philadining

Jason, that looks like a great sandwich! I'd posted in the NY forum that the news was reporting that the inauguration of the Governor featured an array of NY foods, including a Beef on Weck from Charlie the Butcher. So between you and Governor Spitzer, I've got these sandwiches on the brain... might have to hit Wegmans for some rolls!

Wanting to check out chef Liebrant's cooking while he's in town, we had dinner at Striped Bass recently. While we did not see him behind the line that night, and the menu seems pretty similar to previous incarnations, looking a little pedestrian on the page, it seemed clear to us that his imprint was on the food - it was assertive, and vibrant, and a little odd in good ways. I noted a rather forward acidity in many of the dishes that perhaps not everyone would like, but I did... quite a lot... It's clearly not Liebrant in full-on experimental mode, but he seems to be putting a little bit of his sensibility into play in this more conservative context. I should hasten to add that I'm no expert in Liebrant's cooking, but I had eaten at Striped Bass under chef Lee, as well as back in the Stein era (can't remember who was cooking that day...) Although the menu seemed very similar to those I saw on earlier visits, the server even mentioned a few items that were long-time favorites, the actual food on the plate had an intensity and vividness that I had not experienced before. The lighting is pretty moody, so the pix are grainy, sorry... Amuse: Sea Trout Ballotine, Yuzu, Brioche This was a lovely starter, the rich salmon-like fish offset by the bracingly sharp citrusy tang of the purée on the side. Lurking behind the crunchy brioche baton is a scattering of powder (I'll go out on a limb and guess olive oil powder) that signals an edgy contemporary attitude toward a relatively classic dish. 2nd: Grilled Octopus and Shrimp Delicious and perfectly tender seafood with an intense mustardy glaze that threatened to overwhelm the delicate flavors underneath, but didn't. That type of balancing act: bringing accompaniments right up to the line, but not crossing it, characterized much of this meal, and I like that approach. Crab Croquettes with Barbecue Sweetbreads The crab croquettes were light mini crabcakes with an intriguing herby halo, accented nicely with tart apple. I'm not sure what I expected from barbecue sweetbreads, but sure enough, they were sweetbreads with what was essentially a tangy barbecue sauce. It worked beautifully. The sweetbreads themselves were creamy and delicate, with no crust or char (maybe poached or sous-vide-ed?) the intense brightness of the sauce balancing their richness perfectly. I'm not sure I understand the combination of the sweetbreads and the crab croquettes, but I liked it, and the textural contrast alone made them excellent companions. Mains: Diver Scallops with Wild Mushrooms The scallops themselves were amazing, perfectly cooked, and dusted with an intriguing spicing I couldn't quite identify. The wild mushrooms were a marvel in and of themselves: earthy, round, and almost too vinegary on their own, but combining them with the scallops put the flavors right back in balance. Another lemony purée lurked in the shadows as well as two different glaze-ish sauces that added dashes of color to the autumn hues. I'm not sure what the leaves were, but they made for an intriguingly exotic presentation, and as they were dusted with spices, gave an interesting flavor and texture contrast as well. Salmon with Sauce Choron This was perhaps the most traditional thing we had all night, but there's something to be said for a lovely piece of fish and a classic sauce. It was luxuriously rich, and once again, had a compensatory acid component from the tomatoes in the choron, as well as a tomato purée under the fish. Delicious. and what the heck, we were celebrating a birthday, might as well have dessert... glad we did! Warm Bittersweet Chocolate tart, Grapefruit Sorbet, Ricotta Canolli The bitterness of the grapefruit sorbet played off the bittersweet chocolate in a delicate crust. The cannoli was, other than its shape, pretty conventional, but that said, could give Isgro's a run for their money! Excellent. Striped Bass Banana Split This seemed like an appropriately decadent birthday treat, and indeed is so excessive as to be rather funny. The banana and three huge scoops of ice cream are brought tableside, where one can have the server add any or all of about 75 accompaniments it seemed... Despite its massive size, it disappeared pretty quickly, so I didn't get to try it, but it got the thumbs-up form across the table. We saw a few of these being ordered around the room, and a passer-by even stopped to comment on ours, so it seems to be a bit of a sensation. In sum, it was all quite delicious. Sadly the website menu is woefully out-of-date, and I didn't steal a hard copy, so I'm missing details about specific ingredients. It's rather amazing to me that despite the technical sophistication of the Starr empire, their website menus are almost never close to current. Some foodie nerd want to go apply for a job? They need you... Service was smooth, prompt - yet not rushed, gracious - but not stuffy, with several people checking on whether we were happy with everything - without being intrusive. The wine list has been tweaked since the last time I was there, with more good selections under $100. There are still plenty of big-ticket wines if you feel like dropping some coin, but I had no problem finding several attractive possibilities in the $60-80 range. Mark-ups seem to still be pretty brutal, about 400% of retail, judging from a few wines that I know the price of off the top of my head (including the excellent Amity Gewurtz we had) but hey, at least there are a few that start low enough that the quadrupling doesn't kill you. All in all, a pretty pricey meal, starters in the high teens, entrees in the 30s, so our food was about $70 per person, but that was for 3 good-sized courses, with wine it was about $100 each before tip. But it was very good food, served well, in a cool space. It's a little too pricey to be a regular haunt, but I'd consider it a good special-occasion destination. I hope chef Liebrant sticks around a while longer, and passes on some of his technique to whoever takes the helm next.

