drfokos

Thanks Doodad! I'll check out On The Line. I get Saveur so I've already read that article. Poor guy! David

Thank you both for taking time to reply -- the information you provided will be very helpful. Of course, I was hoping for something a bit "juicier" (pun acknowledged, but unintended) for my sommelier, but I think an accurate portrayal will be more important. The juice will have to come from other parts of the story! Thanks again, David

I am working on a fictional story that includes a sommelier at a very high-end restaurant (e.g. Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Daniel, etc.). I have some questions about the factors that come into play when a sommelier makes wine recommendations. Here is the set-up... A couple are sitting at a table and have already indicated to their server what they would like to order. They would also like to order a bottle of wine, and have asked their server to send over the sommelier. Here are my questions: a) does the server relay to the sommelier what the couple has ordered so that he/she may have time to consider the possibilities? b) obviously, the sommelier is an employee of the restaurant and, as such, is there to sell wine. He/she also wants to make the customer happy. Some of the best wines in the library would certainly be good for the restaurant and it would please the customer, until the bill came that is, so this is often not the wine that gets served. But how do you know what to recommend, and what is your strategy? For example, do you suggest a midprice wine and then gauge the customer's reaction? Based on the reaction you might then move up or down in price? I think it would be uncomfortable for the customer to have to decline a suggested wine because it was too expensive. Of course, one could always ask the customer if they had a certain price range in mind, as we've all experienced I'm sure, but I dislike this practice. A customer without prior experience with the wines in the cellar (which I would think is the large majority) is not in a position to say whether they would better enjoy a $40, $70, or $100 bottle of wine. You probably have $40 bottles the customer would love and $100 bottles that are not to the customer's taste. Does anything like this go on, or do you just wing it? Also, I have heard that that at mid-level restaurants one might experience a certain amount of attempted upselling, though this practice is less likely at A-list restaurants. Is this accurate? Finally, what do you do when the two entrees are œnologically incompatible? What is the absolute worst food to have to pair wine with? Thank you in advance for your candid thoughts and help. Best regards, David

