If you've been in the Boston area for a few years, you probably remember a forgettable Todd English place called Bonfire. It was located on the Boston Park plaza hotel. Well, apparently the location has some special kind of cursed vibe, because now there's a wine bar called Pairings, and it's almost as disappointing as Bonfire...
My wife and I heard about the place and were very excited. Finally! A proper wine bar in Boston! After checking out some great places in New York and California, we felt that finally Boston was getting its due. But alas, we were disappointed :( There's more variety and ambiance at the local wine shop's evening tasting than at this place!
The place is for all intents and purposes a wine bar, but with a name like pairings, you'd expect at the very least-well-pairings! If you consider a general-purpose listing of average American wines, a sprinkle of usual Napa names and a smidgen of other wines on two pages, followed by a tiny menu of bar bites "Pairings", then you've arrive at the correct place! I expected a proper wine bar and what I got was more akin to a wine expo: No character, just a pile of average wines to sample with a few recognizable names here and there.
We asked the bartender if there were any pairings with the wines, he replied: "no". Strike one. We then asked: "Do you offer wine flights?" and he replied "Flights? What's that?" (Strike two) We explained and then he retorted: "No". Strike three... Even after all that, we still decided to look over the wine list by the glass. We sighed, then walked out.
It's sad to see a business with so much unrealized potential go untapped. With a better rounded list, a quasi-knowledgeable staff, and actual pairings and other proper wine bar features besides a pretend cellar room, the place could be so much more. I am sure that the competition from restaurants doing their own feature wine nights offer options (and competition) for those of us that actually want to experience wine, so maybe I'm missing the point. Maybe what they're trying to do is to take the pub experience and apply it to wine: Provide some selection, keep margins high and get the average muck that sells cheap but rakes in a good profit.
All that ranting notwithstanding, maybe you like the place as-is, or we walked in on a bad day where the good staff was at home. Maybe, but I am certain that their chance for a first impression is long gone, and I will not make any effort to return there.
Later,
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Family penance, Formula one, and Spanish Cava
A typical Sunday, I suppose :)
After what amounted to effectively two days of children's birthdays-including an evening marked by petrol fumes among other things-I guess that's a weekend visiting the family... My wife and I finally "escape"back home. We decide to open up a bottle of Spanish Cava a good friend gave us for as a wedding present. he got it for us during the holiday season when he traveled to his home in Barcelona.
I decided to open the 2002 Recaredo Brut de Brut Gran Reserva since I had meant to do this about a month earlier, but things just didn't "line up". I had a sip right after opening at cellar temperature, and I noticed a familiar characteristic of just about every Cava I taste: crisp with a "certain" taste that I don't necessarily like. It's a sharp acid with a grassy note that I can only describe as sharp asparagus. The first thing that came up as a correlation was Freixenet. Although I have not had one in many years, it reminded me of the taste that kind of drove me away from Cava for many years. My wife decided to open a triple cream French cheese (Fromage d' Avingnon), and the wine had a most interesting effect on it: it altered the cheese's flavor to match the basic flavor profile of an Eppoises, but more subdued.
If you ever had an Eppoises cheese, you know what I speak of. I simply could not believe the change in the taste profile. I tried the cheese by itself, and the profile was gone! Immediately after I took another sip of the Cava, the same profile returned. It was a pleasant surprise, especially since I am not particularly fond of that typical Cava flavor. I like Eppoises, but I don't like that Cava profile. I'm just used to finding that flavor only on that cheese, and amenable only to burgundy wine. It definitely caught me off-guard.
I'm a little disappointed that I didn't like the wine. The reason is that My friend and I both love sparkling wines, and we have very similar tastes (judging from comments we shared in a Champagne tasting party I hosted). I promised him I'd give him my opinion, and unfortunately, I don't think he's going to like it. :(
Ah, yes... I was watching the Melbourne Gran Prix. It started pretty wet and crazy, but it ended quite well. Jason Button came away with the win. I was not thrilled with Hamilton's attitude toward his team on the radio Must have been his frustration, I suppose. Kobiyashi's wing failure produced a bad crash, and poor Vettel simply cannot complete a race so far this season. I am confident he'll finish well this season, and will soon become a champion. He reminds me of a young Schumacher back in the Benetton days... I wish him the very best.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Making bread: Something about it sucks...
