viejomajadero
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Posts posted by viejomajadero
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Hey CB, Esq
Have not met this wing of the family yet. Will try to remember. Can I assume this is a Cuban place? With that name I will fit in.
Was just informed we will also be staying in Charlottesville so dining there will be must.
Thanks
Viejo
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Hi
Coming from NJ. Staying in Shenandoah Nat. Park. Have Culinary dinner at Inn at Little Wash on Weds. Hope to hit a few of your noted places. Cuban wife has family in Charlottesville. Viejo Majadero means cranky old man. Has other meaning to other Latin cultures. Hope I don't live up to my reputation. Thanks for the timely reporting.
Viejo
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Cornell
Why don't you go to Vinnies? I have been eating that food starting when Vinnie actually owned the place.
The food under the current regime has always at worst -- been good. Pizza there is better than any in my area.
Pat the owner is likeable and surely would listen to your complaints.
I live in Kinnelon and there is nothing near Vinnies quality, taste, and service. I always make special requests and always get it with a smile.
Viejo
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Thanks Max
But my questions were rhetorical. Most wine consumers are not sophisiticated at all. They need to latch onto something to go beyond blind buying. Scores advertising, whatever.
Thanks
Viejo
88 Haut Brion is my dinner choice tonight -- celebrating my 59th. Hope it's a wow.
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KSPS and PLRAGDE
You are right about Monteforte (not Cremeria by the way according to their stub)
Was in Rome late July. Went to Giolitti. Did not know the rules. Waited on line for gelato. Got to the counter only to be told to que up by the register first. Went to the register. Second in line. Lady at the register looks at us in line while talking to a friend. This went on for five minutes. Never stopped talking. Never took anyones money. I started yelling and walked out.
Walked down Via Della Rotunda to Geleteria Monteforte. Had great gelato without the Bull. Was treated respectfully every night. Teriffic people. Gelato at night in the shadows of the Pantheon, can it get any better!
As for espresso. I love Capuccino. Was told to go to Sant'Eustachio. Was OK but found the place more of a "scene" than anything. Best capuccino for me in Rome was after dinner at Campana.
Viejo
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Great writing everyone. Very interesting and timely.
Unless one is a very small volume producer there is little room for artistry.
Wine is a very big and expensive business. Land, land maintenance, bugs, plants, plant maintenance, shop equipment, storage, glass, inventory and a host of other cost factors go into making wine.
Sure there are some (very few) "starving artist" types out there in small boutique/garage operations. For the most part this is a rich mans game, big corporation game. At stake is lot of money. The product must be sold.
They need to sell to the public. The public needs a way to get through store shock. Some buy on price, but I suspect most buy on shelf tags that show scores. Parker scores, Tanzer scores, Spectator scores, Enthusiast score, etc. Alot of shops near me do their own scores for unscored wine. JohnL is correct most consumers know very little about Parker if they know him at all. They surely don't have this love/hate relationship the industry has.
As a consumer myself, one who is knowledgeable about wine, I find it overwhelming to buy wine today. Sometimes I am lucky enough to go to professional wine tastings and taste wines currently arriving in the market but that still does not give me access to the broad spectrum of wine in the market. You know, early on in my life I could name most of the producers in Napa. So what is the consumer do? They rely on others to synthesize the market. Forget about Parker for the moment. Lets talk Tanzer. If I were to buy wines with Tanzer high scores and enjoyed them tremendously I would continue to follow that pattern. If wine makers saw that Tanzer high scored wines sell better than others and want to style wines toward that taste -- then that is good business and not automatically bad wine.
That said, I really don't think wine making is that much of a perfect science. Yeah, one could manipulate the chemistry toward a style but there are lost of other factors.
Now, lets talk about sophisticated wine consumers like ourselves. Can we live without all these scores? Do we buy futures and pray? Do we buy blindly from the rich mans Boutique of the month? Or, do we for the most part have a narrow range of wines we rely on that meet our requirements -- taste and style?
