dagordon

Went back to Union Trust last night. We'd heard that the chef had left shortly after I was there the first time, and we'd also heard a rumor that they'd changed meat suppliers, so were were a bit hesitant to go. But: it was every bit as good as the first time. We were 3 people, and we skipped apps entirely and just split the long bone rib-eye for 2, the Colorado lamb chops, and a bunch of sides. Everything was fantastic. We'd ordered the steak and lamb "rare plus", and both came out perfectly cooked. They both were perfectly seasoned (not heavy-handed at all), tender, and quite flavorful. Very high quality meat. The sides were also delicious -- the onion rings in particular are perhaps the best I've ever had, with an uncanny ability to retain their crispiness over time. We had the "chocolate ending" dessert again, which was excellent, and they brought out an extra dessert w/ a personalized message written on the plate b/c I'd mentioned when making the reservation that it was a bit of a special occasion. Very classy. And for the three of us, around $200, including several drinks. I daresay this is very, very reasonable for the amount and quality of food we had. And I normally don't care a whole lot about this sort of thing, but the room is pretty amazing.

The char in the pictures from UPN does seem excessive. At least, though, it seems to be confined to the outer crust, and doesn't infiltrate the interior. Look, I'm not saying that UPN is perfect, and I'm not saying that the condition of the particular slice that we've been talking about was even in the top 3 of the reasons why Keste disappointed us. It was merely one factor among many; when you added up the sogginess issue, the flavor deficit in the crust, the flavor deficit in the toppings (but excessive sweetness in the tomato sauce), the lack of balance in the lardo pie b/w the lardo and the cheese, and, yes, the condition of that slice in particular, the result was a disappointing experience. Any one these issues in isolation may not have been a huge deal. For all I know the pies pictured from UPN were fantastic, even given the areas of burnt crust. Like I said, I'm willing to chalk it up to inconsistency, or to this Roberto character's not manning the oven. I'm willing to concede that the place is capable of much better. But, likewise, it seems that people must concede, for example, that it really is possible for a Neapolitan pizza to be too soggy and underdone in the center, and moreover that it really is possible that Keste has produced pies with this problem, and so not all bad experiences are due to patrons not knowing what this style of pizza is supposed to be like. Similarly, it really is possible for pasta to be undercooked, even though many people may not know what proper al dente pasta should be like.

The problem with this analogy is that in the case of a steak, the outside charred portion is an intentional, highly-desired feature of the steak, which single bites of the steak are intended to incorporate. In the case of our lardo pizza, are you claiming that the condition of the piece on the right was intentional, that its sorry condition was providing some kind of intended counterpoint to the other, less burnt/browned/whatever and actually topped slices? This seems pretty hard to believe. It sounds like what you're saying is that since there were three other slices, and given that one person is supposed to eat the whole pie, that one of the slices wasn't so good isn't such a big deal. Which isn't really the point.

For ease of sharing amongst parties greater than 1. ← Right, which apparently you're not supposed to do, lest someone be stuck with the pizza equivalent of the charred ends of a steak. Re: the lardo pizza, I wouldn't have minded that it wasn't what I expected had it been good.

If the rest of the top had been covered with lardo we would have been happier; in fact there was hardly any, the topping being mostly cheese. (I guess it's not all that easy to distinguish cheese from crust in the picture, but the interior of the pie is all cheese.) Part of my problem with this pie is that I was expecting thin slices of (uncooked) lardo to be draped over the pie, instead of the burnt-to-a-crisp bits that we got. It seems like such a crime to do this to lardo.

Got my info about the plants licensed to export beef to the U.S. (and so the nonavailability of true "kobe beef") from Rosengarten's wagyu article in the 9/07 Rosengarten Report, and it was confirmed by an industry specialist on a trip to Japan last May. Like I said, perhaps things have changed, but that places are advertising "kobe beef" is no reason to think that they have, as places have been advertising this for years (even before any Japanese wagyu was available in the U.S.). "The Wagyu" is a fantastic product (our July 4th BBQ involved an 8lb zabuton, cooked sous-vide and then seared over binchotan charcoal), and raji's suggestion is promising, though it might be even better to contact New York Mutual Trading Company, as they'd be the distributor around here.

Unless something has changed very recently, there’s actually no Kobe beef (legally) available in the US right now. There are only four slaughter plants in all of Japan licensed to process the wagyu beef that is imported here: one in Miyazaki, one in Gunma, and two in Kagoshima. None in Kobe. On the other hand, Kobe is not the most respected designation for Japanese beef anyway, it's just a name that's easy for Americans to remember. If a place is advertising "kobe beef" it's a pretty good indication that they have no idea what they're talking about.

Also should have mentioned Zero Otto Nove as another place whose pizza far surpassed those that we had at Keste.