Last night, Barbarella and I, together with my parents dined at the new State Road Restaurant in North Tisbury. The restaurant is located on State Road (duh) across from the Vineyard Glassworks on the site previously occupied by (depending on one's history with Martha's Vineyard), Hortense Haynes's ice cream stand, Fat Tony's, Tony's Garden, The Red Cat, Icehouse, Bittersweet, and most recently Deon's. The building is now owned by Mary and Jackson Kenworth who also own the Slice of Life Restaurant in Oak Bluffs. Over the winter, the property underwent a complete rebuild resurrecting it from the heavy damage caused to Deon's by a fire last fall. The 1,583 sq. ft. Deon's had seating for 44. State Road has been able to expand that to 2,154 sq. ft. with seating for 60. The chef has previously worked at Slice of Life and also the Sweet Life Cafe. One of the restaurant's staff told us that the sous chef used to work at Moxie -- a restaurant at which we've had some enjoyable meals -- before it burnt down last year. The quality of the renovation is first-class. Clearly a lot of money has been put into the project so one gets the impression that the Kenworth's are serious about staying in this location for a while. The style is what I am oxymoronically calling Contemporary Colonial. Dark wood tables sans table cloths, splindle-back chairs, high, peaked farmhouse ceiling, chandeliers of bare edison bulbs hanging from hoops of rustic iron, and a beautiful handwrought stone fireplace. The quality of the restoration continues outside with the beautiful landscaping. Hydrangeas along the front side of the building and raised beds growing a wide variety of herbs along either side of the flagstone walkway to the door. We'll see how long that herb garden lasts before the rabbits and deer find it. The gravel parking lot behind the restaurant is bout as nice as a parking lot can be and it has been expanded from the old restaurant to include more spaces. It runs back to a shed (now expanded to make an office) that sits at the back of the property along side a decent-sized vegetable garden. The acoustics of the restaurant are quite lively -- lots of bare surfaces to reflect the sound. Based upon their menu pricing and the preponderance of spry, well-heeled, people of retirement age that live in the area, my guess is that the median age of their clientele is likely to be about 60. Not that they are serving old people food -- they are not, but I wonder how long it will be before they add some sound treatment to the ceiling to aid those whose hearing may not be what it once was. Prices at State Road are on par with a number of the upper-middle end restaurants on the island -- apps in the teens, entrees ranging from $19 - $38. North Tisbury is a dry town so it is BYOB -- corkage is $9/bottle. The style of cuisine is Contemporary American. When we were there the restaurant had just been open a week but service was smooth and professional. The owner and the chef would occasionally walk the dining room to make sure things were going well. We began with two apps and a soup: Fried artichokes with a yougurty dipping sauce and lemon. Light and delicious. Mussels in a light, thai-style coconut sauce. The mussels were good -- fresh and plentiful, and the sauce nice enough though a bit bland I thought. No spice, and only the barest hint of coconut left me wishing for a bit more oomph. The soup was a fresh green pea soup with some whole fresh peas, a bit of orzo, and lobster meat in it. This was perhaps the best thing we put in our mouths all night. I thought that the lobster meat and the orzo were a bit gratuitous, because the soup itself -- light, buttery, resplendent with the flavor of freshly-shelled peas -- was a delight that needed no tarting up. Four our "entrees", two of us opted to order a second app and the other two ordered true entrees. The first app/entree comprised braised sea scallops, two kinds of beans (fava and one brown type I forget) and Indian curried onion rings. When queried, our server indicated that the app came with "two or three scallops", but that if we wanted to super-size it (she didn't use those exact words -- she asked if we wanted to make it an entree) the dish would have "five or six scallops". Choosing to stick with the app size, Barbarella was served two scallops. Overall the dish was very nice -- I especially liked the curry flavor on the onion rings -- though we would not have been disappointed by a third scallop. The second app/entree was tempura lobster served with tempura green beans, pickled bok choy and a spicy/sweet Thai-style chile dipping sauce. The tempura batter was feather light and the frying was done well -- not greasy and not overcooked. The sauce was a perfect accompaniment for the tempura, and the small bit of pickled bok choy hidden beneath everything was a fun surprise (I had forgotten about it even though it was mentioned on the menu). The only quibble I might have is that the delicate flavor of the lobster was a bit overshadowed by the zing of the sauce. The first true entree was bucatini with clams, fennel sausage, broccoli rabe, and shaved parmesean. This dish had quite a lot of clams (in shell) a surprisingly small amount of bucatini -- which made it tricky to extract the pasta from among the rugged terrain of clam shells. My mother, who had ordered the dish wished there had been more pasta. The fennel sausage was extremely salty, though easily isolated from the other ingredients. The broccoli rabe was bitter, as would be expected, but I thought it distracted from the rest of the dish. The clams however, were glorious. The other entree was a fig encrusted rack of lamb with spaetzle and spinach. The locally-raised lamb was cooked perfectly and quite delicious though the flavor of the glaze/crust was nearly undetectable and the spaetzle, while tasty, seemed to be an odd accompaniment. We opted to finish with just two desserts. The first was a new interpretation of the classic s'more. In this case, chocolate pudding, graham cracker streusel, and burnt marshmallow. Served in a glass, the "s'more" was mainly overly-sweet chocolate pudding, with a thick layer of underly-burnt marshmallow on top and an almost non-existent strata of graham cracker streusel. Everyone agreed that the dessert was too cloying. If the chocolate were more bitter, the marshmallow more burnt, and the amount of graham cracker streusel increased substantially, this could be a nice dessert, but in its present form, I couldn't recommend it. And lastly, our other dessert was a fig and apricot brioche bread pudding with creme fraiche ice cream. The brioche was tasty -- though barely "bread puddingized" -- and the ice cream was a good pairing. I'd have this desert again, though I would know not to expect the usual texture and density of bread pudding. To conclude, I think it is a good start for State Road. We've enjoyed the Kenworth's other restaurant -- Slice of Life -- and look forward to going back to State Road to further explore the menu soon. We very much appreciate the beautiful renovation of this property. Overall it is a most welcome addition to our upisland community. Presently, I would rate it as a 7 out of 10.

I am really enjoying the small plate trend. First, it allows me to sample more of the menu. I'm always frustrated when I want to try EVERYTHING but am constrained to just one item. That's why I also like tasting menus, but unlike a 15-course tasting menu (which is a completely different sort of experience) if I taste something I really like, there is usually another bite or two of it to savor. And secondly, it keeps portion size down which, for me, is a good thing. To my detriment, once I am eating something that tastes great I have a hard time pushing it aside no matter how large the portion. This has led to regrettable overindulgence, feeling like a bloated, beached whale, and once home, hitting the bottle of Amaro to relieve the discomfort.

