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GordonCooks

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Everything posted by GordonCooks

  1. I like Morimoto, I get consistent food, and the service is always exemplary. Sunday night, I was mulling over dinner choices and remembered that Morimoto was open. My girl loves edgy style and is an adventurous eater, never having been there, it was an obvious choice. The tuna pizza was excellent for the quality of the tuna and balance of red onion, to crust, and amount of aioli. Lobster Ceviche salad was a nice portion of ceviche in addition to a poached claw, citrus supremes, pickled onions, and mizuna. Next, Yosedofu – Tofu made tableside and Cha Soba. Anything made tableside is cool in an old school way. This was no exception. The Cha Soba was very good in flavor and texture. A dish I could eat all day long in an 80 degree summer sun. The miso was excellent and I had it there with the clams for the first time. It was different but I may prefer the traditional version my girl enjoyed. Fish, it’s always where the restaurant shines. The Sea Bass was exemplary – salty beans and unctuous meat. The Black Cod was equally as tasty with the crisp skin, and the sweetness of the miso, mustard and sake mirin marinade. We drank a bottle Pine Ridge Chenic Blanc/Viognier and assorted martinis and for dessert – Morimoto Brownies with Suntory Carmel and walnuts along with the sorbets that included coconut, peach, and chocolate raisin. A nice meal from start to finish. When asked by staff how the experience was for her – my girl replied “exquisite” A word she uses sparingly.
  2. Well….I may have had a different meal given the fact my girlfriend is a Pescetarian and I ordered appropriately. But, given those parameters in an Italian restaurant – Pizza, Pasta, and vegetables? the meal still left me lacking. Pizza wise, we had the Pannochia with allegedly charred scallions, corn, bufala mozz, and the idea of black truffle and along with Melanzana with eggplant, provolone, pine nuts raisin, and basil. I’m not sure if it this always the case but the crusts were extremely thin, wet in the middle, and under cooked. The edges were blond, not dark tan or brown and tasting a little too much or bench flour. The Pannochia was ok at best, the corn was excellent and the cheese as well but there scallions were few, uncharred and I did not detect any black truffle visually or olfactorially. The Melanzana was better (albeit the crust was still the same) but the toppings were as noted and balanced in taste and texture. Starters, the tricolore salad was ok, the Culton Farm summer vegetable crudo was quite good but at 12.00 for literally a forkful of vegetables – I would pass next time. Pasta wise, the Robiola Francobolli with royal trumpet mushrooms was fine….just fine. Texturally and visually, an average dish. The wood grilled grouper was very good, probably the best dish of the night but that’s not saying much. The wine list was overpriced and I didn’t see much in the way of interesting. Looking at the whites, The ‘typical” headlining Jermann Tunina at 175.00 and a Bastianich Vespa Bianco were showcased. Prices are out of wack using the typical formulaic core of 1.5x the entrée pricing. I started with a bottle DeForville Chard that was young at 55ish and then had a Coppo Costebianche that was tired at 70ish. Desserts, the polenta budino was good and the chocolate molten something was good but the pistachio gelato was excellent. Maybe a meal of a lot Salumi and red wine or the suckling pig was the way to go, but I probably wouldn’t revisit any of the food or wines I experienced. Someone tell me where I went wrong PS - I forgot to mention the oysters with cucumber and raspberries. The oysters were good but the sweet raspberries were too much of a prominent sweetness for me taking away the savory character of the dish.
  3. Ciao Philly guru, My new girlfriend is a Pescetarian (sp?) We both like Asian food and she was quite interested in my cookbook. She's a bit of a dining novice so we'd be more about the hot dishes and not so much about sushi. I'm just putting together options for Sat night eats.
  4. Anyone been lately, I'll be in the vicinity Labor Day weekend.
  5. I haven't and won't. Rochester is full of mom & pop sauce joints, the prices they're charging for food and wines are laughable. ← Gordon: What about Pier 45? I don't know anyone who has tried it yet. Menu on the web is not very adventurous, but if well prepared... and there is always the lake (while it's still summer). ← The space is just plain gorgeous. Stick to safe things, my girl and I like to have a bottle and some fruit de mer as apps then head back downtown to eat. The only bad thing is that most of the time, you have this idyllic cabana style atmosphere punctuated by families with their kids sprawled all over everything playing with their toys. A little too Carnival Cruise lines for me personally (and I love kids, just not in a fine dining context)
  6. I haven't and won't. Rochester is full of mom & pop sauce joints, the prices they're charging for food and wines are laughable.
  7. I've installed 5 Akurum kitchens in a rental property I have with good results. Above average durability when compared to basic kitchens but maybe not at the level of custom i.e. Kraftmaid, etc
  8. GordonCooks

    Bottle Variation

    A first for me - 2 bad bottles in one night from the same resto 06 Flowers Chardonnay - corked 06 Flowers Chardonnay - full of tartrate crystals but very oxidized.
  9. I guess the winner has been leaked. I won't post the info this time.
  10. Unique to Philly? Scrapple and Beer & Cheese bars
  11. We once again did the warmth prayer as we sat outside smoking cigars. We were blowing the smoke south to help out.
  12. If anyone is interested : Olivier Humbrecht ZH Wine Dinner at MAX June 1
  13. I was praying for warm winds down your way. cheers
  14. For that reason, and for that reason alone, neither he nor his restaurants should be anywhere near this list. ← Back in the day, both places did excellent food. What didn't you like about your meals? ← Too long ago to remember. Suffice to say that, in my opinion, there isn't a single restaurant that has been mentioned which I would move off the list in order to accommodate a single restaurant of Todd English's. ← Well...given your initial criteria regarding chefs who've made their fortune - Todd English certainly was able to brand himself quite well and he was able to charge you 10.00 for some good ingredients on hand tossed dough. Given your example of Mesa grill, I'd take Olives then over Mesa now quality wise.
  15. For that reason, and for that reason alone, neither he nor his restaurants should be anywhere near this list. ← Back in the day, both places did excellent food. What didn't you like about your meals?
  16. What about Olives/Figs? Wolfgang was the first to dress up pizza but it was Todd English who gave us what is probably the blueprint for gourmet pizza as it's served today.
  17. Good point. ← before Babbo, there was Spiaggia
  18. Le Cirque, Four Seasons, Le Pavillon, probably Le Bec Fin, ALL too long ago. You must be really young. ← Geez, all my grey hair is showing. I remember Le Cirque 2000 was my go to spot for the holidays.
  19. I think it is, Sam. The style of cooking is one that we tend to take for granted today, but Trotter was at the forefront of popularizing it. Without Trotter, I'm not sure that we would have Alinea - at least in Chicago. That city had always been known as a meat & potatoes town. Before Trotter, the only fine dining restaurants were classic French. Trotter opened the door for so many excellent restaurants and set the tone for Chicago to become arguably the most important dining city in the country right now. ← Back in the day, Trotters was the first place I had even been offering on a Degustation menu.
  20. Jean Louis @ The Watergate Charlie Trotter's Le Bec Fin Le Cirque Four Seasons le Pavillon? (too long ago?) etc, etc, etc
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