concept

A visit to Bina Osteria

My lady and I have been meaning to check the place out for quite some time now. We have been to another of the owner's places (Bin26 Enoteca) a few years back and enjoyed the experience. The place has a similar vibe, but on a larger scale since Bin26 is located on a very small place along Charles street in Boston. The choice was made even easier by the return of Restaurant week.

We started by Moseying over to the bar and having a drink. We had an interesting drink made with a bitter liqueur called Amaro. It was refreshing but it seemed a little pricey at $10 a drink.

We finally sat down for dinner, and as it is usually the case, one of us orders from the RW menu, and one orders a la carte. They had 3-course menus for both options, and the price difference was minimal between the two (an oddity in most other times we've done RW). I chose a chicken wing appetizer and the lady chose the Carne Cruda (Beef Tartar). The Carne cruda was excellent. The celery pesto was a bit strong but still paired well with the beef. The wings were a little bland. they sat in what looked like a celery puree, but I really could not tell. It in fact seemed to "suck" the flavor out of the wings making them taste even less of them. It seems odd, but I can't describe it any other way.

For the main dish, the lady selected the Bistecca (steak) with the creamed cauliflower, peppers and spinach, medium. I chose the Agnello (lamb), medium-rare with the vegetable caponata and grilled polenta with herbs. For wine, we chose their featured nebbiolo (can't remember the label).

For some reason, the kitchen messed up both preparations by at least two levels. Her steak was well done and my lamb was medium well. Neither dish was "destroyed", but they certainly missed the mark. It could be that they could not properly control the final rest temperature of the meats because of their small size. Mind you: I'm not complaining about the dish sizes-which were small but fine-but rather about the lack of attention to the resting temperature. The only saving grace was that somehow the dishes still tasted good enough to eat. I must have had the laziest lamb ever because it had none of the characteristic "gamey" taste associated with lamb cooked past medium doneness. The Polenta was excellent, and it helped in overlooking the meat faux-pas.

The Lady's dish suffered from the same ailment, sans the goodness of the polenta. The cauliflower was like a buffer between the caponata and the beef. It really brought nothing of note to the dish. If you've ever made cauliflower puree, you know that it needs a lot of help (especially when used as a replacement for mashed potatoes, which are nothing more than a delivery mechanism for butter, cream and whatever else tasty-but-bad you want to put in them), but alas, these had none :( Her steak was still quite good despite being overcooked for her taste, so that helped.

The dessert was the highlight of the meal. It was a simple dark chocolate gelato that tasted like it was made just before serving. The flavors were bright and fresh along with a great, intense dark chocolate flavor.

Meal preparation notwithstanding, the entire staff were extremely nice and our waiter was excellent. I only wished that the meal matched their enthusiasm.

Would I recommend Bina to a friend? I'm not sure. I guess I'd say the staff was great and the place is very nice, but I'd be wary of at least ordering meats there, since (based on my experience) they tend to overcook them. Considering their usual (high) dinner prices, I'd say go there for a nice drink and maybe an appetizer, but that's about it.

I do recall the waiter telling us that they usually carry two menus (inside/outside tables), so maybe the outside menu is executed better?

Later,

AOC: A good hangout in west LA

After yesterday's documented so-so foray, I was juggling between two choices: A comfortable choice like BLT Steak, or a new venture like AOC. I decided to take the one mile each way walk to AOC instead.
Being still in-between the east coast and west coast time, I showed up "early" at 7:30 for some eats and plenty of wine. They have a pretty good selection of wines by the glass, although I would have hoped a more extensive champagne offering and more mature vintages, overall the list is pretty good.

The place offers small sampler platters a-la tapas (many of them Spanish inspired) and they recommend about 3 per person. The prices are not exactly cheap, but definitely average for a typical tapas bar.

My starter was a fried squid, arugula, and radish salad with a garlicky remoulade that was actually quite good. I chose to have the Albariño (Cambiata), and it was a decent choice. The acidity and citrus notes worked well with the greens and even put up a fight with the garlic. I couldn't ask for more.

Next I chose to have a glass of a Cremant de Borgogne rosé (Parigot & Richard) offered in the sparking list. It was probably the first sparkling rosé I actually felt like I liked, For the most part, rosés are simply boring. They have a beautiful nose, but when it comes to flavor, they just don't seem to deliver. The next dish was roasted dates with parmagianno and bacon. I was shocked to see the cremant actually "survive" the dates. I've had a similar dish that is much stronger (serrano ham and cabrales cheese) which would have destroyed the rosé, but this one actually worked relatively well. A pleasant surprise.

