JWest
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Posts posted by JWest
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As we eat out with the kids, it can be difficult. Due to Heidi's disabilities, chains are out. Just flat out. Due to oral motor limitations and the inability to make her eat what is available, we look for alternatives. Ask a chain restaurant or a fast food joint to make accommodations? Let's just say that the one time we asked at Mickey D's for a cheeseburger sans burger met with a "we can't do that." (Let's face it, they can eliminate the pickles, or the mustard, or the ketchup, or the onions; all we asked was that they held the burger). Ask at a place like TGIF's for scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich, and we are met with an "it's not on the menu." (so, do they not have cheese and bread?)
Scrambled eggs cooked in a microwave doesn't sound pleasing to me
They probably have some sort of corporate regulation on what they send out from the kitchen. Someone would probably get in real trouble if you were to get sick from the grilled cheese. Since it's not on the menu, the company probably doesn't want to make a habit of that because they have food costs budgets to meet every month. That's my guess anyways.
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I don't know why, but I've never enjoyed the barbacoa as much as the chicken... and the steak is usually dry.For me, I don't go eating a large breakfast and think "hmmm lets go get chipotle for lunch!" usually its when I'm starving for a delicious barbacoa burrito with cilantro scented rice, black beans, mild & hot salsa, creamy sour cream, and cheese piled in a large warm tortilla.Agreed, I had steak the first time having a chipotle burrito.. it was dry too. Never had it again, Chicken is always the safe bet though. Im not a big fan of the carnitas as well but Chicken and Barbacoa are my two favorites.
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If this type of dining is what you enjoy, then enjoy it. Myself, I think I will try to balance my diet in a different way with less calories from fat.
I enjoy all types of dining, Im not closed minded. Sometimes when you're working 70 hours a week for a 4star/diamond restaurant and going to college 30 hours a week, you've gotta do what you gotta do.
As a quailfier, I personally have never dined at Chipotle and might if I come across one, none in my area. But it is not high on my list of places to try. My impression is they are trying to sell the bigger is better and we are healthy because we use fresh vegies ideas.I think they are more focused on the fact that they get their meat from the same site that Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, and other nation-wide chefs used to get there meat from (maybe still do).
A quick nutrition analysis of your orderI guess if you have a very rigious workout regimen, which a lot of people do not
Well they better get on it!
Well I might as well stop eating my chili cheese fries at Arrowhead from now on... don't want to over consume that salt!
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I'd imagine if you had two people with the same workout routine but one was on a chipotle diet and the other was on a McDonald's diet that the Chipotle eater would be a healthier person in the long run. Also, even with 1300 calories, don't you think you really don't need to eat very much in the rest of the day if you ate a whole burrito from Chipotle?
Depending on the person but that still leaves 1200 calories to be consumed in a day, maybe those 1200 can be spent on other types of food groups like fruits and vegetables. For me, I don't go eating a large breakfast and think "hmmm lets go get chipotle for lunch!" usually its when I'm starving for a delicious barbacoa burrito with cilantro scented rice, black beans, mild & hot salsa, creamy sour cream, and cheese piled in a large warm tortilla. I'd hardly count that as an "empty calorie" such as soda, beer, and hard liqour.
btw, the 2 salsa selection is the key...sometimes I'll go for a trio of salsas if my day is just that good! but yeah.. the mild fresh tomato and spicy saucy salsa is an amazing combination with any kind of meat.
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Dave took us to a place called Taqueria Las Arenosas (1203 Kansas Ave), it was great and so good that I just went home and took a nap.
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Maybe it's quite different when you are with people that you can't be "too" comfortable with. If I were with my close friends dining at Alinea it would be way different than me eating with business co workers much less bosses. So with that said, I think the situation that you are in has a huge role in how your dining experience is.
I truely feel that if you step out of reality for just one night and let things flow as if you were in a dream things would not be as "awkward" as it may seem. (of course taking the whole revealing situation out of play)
Just taking two seconds to relax, not worrying about your surroundings, and letting the service piece feed you the way it should then I think the whole experience is a much better one. But if you start to over anaylize the course and not take it for what it is then you lose sight of what the whole meaning of the dish is about.
I see many people get frustrated, worried, and shaky about using chopsticks. They would call it awkward and wonder why we don't just eat with forks and knives. Of course the reason being, we don't want to pierce the food and ruin the integrity of the dish. The "Antenna" allows air to flow all around the food item preventing it from getting soggy on the bottom, bruised, or mis shaped. With this, it gives life to the whole idea of dining and for five seconds it gives you a chance to break away from the structured dining ideals that most of has have been trapped under and enjoy your self. So, maybe one day The Antenna will be used as a normal item just like chopsticks are throughout American-Asian Restaurants.
Of course, what Chicagowench went through is concerning and sounds like an issue that would be taken seriously.
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On the note about it being awkward.. I have to disagree. I really don't see what the awkardness about eating something by only using your mouth. What I find awkward is trying to pick something extremely small and slippery with a knife and fork. What's more comforting than food on a stick? In my opinion, Alinea just put fine dining on a the easiest thing to eat off of. If the wire is too far away from you forcing you to lean forward so much that you are uncomfortable than I reccommend moving the base of the wire closer to you and eat the one biter.