One of the things I do in my free time to "relax" is to bake bread. It is a challenging thing, and for the most part, very rewarding. It takes time, precision, and loads of patience. I have tried to expand my horizons and attempt to learn from the books of the people that do the stuff for a living. So far, the experience has been relatively disappointing.
About a year or so ago, I did a lot of research online and found that the people that talked about baking at home kept recommending this particular author: Daniel Leader and his book: Bread Alone. The guy is well acclaimed, very well trained, and above all, he bakes for a living, so I bought his book, read most of it, and played with the recipes that I like. So far, I'm 0-3!
I really enjoy making bread. I've made easy stuff like Pain Ordinaire and American-style loaves to Pain the Champagne, Fruit breads, ryes, sourdoughs, and even ciabbatta (which is a major pain). All with very good, if not excellent results. The common thread? None came from his book. They came from another book called the Art of Bread from (I think) the culinary club or America I received as a gift from my mother.
Lately, I've been enjoying hearth baked Tuscan loaf from a local baker. It is mildly sour with a beautiful golden with a chewy interior and not-too-thick crust. The bread is delicious as is, and even better toasted with a little EVOO or butter. Puts a smile on my face every time I eat it. So...
I decided to look for a recipe for such item, and lo and behold, Leader's book has one called "Truly Tuscan Bread" whose description is as mentally accurate as I could find. The recipe is relatively simple, but it takes a looong time to develop. It consists of:
I take the loaves out and they have the dark golden color I'm used to getting from my oven, but not the beautiful medium golden color from the bought loaf. I let them rest in the cooling rack as specified, and take a slice. They look beautiful, but not as expected (again, using the store loaf as reference). I always taste my breads by themselves before I load something else like butter or oil. The crust felt thin, not at all like the bought one, the interior bubble structure seemed fine and very similar, which made me feel better. ...So I took a bite... What a supreme disappointment! It was as boring as one can make bread! It lacked the tang I was expecting, and the worst part was: the seasoning was non-existent! (If you've ever made bread and forgot to put in salt, you know what I'm talking about) My first instinct was to check the salt amount specified in the recipe (When I was making it, I thought it was too little, so I even bumped it up a bit), and it was the amount I read. At this point, I'm more pissed than anything else. The reason? I wasted about 2 days making bread that more than probably will end up being croutons or slathered in jelly or some other way to hide the blah-ness of it! 2 10-inch loaves worth!!!!
I know my ingredients are good. I use King Arthur flour and use it relatively fast enough to make sure it doesn't go bad. I use Fleischmann baker's yeast that is consistently good and lasts for eternity (my dough rises fine every time). I use the gravi-metric method whenever possible to ensure best results. I use filtered or bottled water and bring it to temp before using. I check temps while working, take the dough's temp, and ensure everything is as copacetic as possible.
My disappointment did not come from the fact that the loaves which took so long to make didn't match the store bought. That could be explained by a variety of factors. Ignoring commercial equipment related issues, it is very possible that the bought version is closer to actual sourdough than the recipe. Judging from the color and texture, that's almost a given. My disappointment comes from the fact that every single time I attempt to follow one of the "Bread Alone" recipes, they have the same negative result: average looking and with very little flavor.
I want to make something clear: I'm not tooling on Brian Leader. As I said: he bakes for a living, and seems very successful at it, so he's doing it right. What I'm saying is: There's something missing either in the translation, or my oven is shit, or, and this is very probable, I don't know WTF I'm doing and I get lucky sometimes.
The only other possibility I can conjure is that I don't like his bread. If you knew me, you'd find that statement ludicrous. I haven't found a baker's bread (OK, Subway...) I haven't liked (for the styles I like); ever. My only experience with his bread are my attempts to reproduce them, and so far, they have been boring at best.
It's gotta be something...
Got any suggestions other than "give it up and keep buying bread instead of making it"? Maybe I just need another baker's book!
I'll probably give another one of his recipes a shot. One more disappointment, and that will be the end of it for my relationship with Mr. Singer's book...
...Maybe I ought to take a class!