Next was a half glass of Ribera del Duero (Valduero) that played okay with the figs.The structure and tannins actually stood up to the sweetness of the figs, but not as good as I hoped.

Next was a very good combination of tetilla cheese pan fried with membrillo (quince paste) and romesco. The cheese crisped very well almost to the point of making you believe it was bread. It gave you the illusion of a grilled cheese with all the other goodies. the romesco sauce seemed darker than I remember. I don't know if it bought anything to the taste buds, for overall the dish was good. I chose a Savigny les Beaune by Jean luc Dubois that had this nice floral nose and delicate flavor. The cheese actually didn't overpower it.

The waitress offered a suggestion of grilled mussel skewers with back fat (uncured bacon) that I chose to have with the rest of a rosé. She was nice enough to bring me a taste of a fumé blanc they had in the list that was amazingly good. Fumé blanc is not part of the wines I tend to request, but this one was a pleasant surprise. It had the strong mineral and petrol notes of a Riesling, but with a more pronounced citrus component. The acidity worked great with the mussels. The rosé had all the typical complaints: great nose, but average taste. I guess not for me :)

I had to push it and get dessert (good thing the place was a mile walk each way). I was really hoping they'd serve me a glass of Kracher #6, but alas, it was available only by the bottle. I had to switch gears and get a dark chocolate torte with a glass of LBV port. A very good match indeed. I would have hoped they had some Brachetto d' aqui(Rosa Regale), but no dice.

My only small "beef" is that all wines by the glass were quite young. I wish they had some mature offerings. Considering the price of glasses, I think it wouldn't be too bad of a stretch.

I even broke a sweat walking back to the hotel, but it felt good. I felt satisfied with the service, the food, and the ambiance. It was not a cheap dinner by any one's standards, but it was definitely fun. I could only wish my lady were here with me to enjoy...

On the way back, I waled by a sushi bar packed with Japanese people waiting to get in. Now, that sounds promising!

Later,

Comme Ça: so-so

It's been a while since I felt the "need" to share stuff about what I like. Mainly, it's been due to what I mentioned before (broken hand), and some due to the economic situation. Well, things are starting to get back to "normal", so I have been able to indulge in the occasional dining out foray.

This time, I'm back on the west coast on some business around west Hollywood where there's a restaurant in practically every corner. I am going to try my best to sample as many interesting places as I can.

Today, I searched the web and some local mags for some suggestions. This place (Comme Ça) popped up on the list as a french bistro fare, and google maps put it a few blocks away, so I decided to give it a try.

The place is on Melrose avenue in a nicely decorated place that attempts to give you the feel of a french bistro in what feels like an American way. There's a nice bar as well as a cheese "bar" close to the maitre d' where a lovely lady was working on cheese platters.

I ordered a glass of '04 Bordeaux that I cannot remember the name (it was just OK), a roasted beet salad with goat cheese for the starter dish, Duck confit for the main course, and decided to finish with a raspberry breton for dessert.

The salad was reasonably well executed. I would have hoped the beets were warm, but they were nonetheless good. The dressing worked well with the vegetables as well as the herbed goat cheese.

The main dish was rather strange: The menu said Confit leg of duck with roasted potatoes and caramelized onions. I got the aforementioned ingredients, but with a bizarre (to me) addition: a mound of cold, regular run-of-the-mill cole slaw between the duck and the roasted vegetables. I even had to ask the waiter if they had put the slaw there by mistake. He claimed that is was "a new preparation". That it was...

If you happen to enjoy duck confit as much as I do, you can think of many things that could complement it. KFC-style cole slaw isn't one of them!

Imagine beautifully roasted vegetables covered in a coating of lukewarm mayonnaise and mustard dressing. Or how about the terrible texture of lukewarm cole slaw against a very hot piece of meat that is not:

a) BBQ
b) Fried chicken

I like cole slaw. It has its place- and duck confit is not one of them! I could even forgive a fancy sweeter slaw with a flavor profile similar to a currant reduction or some other duck complimentary fruit, but not fracking mayonnaise!
you can tell I have a very strong opinion about this

I proceeded to move the slaw as far from the actual stuff as possible. The rest of the items were very well prepared. The confit was crunchy and falling off the bone; the potatoes were roasted perfectly as well as the caramelized onions. It paired pretty well with the Bordeaux, although the tannins interfered a few times. An otherwise fine dish, except for the KFC offense...