I love La Mission Haut Brion. I know generally, in bad years it is good and in good years it is great. I know that all the reviewers above will have the same general opinion for a vintage. I get my Parker subscription and I know La Mission is going in my cellar. I also know it is finite. X cases available --period-- vintage after vintage for the wine world to share. But, I read about an everyday level wine from Bordeaux 2000. Parker likes it at 89 and it costs on future $20 - $25 . I buy it on the strength of his review. For the most part, I love it, and so do my knowledgeable friends.
Hope I did not ramble too much.
Viejo
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To
DVS - Thanks
Suzilightning -- Did my wife squeal about my Tiara thing? Thanks
Rebecca263 -- Thanks. Was my first birthday celebration with a grandchild present. He was teriffic. I was the one who was crying.
Tonight is my real celebration. Off to Zarole, just with my wife, my tiara, wine glasses, and a bottle from my cellar. Probably Haute Brion or La Mission Haute Brion from the 80's but may go high end California.
Viejo
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Zarole - Ridgewood
Consistant high food quality. Pretty interior. Friendly staff. Not NY priced.
And, very important! ---- BYO.
In fact will be there this Saturday. I think a late 80's La Mission Haut Brion in tow.
Viejo
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To
Curlz. Thank you. My Pathmark makes great fried chicken. Get it while it is hot.
Icdm. Thank you. Also Kids took me to Calandras Medit. Grill. Had dessert there coated in wax.
Verjuice. Thanks For me it is Zocor.
Katie. Thanks Does Philly miss my brat number Two? She decided after 4 years at Penn, 2 years making Mojitos in Philly, and very good ones I might add, to go to a freezer box called Cornel Law. I'm sure Cafe Habana misses her but what about the rest of the city?
Racheld. Thanks also. Your suggestion is on my short list since I do the cooking here.
DTBarton. Thanks. No rib joint in sight, but I dream of Rondezvoux in New Orleans getting back on its feet.
Bigbear. Yeah no cheese. Don't mix my dairy and meat. (That was a joke
Thanks again to all.
Viejo Majadero
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A few years back I had a heart attack while on a hike in Yosemite Nat Park.
That meant for me certain foods will be denied, except for today. Today I am on my annual cholesterol binge.
As I write this commentary I am leaving greasy fingerprints on my laptop keys. I do not care, I wait all year for this moment. This annual feast of my favorite forbidden fruit.
I just packed my wifes lunch for work. Read all my birthday cards accumulated throughout the week. Gave her a kiss and a have a good day. Waved as she went out the door. Then turned and ran to the Viking. Prepared my breakfast. I have to admit, no one does it better.
Lightly toasted on the outside Portugese roll, sliced open and steaming. Two fried eggs cooked just enough to solidify the white but not enough prevent, endless it seems, golden yellow yolk running with every bite. The eggs are place between layers of cooked through, brown on the middle and crispy on the edge --- Taylor Ham.
I place this masterpiece on my kitchen table. Coffee, fresh brewed at my side. It is one year ago today that I last had this beautiful sandwich before me. Gently I took my first bite and that explosion of yolk gushed forth -- not better than sex but close. Ok, I've come down from my high - enough to share this moment.
I am sated. But thinking about lunch -- I think fried chicken from my local Pathmark. I really wish there was a local restaurant with suckling pig coated in very crispy skin. Yeah. And for dinner, well its family time but I think something from Calandras bakery with loads for creamy stuff will do.
I'm sorry. I got carried away with myself. My birthday is all about me.
But --- what would your once a year post heart attack birthday be like?
Viejo Majadero Cranky old man
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It is on the north bound side. It is part of the Dawg House. It is just after Boonton Ave.
Viejo
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JOHN
Do a treat for yourself. Make a reservation at Restaurant Latour. Pricier than P&O. Lightyears ahead on food. And a wine list that will make P&O a second class citizen. Plus it overlooks a golf course and meadows rimmed with distant mountains. Sunset is the best.
Ask to see the wine cellar. It is breathtaking. It is very deep in the worlds best. It has plenty of wine history laying down for the taking/drinking.
Lastly, the owner would not rest if someone called his food "decent" by any definition. There would be no haggling. Period.