Yes, unless one's height relative to the table is such one is then performing a bizarro mix of a Laurie Anderson piece and the mating dance of the Blue Footed Boobie as one bobs one's head about and tries to judge height and distance and angle to get it right. I believe we'll simply have to agree to disagree; you may not find it awkward, I find having to angle myself at such a cant that my boss can tell what style of bra I'm wearing to be awkward in the old-fashioned sense of the word. For that matter, had it been my father in law, uncles, or heaven forfend grandfather, it would have been equally awkward.
I would have requested the server to do something to fit your handicap. No different from someone asking for "training" chopsticks at the sushi joint...if you couldn't pick up the base or if it was just THAT bad.
EDITED to fit with Docconz reply.
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I just don't see what's so unappealing about it... it's simple, beautiful, tasty, elegant, and fun all in one bite.
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On the note about "leaning over" ... that's a problem, that might be a mistake on the server's part because I can't imagine a Chef wanting you to lean and make the extra effort to eat. Fine dining is all about taking a way all of the work from the customer.
On the note about it being awkward.. I have to disagree. I really don't see what the awkardness about eating something by only using your mouth. What I find awkward is trying to pick something extremely small and slippery with a knife and fork. What's more comforting than food on a stick? In my opinion, Alinea just put fine dining on a the easiest thing to eat off of. If the wire is too far away from you forcing you to lean forward so much that you are uncomfortable than I reccommend moving the base of the wire closer to you and eat the one biter.
Call me crazy but when I think of a business dinner, I don't think of Alinea as being the most appropriate in the first place but more along the lines of Tru. If Im eating at Alinea, all the focus should be on the food and service. But that's just me.
Simple solution here. Just cut the wire to about half of it's current length and let the customer pick up the wire out of it's base and eat it like it's on a stick. The whole bobbing for apples thing is just not appealing.
Why, when you can just eat it how it is... It's as simple as taking a bite, it doesn't take super eye to mouth skills to do so... all you have to do is eat. It's so simple to eat off of that dogs can do it.
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The highly touted utensils and dishes especially designed for the restaurant and specific dishes for the most part don't add anything to and often detracted from the dishes, making them awkward and hard to eat.The "anti-plate" elicited the same reaction from me - as well as the long single protuding wire with food stuck on the end
Amen. Because as a woman there with her bosses on a business dinner, I really, really didn't want to give either of them a flash of a little more than I intended as I had to leeeeean over and pluck food off of a wire with my mouth. Not only awkward and hard to eat, but socially uncomfortable as well.
On the note about "leaning over" ... that's a problem, that might be a mistake on the server's part because I can't imagine a Chef wanting you to lean and make the extra effort to eat. Fine dining is all about taking a way all of the work from the customer.
On the note about it being awkward.. I have to disagree. I really don't see what the awkardness about eating something by only using your mouth. What I find awkward is trying to pick something extremely small and slippery with a knife and fork. What's more comforting than food on a stick? In my opinion, Alinea just put fine dining on a the easiest thing to eat off of. If the wire is too far away from you forcing you to lean forward so much that you are uncomfortable than I reccommend moving the base of the wire closer to you and eat the one biter.
Call me crazy but when I think of a business dinner, I don't think of Alinea as being the most appropriate in the first place but more along the lines of Tru. If Im eating at Alinea, all the focus should be on the food and service. But that's just me.
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If anyone can help me with this, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Can anyone explain to me how the process works into getting investors and while making the business plan, do you need to know the location before hand or can you decide that after the business plan has been made and you've gained investors?
Im extremely confused on how it all works...
..hope I'm not the only one. 
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Here's a video of inside the restaurant...there's a few more that you can see as well.
If I was a Kid, I'd be begging my parents to go to this place......
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My KSU friend wanted to go to the location in Leawood (151st Street) for lunch today and I was starving..
Chips=good and the salsa del fuego = bad. The chips were hot, crispy (not crunchy), light, airy, and did not break into crumbles on your lap. Server said the salsa was hot, it wasn't.
Tijuana Trainwreck consists of a .1/2 cup of grease coating the top of my fancy cast iron skillet of layered corn tortillas, Machaca Chicken, "Chili Verde", Monterary Jack, Roasted Corn, and Sour Cream.
The field green salad has a progressive style of a wild mixture of iceberg and various greens tossed with an ultra fusion of cuisines that consisted of taco seasoned "creole" croutons, black olives, feta, tomato concasse, and my very own choice of "dressing"... the smoked tomato dressing sounded delightful, it turned out to compliment the crunchy iceberg lettuce.
I liked the lemonade (6 total refills ladies and gentlemen) but of course nothing beats Houllihan's Strawberry lemonade
This may have been because of the condition I was in but I almost vomitted at the table and in the car. None of which happened thankfully. Also, for the first time I wasn't able to complete my meal...but it makes a good take home snack.
Not to hound on anyone's preferences but my experience represents the reason why many people dislike "chains".
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Each service piece has a reason.