The dessert was good. The berries were fresh and very juicy. The shortcake was a little too cold, which tended to mute some of the other flavors. This dish also had a superfluous addition of smoked salted nuts. They were relatively good, but it didn't seem to add anything to the dessert (except more questions)

The wait staff was actually pretty good. I got there relatively early in the evening, so the place was less than 1/2 full. The staff paid good attention to me throughout the meal. Everyone was pretty friendly and offered suggestions when prompted, which is great.

I don't know: maybe I caught the chef in a special mood and paid the price for his faux-pas. If that's the case, then I can understand. But if this is the normal way of things at Comme Ça, then I'd hate to think of them appropriately "so-so".

Let's hope tomorrow brings a better experience.

Later,

Restaurant Week Foray #1: The Left Bank

Restaurant week is upon us on once again in the Boston area. It is nice to check out more places "on the cheap". This time, we traveled out of the city to a place called The Left Bank located in the Stonehenge Inn in Tyngsboro, MA close to the border of NH. It is positioned as one of the hidden restaurant jewels in the area. It boasts a large wine selection and a Wine spectator award of excellence. We have friends that live close by, so it seemed like a good choice.

They have a very extensive wine list of primarily "A" list wines. The wine list seemed more "vertical" than usual. They have all the usual big name suspects from California and Bordeaux. The red Burgundy selection was very small for some reason. The Spanish selection was also a little light. The Australia section seemed ok, but I can't remember. In the interest of being fair, I looked at the red wine selection only. Their while wine list might have been different.

If you are looking to do a vertical tasting of many high-end wines, this is the place to go. If you're looking for lots of variety and some of the new players, you will probably not find it here.

The RW menu consisted of either Ceasar salad or potstickers for the starter, Steak, Salmon or Fetuccini for the second course, and Sorbet or a Banana spring roll for dessert. Out of the four of us, three stayed with the RW menu, and one went off-menu. I went for the Caesar salad, the steak, and the spring roll.

The salad course was very good. The truffle oil gave the salad an extra bit of earthiness to go with the Parmesan cheese. I'm not a big fan of Romaine lettuce ribs, and they kept them to a minimum. The Steak was undercooked on all three cases. We ordered medium-rare, medium well and medium. Every single one of them came one-notch back (medium-rare was rare, and so on). The accouterments were very meager for the amount of steak, which was a little disappointing. Being a "veteran" of RW outings and this is the one part where restaurants don't skimp. I wasn't looking for buffet portions, but something that matched the amount of steak would have been nice. It just seemed odd.

The other thing that was a disappointing was the wait staff. They simply disappeared in between . The place seemed busy, but not full by any means. Maybe they're not used to having that volume of people at a given time, or maybe they thought that we were not going to order anything else since we ordered from the prix fixe menu. They probably would have done more drink business with us if they stopped by from time to time. Their loss, I suppose.

Would I go back? sure. It is tough justifying the trip for me having similar places in the city, but if you live in the area, it is certainly a good place to visit.

Later,

EVOO

If you live in the Boston, you have probably heard of EVOO restaurant in Somerville. It is classified as an "eclectic and creative" restaurant that seems to be focused on interesting combinations (like nectarines with thyme and garlic flan) and organic ingredients.

The starters (Fried oysters with apple bacon salsa, Rabbit confit salad) were actually quite good. I was pleasantly surprised that the confit salad actually worked because I was wary of the rosemary dressing working with the port-soaked dried cherries. The wine list had some interesting choices, but for the most part it was "adequate". We stuck to wines by the glass. We had a French Sauvignon Blanc that worked great with the oyster dish. I had a glass of a Cote du Rhone that was good, but not memorable. The Lady had a California Pilot Noir that also pretty decent.

