iheartoffal

My favorite thing is when people complain that their wine glass isn't filled to the brim. This one guy came in and insisted I give him a full glass of wine. I told him that, in fact, that was what was on the table. He pointed to where he wanted it filled and I gladly obliged. He then complained later on when I charged him for two glasses of wine. Some people...

Wheeee! We got Third Best Overall Restaurant in the Fairfield Weekly! Not that that really means anything, but hey, we're not complaining!

He did it right in front of me last time I was there with a hand mixer. Not sure what else besides grapefruit juice was in the bowl, though. Oh, and I'll get around to posting about the rest of my meal sometime this week. I've just been hesitant to it do it because I don't remember every single detail (forgot to bring home the menu to use as a reference).

It's on Mamaroneck Ave in downtown White Plains.

Ditto Trotters. Also, if you're into sushi, try Seasons Japanese Bistro. Some of the best sushi I've had in this area.

I often wonder the same thing. It's one of the big mysteries around here to a lot of people. From talking to him, I gather that he has quite a bit of corporate business; I'd imagine that that's helping to keep him afloat. It really is a shame to walk around Stamford and see restaurants that pale in comparison completely packed and then walk by Zanghi and see maybe one or two tables. Hopefully it will change.

I'm not quite sure how it works. Is an "excellent" rating the rough equivalent of a 3 star rating? Anyone know how that works?

I've had the pleasure of eating at some of the top restaurants in NY, but for me, it keeps coming down to the cooking of Nicola Zanghi at Restaurant Zanghi in Stamford. I had to post about it, although I'm almost loath to share the secret. :-) Some of my favorite dishes are the Kobe Beef Carpaccio with Truffle Mayonaisse; the Scampi "As My Dad Taught Me"; and the Vanilla and Pignoli Crusted Fluke with Whipped Fennel, and Basil Coulis. If you're anywhere near Stamford, I HIGHLY recommend this place.

Hrmm...basil Mojito? Is that something you've tried before? That actually sounds kind of interesting.

The mac and cheese preparation is done sous vide now, too. Here's a quote from an interview with Jonathan Benno: "We could continue to be in business without [the Cryovac Machine], but it’d be tough. Twenty-five percent of our business is sous vide." Obviously this method has its merits, or they wouldn't be using it so prolifically. What I noticed was that it allowed the essence of the butter to permeate the meat while not cooking it completely through. Perhaps its one of those things where time is of the essence; a minute too long cooking under these conditions could render the lobster tough. I don't know much about it, but that's my theory.

I just got back from eating there. To me, it was par for the course among the yuppie-fusion type eateries--an increasing number of which seem to be named Blue, or Blū, or Bloo, or (sometimes more appropriately) Blew. While nothing was really bad about this place, nothing was really great, either. The food was typical to this vein; a lot of your usual americanized-asian staples with a couple of minor variations. Firecracker Spring Rolls, Asian BBQ Ribs, etc--you've seen it all before. For entrees we shared Wild Boar (with huckleberry sauce, julienne veggies, and fingerling potatoes), Rack of Lamb (plum-rubbed with mashed potatoes and soy-honey syrup), and Filet Mignon (with foie gras demi glace and mashers), all of which were enjoyable but not earth-shattering. The desserts were non-descript concoctions burried in mountains of whipped cream and extraneous garnishes. The service was quite friendly but a little bit shaky. We felt a little bit hurried when deciding on our first drinks, and the server ended up bringing out the wrong wine. Overall, though, he seemed quite knowledgable about the food and reasonably so about the wine (though we wondered if he was making up some of his wine descriptions). In all, it was an average meal at an average place. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but I also wouldn't deter anyone from trying it themselves. I'll probably go back and give it another try at some point. To its credit, it's a new restaurant and probably still getting its bearings. I'm sure it will only get better with time.

I guess they really are cutting costs! Here's a sample from a recent tasting menu: Salisbury "Steak" "Top" Ramen Noodles, Sauce "A1" and the cheese course? Cheeze "Whiz" "Saltine" wafer, "Spam"

To say that Thomas Keller is strictly about hype is simply ridiculous. For years he has won almost unanimous praise from critics, chefs, and average diners alike. You're calling into question the integrity, honesty, and qualification of thousands of people who certainly know better than you.

Congratulations, buddy! You might have been right!

We had the "Mac 'n' Cheese" preparation of the lobster with our dinner and the lobster was quite tender. I don't get it...in nearly 90% of the reviews of Per Se that I've read the past year there's a mention of tough lobster; and in nearly half of those, people say they can't even cut into them with the provided cutlery. Surely Per Se must be aware that many people have experienced this problem. Perhaps they're treating like the over-salting problem and chalking it up all up to a problem on the diner's end.

One of the former chefs , Patrick Frawleys, left there a little less than a year ago to helm the kitchen at Ocean 211 up here in Stamford.

Pardon me if this has already been covered, but has anyone tried making a serious appeal to the NYT in regards to getting rid of this guy? Perhaps a petition signed by restauranteurs and real food critics might give them a hint.

woops... I'll try to get around to posting something this weekend. No, I didn't have the consomme, but Sam was nice enough to send out some pretty phenomenal desserts, including a grapefruit-jalapeno "push pop" that just about made me fall out of my chair.

Seems like knocking Per Se is the new black.

Simple combinations cooked by a master can be just as, if not more, profound than "creative" ones IMO. I actually like this ostensibly no-nonsense approach.

Going back tomorrow again! Getting the tasting menu this time.

They DO have jackets on hand there. They offerered me one at Per Se because the one I was wearing was very heavy and my waiter noticed that I looked a little hot.

I once grew herbs in an NYC apartment, much to the dismay of the police. Woops...wrong type of herbs. I thought this was the High Times forum...

Personally, I don't dislike her, either. She seems genuine and appears to have a good working knowledge of what she's doing. I think to most people (including myself) she just represents the shift in target-audience of the Food Network and the "dumbing down" of most of their programming. I mean, it's not her fault. She's comfortable in front of the camera, easy on the eyes, and can cook pretty well to boot. Of course they're going to put her front and center.

Oh dear, she's taking over the world. Before you know it, we'll all be marching the goose-step, arms extended, shouting "Yummo!". All humanity will be forced to survive on a food budget of $40 a day. Anyone cooking a meal in over 30 minutes will be executed.