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GordonCooks

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Everything posted by GordonCooks

  1. It's not that bad - My usual Saturday morning route would be schlep down to the Union Square market - then over to E. Houston.
  2. For the best food. I might go low-end. A pastrami at Katz's, a Bahn mi at Nicky's, Congee Village, a slice, Gray's papaya, cheese plate at Artisanal, etc. For a restaurant experience....Otto or Bar Jamon, maybe Scarpetta? Coming from Toronto, I'd go italian for a change.
  3. GordonCooks

    Tomato Jam

    I make a nice Tomato/Caramelized onion jam and use it anywhere Ketchup is appropriate.
  4. Places I've had great cocktails? ByMark Rain Canoe The Fifth Ultra Supper Club The Bar on the roof of the Park Hyatt
  5. GordonCooks

    TN: Recent tastes

    That's a great line....I'll plagiarize it this weekend.
  6. I like to watch because he does exactly what I would do in those locales. Where else (or how else) are you going to see the kitchen at Etxebarri.
  7. At the opener, cheeses and charcurterie were not available yet (I'll be diving into those soon) The Quail was crunchy and tender with the right amount of heat (could have eaten 10 of them) The leg of lamb was my fave of the night. Tender lamb and natural jus with a toothsome mix of warm zucchini and the right amount of mint to lift the dish. The pizza was good - not over the top. They're still playing with dough recipes and I felt this one was a little heavy but the sauce and house made mozz delicious. The goat cheese gnocchi were good as well although the housemade chorizo lacked that punch of smoked paprika. All in all, the kitchen (spec Chef Dan Martello) is putting out a level of quality that can only be matched by 5-6 restaurants in the area. Plop this place down in any big city and it would hold it's own. Cocktails? Gilded Rickey, Royal Air force, French75, Negroni, Cosmo, Tom Collins, Pisco Sour, Marguerite......all well crafted. Most are single shot drinks but somehow - this part of the evening is very fuzzy.
  8. New place in Rochester - Restaurant Good Luck Run, don't walk. After attending the friends and family last week - this place has style, pedigree, and is firing on all cylinders. I ate, I drank, and was the merriest I've been in a while. Best thing to happen to the Rochester culinary scene in years.
  9. Not so fast with all the fattening cream and such. Breakfast could be some high protein smoothies - skim milk, frozen banana, frozen berries or peanut butter, and whey protein. Most high quality proteins are 25 grams of protein a scoop. Tex Mex Refried Beans Ground Sausage Marinara Silky Tofu etc Keep it healthy by all means, please
  10. Great! Any details? ← Chef is Dan Martello fresh from a stint the NY Wine & Culinary center. Very solid chef, and their wine choices are pretty eclectic from the preliminary list I've seen. Nice price points
  11. First tasting note I’ve been compelled to write in a while Almost purple/cobalt in its opaqueness. On the nose, ground espresso, lots of flowers I don't know the name of, berry preserves, 5 spice, toasted vanilla. On the palate, was expecting syrupy sweet but found it very balanced and unctuous in texture. Juicy, integrated tannins with enough mineral to keep it bright. Almost milk-like in texture but so much finesse – a bull that pirouettes around the china shop.
  12. There is a new wine bar opening Aug 1 in the village gate (old Fabrics & Findings spot) The opening has been pushed back a couple of times but it won't be long now.
  13. I 86'ed the Salmon (poor quality) I'm assuming your agreeing with my assessment of having to cut the cooked whole sides would mean a lot of flaking
  14. Lessons learned the hard way Well, we all have that dis-organized friend. Mine happens to own two restaurants. Mind you, they both run on the slimmest of shoestrings staffed by family and friends – I would call them more of a Co-operative than actual businesses. Here are the lessons learned the hard way Fri (Rehearsal Dinner) went smooth – fried apps and spring rolls to start, Pho to finish. Saturday’s (Reception) not so much. I had emailed him a shopping list the week previous based on the final menu. Proteins were I house but I had to get the veggies handled (thank god the Public market is across the street) My prep list Prep List Morning Defrost Shrimp Check Egg Rolls Check Spring Rolls Make Satays Defrost Meatballs Check Scallops Defrost Crab cakes Prep Sugar snap peas Prep Carrots Prep cabbage Prep mushrooms Make Rice Afternoon Make sauces Warm stock for meatballs Blanch veggies Slice cabbage Cook mushrooms Cook/Cool/Peel shrimp Butterfly shrimp Trim Filets 4:00 Sear/Cool Tenderloins 5:00 Fry Crab Cakes Make Cabbage Make Fried Rice 6:00 Half Scallops Organize the hot line Tenderloins into oven Veggies - cook and into warmer 6:30 Fry Egg Rolls Fry Calamari Plate Plate Satays Plate Meatballs 7:00 Sear Scallops Slice Tenderloins Dress greens My office Lessons learned Scallops Searing Scallops on a plancha d/n work well. Dry packed U10s work better halved When pan searing large amounts – you’ll be wiping the pan out every 2nd or 3rd time. Sear at high heat 20-30 secs a side and pile into pan to warm and finish cooking. Beef Hot sear for color and rest to room temp. Coming from the cold into a 375 oven gets them to 120 internal temp in 12-15 minutes (yes, much quicker than I anticipated.) They rested for almost an hour with no ill effects and looked perfect. Crab cakes, out of the fryer into a hot box – Cook all the veggies al dente – worked well holding in a steam table. Food came our great but died a slow death– service was a debacle. 4 volunteers plating and serving. No amount of leadership would have made a difference.
  15. I planned on finishing the tenderloins in a hot box - he's got some combo warmer/cooker with sufficient room. As far as adequate? Doubt it - he's a poor planner and depending on a lot of maybes and hopefullys. I'm bringing a buddy who is a decent cook and a dishwasher. Service will be a bottleneck but it's something I've bagged him about 2 months. The food will get out as soon as it does. And yes, 4 proteins...don't ask.
  16. Well...in a nutshell, I was asked to cook for a good friend (and restaurant owner's) daughter's wedding reception this weekend. So far, it's been multiple menu changes and general mayhem. It's tough to work with people who think this can all be thrown together at the last minute. Tonight's rehearsal dinner for 60 (yes...60!!) is handled - simple fried apps with cocktail hour and Pho and whole roasted pig. Tomorrow is sitdown for 120. Apps and salads are covered Pork Butts will be 4 hours in the smoke and finish in the oven Figured scallops done on his large Plancha - do you think they will hold in a hot box for 30 mins with no ill effects? Whole beef tenderloins - grill and reserve, then finish in the oven pre service at 375 and slice on the run? Soy Ginger glazed salmon - doing whole sides in the oven. I was going to score the raw sides before cooking to maintain the integrity of the filets. Good idea?
  17. GordonCooks