The Main entrées were a mixed bag. My lady got the "Duck, duck, goose", and I got the "Lamb two ways".
The Duck dish was very well executed. Consisting of Goose breast, Confit of duck and foie gras with lentils, haricot-verts, escarole and a sherry-ginger sauce. It was very delicious!
My dish, on the other hand, was disappointing. It was supposed to be a southwest-inspired dish consisting of ribs with adobo sauce, and a lamb empanada. The Adobo ribs were cooked more in the style of a lamb chop. They were also a little too fatty, and to put the nail in the coffin, the adobo sauce tasted more like BBQ than a southwest flavor. Not at all what I had hoped :(

The waiter was very courteous and friendly, but the overall pace of the place is very slow. The Kitchen seems a bit small, so I don't know if that is the root of the cause, but I would hope that they get it sorted out. Looking online for opinions, These things seems like common issues among consumers.

While I don't dislike the place, there are so many other great places in the city that supersede it. I think if wind up returning to the place, I would probably stick with the Duck dish, or something a little more traditional. There are so many good restaurants in the Boston area these days, so I don't think I will be making it back here any time soon.

SD: Part 2

I'm back from San Diego, and I already miss it. I can understand the allure of the place with the picture perfect weather patterns and the never-ending activities. I just wish I could make it work for me in a permanent way :)

We went to the restaurant at Del Coronado (the wrong one), and it was pretty good. We had plans to go to the 1500 restaurant, and instead went to the one next door! Newbie mistake, I suppose... I stayed with the restaurant week menu this time because it seemed pretty good. My one disappointment was that my steak was overcooked. This seems to be a prevalent issue with the restaurants in the area, not just this one. They offered a Kobe beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon and Gorgonzola butter. I ordered it medium-rare, and I got it medium-well. I asked the waiter if I had mistakenly ordered like I got it and he said no. I ate it anyway because it was good, but I was still disappointed.

The next day, we decided to skip a big dinner and head over to a wine bar in the same hotel called ENO. There are a few locations scattered around the country. The wine flights and the cheese flights were very well executed. The wine list was better than I've seen in other places, but a little too focused on the local wines. The selection of imported wines was pretty good, but the french side seemed focused on the usual suspects (really high-end items and the brand names everyone knows). I guess it is what sells, right?
The cheese side was one where I felt good that they stayed local. I tried this beautiful Gorgonzola from Oregon that was a great match for the wines and the membrillo (quince paste). I also tried an aged Jack that tasted like a young Parmesan. I also found a local farm-aged cheddar that rivalled the stuff from England. In all, a very good experience.

The other west coast peeve I have (first being the inability to cook meat properly) is the lack of selection in wines. I managed to talk to a few vendors in the area, and a few things seem to cause the problem (at least in the SoCal area):

- Plenty of California wines available
- The added cost of shipping to the west coast
- The high demand in the east coast

So I guess I'm part of the problem :)

One thing I really wanted to do but was impractical (this time) was to rent a motorcycle and ride through the coastal highway. I would have loved that very much. The problem was that I could not find a local rental place that had sport bikes. You could find a Harley pretty much down the street, but that's not what I wanted to ride. There is one popular place that delivers, but it is not worth it for just one day. Maybe next time I can arrange the transportation based on the bike :)

These things are 'solvable', so if that's all I have to complain about Southern Cal, I guess that's a good thing. I also tried my exit strategy as an early relocation option, but it failed.

I can't wait for my next trip! I hope it happens more than 8 years apart...

Later,

San Diego: Rekindling of an old flame

My lady and I are in San Diego on a 50/50 (B/P) trip. it has been a long while since we've been to SoCal, and we almost forgot how much we like this place.

We're lucky enough to be right in the heart of downtown in a nice waterfront hotel that's minutes from everything. To make things even better, it's restaurant week!

So far, we have sampled a small amount of places like Nobu at the hard rock hotel, Frank's mexican food joint on Fifth, and a corner diner on G street next to a mall. we also checked out a local pancake place called Richard ... pancake house. the place has lines that reach around the corner, even on weekdays. it's a small place, but they don't skimp on the portions. the pancakes were good, but I liked ones from the diner to be better IMO. the corned beef hash (guilty pleasure) was different than what I'm used to, and didn't kill my stomach as usual. They blended everything more, and I think that made a big difference.

Nobu was an odd experience. I'm used to California wait staff being laid back and a little slow compared to the people in the east coast. My waiter was a little loopy and more in pace with east coast guys, so we felt a little rushed (the place wasn't even 50% full). The food was mostly good. there were some rolls that seemed average like the spicy tuna roll, and others that were just perfect, like the yellowtail jalapeño roll. we also ordered their signature dish (black cod miso) and it was spot on. the waiter suggested the vegetarian version of the same dish, and that was disappointing. The eggplant lacked the saltiness of the cod, crucial to the balance of the dish.