As one of the other members of philadining's party I thought I'd chime in. Yes, the pizzas in Exhibits B and C look good. But is anyone really defending the burnt slice on the right in Exhibit A? I mean, it's all char. As far as whether we ordered properly, it seems fairly clear that a Neapolitan pizza joint should be able to competently execute a Margherita and Marinara. The problems with the Margherita and Marinara aren't readily ascertainable by looking at the photos. They were indeed soggy in the middle. I'm familiar with the style, but that pies of this style are supposed to be wet (to a degree) in the middle does not excuse any degree of sogginess or underdoneness. More importantly, though, the flavor either just wasn't there or was there too much (i.e., unbalanced). The crust didn't have very much flavor on any of the pies (could have used more salt, in particular). The tomato sauce was too sweet to our tastes. And on the lardo pizza the lardo was hardly detectable; the cheese was overwhelming. As philadining has said, where the other pies were just underwhelming, this was actually a bit unpleasant to eat. I suspect it is just inconsistency. The difference in quality between the pies we had and those we've had at UPN or Motorino is not a subtle one; the pies at the latter places were on a different level.

I managed to get out of them that the short ribs are cooked SV for about 48 hours at around 140 F. What was most amazing about them to me, though, wasn't the texture or the perfect level of doneness, but the flavor -- there was almost a cheesiness, in fact, the sort of flavor that usually comes from long dry-aging. But I was told that it was wet-aged, not dry-aged. Go figure. In any case, it was delicious.

Funny. I had to get my car inspected yesterday, and I had told myself that the place I was supposed to go to was at 106th and 1st. I must have misremembered it, because I ended up at that station on 1st b/w 116th and 117th. There was a bit of a wait, and I remembered that Patsy's was somewhere near there (I'd never been), so I pulled it up on my phone, turned around, and there it was. I went to the slice joint. It was freaking fantastic. I had two pieces from the tail end of a pie that was sitting there already, and then two pieces from a pie fresh from the oven. I guess the turnover was quick enough before I got there that the only difference was really temperature. That is, there was no undercooking problem at all, even with the slices that weren't fresh from the oven. I was really impressed by the pizza, particularly because we don't care much for Grimaldi's, and I take it there's some kind of relation. It's seldom that I've had a crust both as thin as the one at Patsy's and foldable without being the least bit soggy. In other words, best place to get your car inspected ever.

That saltimbocca is one of our favorite dishes at Lupa.

Agreed about Mas 100%.

We love this place. Note that the OJ is arguably "fresh squeezed" in some sense, but is not made fresh on premises. When we were there recently I ordered a gigantic serving of it, -- like a magnum of OJ -- as I love fresh squeezed orange juice, and the waitress cautioned me that it's purchased from Amish folks who squeeze it themselves, and so not "fresh squeezed" in the strictest sense. She suggested I try a smaller size serving of it to see if I liked it. I thought this was extremely thoughtful. It is fine OJ, but not magnum worthy. BTW, Max's Produce has consistently the greatest OJ in Philadelphia. They use a Zumex. The last time we were there we split a soft shell crab sandwich and a croque madame. Both were spectacular. Crispy, meaty crabs with a light, tangy, not at all overly mayo'd dressing on the side. The croque madame was perfect, though quite rich -- the brioche was verging on cake. We went to Sabrina's once and didn't understand the fuss, but we should give it another chance.

I'm not a huge beer person, but I enjoyed the Rogue Dead Guy Ale with the Manhattan. At the very least, it was a refreshing change of pace. FWIW, we did have the Clotilde Davenne, with the uni. And we had two pours with three of the courses, the 2nd through 4th. I agree that it was extremely fun having two pours! Though this made the beer with the final course even more welcome, as we'd had ten glasses of wine each by then. (Well, actually my wife bailed from the pairings at some point toward the end, as she's tiny and was starting to slur her speech .)

So, a little more detail. Our meal: Foie gras chantilly, asparagus Jean Velut Brut, Montgueux NV Uni “Noir” Gelée Jean Claude Thévenet Blanc de Blancs (Cremant de Bourgogne) Clotilde Davenne Saint Bris ‘Vieilles Vignes’ 2006 Foie Gras Bon Bon Tristar Strawberries, Mozzarella Ice Cream Edmond Cornu Bourgogne Aligote 2007 Rollin Pernand Vergelesses 2004 Ivory King Salmon Orange Blossom, Heirloom Carrots, Argan Oil Jus Boisson-Vadot Meursault ‘Grands Charrons’ 2006 J.M. Morey Chassagne-Montrachet ‘Chaumées’ Premier Cru 2004 Squab Cèpes Tartare, Anise, Combava Jus Louis Jadot Pommard Clos de la Commaraine 2006 Five-Year Aged Gouda Lychee, Saffron Honey Trousseau—Puffeney Arbois Rouge ‘Cuvée Les Bérangères,’ Jura 2006 Raspberry Black Sesame, Coconut Pineau d’Aunis— Côteaux de Pizy Brut Rosé, Loire NV “Old Fashioned” Palette Dark Chocolate, Cherry, Whisky Rogue Dead Guy Ale Oregon Macaroons, pate de fruits -- The only possible quibble I could have about the food was that the mozzarella ice cream didn't have very much flavor on its own (as opposed to other versions of mozarrella ice cream I've had). But it's not clear that it was supposed to have very much flavor on its own, as it's function was just to provide a counterpoint to a strawberry "soup". It often annoys me when people say 'but I couldn't really taste the X' for some dish where X is an ingredient. As long as the dish would have tasted different without X, X is serving a purpose. I won't do a blow-by-blow as there was so much going on on the plate with every dish here that this would take too much time and effort on my part. In any case, I agree with many of U.E.'s general comments on the food. But though he clearly enjoyed his meal, it seems that the food spoke to me (and my wife) to a significantly greater degree -- to the point that we both though that this was perhaps the best meal we've had in the U.S. We never ate at Gilt, and the food very well may be more restrained versions of what he was doing there, but for us the balance that was struck was dead-on perfect. The wine pairing was outstanding. I noticed many of the bottles were from Rosenthal and I already picked up several that were poured for us. The Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet, and Pommard were particularly memorable.