I know, I know, I look like a shill for StudioKitchen, but it's a sincere reflection of my dining experiences. I'm almost relieved that SK went on hiatus in the spring, it would have been impossible to choose between the many more that inevitably would have followed. I had to leave a couple off already... I'm really amused by the fact that a few of these exact meals appear on other's top 10 lists as well: it's been really great to meet and dine with other eG folks over the past year. I'm sure the company had no small part in making them so noteworthy. I didn't travel as much this year as I had hoped, so it's a little Philly-centric, but I suspect the list wouldn't have been much different... 1) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia): March 17 Tomato – Combova Lime Gelee, Lobster Remoulade, Celeriac “Chantilly”, Puffed Rice; perhaps the ultimate pork belly; and fine company from Docsconz, JoeB, MX Hassett, and others. link to pix and descriptions (I'm not sure whether to count these next three as separate dinners or one protracted extravaganza!) 2) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia): January 28 Lobster Scrambled Eggs, Fines Herbes, Marscarpone, "Americaine" Nage; Daniel and Alicia down from NYC. link to pix and descriptions 3) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia): January 31 Veal Cheeks Braised in Banyuls, Warm Potato-"Redondo Inglesias" Terrine, Horseradish... link to pix and descriptions 4) StudioKitchen (Philadelphia): February 2 Big fun with a heavily eG crew including Holly, Carmen, Chris and Andrea Amirault; and of course the legendary raspberry cauliflower apocalypse. link to pix and descriptions 5) Susur (Toronto): June 6 An amazing display of versatility: three distinct 7-course tasting menus, each of them delicious throughout. link to pix and descriptions 6) Studio Kitchen (Philadelphia): January 10 Bluefoot Chicken Ravioli, Choucroute of Celery, Crispy Sweetbreads, Toasted Jasmine Rice Jus, the debut of the cauliflower ice cream; MX Hassett's first of several visits. link to pix and descriptions 7) Studio Kitchen (Philadelphia): February 21 Pulled Skate Wings, Mushroom Ragout, Hot Spring Egg, Scallop-Morel Emulsion, Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Vinaigrette... link to pix and descriptions 8) Snackbar (Philadelphia): November 1 An impressive debut from the most exciting, interesting new restaurant in Philly, subsequent visits have shown this opening night to be no fluke. link to pix and descriptions 9) WD-50 (NYC): January 1 Often more interesting than delicious, but this meal still sticks out in my mind as a fascinating and enjoyable experience, and one that gave great context to much of the other modern cooking I've encountered. link to pix and descriptions 10) Lacroix (Philadelphia): March 5 I'm surprised to put a buffet brunch on this list, but it was just so over-the-top and indulgent that it stands out as a culinary highlight. link to pix and descriptions There were lots of other individual dishes that stood out at other places, but as complete meals, that's my top ten. I can't complain!

well that sucks....

