iheartoffal

I went to Momofuku for the second time the other night...finally tried the famous pork buns. Oddly enough, I also found them a little too sweet, and I'm a man who loves his hoisin (I almost sought counceling for a general tso's habit). I also found the sauce that accompanied the roasted rice cakes to be a bit too sweet after for my tastes. The braised pork belly with apples and pickeled mustard seeds was flat out wonderful, however, and I'm thinking of returning very soon to have it again.

And without my help! I'm so proud of you.

How was your xmas dinner there? I went over the summer...loved it. It's one of the more ambitious restaurants in this area outside of NYC.

In my experience, the Per Me has a slightly smoky heft to it with a spicy finish, while the Per Mio Figlio has more fruit/herb characteristics. Both are truly extraordinary olive oils unmatched in their quality by anything I've tried.

When it opened, the choice was a 5 vs a 9-course menu. When did the 7-course option replace the 5? ← Within the last month or so.

Sweet! I'm going to make some chicken sashimi with a side of kimchi. Anyone care to join me?

A couple of them, such as the turbot, weren't on either menu. Most of the dishes were either on the tasting menu or were tasting-sized version of a la carte items.

A couple of nights ago, I enjoyed my fifteenth or so(I lost count) and best meal at WD-50 with a buddy of mine. Somehow, the kitchen manages to top themselves everytime I eat there, which is absurdly often--too often if you're, say, my accountant. What can I say, though, it's my favorite place in the city. So we were given two different eleven-course tasting menus, most of which consisted of items I hadn't had before. I managed to take a couple of pics (with my camera phone, so be nice) of the more interesting items, which I've included. Bare with me, though, as I'm doing this mostly from memory. First Course: Smoked eel with crispy chicken skin, chicken skin puree, pomegranate seeds The friend I was with is new to the culinary avante garde, so it was priceless to see the look of incredulity on his face when the server would announce that he was being served an item that included something like chicken skin puree. Second Course: Foie gras with pea soil, candied olives and beet juice Had this before. Love it. Mussel-olive oil soup with pickeled water chestnuts The pickled chestnuts accented this rich soup perfectly Third Course: Shrimp Canelloni, chorizo emulsion, basil If I knew how to obtain and use transglutaminase, I would make this at home every day. Shrimp cous-cous, papaya, bruleed avocado, crispy kaffir lime Fourth Course: Hangar tartare with bearnaise ice cream, amaro and asian pears Delicious. Pickled beef tongue, fried mayonaise, tomato molasses Had this many times. Classic. Fifth Course: Cocoa-Dashi with instant lemon yogurt noodles Wow. I think my jaw hit the floor when they brought this out. My friend's face was a rictus of utter confusion. The hot broth was brought to the table with a small squeeze bottle filled with the lemon yogurt substance. The "noodles" set up as soon they hit the broth. Lot's of fun. The flavor was otherwordly--strange and wonderful. The broth itself, according to my friend, tasted like a fishy tasting coffee, but in a good way. I can't say I disagreed with him. The yogurt noodles added a nice zing. Sixth Course: Ocean Trout, quinoa, blood orange puree, toast oil I've had this preparation before, but with the king salmon. One of my favorites. Turbot with smoked bulgar wheat, salsify and coffee-saffron emulsion I didn't see this on that nights tasting menu or the regular menu. The texture of the turbot was wonderfully firm. Turbot is a fish that, to me, is best served with minimal accompaniment, since the flavor and texture are so wonderful. This preparation was complex but let the fish speak for itself. Excellent. Seventh Course: Pork belly, sauerkraut spaetzle, swiss cheese consomme, mustard oil Very funny. Very Delicious Chicken, green olive, green apple, sake soubise Eighth Course: Venison Loin, pickled cherry puree, brussels sprouts Rack of lamb, tamarind-cashew, cranberry beans, parsley root I'd never make it as a restaurant critic, as I run out of adjectives really quikly. In any case, this was delicious. Ninth Course: Concord grape sorbet, peanut butter powder, toast It seems like the in-thing lately to make cute little plays on PB+J. This one actually worked. Tenth Course: Caramel-braised pineapple, mustard ice cream, coconut foam I can't stand the taste of mustard, but I loved this--a testament to Sam Mason's abilities, IMHO. Black mission fig, bay leaf gelee, pine nut ice cream Wow. This one was another eye-opener. Eleventh Course: Beet cake, pistachio puree, chocolate sorbet Butternut sorbet, pumpkin seed cake, mole', chocolate soil Like I've said before, Sam Mason's sorbets and ice creams really capture the true flavor of the particular ingredient, unlike what you get at most other places where the resemblance is remote at best. This truly tasted of butternut squash. Fantastic meal with no duds. I think the biggest testament to this restaurant is that everyone I bring there, no matter how squeemish initially, ends up loving it. Dig the quality of those photos, eh? Move over, Yellow Truffle...

Just curious as to what your basis is for saying that. There's an (often erroneous) assumption that restaurants suffer when the chef isn't around.

It's a type of truffle common in Burgundy, but also cultivated elsewhere. It has a flavor (at least to me) similar to the summer black truffle.

