BryanZ
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Posts posted by BryanZ
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I'm giving my turkey the double truffle attack with the truffle salt and Dartagnan truffle butter. Unfortunately my local grocer doesn't stock fresh truffles anymore so no truffle shavings under the skin.
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In light of this fury of publicity, I'll finally be venturing over to Venue this evening. I will post a full report when I get back.
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Incidentally, I just happened to order some of the truffle salt mentioned on another thread on eG. It seems to be legit., not at all chemical-y, and infused with bits of truffle. The ingredients on the package are only sea salt and truffles.
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I haven't been in a couple months since I've been at school but ThaiThai is one of the few restaurants I'll eat at in that area. To be honest, I love the quirky nature of the place, and the food is undeniably damn good.
The last time I was there I did notice they had changed the menus and tried to make it a little more serious and upscale. The food, however, was just as good, if not better. I'm not sure if this was before or after the change in owners.
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Props to the Central Jersey restaurant recommending crew.
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I'm compiling a kind of national restaurant showcase for my college's newspaper for the holiday season. As in, when everyone goes home to their various metropolitan areas, where they should be eating.
So in general, not much detail, I'm just trying to compile a list of short blurbs from the likes of Boston, Chicago, DC, NYC (my area), Miami, maybe a couple ski areas in Utah or Colorado.
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I'm compiling a short list of some of the most unique, popular, and noteworthy restaurants in Boston. I'm looking for a wide variety of places, from casual to upscale, with notable food, decor, or history, located in Boston itself (no suburbs please).
If you could provide me with any info. you might have on some of you favorites it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not from the area and only have a rudimentary knowledge of Boston dining so website links and the like would be greatly appreciated.
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I'm compiling a short list of some of the most unique, popular, and noteworthy restaurants in Washington D.C. I'm looking for a wide variety of places, from casual to upscale, with notable food, decor, or history.
If you could provide me with any info. you might have on some of you favorites it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not from the area and only have a rudimentary knowledge of DC dining so website links and the like would be greatly appreciated.
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I love how it's sitting on a washing machine. It's like when Varmint's Pig Pickin' goat was sitting in his bathtub.
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I'm not a big fan of pictures in restaurants in general. If you're real discrete about it, I suppose it's okay. But anyway, it's just a personal thing for me.
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Has anyone taken (non-flash) pictures at Per Se?
It's not exactly something I would recommend.
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. . . I'm inspired to check this place out.
If a review can inspire the right people to check out the right restaurant, it serves a purpose. I felt the way Bryan did about the place after reading the review. It would be an interesting place to check out, although it's clearly not the destination restaurant I feel I need to reserve far in advance or the place I'll regret if I miss it, but it gets a place on the list.
Exactly.
I have some questions about the NYT Dining section, though. Is Bruni like a pseudo-editor or just food critic? How does his pull in the section compare to some of the other writers? Who's at the top of the chain, are there multiple editors for the section, what's the hierarchy like?
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This most recent review wasn't that bad. Unlike the review of Dor Ahn, this review actually had a point and made sense. After reading it, I'm inspired to check this place out.
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Is this the method the French Laundry Cookbook describes? I wonder where you got all the ideas. And what's the point of hanging? This type of cookery is beyond my experiences.
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In affluent suburbia there's definitely a push toward the grocery store as a lifestyle center. Wegmans and Whole Foods (at least in the Northeast) are certainly the new-wave of upscale chain grocers. For many a suburban housewife it's the trendy thing to do to pick up a pre-prepared dinner from the hot/cold case along with a half-gallon of organic soy milk and a loaf of artisanal multigrain bread.
On the flipside, there's also surging popularity for Costco-type bulk vendors and grocery options in retailers like WalMart and Super Target. The traditional grocery store seems to be losing ground in the face of these two newish competitors.
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Hi everyone,
I am new here. FYI, I am not really an expert in food and wine like you guys, so my comments can be considered like an amateur's comment.
I think I forgot to mention that I ordered white truffles tasting menu with wine pairing.
-Andi
The white truffle menu w/ wines at ADNY is a pretty good way to start out your eG posting career.
edit to add: I just looked through your pictures. I'm INSANELY jealous. What a meal!
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This thread is so badass. I doubt many of us here would actually personally butcher a pig's head. Much respect.
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I use a lot of truffle butter and find that if you're trying to economize it, you're best off using it to finish dishes. If you really want to feature the truffle aspect of the butter, serve it with simple dishes, like the eggs you mentioned, melted on a nice steak, or tossed with a simple fall-inspired pasta.
I love truffle butter.
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I've heard good preliminary things about Bin54 from people I know. I'll have to get there soon.
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It's interesting to see how what was initially a discussion about a restaurant in North Carolina can inspire a thread that really gets into people's fundamental ideas about dining.