I know some of you get anxious without an occasional update on the state of the plate, so to soothe your nerves - To be scrupulously accurate, and trademark-sensitive, this is actually a trash plate served up by a little hot-dog/hamburger joint south of the city called Minnehan's. And it was tasty... In another upstate garbage plate update: it was all over the news that Governor Spitzer's recent inauguration festivities featured a food court serving various NY foods, including Garbage Plates brought in from Nick Tahou, as well as Beef on Weck from Charlie the Butcher, Wings from the Anchor Bar, Barbecue from the Dinosaur, Knishes from Yonah Schimmel, and more. Sounds like a good party to me.

Stopped by the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua over the holidays. It's a lovely building, overlooking the lake, that contains a large-ish tasting room, a boardroom-style private meeting space, a theater-style lecture hall, a teaching kitchen, and a bar/restaurant featuring small-plates with suggestions for matched NY wines. The tasting room offers several flights for $6-7-ish, which usually feature 6 different wines, fewer for the bubbly and desert tastings. Or one can select individual wines for $2 per pour. The featured wines change each month, and surprisingly didn't consist exclusively of Finger Lakes offerings, there was decent representation from Long Island, the Hudson Valley and the Lake Erie area. I'd been hoping for a comprehensive collection of everything worthwhile from the surrounding lakes, but I suppose it's not practical to keep all that wine in stock, let alone available for tasting. And I'm sure the wineries would rather get folks into their own tasting rooms and gift shops! Sadly, between two different flights of 6 wines each, we didn't encounter anything that thrilled us, although I was pleased that many of the wines were better than I expected. I was happy to find some Wiemer bubbly that I hadn't seen in Rochester stores, so I grabbed a bottle of that because I knew I wouldn't have time to make it to their winery on this trip. They generally stock only what they're featuring that month, but there are random bottles from previous months. My favorite NY wineries didn't happen to be represented this month, but it was interesting to sample some others without threading one's way around the lakes for a few days. A visit to this center is never going to replace visiting the individual wineries, and the appeal of the lectures and test kitchen will depend on the quality of talent they draw to make presentations. The offerings are not quite extensive enough to make this worth a long trip in and of itself, but it's an interesting stop if you happen to be in the area. www.nywcc.com

Why am I not surprised that Shola has fans in Baghdad?

Shola is still actively catering for private clients at their locations around Philly and NYC, but StudioKitchen, in its former incarnation, is on hiatus. I hope too see it again someday soon in some manifestation or another!

Finally got some Eclat chocolates today, and those previous raves didn't even prepare me for how freaking great these truffles are. I had some little combo boxes made up as gifts, and it really took superhuman resolve to not just tear into them and suffer the embarrassment of having consumed someone's gift. I mean, those recipients wouldn't truly appreciate the genius of these confections would they? At least not as much as me!! Luckily I bought a few truffles for myself, and somehow resisted raiding the other boxes. I was feeling like exploring the edges of the spice/sweet matrix, so tried his sichuan peppercorn, Balinese long pepper, Aleppo Pepper, and single-malt scotch truffles. (That's 4 different truffles, not all in one!) They were each quite amazing, and just exactly right in scale, the unusual flavorings didn't overpower the excellent chocolate, just complimented different aspects of the underlying flavors. These are unquestionably the best chocolates I've had in the philly area, and I might like them better than Jaques Torres in NY. They're interesting, well-crafted, and just plain delicious. So, do yourself a favor, and get to 24 South High Street in West Chester (just south of Market, on the west side of the street) or to Fork: etc. in Philly. www.eclatchocolate.com/

I haven't been to Raw nearly enough, but I believe that if you follow Sam Yoon's advice and introduce yourself to him, and have him make his specialties, you'll do well! Katie and I were lucky enough to get a couple of things made especially for us the first time we went in, and they were fabulous, especially that Ika...