Chive I just ate at Chive this past Saturday and had a truly great dining experience. I think Chive may be my new favorite restaurant in town. I hadn't been there since they changed their style from the usual ap/entree/dessert format to the current "grazing menu" so I was delighted when our meal turned out to be so pleasurable. In summary: If I had to sum up the experience in a single word it would be "balance". Everything was perfectly executed. The flavors and textures were inspired yet chosen intelligently nothing ever overpowered anything else and the plating was beautiful. I really dislike chefs that start bringing together the weirdest (and poorly chosen) combinations of ingredients just to appear ultra-hip and trendy at the expense of the food. I am happy to report that everything at Chive was in perfect harmony. The plates were on the small side, as expected, but not too small. After cocktails, two plates each and a dessert we were well-sated, but not overstuffed. And speaking of cocktails... the bartender was also clearly skilled at his craft. All our drinks were perfectly mixed, well-conceived, balanced (there's that word again), delicious and beautiful. Service was terrific too. You can view the Chive menu here: http://www.sdurbankitchen.com/chive.html Here is a more in-depth report of our meal from memory (next time I'll be sure to take photos and notes): Our group of four started with cocktails, including: Black Martini [grey goose, vanilla schnapps, kahlua, espresso, coffee bean]. Delicious coffee flavor, well-balanced, not overpowered by alcohol, beautiful presentation, foamy and beige with 3 coffee beans sitting atop the foam. Blue Horizon [bombay Sapphire, gorgonzola stuffed olives]. Great olives and those tiny, long, sharp ice crystals that I love floating on top. Sour Blueberry [stoli Blueberry, blue curacao, white cranberry, lime, blueberries]. Delicious, bright blue, sweet, fruity, refreshing, not owerpowered by either sweetness or alcohol. Keylime [stoli Vanilla, pineapple juice, fresh lime, graham cracker rim]. Tasted a lot like key lime pie. Chocolate Cherry [Effen Black Cherry, Vermeer, creme de cacao, cherry, chocolate flakes]. Delicious and decadent like a Black Forest Torte. With the food I had a glass of the Museum Real Tempranillo with which I was quite pleased. A tasty wine with medium body, well-balanced, but soft and light enough to go with most of the food. For food, we sampled: cheese plate [chef's whim]. We ordered 2 of these for the four of us. I'm not sure I would call it a cheese plate as such. It was really a small piece of crostini with a teaspoon of fruit compote covered by a couple of paper thin slices of Machengo cheese and garnished with some frisee. Each couple cut their crostini in half giving each of us a bite or two. Not very large, but the combination of flavors was excellent. Crab Mac 'n' Cheese [boursin cheese, panko crust]. Served in a ceral bowl sized portion, this mac 'n' cheese was loved by everyone. The crab was mild and not at all "fishy". Being creamy and not too sharp, the boursin didn't overpower the subtle crab -- an inspired choice of cheese. Great comfort food. Blue Prawn Spring Roll [english pea puree, mango coulis, ginger]. Two deep-fried spring rolls, each cut in half. Crispy, not greasy, with just a mild taste of ginger. Delicious. Diver Scallops. Unlike what is currently on their website, mine was cornmeal crusted and served with small pieces of slab bacon, bacon foam, and frisee. I know that "food foam" is trendy now, and I'm not sure that the bacon foam added much to this dish beyond a visual component, but these scallops were really great. Two large scallops, perfectly cooked, with a crisp cormeal crust on top and meaty bits of slab bacon. Yum! Braised Kurobuta Pork [black currant, onion, and apple cous cous]. The portion was about the size of my fist and the apple/currant cous cous was an inspired pairing (apple being such a classic match for pork). I want to make some of this cous cous at home! My partner, Barbarella, had a chicken dish not currently on their online menu. Again, I'm sorry now that I didn't take pictures or notes. I do remember that it was cooked "en sous vide" [a trendy boil-in-a-bag technique] and plated so that the chicken, wrapped with bacon looked like slices of a sushi roll turned on end. I believe there were four of these pieces and a slighty-smaller-than-hockey-puck sized side of basmati rice with peas, red pepper and some other stuff I can't remember just now in it, completed the beautiful presentation. Very nice, harmonious flavors. Kobe Beef Carpaccio. Our friend ordered this and though the website suggests that it is served with rye cracker, micro arugula and candied lemon. I think they have changed this dish up a bit. Regardless, it was a perfectly lovely carpaccio. Beet Terrine [goat cheese, hazlenut,arugula, port gastrique]. Red and yellow beets, and the goat cheese were cut into round, silver dollar sized, 1/8 thick slices and stacked in alternating layers. One of the most successful beet and goat cheese salads I've had. Again, not only delicious but beautifully plated. Duck Confit Flatbread [wild rocket, laura chanelle goat cheese, fried caper]. I thought the bread was sort of biscuit/thin foccacia-esque. Very enjoyable. [N.B. for a better duck confit, I recommend the duck confit with garlic gnocchi served at Chive's sister restaurant, Kensington Grill]. Everything we had was beautiful and delicious -- not a clunker in the bunch. We also ordered dessert which is handled by a different chef. We were a little less impressed with our desserts, though they were still very tasty. The best of the bunch was their signature dessert: "Kinda" Rice Pudding [crispy chocolate, creme brulee]. I could easily eat a vat of this. It was rice pudding topped with creme brulee (how can you go wrong with that!). Rice crispies, dusted in cocoa are served on the side. I also seem to recall some choclate bits underneath the rice pudding. Study In Chocolate [chef's whim]. I didn't have any of this as each of the four 'studies' was a single bite served in a Chinese soup spoon. The report from my friend was "good, but not special". Peach And Almond Galette [oat streusel, sweet corn ice cream, caramel sauce]. Oh, I had such high hopes for this! Sounds dreamy, doesn't it? Well, it was just o.k. The crust wasn't as flaky as I prefer and the alleged sweet corn flavor was imperceptible. The peach flavor too, was a bit muted. So, the result? Ice cream & pie without much character, but still sweet, cold, creamy and tasty in a comforting way. Just not "food of the moaning" as my friend would say. One last caveat: we made a reservation online via Open Table. When we got there, they had no record of it, though it was no problem and we were immediately seated. Well, we've been talking about this meal for a couple of days now, and can't wait to go back to sample more of the menu. I'll have to remember to take my camera with me next time. So,I guess it would be safe to say that I can happily recommend Chive. David

