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Scotttos

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  1. My fiance and I had the tasting menu at Ssam bar last night and it was a pretty special experience. We've eaten there a million times but never tried the tasting before. It was on a whim that ordered it. It was 70 bucks each for 8 courses. For most of the courses we each received a different dish. It was an amazing way to really explore a lot of what Ssam has to offer. When it was all said and done we were able to sample around 15 different items. For the start we each recieved a dish with a Caraquet Oyster w/ kimchi consomme and a Cracked Empress Jonah Crab Glaw w/ harissa mayo Please excuse the quality of the crappy iphone pics. Next up was the Cured Hamachi w/ edamame, horseradish, pea leaves and the Long Island Fluke w/ pink lady apples, charred leeks, lime puree. Following that we had the Fuji Apple Kimchi w/ Burgers' smoked jowl, maple labne, arugula and a Pork and Foie Gras Terrine w/ pickled ramps, maple. The terrine was knockdown delicious and my second favorite dish of the night. After this we were brought out a plate of the Seasonal Pickles and one Steamed Pork Bun each. Next up we each got a portion of the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Torchon w/ nori and pineapple. The torchon was very intense especially with the addition of the nori, but taken together with the pineapple is was a delicious dish. After the foie we hit the fish course and were brought out the Grilled Branzini w/ tomatillos, jicama, pepitas and the Roasted Diver Sea Scallops w/ sea bean, gremolata, anchovy. On the heels of the fish course we were brought out the meat course which consisted of a small portion of Bev Eggleston's Pork Shoulder Steak w/ zucchini, ramp dressing and the best dish of the night, Crispy Pig's Head Torchon w/ lime pickle, raisins. We devoured the pork shoulder steak and got almost halfway though the pig's head torchon before I remembered to take a picture.... For dessert we were brought full portions of both the PB&J w/ tristar strawberry jam, soda cracker panna cotta and Pear Sorbet w/ pumpkin ganache, gorgonzola dolce. All said and done the meal took over 2 hours and with 2 half liters of wine (with tax/tip) came to just under $300. After having the tasting it's going to be hard to go back and order like we usually do. We were told that in the future we can tailor to the tasting to incorporate any of the dishes on the menu. Can't wait to go back. Please forgive (again) the shoddy picture work and rudimentary descriptions.
  2. RE: Momofuku and Foie Gras....I'm sure most of you have seen David Chang's recent post on Eater. In case you didn't here's the link, a quote, and a brief summary: http://eater.com/archives/2009/03/on_the_house_4.php Summary: basically an anti-foie gras activist walked into Ko and threatened to demonstrate outside the restaurant in an effort to generate negative publicity for ko and the other momofukus'. Chang did some research about other such campaigns and felt threatened. So, confident in his intention and ability to source humanely treated animals, espically his foie gras (hudson valley foie gras) he decided to address the issue head on. You can obviously see how he's decided to do that, which I think is pretty badass. Tonight at noodle they were serving a roasted foie gras with ramps, sherry vinegar, and burnt honey. . . . for $16. It was delicious. On another note I noticed a lot of new dishes on the menu. A roasted beet salad with sesame yogurt, benton's ham, chive oil. The ham looks to be shaved a la the ko foie dish on top of the sesame yogurt. The dish was amazing. Another winner was the roasted rice cakes with roasted onions, garlic, scallions. If anyone remembers the roasted rish cake dish with sweet maine shrimp that used to be on the menu this is the exact same thing without the shrimp or the nuts. It's just a nice mound of delicious rich cakes prepared the same way. There are also an assortment of new noodle dishes, a chicken and egg dish (smoked chicken, rice, poached egg). . . . and not a thing is over 16 bucks.
  3. Went tonight for dinner, 9:20 slot. Most of what we had tonight was right on with other recent posts but there were a few differences -- - Spanish mackerel (raw) with mustard oil, meyer lemon, puffed rice - Seared halibut with TN truffle, artichoke puree, cauliflower milk - Black sesame ice cream with coconut and lemon cream and very large funnel cake The funnel cake dessert was totally unexpected and really great. I grew up in MD and have many a memory of walking on the boardwalk with a funnel cake. Haven't had one in more than a decade. It was very cool that it turned up tonight.
  4. If there is any info about this, I think we'd all be interested to hear about it. ← Gotcha, haha, I guess I'll take that last part back then : )
  5. Does anyone have any experience with Momofuku's new private dining area? I'm thinking of planning a (small) wedding reception/dinner there and would really appreciate some feedback. Please just send me a PM, I wouldn't want to clog up the thread. Best.
  6. The regents punch was a total success. It was delicious, so delicious in fact that it was gone in about 45 mins. I guess I should have doubled it (I was serving 8) but I honestly thought one batch would be enough. I had to toss together a pitcher of manhattan's really quick to settle down the crowd, all of which were on my case for not making more punch.... On another note, does anyone have a good recipe for Kill Devil Punch?
  7. 5 or so dashes? This will be the first bowl of punch I've ever attempted to make, I'm pretty excited about it.
  8. I'm going to make this on saturday to celebrate my birthday Sam have you tweaked Dave's recipe at all or are you still going by what you linked up thread?
  9. I think Rittenhouse has to have the most up and down pricing scheme I've ever seen, haha. When it was first "rediscovered" you could routinely find it for around $12 dollars even going as low as $10 for places that wanted to clear stock (I bought a case for $10/per at one point). When people started gobbling it up the price continued climbing at a steady clip stopping at $13, $15, $18 on the way to (the highest I've seen it at) $22. My local liquor store has about 6 bottles in stock and two weeks ago they were priced at $18 but when I walked in the other day all 6 were still there and the price was lowered to $16.50. It's hilarious.
  10. I'm of the same mind as you with "this one's just for me," but maybe for different reasons, haha. I've made these on various occasions for a handful of people (including my girlfriend who is pretty well versed) and the results have been overwhelmingly disappointing. ...... Turns out no one can really get their head around the taste of the genevieve. It's unfortunate but then again I only have a few bottles soooo.....
  11. I think the problem with most bars and restaurants is that they're thinking primitively when it comes to cocktails. They think if they can latch onto the growing cocktail awareness by stocking hot-topic spirits and dropping the right cocktail names they can bank on the movement without any real thought or dedication toward creating a quality product. They're still not really taking cocktails seriously. You can stock the right spirits and drop the right names on your cocktail menu but that doesn't mean you're really taking the whole thing seriously. I'm quoting Philip here but it's one thing to put a drink on the menu and quite another to put it in the glass. When you are creating something special and taking what you do seriously you should be much more reluctant to put something inferior in the glass. Even if someone is asking for it.
  12. Scotttos