I think I'm officially addicted. I was wandering the Italian Market over the weekend and was irresistibly drawn into Los Taquitos de Puebla. A quick order of Tacos al Pastor, amazingly delicious as usual, and I was on my way, safe from making irresponsible hunger-induced purchases along 9th street. (or so I thought - somehow I still managed to spend obscene amounts of money in Claudios...) Three Tacos al Pastor from this place is now my favorite $5 meal in the city.

I vote for "The Shimmy."

I had a pleasant-enough meal there a few years ago, late on a weeknight. We picked it because it was one of the few places that was still serving at that hour in that neighborhood. We'd been curious about it, but hadn't gone in for...decades. At that time and day, it wasn't much of a scene, but then, I might just be ignorant of Toronto celebs. The food was fine, but not unique enough to lure me back. I'll be sad if they can't rebuild just because it seems as if it was always there, an icon of Yorkville if nothing else. Not much else has survived that long in that area.

I have a nominee: the spare rib noodle soup at Nan Zhou, which actually consists of two good-sized pork chops, on the bone, floating in a bowl of broth, with noodles. Tasty, but not pretty to eat. In fact with all of those noodle soups, I'm continually in peril of ruining my shirt, as well as the entire outfit of the person sitting across from me. Sorry... That may be why Tartetatin suggested the fried soy sauce noodles (which they've re-named to something slightly more logical, like "fried pork noodle in soy sauce") because it's one of the few that's not in a broth, it's more of a plate of noodles with a really good meat sauce on it. Still a little messy, but really good. And it's absolutely true that Nan Zhou is a bit of a dive, but sometimes that's just the right thing.

If you're staying at the Loews, you're very close to the Reading Terminal Market, which is kind of a required visit for foodies, whether you eat anything or not! But while you're there, you certainly should get a sandwich at DiNic's, at least... Just out the back side of the market is Chinatown, and there are indeed some noteworthy places there, depending on your tastes and what kinds of things you two are in the mood for. I heartily agree that Nan Zhou has terrific noodles, and they're cheap too, so it's a great place for a quick meal. But in the end, it's just a bowl of noodles (and pretty meat-centric if that makes a difference) and that doesn't always thrill. But in that neighborhood there's also Rangoon for really good Burmese food, which is not too common, but as it resembles Thai Indian and Chinese, it's alway been popular with guests I've taken there. There's also Penang and Banana Leaf for good Malaysian, which is kind-of treading a similar culinary zone. I'm a big fan of snackbar, it's definitely a good spot for some culinary fireworks. (It's in the Rittenhouse Square area, a few blocks from Rouge and La Colombe, not TOO far from your hotel.) Get two or three things each, and try some of the stuff that sounds weird, it's really quite delicious! It can get very crowded on weekend nights, and it's a tiny place, so go early or late if you can. Ansill (3rd and Bainbridge) is also doing the creative small-plate thing, maybe not quite as daring as snackbar, but still quite good. Amada is still excellent, but you did that already.... I'm not sure what you were looking for at Raw sushi, but just for the record, Greg Ling has left the kitchen, so the hot side of the menu is likely to be different from when many of us were first raving about it. Sushi chef Sam is still there, so the sushi's likely to still be good. For better or worse, it's a bit of a clubby scene later at night, especially on weekends. Not to start any arguments, but in my opinion Philly's not a fantastic sushi town. There's plenty of good sushi, but we do other things better... Dante and Luigi's has gotten buffed-up a bit since your father took you there, but it's essentially the same, in fact eating in the bar area feels like nothing's changed. There are a few fancy things on the menu, but it's largely still those South Philly traditional favorites, and you could do worse. It's never at the top of my list of Italian places, but it's not bad at all, I had a good meal there the last time I was there, which might have been about a year or so ago. It's not likely to be a huge culinary thrill, but it will be decent, and if there's some nostalgia involved, you probably won't be disappointed. It's a little fancier than Ralph's, Villa di Roma or Marra's, but only a little, and any of those places can give you some comforting, homey, hearty Italian-American food. TarteTatin referred to a couple other strengths of the Philly scene: brewpubs and creative small chef-owned BYOB restaurants. The Standard Tap is certainly the standard-bearer for the brewpub - good food, funky bohemian atmosphere, great beers, although I don't know how appealing that is for you, with your not-quite 20 daughter. The oyster po-boy might be good at Grace Tavern, but the place itself is a bit gloomy, and more of a neighborhood place than a destination in and of itself. For BYOBs, as mentioned Django is doing good creative food, as is Matyson, Marigold, Mandoline, Melograno.... pick any restaurant whose name starts with M. But most importantly, even if it's snowing (ah, it'll be tropical compared to Montreal!) go get gelato at Capogiro. It's only a few blocks from your hotel, at 13th and Sansom. There's another one at 20th and Sansom if you find yourself up that way and in need of an infusion. If you want a specifically Philly experience: get a sandwich at DiNic's maybe get a hoagie at Carmen's or Saulmeria, all in the RTM. Get some South Philly red-gravy Italian, Dante and Luigi's will do. Eat at a gastropub - Standard Tap is an excellent choice. Have a creative meal at a BYOB like Django. If a foodie friend was visiting me, I'd take them to snackbar for sure. We'd probably hit the places already mentioned in Chinatown. We'd probably go get Tacos in South Philly. If we were feeling rich, we might spend a few hours and almost $100 each at sunday brunch at Lacroix. If not a full meal, we'd go have a glass of wine and a few plates at Ansill. Maybe a dinner at one of the BYOBs. Others will chime in, but it seems like you did pretty well last time, so you're good at patrolling eGullet, or just lucky in picking them out on the spot! Is there something you feel like you're lacking in Montreal? Any real favorite foods for you or your daughter that you don't get easily at home?