It seems that the important distinction that needs to be made is dependent on the type of cuisine being served. In haute and daring cuisine the 20-course tasting menu seems a little bit ridiculous. With that said, I personally enjoy this trend since I prefer trying as many different and new dishes as possible. Yes, I run the risk of getting lost in a "culinary whirlwind", but the prospect of experiencing something totally new is undoubtedly exciting. The more I eat out, the less likely I am to settle for just one appetizer, entree and dessert; I'm always ordering multiple items, sharting, and trying to get tastes of everything.
In returning to the appetizer vs. entree debate at hand, most restaurants will feature appetizers that are more unique than the mains. Sadly, large portions at medicore restaurants get boring, even if they are otherwise perfectly competent dishes. But then again, I think that the eating habits of eG posters are not necessarily representative of the general public. Large portions will continue to dominate at the majority of restaurants, much to my chagrin.
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Does this place have a website or a Menupages listing. I can't find much info. on it.
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Go some place else. Nougatine is okay for a decent lunch but definitely not "WOW" worthy. You're probably better off at Cafe Gray for a Saturday lunch.
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I'm hearing these reports second hand, so I don't know for sure. I wish I could offer more. I promise I'll recount everything when I go.
venue
in New Jersey: Dining
Posted
Venue is a confounding restaurant. It aims high and often succeeds, but after my meal there I almost feel pity for the place.
Let me clarify. I wasn't blown away but was, instead, pleasantly surprised. Seven of the nineteen "dishes" I tried tonight were "very good," or on a level that I felt was beyond the normal realm of relatively fine dining. If you order intelligently, you can have a top-notch meal. If you happen to try some of Venue's less inspired dishes, it's easy to be unimpressed.
It must also be noted that my party of two made up 50% of Venue's business for the whole evening. Granted, this was a blustery evening the day before Thanksgiving, but with so few covers on any night, Venue simply cannot stay in business.
My dining partner and I discussed more viable locations for Venue but couldn't come up with any. Moving into NYC would put Venue in direct competition with wd-50, a restaurant that is, in my opinion, clearly superior. A move to a more affluent town like Milburn, Short Hills, or Summit might meet with some success, but we both had a hard time believing that residents from these towns would support and patronize such an untraditional restaurant. Such towns support the likes of Scalini Fideli and Serenade, traditional restaurants that are very different than Venue. Moving out into the countryside seems even more likely, as Venue's food does not entertain visions of country hills and farm-raised produce.
So for now, Venue is stuck in Hoboken, a town filled with young professionals who care little for the nuances of a slowly dissolving madras curry cotton candy. Furthermore, for a suburbanite to trek into and park in Hoboken is just as much of a hassle as driving into the city. For a New Yorker, the prospect of catching a cab down to Clinton St. on the lower-east side might seem more appealing than hopping on that dirty PATH train to Hoboken station.
For these reasons, I am ambivalent toward Venue's future. The food, when right, truly redefines New Jersey dining, but the concept seems unlikely, especially given its current location. The service, while competent for the four diners in the restaurant, could easily suffer when faced with a packed house. Servers were friendly and well-meaning but lacked some of the polish and food knowledge of competing restaurants in the city.
In essence, I want Venue to succeed and prosper and encourage a New Jersey avant garde cuisine revolution, but, sadly, this seems unlikely. Perhaps New Jersey isn't ready, perhaps Venue is actually aiming too high, overly differentiating itself from New Jersey's other dining options.
What I sampled from the menu:
-saku yellowfin tuna tartare "picadillo style" with calabaza, cumin and carbonated sherry flavor
-kaboucha squash soup. caramelized granny smith apple, creme fraiche and madras curry cotton candy*
-diver scallops with potato-carrot puree, pumpkin seeds and orange emulsion*
-australian prawns and manilla clams with flavors of paella
-poached black bass. stewed kale, quinoa, and golden beet-galangal broth*
-arctic char with red chard braise, pears, jus, and green tea foam*
-braised grass fed short rib. lotus root chips, pomegranate jus and japanese sweet potato with maple fragrance*
-new zealand lamb shank raviolo. tomato coulis, akudjura, spicy paprika, garlic infused dehydrated yogurt and micro mint
-shelly farms poussin. butter scotch, apple wood smoked bacon, salsify and young carrots
-four star ice cream sundae. white truffle ice cream, dark chocolate ganache, chips, pear fritter, almond praline, wild berry cloud and chocolate whipped cream
- sweet potato pana cotta. oatmeal crisp and cranberry compote
Extra courses/amuses/etc:
-tuna sashimi. caviar. celery soda.
-crispy rock shrimp. sweet and spicy sambal aioli, toasted sesame and frizzled leaves of wasabi root
-honey aspic. crystallized vinegar. nori.
-buddah's hand sorbet. wild sesame seeds. fish flakes.
-foie gras milkshake pipette. pistachios. cranberry.*
-"cracker jack" pipette
-shiso soda*
All in all, I would put Venue among the top restaurants in New Jersey. Although its offerings may not be as quality as Ryland Inn or Restaurant Nicholas, there is a lot to be said for pushing the culinary envelope (something that the former two restaurants may not be doing as much as some might hope).