Viejo
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Tommy
You always make me laugh.
Thanks
Viejo
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JohnL
Very respectfully I am making some comments about your analysis of P&O.
Maybe our differences are based on age, I am very soon to be 59, economics, food and life/travel experiences, pallete preferences. I am not sure.
1. "The consensus seems to be great wine list --decent food."
I think the concensus is great wine list. I think decent is a compliment to the food. These are quotes so far about the food:
Viejo --- server of what can best be described as plates of glop
JohnL -- it rarely rises above just decent or good
MarkK-- The food, alas, has gone steadily downhill over the years
Menton 1-- Park & Orchard has kind of run its course
Curlz-- I can't say I've ever been impressed by the food
John, can you imagine these quotes in a serious food review?
2. "If this place got "serious" about raising the quality of the food and the ambiance to "match" the fine Burgundies on the list--the prices would also rise substantially and the breadth of the menu and the wine list would shrink dramatically."
John, it would not take much to raise the quality of the food past "decent" on a consistant basis. Gummy brown rice, boring bread, for example, are not major cost factors. Interesting preparation and presentation of "salmon" for example will not raise costs. My food there always looked like it was thrown on the plate.
Lastly, I do eat at and prefer high end places in NJ. I have had dinner with the owners of Saddle River Inn, original owner of Sonoma Grill, Restaurant Latour at Crystal Springs for example. I am in a Culinary group that has a deep cellar and schedules dinner at the top restaurants. But, I also eat at "middle" places most often and BYO'S especially, as I have a few hundred bottles of wine to consume. The standard is they, at the least, must cook better than I do.
Thanks for your time
Viejo
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Based on your name I would recommend Pierluigi or for great wine list and cheese Al Bric.
But since you ask about my least favorite, over - rated, server of what can best be described as plates of glop ---Park & Orchard, and since my wife said I should be nice ----- I will be nice. It has a great wine list.
That said I would recommend -- assuming you have transportation --
Fascino in Montclair
Amanda's and Jefferson in Hoboken
The Manor in West Orange -- for dress up, romantic, excellent food and service and only in the alacarte section. NOT the smorgasboard.
There are more but I am trying to stay reasonably close to Lyndhurst
Viejo
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Ate at American Fare about two months after the changeover. Food was decent but nothing to rave about. Was not impressed with the staff at that time. Felt lacking in food and restaurant acumen.
Viejo
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Telephone message says that they are closed for renovation and will hopefully reopen in August.
"Closed for renovations" is usually translated from restaurant-ese to English as meaning "Closed Permanently". For some reason businesses don't like to be honest when they close down. It will be a big surprise if this place ever reopens.
BTW, isn't John Foy involved in that highly-acclaimed Latour out in Sussex? (Not to be confused with Latour in Ridgewood).
You are probably right on the closing point.
As for Foy, I have a quote from the NJ Monthly Review April Issue
"Foy... who made his name with at the groundbreaking Tarragon Tree in Meyersville before opening Le Delice in Whippany and Sonoma Grill in East Rutherford, is in charge of compiling what owner Gene Mulvihill hopes will be the best wine collection in the country."
Viejo
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Sonoma Grill has closed their doors. Drove by yesterday and they have a for sale sign up. Another one bites the dust.
I am saddened -- as a long time customer and friend to many who have worked there.
Viejo
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Restaurant Latour received an "excellent" from David Corcoran in the NJ section of the NY Times on June 12, 2005.
Rosie
The review was almost as good as mine
Viejo
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Welcome to eGullet Viejomajadero & thanks for your report. Where else do you like to dine in NJ?
Rosie
I have been a member for years contrary to what the bio says. Just have not written for a long time.
Thanks
Viejo
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I had the pleasure of dinner at Restaurant Latour (RL) this last Sunday. My culinary group had a special dinner. We also had one recently at Stage Left. By far, RL blew the socks off the offering at Stage left.
1st our Menu and Wine selections:
Reception: Champagne, Besserat de Bellfon, Rose, n/v
Hors d’oeuvres: Tuna Tartare with Wasabi Crème Fraiche in Sesame Cones; Chopstick Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce; Tartlette of Saffron Ratatouille; Hudson Valley Foie Gras Mousse with Pear Relish.