We also visited the nine-ten restaurant in La Jolla to sample their restaurant week menu. I skipped the first course to get their truffle risotto appetizer, and it was a good choice. They did not skimp on the truffles, but the rice was a little under-cooked. the flavors were well balanced, however. It reminded me of a similar (but better) dish I had in Paris.
The second course was a braised short rib with baby vegetables that was well executed. It paired nicely with the California Pinot suggested by the staff. Although we're about to burst at this point, we decided to try a bite of the third course. I chose the lime semifreddo, and the picked the milkshake and beignets. it was so good, we managed to somehow make room for it :)
We have plans to visit the restaurant at El Coronado this thursday. I'll report on it later,

Craigie Street Bistrot

I'm venturing over to the place tonight with mixed feelings. Mainly because of the online reviews I have seen. They seem to be a little "bipolar" (I loved the place..., ...the place was horrible!), so that spooks me a little. I tend to be the "devil's advocate" so when I see a bad review, I always think that there's some level of truth to what I read. We have a late (9:30) reservation with some friends from Europe, so at least I know they're used to late dinners :)

The restaurant a few blocks away from Harvard Square in what is basically a neighborhood section in the basement of an apartment building. Think "Laundry room at a large college dorm" size. There is no room for a bar or anything else except less than 15 tables. There is also no parking. They have 3 spots allocated from the building parking lot (which is not much). Most of the street parking is permit only, but you can find some spots about a block away.

When we arrived, the maitre 'd was MIA for a little bit, but once he arrived, we were seated promptly. Our waitress was very pleasant, but she had a bit of habit of interrupting our conversation. I would not characterize her as rude, more like "on auto pilot" :)

We started with a bottle of Gosset Brut and two starters: Foie gras terrine and marinated Octopus. The champagne held its own against the octopus marinade. The Foie gras was not an issue since it goes very well with bubbly. It was my first time trying the Gosset, and I was very impressed with the balance of acidity and taste. The nose had just enough amount of yeast to be noticed, but not overpowering.

For the meals, all of us at the table picked one of:

• Pork three ways
• Hanger steak
• Seared scallops

I had the steak with a little bone marrow, foie gras onions and a parsnip puree. The meat was done medium rare (as it should be), and the flavor was fantastic. The onions had just enough richness, and the parsnip was very well balanced. The pork looked beautiful (I almost got it), and everyone thought it was great. The scallops were huge, but tender and sweet. We washed the whole thing down with a 2003 St Emillion that complemented everything very well (even the scallops) with a very nice blackberry and light caramel nose, balanced tannins and good amounts of fruit.

For dessert, we had a mango and rhubarb dessert with a ginger ice cream that was lovely. The other guys has the chocolate profiteroles that I did not try, but looked very nice. We were having such a good time that we noticed that we were hanging out with the crew! We basically closed the place down, and they didn't throw us out.

I am somewhat relieved that I did not live one of the negative experiences I've read about online. I would characterize it as what I remember Hamersley's bistro in the early days, but in a smaller setting with slightly less trained staff. While the prices are typical French restaurant, they're not as evil as I had originally envisioned (cheaper than Hamersley's IMO). I would certainly go back.

Later,

Champagne Tasting Party

We had the champagne tasting party at last! Everyone enjoyed themselves quite a bit.

I kind of overdid the buying of champagnes for the party. In the end, we drank less than 12 bottles from a total of above 20. The food was also a big hit. I cooked up a storm over the 3 days before the party. I wanted to make sure everyone had enough to go with all the champagne I was planning to serve!

The wines we sampled were:

• Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut
  
• Gloria Ferrer Blanc de noirs
• Duval-Leroy NV Brut
• Pierre Peters Gran Cru NV Blanc de blancs
• Nicolas Feuillatte NV Rose
  
• Ruinart NV Rose
• Egly-Ouiret Vignes de Vigny
• Rosa Regale Brachetto (for desserts)

The vast majority of people liked the first one (much to my surprise). The reviews painted this one as a "not for everyone" type of champagne. I picked it up to make things interesting. It is very dry, since it has no dossage. It goes very well with some of food items I didn't think it would work with. I paired with popcorn, which is a very easy food to pair with sparkling wine. The choice went quite well.