    Pegu Club

    Unfortunately table service is indeed a weakness, but it's a weakness most cocktail bars in pegu's circle suffer from. It's not 100% guaranteed but 99.9% of the time you'll have a much better experience at the bar. I understand sometimes sitting at the bar isn't really an option (it's too crowded, you have a party larger than 3, etc.) but if at all possible that's the way to go. I was at Pegu a couple weekends ago and had a great experience. I found the drinks to be excellent as always and since the place was kinda empty I had a wonderful time talking to the bartender. These guys love what they do and when you get an opportunity to talk shop they really open up. Regarding the 18 dollar Margarita. . . . .i'm not totally sure about that one, but I have ordered off menu drinks before and the prices have been all over the place (from $16-19), no explanation was given but I didn't ask either. I'm sure it has to do with what kind of booze they're using.
  13. Scotttos

    Pegu Club

    Do you remember what drinks you had? There are old standards on the Pegu menu that I just crave. Two of which -- Little Italy and French Pearl -- go down as some of the best drinks i've ever had. I think I'll head out there tonight, lol, gettin' thirsty.
  14. This wasn't ever in any doubt. I understand the strain, demand, and arduous aging process. What I wasn't sure of was whether HH finally depleted the current stock and how long we would actually have to wait for a steady stream of new product. I guess another concern (probably something I shouldn't worry about considering HH's track record) is will the new product be the same as the Rittenhouse BIB we've all come to know and love? I imagine the dirt cheap price is a thing of the past, and honestly at 16, 17, 18 even 20 dollars i'd still by it by the boatload. I guess I was curious if it was time to hoard, and from the responses so far it looks like it is indeed. I use so much of this stuff it's insane.
  15. I think a great drink to order would be a Manhttan. Most good restaurant bars should be able to execute this drink well. A Manhattan can give you a good idea what the bar and bartender are capable of, as well as being both a great and sophisticated drink.
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