Later,
About a year or so ago, I did a lot of research online and found that the people that talked about baking at home kept recommending this particular author: Daniel Leader and his book: Bread Alone. The guy is well acclaimed, very well trained, and above all, he bakes for a living, so I bought his book, read most of it, and played with the recipes that I like. So far, I'm 0-3!
I really enjoy making bread. I've made easy stuff like Pain Ordinaire and American-style loaves to Pain the Champagne, Fruit breads, ryes, sourdoughs, and even ciabbatta (which is a major pain). All with very good, if not excellent results. The common thread? None came from his book. They came from another book called the Art of Bread from (I think) the culinary club or America I received as a gift from my mother.
Lately, I've been enjoying hearth baked Tuscan loaf from a local baker. It is mildly sour with a beautiful golden with a chewy interior and not-too-thick crust. The bread is delicious as is, and even better toasted with a little EVOO or butter. Puts a smile on my face every time I eat it. So...
I decided to look for a recipe for such item, and lo and behold, Leader's book has one called "Truly Tuscan Bread" whose description is as mentally accurate as I could find. The recipe is relatively simple, but it takes a looong time to develop. It consists of:
- Two poolies fermented slowly in the fridge over at least 1-1/2 days
- Two fermentation and punch-down periods of at least 6 hours total
- Dividing, shaping and proofing (about 2.5 hours)
- Baking that takes 30 minutes
- plus the prep time to mix, create the 20% bran flour mix (not an easy thing to find pre-made), etc.
I take the loaves out and they have the dark golden color I'm used to getting from my oven, but not the beautiful medium golden color from the bought loaf. I let them rest in the cooling rack as specified, and take a slice. They look beautiful, but not as expected (again, using the store loaf as reference). I always taste my breads by themselves before I load something else like butter or oil. The crust felt thin, not at all like the bought one, the interior bubble structure seemed fine and very similar, which made me feel better. ...So I took a bite... What a supreme disappointment! It was as boring as one can make bread! It lacked the tang I was expecting, and the worst part was: the seasoning was non-existent! (If you've ever made bread and forgot to put in salt, you know what I'm talking about) My first instinct was to check the salt amount specified in the recipe (When I was making it, I thought it was too little, so I even bumped it up a bit), and it was the amount I read. At this point, I'm more pissed than anything else. The reason? I wasted about 2 days making bread that more than probably will end up being croutons or slathered in jelly or some other way to hide the blah-ness of it! 2 10-inch loaves worth!!!!
I know my ingredients are good. I use King Arthur flour and use it relatively fast enough to make sure it doesn't go bad. I use Fleischmann baker's yeast that is consistently good and lasts for eternity (my dough rises fine every time). I use the gravi-metric method whenever possible to ensure best results. I use filtered or bottled water and bring it to temp before using. I check temps while working, take the dough's temp, and ensure everything is as copacetic as possible.
My disappointment did not come from the fact that the loaves which took so long to make didn't match the store bought. That could be explained by a variety of factors. Ignoring commercial equipment related issues, it is very possible that the bought version is closer to actual sourdough than the recipe. Judging from the color and texture, that's almost a given. My disappointment comes from the fact that every single time I attempt to follow one of the "Bread Alone" recipes, they have the same negative result: average looking and with very little flavor.
I want to make something clear: I'm not tooling on Brian Leader. As I said: he bakes for a living, and seems very successful at it, so he's doing it right. What I'm saying is: There's something missing either in the translation, or my oven is shit, or, and this is very probable, I don't know WTF I'm doing and I get lucky sometimes.
The only other possibility I can conjure is that I don't like his bread. If you knew me, you'd find that statement ludicrous. I haven't found a baker's bread (OK, Subway...) I haven't liked (for the styles I like); ever. My only experience with his bread are my attempts to reproduce them, and so far, they have been boring at best.
It's gotta be something...
Got any suggestions other than "give it up and keep buying bread instead of making it"? Maybe I just need another baker's book!
I'll probably give another one of his recipes a shot. One more disappointment, and that will be the end of it for my relationship with Mr. Singer's book...
...Maybe I ought to take a class!
Later,
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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.
Friday, January 15, 2010
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.
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
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
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,
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,
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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,
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,
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