I have to disagree. Some pieces did make sense - I thought the heated stone griddle for the lamb dish I described was ingenious and certainly added to it.
On the other hand, one dish was served in a small spoon using the "anti-plate" - basically the rim of a dish with no bottom. Why? Aside from being different than all the places that serve something like that in a Chinese soup spoon. The final dish (a peanut based dish, if I remember off the top of my head) was served on a piece with five wires protruding from it. Granted, I can't see how this particular dish could have been served any other way, but it seemed to me like an excuse to use the tool, rather than a way to enhance the dish.
And, while it wasn't a service piece, a puffed lobster chip which was meant to be eaten by hand was surprising and delicious - a gourmet pork rind, if you will. But it was awkward to eat, cracking and crumbling onto the table and into my lap. It was still good enough that I greedily retrieved the fallen pieces and finished the dish.
Either way, I don't want to make a big issue of it, because my comments about the serving pieces were a minor point in the scheme of things. With or without the gimmicks Alinea is still an important restaurant and what Chef Achatz is doing, especially with the food itself, is exciting.
I understand exactly what you are saying but I disagree. I find it very akward to many kinds of food with the fork and knife on a plate. You would be lying if you have never been to a fine dining restaurant and felt that the knife and fork is just not the right tool. Even chopsticks, certain sushi applications are not the easiest to eat but atleast the food won't be pierced and bruised the wrong way with a fork. Certain people have an easier time than others. Im most certain that our visits were completely different experiences just based off of your feeling of the courses being too akward. I felt that my meal was the easiest to eat out of all meals I have ever had and most mind bending (in a good way) as well.
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I never found any of the service pieces to be akward or disruptive in anyway on my last visit... I think the key is to not over think about the pieces itself but the food and why it was made in that way. Every course has a purpose and a reason, that's what I find to be the beauty of the whole experience. Each service piece has a reason.
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John has always been a great influence on me.. I'll never forget the times I've had working with him (who could forget about Big Country??), his fun loving/hard working personality is not hard to get a long with. He has shown so much passion for good food and it shows through all of his accomplishments! I'd like to say it's another victory for the Kansas City food scene. Congrats Big Country!
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wow, pictures look great!
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I don't find the menu very interesting, sorry. I will not pick it apart, but mostly it is boring. That is just my personal take on the menu.
I have the same feelings but I honestly think it sounds better than there regular menu.. so if anyone plans on going... try to go to this if anything. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.
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I just recieved an event announcement about a wine dinner at Tonic on August 15, 2006. Andrea Marshall and Todd Izzo from Standard Beverage Corporation will be attending with notes about Folie a Deux Wines.
The cost is $65.00 per person plus tax and gratuity.
They are featuring the Folie a Deux line of wines with Jon Dallen's Four Course Tasting Menu:
First Course
Pan seared U-10 scallop served over a sweet pea Risotto with pomegranate butter
Or
Sesame crusted seared tuna served rare with seaweed salad and soy glaze
Paired with the Menage a'Trois 2005 White
Second Course
Field green salad with our house Rice Wine Vinaigrette
Or
Chilled cucumber lime soup with a lemon lime crème fraiche
Paired with the Menage a'Trois 2004 Red
Third Course
6oz center cut filet mignon grilled and sliced to perfection served with
Herb whipped potatoes and grilled asparagus.
Or
Seared duck breast sliced and served with sweet potato puree
Sautéed spinach and mushrooms with a blackberry sauce.
Paired with the Folie a'Deux Amador 2002 Zinfandel
Dessert Course
Raspberry and chocolate tart with fresh berries and raspberry sauce.
Or
Foreign and domestic cheese tasting with fresh berries.
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According to her "scale", a one star is fair. I don't understand why she didn't give it a one star... to me her experience at the restuarant was "fair"... then why doesn't she stick to her own guidelines??
I don't understand how she can give only one star less than places such as Room39, bluestem, and Starker's Reserve.
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I guess with the two reviews (The Pitch and KC Star) and a liquor license has made a rather large impact on business for Tatsu. Just from word of mouth and passing by, it seems that he's been able to keep up with westport in the evenings. Also, if you are trying to eat with him in the kitchen, I believe he's there more often than the other location, although not to worry... His sous chef has shown quite a display, seeing his wine dinner tasting menu the other day and many of his own creations have been raved by a lot of customers... I do need to make an effort to try both locations out for dinner.
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You can see pictures from the James Beard House Event, where the bluestem crew were featured on July 18, 2006...
Edited to also make note of the fact that the great food you see was actually done after FedEx had misplaced (but found) the shipment of ingredients and prepared products... a large percentage had been ruined. So Congrats on the huge recovery!
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You're going to recieve outstanding service and perfectly executed food. The style of food seems to have changed a little bit.
Staging at Alinea
in The Heartland: Dining
Posted
I think my stage at Alinea was one of my biggest life changing events. The entire time I felt "I just want to be like these guys" and the fact that they focused on every detail down to polishing fingerprints off the stainless steel during service inspired me. Those guys were very understanding of why I was there, they actually wanted to show me things, and I feel that's the way it should be unlike some other restaurants' mentality of just shoving the stage in the corner picking fava beans.