Well, I am now home after a crazy 59 hour adventure trying to fly from Boston to San Diego, and can happily report that my mother's birthday breakfast was a great success. In the end, since we were joined by my brother's family (which included his two young daughters) I opted to go to Rue de L'Espoir. Everyone enjoyed their meal. I thought the baked goods were a bit dry, but the coffee was excellent and garnered much praise around the table. Our server was also delightful. Originally, I had wanted to make it for brunch, but the family wanted an earlier start on the day. Ah well, you can lead the family to a restaurant, but you can't make them brunch. Walking to our cars in the parking lot my mother asked, "How do you find these places?!" I told her about my knowledgeable and generous friends here on eGullet, but I know she won't remember. Instead, she'll just call me when she needs a recommendation. Thanks again for your help in making the day a success! David

I've eaten at the original Aqua Al 2 in Italy as well as the one here in San Diego, and I have to say that there was no comparison. I was very disappointed with my meal at the San Diego location. I had the Filetto Al Aceto Balsamico -- a trademark Tuscan dish -- and it totally fell flat. The steak was nearly flavorless and the balsamic reduction was very one dimensional -- rather than a deep, well-rounded flavor, the steak just tasted of cheap balsamic vinegar. For the significant prices they charge, I can eat better elsewhere. David

Thank you all for your replies -- they are very much appreciated! While I think either place could work, I am considering trying Lucky Garden for dim sum. I love dim sum and it might be something fun and different for my mother. However, I have a couple of questions before I commit -- I know she would do fine at Rue. The restaurant's website says that the dim sum is made-to-order. Does this mean that one has to order off a menu rather than select from food rolling by? What is the ambiance of the place? Standard Chinese restaurant? Is it very loud? Also, I know that some of the less challenging dim sum -- enjoyed by most dim sum novices -- tends to be the deep fried items (usually made with shrimp paste, etc.) I didn't notice very many of such iyems on their dim sum menu. Would you say that they offer fewer of these sorts of items than their Boston counterparts? Thanks again! David

This year I've done a lot of cheese tasting -- many perfectly aged cheeses flown if from Artisnal Cheese Company in New York -- yum!! One of the most profound lessons to come from our cheese and wine parties is that I really prefer sweet dessert wines (e.g. icewein, moscato, etc.) or port with many of the cheeses I love. Just as an aside, on a whim I picked up a bottle of 2001 Scrapona Moscato D'Asti. This delightful wine is medium sweet, low in alcohol (5.5%) with a slight spritz -- perfect for sunny summer afternoons! I've been dying to try the cheeses from Adante, but they will no longer ship retail orders (wholesale orders only) and I live in San Diego, so I can't stop by the farmer's markets either. However, I love the Cypress Grove Purple Haze which I have been enjoying with lavendar honey and also with a purple basil jelly. David

Our shedule is flexible so a good brunching place would also work. David

Why are all the good restaurants in Providence closed a) for lunch, b) on Sunday, c) for Sunday lunch? I will be traveling to Providence soon to meet up with other family members for a wedding. While there, we have also decided to celebrate my mother's birthday with lunch on a Sunday. I am looking for recommendations for any restaurants with of the following qualities: terrific food nice, comfortable and/or hip, cool, funky ambiance (i.e. an easy rather than ultraformal place) noise level low enough to allow for conversation I would be most grateful for any suggestions! Thanks! David http://www.davidfokos.net