*****
First Course: “Crab Sandwich”
Softshell Crab on Toasted Brioche with Garden Frisee, Oven Dried Plum Tomatoes, Lemon Caper Remoulade
Puligny-Montrachet, 1er Cru, Aux Combettes, Domaine Jacques Prieur 1998
*****
Middle Course: Fava Bean Agnolotti, Applewood Smoked Bacon Lardoons, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Braised Oxtail, and Micro Greens
San Felice, Vigorella, Super-Tuscan, 1997
*****
Main Course: Colorado Rack of Lamb, Toasted Israeli Couscous, Haricot Vert, Sweet Garlic Chips, Rosemary Demi-Glace
Chateau Haut-Brion, Graves, 1990
*****
Dessert Sampler: Ricotta Crème Brulee; Fresh Spring Berries; Triple Layer Chocolate Malt Parfait
Adelsheim, “Deglaze” Pinot Noir, Late Harvest, Oregon
Coffee, Selection of Teas
We were 45 people. Few restaurants, we hold dinners at, can serve 45 dinners at the same time that were as exceptionally prepared as these.
The Crab sandwich was outstanding. The crab was crunchy, the remoulade was subtle. The wine paired well. It was rich, matured and developed. A hint of oak, with good fruit, minerality, and no vanilla.
The Agnoloti was very interesting. I particulary enjoyed the Chanterelles which were about 1/2" to 1" long --- whole. Reminded me of a lunch I had at a hilltop restaurant in Valpolicella, Italy. The Vigorella was in full bloom. A blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet, aged in Limouisine Barriques for 20 months and then 12 more in the bottle. The color was almost black. Historically this is the 1st Super Tuscan made. Deliciously filling the mouth, decent nose, and held its own against the rich and flavorful Agnoloti dish.
The Lamb came out perfectly warm and beautifully pink. Cooked to just the right temperature. If I were to complain and it is small, I did not like the way the Couscous was prepared. I found it a little dry. The Demi-Glace was redolent with Rosemary and the Haut Brion just cleaned my pallet with every swallow. Not as dark as the Vigorella it showed plenty of tannins and fruit. Previously decanted before arriving at out table the wine had that classsic Haut Brion fragrance, a tremendous burst of flavor with the typical hint of smoke known to many Pessac wines. There are many years ahead for this wine to develop.
Desert was anti-climactic. The parfait being outstanding. The desert wine was delicious. Made like an Ice Wine, sweet but not cloying, syrupy but with no profound nose, 17.5% residual sugar. My understanding is that it is not available to the public, but is from the personal production of David Adelsheim.
John Benjamin the Chef brought all his skills that day to make our meal one of the best I have had with our group and definitley in the three I have had in New Jersey personally.
The dining staff under Heidi Dalton was well trained and accomodating.
The wine cellar could very well be the best in the state and probably high ranking in the country. I took a picture for example of a case of 1982 Petrus probably $32,000 worth of liquid. Leaning against it was a pristine 1959 Mouton Rothschild. They also have plenty of table wines to choose from, at lower price ranges.
My real complaints were directed by myself to the owner personally.
1. There is no web site for the restaurant. If you Google "Restaurant Latour at Crystal Spings" you really have to work hard to figure out much about the restaurant. (Actually the card for the restaurant Shows Crystal Springs Country Club, One Wild Turkey Way, Hardyston as the address. The restaurant being part of the Country Club.
2. Having directions I got from Map Quest got me close, but there is little signage to help you. When you finally find Crystal Springs (the housing Complex) the sign says the restaurant is 2.1 miles ahead. But, there is no further signage and the road ends with a choice of going right or left.
Restaurant Latour
Reservations: 973-827-0548
Dinner Weds- Sat : 5-9
Sun: 3-7
Viejo
Restaurants in Charlottesville
in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining
Posted
Hi
Took a quick look on line. Cubans don't eat Burittos and Salsa, as a native dish.
Viejo