The G-F is a very easy to drink choice. Good amounts of acidity, a very nice berries nose and a very smooth finish. I heard nothing bad about it. It was my second time tasting this wine, and I think that it is a very good value for the dollar($19).

Duval-Leroy is an old favorite of mine. I've mentioned it before. For some guests, it was the first time they've tried it, and they loved it also. It was a good pairing with the truffle oil risotto.

Pierre Peters is a new discovery for me. It is a very good example of a blanc de blancs from a "grower" house. Citrus and pineapple nose with a pleasant notes of bread and light lemon. Beautiful finish. Great for an appetizer or sushi. It's a little pricey these days ($55), but still well worth it.

The N-F Rose is a good rose for the money, and it pairs good with food. People liked it, but didn't love it. I have to admit: I felt the same way. This might offend some pundits, but I find Rose wines to be uninteresting. Sparling rose are all the rage now, and I think they're overrated. I still enjoy traditionally blended sparklers more.

Most of the guests didn't get to taste the Ruinart. They were starting to leave by the time I opened it. I had such high hopes for this bottle (since I almost visited the house on my trip to France), but I was disappointed. The bottle wasn't bad, but it had no great characteristic. It was average at best, compared to the other wines we had. The few guests that had it pretty much agreed. When you pay about $70 for a bottle of bubbly, "uninteresting" is not the quality you want to get out of it!

Lastly, the Egly was a nice surprise. One of the guests told me they were going to bring it. I researched it, and found it to be intriguing. It's 100% Pinot Munier, which is a "balance" grape with a grassy taste (as normally used for blending). This grower over-ripens the grape, which eliminates most of the grassy flavor. The wine had a subtle floral nose that was very unique. Nothing over-powering, but nonetheless present. The taste was more on the lines of light pears and mild biscuit. It was noticeably sweet compared to the other wines we had, but still delicate. The finish was a little short, but I didn't mind. I do not know the cost, but I think it is around $50. Not an everyday item, but very interesting indeed.

The day after the party, I opened one of the wines we never got to serve. It was a Pierre Gimonnet 1er Cru Blanc de blancs. I was a recommendation from a vendor I visited while seeking Pierre peters. It is a decent example of a blanc de blancs, but nothing exciting. I would rather have the Pierre Peters any day. This is also a pricey bottle at $55, so I would not go out of my way to have this again.

The labels for most of them are here. Some of them don't like the harvesting process, so they might look a little faded.

St. Valentine's

By design, the whole St. Valentine's thing is such a farce. It's pretty much a commercial "day" designed to make you shell out your money. If you truly love your special someone, you don't need a day dictated by someone's balance sheet to show it. I was laughing inside watching all the fools at the store picking up cheesy cards and flowers at the last minute. I guess I feel bad for both: The guys because they feel like that's the day they have to "express" how the feel (or else), and the ladies because they have been conditioned to expect this non-sense. Heck: if you think a once-a-year expense on flowers, chocolate, and who knows what else is a good measure of how much he really cares about you, I got news: It shouldn't and it most probably isn't.

I decided (for once in a loooong time) to play along for a bit and do something nice on V-day for a change. I decided to prepare a nice meal and enjoy our time together.

We love French cuisine, so I went around looking for a crispy duck recipe. I found several, and most were very good. I settled for a crispy duck with pears and green peppercorns recipe, and it was a great hit. I took the potato cakes from another recipe and paired them with a garlic aioli (from yet another recipe), and it was pretty good. To celebrate, we decided to finally drink a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee that we bought a long while back to celebrate another occasion. It was the first time I've had a oak cured champagne, and it was very good. Definitely a different experience from the normal champagne fare, but certainly worth it. The chardonnay grape loves oak, and this pretty much proves it. It had a beautiful deep golden color and hints of honey, apple and citrus that worked well with the pear and the apple from the duck dish. The potato cakes didn't compliment much the champagne, but that was pretty much expected. The meal was great, nonetheless, and I got a new wine refrigerator/cellar anyways, so I'm happy!

If you like duck, I highly recommend the recipe. It is simple to make, and it is a wonderful hit. Duck breast is easy to obtain these days, and there's nothing to do for the preparation. Follow the recipe, and save the duck fat. That stuff is gold!

Well, I hope you had a great Valentine's as well-and for the right reasons!