I think I saw one of those Cemitas Especial- it was HUGE! The roll looked to be about the size of the guy's head. What was really impressive though, was that this guy, who was not very big, made quick work of the sandwich, then ate a plate of tacos too.

Return visit to La Puebla. Tried the Choriqueso which was good, but I've had better, I would have liked a better crust on the cheese and more chorizo flavor. Got and order of Cachete Tacos (beef cheek) which were luxuriously soft and fatty, a little gelatinous, and actually not all that flavorful. A splash of salsa, and some of the onions, radishes, and nopales provided helped a bit. But overall I think I just prefer a taco filling with a bit bolder flavor and firmer texture. Such as the crusty, tender, sweet Tacos al Pastor Man, those are great. Also had some guacamole, which is simple and good (and cheap) but needs more chips. For dessert, another order of Tacos al Pastor. Really. I'm still looking forward to trying more things here, but I might end up just sticking with the pork and pineapple... Oh, and BTW, there were two of us eating, shame on you for thinking I'm THAT gluttonous!

I haven't been in Moriarty's in a million years, but I have a hard time picturing that it could be wheelchair accessible. I think it's up several steps, or am I remembering it incorrectly? For what it's worth, La Boheme has been taken over by Olivier de Saint Martin from the Caribou Cafe, supposedly focusing on seafood. Haven't heard anything about the food. Seems like Caribou might be your best bet, given the proximity. If you want something different, Pastorale on 13th, just half a block south of Walnut, is pretty good Korean. Can't remember the floorplan, but I think it's on one level.

re: That's an interesting point, V: that certainly sounds like a claim a chef would have made, I doubt the Inky put a team of investigative journalists on the trail of the scallops' provenance. But more to the point, as you suggest, I wonder if it's a meaningful factoid. Was there actually something extraordinary about that batch of shellfish? I suppose it would be noteworthy if they were especially amazing, and in fact nobody else in the country had access to any. Even if the statement is factually true, that the entire boatload of the first catch went only to those three places, is it significant? Did no more come in the next day? Now, who knows, maybe LaBan fact-checked that claim. But I can't imagine that most food writers would feel it's important to verify something like that, I mean it doesn't exactly rise to the level of whether a country is hiding WMD or anything... If he was just repeating an anecdote the chef told him, I'd feel better if the statement had been phrased: "a tiny harvest the chef said they divided up with Thomas Keller...." or something like that. I suppose the point was that the restaurant has the pull to source excellent ingredients, and that's worth noting. But citing that specific example does sound a little press-release-ish. Nonetheless, I happen to think that LaBan knows what he's talking about, so I'm sure the food is good. The review certainly made me want to go back, which I'd been wavering about since JML left. And I'm glad to hear that the place is good, it's nice to have something both elegant and innovative, a combination that's not so common around here!