Yes. I went a few weeks ago and had the tasting menu. A couple of courses were totally out of this world (raw scallops with beets and truffle oil), but it was for the most part just O.K. The service staff was knowledgable (some pretty damned good wine pairings were provided) and friendly, but we waited nearly 20 minutes between each course (they were packed). I suppose that's what I get for breaking my rule of never eating at restaurants on fridays and saturdays. I prefer to go on a regular weekday when it's slower.

I'm about halfway through the book right now, and while some of it does strike me as apocryphal (especially the chapter on TFL, based on what I know), I can't imagine him knowingly revising history to the extent that people are accusing him of. It would be one thing if we were talking about an isolated quote, but we're talking about a full blow publication, one which contains open criticism of several important figures in the restaurant business. I think Doug is well aware that it would be folly to make some of the statements he makes if they were untrue, and that the consequences of engaging in slander could end up backfiring and having serious implications for his career and his reputation. From what I've gleaned from his book, those are two very important things to Mr. Psaltis.

Lately, I've found myself having to resist the urge to reach through the TV and beat the smug sense of self importance out of Tyler Florence. It just wafts off the guy like bad B.O., so much so that I feel like taking a shower after accidently flipping past his program. It's too bad, because I used to think he was pretty tolerable, and his shows were more or less informative. Ming Tsai has also taken a turn for the worse since he left PBS for Fine Living. His show on PBS was super-informative and totally bullshit free, but his new show (Ming's Travels?) is just painful to watch with the cloying, day-glo, corny, over-produced feel that Fine Living and all of its sibling networks have made into a trademark.

There's a short interview with Wylie and some footage from his appearance on ICA up on the Food Network site. Here's the link. Looks like he's facing off against Batali. Should be a good show.

Honestly, I don't remember whether the chairs were comfortable or not. I didn't think about them, which leads me to believe that they were. As far as mignardises, they usually will give you either curry-chocolate covered almonds, or some sort of cotton candy--usually flavored with something you wouldn't expect, like saffron (verrrry tasty).

Anyone else notice the bit of food stuck on the face of one of the judges when Batali's uni parfait thingie was being discussed?

I've had both menus. Obviously, at place like this, you want to try a little bit of everything, so the tasting menu is naturally the most logical choice. I must say, though, that everything I've had on the a la carte menu is also absolutely fantastic. When my friends and I go out to eat, we end up passing every single plate around and sampling everything, so what we end up with is basically a tasting menu even if we order a la carte. I guess if you really want to go all out, you can order multiple tasting menus, as they apparently don't have a problem doing that in the kitchen there, though I'm not sure about five people. Whatever route you take, you'll leave 100% satisfied.

Oh man, the USS Chowder Pot. I had a couple of friends who used to work there...apparently it's pretty crazy.

I second Trumbull Kitchen...HUGE menu with very reasonable prices. It's been a long time since I've been there, but I've never had a bad meal there.

For great modern Italian cuisine, I'd recommend Peppercorns...it's on Main St in downtown Hartford. It's one of the best restaurants in Hartford, IMHO. http://www.peppercornsgrill.com/index2.html If you're looking for more traditional Italian, I would try Carbone's on Franklin Ave on the south end.

I think that was quite a conjectural statement. Talent and creativity are qualities you either have, or you don't. This isn't a gender issue.

I think I posted my thoughts on this on the last RR bashing thread du jour, but I thought I'd weigh in again. Rachel should be held blameless in this. It's not her fault that she's attractive, comfortable in front of the camera, has a decent grasp of the fundamentals of preparing food, and that she just so happened to score a nice gig because of the afformentioned qualities. Furthermore, she didn't set out with the intention of dumbing down the FN, or of appealing strictly to the lowest common denominator among people with only the most passive interest in food. I think she genuinely believes in what she does, and I don't there's anything wrong with trying to appeal to people who aren't willing to spend a lot of time and money on dining out or cooking. Personally, I think she injects a modicum of quality and intergrity, even on the terms of the kind of food she's preparing. The problem is, she's become sort of an avatar for the demise of the food network as it once was. Is this her doing? No way. Is it Emeril's doing? No. The dumbing down of the FN is almost one of those chicken or the egg sort of conundrums. Is it the producers of the programming that made a conscious decision to replace all of the high-brow programing with much simpler fare, or was it the public that demanded it? Logic would say that it's a little of both. Of course the network is going to do what ever is making them more money. Unfortunately, if Rachel Ray and the umpteenth Unwrapped/Secret Life Of.../Roker on the Road type shows are going to generate the most viewers, then that's what we're going to see more of. It's sad for those of us who have higher standards, but it shouldn't be entirely unexpected. In short, I'm just as frustrated with the FN as the next guy. It pisses me off that whenever I turn on the tv, all I ever see is Emeril, Emeril, Emeril; and meanwhile, something interesting like Bourdain's special on Ferran Adria can't even get shown in the 4am slot. I'm just not in hurry to blame it on the most visible person, in this case RR.

Hmm, well, I'm glad I only went there for a cocktail!

Nice.

Yeah, he calls me 'Mr. Offal' whenever I'm there. It sort of freaked me out the first time. You'd be suprised who reads this thing.