I'll post more about our meal later, but for now I have to say that our meal last night at Corton (7 course tasting, with $145/person Burgundy pairings) was arguably the greatest meal we've had in the U.S. And we were given no special treatment.

I beg to differ -- I was fortunate enough to eat at Porchetta w/ Mr. Dining, and I think the sandwich is completely and totally unmissable, and in fact the greatest pork sandwich I've ever had. No globs of fat (or, at least, no unpleasantly large ones), and no hard-to-chew skin. I love Philly roast pork, but let me put it this way: if I were to be stranded on a desert island and could choose only one pork sandwich to bring along with me, it would clearly be Prochetta's.

What Katie said. If you absolutely must stay w/in Philly, Zento.

Why not just ask for a "stoli up with olives"? As a martini contains vermouth, it's at best confusing to ask for a "martini" of any kind without vermouth. Is it that you want it served in a martini glass?

Just to be clear: the $70/lb from Allen Brothers is for the ribeye cap, the very best part of one of the most expensive cuts of beef... they have significantly cheaper steaks for sale. God knows what the ribeye cap would cost at a place like Union Trust. It seems that it actually is cheaper to buy the meat yourself from Allen Bros: here's Allen Bros' bone-in rib steaks. The 18oz rib steak at Union Trust is $62. Theses steaks from Allen Bros work out to $39.36 for 18oz. (Though this doesn't include shipping.) Actually, when it comes to steak I usually have a hard time justifying going to restaurants to pay for it vs. buying the meat yourself and cooking it at home. I sometimes have a steak craving and will want to go out for a steak, but it's almost always possible to buy meat of substantially higher quality than what would be available at a local restaurant for a comparable cost. For example, the Cali Prime Reserve from Bryan Flannery mail-order is $18.99/lb and as good as Allen Bros' products are, the Cali Prime Reserve from Flannery is frankly in a different league. The only exception might be if you happen to live next door to Peter Luger in Brooklyn. Wagyu is a clearer case: it's absolutely insane to buy Wagyu at a restaurant these days, as you almost never know what the quality is and it's 5x more expensive than sourcing it yourself. There are many reasons to go to a steakhouse, and I'll be going back to Union Trust, but it often makes a lot of sense to DIY.

You learn something new every day -- I thought that "deckle" was (only) part of the brisket. But it refers to both. There's a thread about it here. Um, yeah, I suppose I could be convinced to do a tasting.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe they keep them for staff meal -- isn't there a story that Thomas Keller once had some ribeye cap that was being served for staff meal at Per Se, and he quickly added it to the menu...

I ate at Union Trust recently; sat at the bar. Very impressive food. I had the "six spoons", an assortment of 6 oysters with varying embellishments. Excellent quality oysters. The bartender was pushing the "ribeye filet mignon": the name is quite annoying, but it's apparently the eye of the ribeye, i.e. the ribeye sans fat cap (spinalis dorsi). Of course, I'm one of those people who orders a ribeye primarily for the cap, so I opted for the Prime Bone-In Ribeye. (Yes, still more annoyance with "bone-in" and "ribeye" -- this should be called a "bone in rib steak", but this seems to be a losing battle.) The rib steak was fantastic. Perfect char, great beefy flavor, nice marbling, and the steak definitely had some age on it. This was a serious steakhouse steak, up there with the Gachot & Gachot rib steak at Barclay Prime as the best in Philly. Mashed potatoes on the side were perfect, and stayed hot as they were served in a hot crock. For dessert I had what I think was called the "chocolate ending", a three-layer chocolate pastry that was unexpectedly light yet delicious. I was told that the pastry chef was the former head pastry instructor at the Cordon Bleu; regardless of whether this is so, however, the dessert program seems to be serious. The restaurant, at least at the bar, is a bit of a scene. But more power to you if you're able to produce this level of food and still have your restaurant be a bit of a scene. In conclusion: serious steakhouse.

Vetri is an excellent idea, and of course they will do the tasting menu for 3 people! (They'll do it for 2, at least.)