I've seen both at the Thai stand in the Reading Terminal Market too, although it's been a while since I looked for them there.

There was a funny exchange when I ordered the Bun Bo Hue: the waitress asked if I wanted regular or the special. I had been thinking of just getting the regular version to serve as a baseline, but when she offered the special, I figured, what the heck... she said a few things I couldn't understand, but then I heard "dac biet" and I nodded and said "dac biet" back to her, which I would not have known without this topic! But then she said a few more things that I couldn't understand at all, but that sounded like questions, so I just said "yes, anything" assuming she was asking if it was OK that there was ingredient X in there. I don't think I saw anything that looked like pork roll, or anything especially porky, but I suspect the ingredients might change from day to day. And as for Little Saigon, it really might just be a personal taste thing, but I do prefer the broth and noodles. But their version isn't quite as loaded down with stuff, maybe because it's not "dac biet"! And as was noted in the Upper Darby thread , they don't routinely serve it with the herbs and sprouts. Apparently they found that most people weren't using them, so they stopped serving that plate of accompaniments. But they have all that stuff, they serve it with their Pho, so just ask, I'm sure they'd provide it. But that's not to say the version at Cafe Diem wasn't really delicious, it's just a very small personal preference, and it could be partly that Little Saigon's Bun Bo Hue was the first I'd ever had. We really are lucky to have some pretty excellent choices for Vietnamese food here in Philly.

I was intrigued by dagordon's posts, and a bowl of noodle soup sounded like a pretty good dinner to me... Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet This is a huge bowl of soup, with a nicely spicy broth, spaghetti-ish noodles and loads of meat, some of it pretty weird! The broth was very tasty, and there was lots of thin-sliced flank, along with chunkier stewed beef, tripe, some stuff I couldn't quite identify, might have been tendon, and a gigantic bone. As it should the soup came with a plate of herbs, mostly basil, but a little mint too, limes, hot peppers, and hidden beneath the green a heap of very fresh, crisp bean sprouts. I really liked it a lot, and it was so big that I couldn't quite get to the bottom of it. $7. As reported earlier, there's limited English spoken here, but enough to get by... I'd like to try their Pho, from this experience, and dagordon's comments, I'm sure it's good. That said, I still prefer the Bun Bo Hue out at Little Saigon in Upper Darby. The broth is a bit deeper-flavored, and I like the flatter rice noodles they use better. I have no idea if one is more authentic than the other, they're both quite tasty.

Andrew, those are interesting points about sharing logistics that never occurred to me. I have ended up sharing pretty much everything I've ordered there, except for one solo trip, but I guess it just goes to show how far down the obsessed foodie path I've gotten: we've always been just passing plates and bowls around with no thought of trying to portion things out to personal dishes. Of course you're right that the soupy or gooey things require some pretty intimate interaction! My dining partners have just been scooping a spoonful of polenta, or broth, or whatever, and passing it on, but of course that's not always comfortable or appropriate, depending on the company. I'll bet they pictured people just ordering a small plate and eating it, rather than sharing everything, but I wonder if that's what's happening? It might be, outside of the eGullet crowd, it's not a given that everyone will NEED to have a taste of everything! But I do think the experience is better when ordering a pile of food and sharing all of it. I don't think there's any elegant way to share a hot spring egg, broth or no broth... And sharing soup is rarely pretty. Interestingly, the pork belly we got most recently was cut into smaller pieces, and not served with a knife, so I think they already realize that aspect was cumbersome. The chef says they're getting some donburi bowls from Japan that should make a better vessel for this, and I think they might be well-served to cut the pieces of pork even a little bit smaller, more easily bite-sized for everyone. And I agree that the peking duck broth is a slightly uncomfortable partner for the foie gras: it's a little intense to just drink straight, and the bun floating in it won't please everyone. I actually really liked the soggy bun, but I'll admit that I'm weird that way. I had a dish at Susur in Toronto that featured skewers of foie wrapped in carpaccio of beef that one "cooked" for a few seconds in a little pot of broth, then one drank the broth at the end. I wonder how snackbar's foie would be dipped in its accompanying broth? Might have to try that..... One of the things that has really impressed me about this place is how they are constantly tweaking things, and they seem really interested in hearing what people think, so feel free to tell them. Of course, certain things would be more appropriate to just talk to them directly about, but I'm pretty sure they read this forum too...