    Perigee

    Chris Brown worked with Pat for most of Pat's tenure (and at Avalon I believe). Highly skilled and just an all-around nice guy.
  18. Andrew did say it about Spike, undoubtedly
  19. GordonCooks

    Perigee

    The situation at 11 was that he was helping a friend in need - quite admirable imho.
  20. I think the judges made the right choice but I also thought the dishes weren't as impressive as season's past and it was much closer than I thought it would be.
  21. Bubbles first, whites listed by varietal character (light to heavy) and price (low to high) and the same for reds. Dessert wines & ports at the end. This would be a good format for your basic 50-75 label list. Anything grander in scale - bubbles, whites, then reds but by region and producer. Wines by the glass on a separate list. Just my .02
  22. Nope, but that season's crew wasn't the most consistent. Anyone throwing stones at Dale for his asian themed cooking could just as easily hurl them at Ilan for his spanish style.
  23. I have the utmost respect for Richard and Stephanie (although the Blais is my sentimental favorite) Either way, one of them has earned Top Chef with consistent cooking. I vote that whoever comes in second should be named Top Chef for last season replacing Ilan.
  24. GordonCooks

    Perigee

    Is there a link (TheStar.com)? ← Link is here. (Though I don't know how long it'll be active.) Money quote: ← Thanks!
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