Had another great meal at snackbar (sorry I didn't have the good camera with me, so I'll have to do a little work on the images a little to see if I have anything useable....) Revisited the spaghetti squash, brussels and truffles, Pear Jam, chicken thighs, gyoza and pork belly. All were dead-on delicious, some with minor tweaks from earlier preparations. The brussels sprouts were accompanied by hazelnuts instead of the marcona almonds, and I think I might have liked that pairing every bit as much. The pork belly was nice and meaty, served in more manageable pieces, and in a smaller, more stable bowl. The smoky onion dashi in which the pork was submerged was as delicious as always. Tried a couple of new things too. The rainbow trout with smoked scrambled eggs and scallion purée might have been my favorite thing all night. The combination of tender, simple fish, with boldly smoky, creamy eggs reverses the flavor profiles of the smoked trout with duck egg at Ansill, and gives it another level of polish, while staying homey and comforting. It will make a great brunch item when they start serving that (in the spring, maybe before...) I'm not sure if it's on the menu yet, but they've got a small supply of little baby chipparones, so get over there soon, and try that impossibly tender, sweet, seared cuttlefish, skating atop a glistening slick of squid ink sauce. The texture was intriguing, and waves of flavors ebbed and flowed: first some lemon, then the sea, then the cuttlefish itself, then mixtures of those three, swirling around the palate in spiraling eddies. Synaesthetic. Then a sneak attack: the kitchen sent out some tiny pickled kumquats, stuffed with pomegranate seeds, that exploded like fruity grenades in the tongue. I thought the DDP's eyes might pop out of his head, but thankfully he managed to divert the explosion by breaking into laughter. It was indeed a taste sensation, the ultimate palate cleanser, and an amazing combination of juicy flavors. Before dessert, we were treated to some cheese, presented in an amusing and exciting way. A Spanish Roncal was accompanied by a saffron-infused Rice Crispy Treat. Yes, really. A chunk of Irish Ardrahan really stunk up the joint, but that funkiness was tempered a bit by some doctored pear, and a tower of soda bread that had been sneaking shots of bourbon. Really nice, creative cheese plating. We finished with the molten chocolate cake, stuck in its drift of coffee licorice dust, and the vanilla financier scattered with rose petals. Both perfect enders to the meal, indulgent but not merely sweet. Drank some shiraz and a Hitachino Ginger Beer, which were independently enjoyable, and occasionally made good matches with the food. All in all, the food was every bit as good as the first time I was in, which is to say, pretty spectacular. We couldn't stop commenting on how the flavors, especially the juxtapositions of flavors, were novel and surprising, but the food was still delicious, not just stimulating. That's all I ever want... It's a lovely, comfy space, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised to see people just sitting and drinking, but they're really missing out. Order some food! You won't regret it.

So... let's say your mouth was still tingling a bit from some hot peppers from a nearby taqueria... seems like the only reasonable thing to do would be to get a hot chocolate at Rim Café. Maybe a hot white chocolate. or dark chocolate... You'll find it hard to resist a little two-bite eclair, or similarly diminutive filled-to-order cannoli. OK, neither of the hot chocolates is quite as outrageous as those up at Naked Chocolate Cafe, but they're still pretty darn good. And the desserts may not be worth a special trip, but they too are tasty, and really hit the spot for us. The owner is super-nice, the vibe is cool, so if you're in the neighborhood, drop by, you won't regret it.