Zeb A
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Posts posted by Zeb A
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Unless things have changed since last year, you are much better off not calling the restaurant at all, and, instead, asking someone (eg local hotel, B&B, etc.) to do it for you in person.
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I received a return call. They take reservations 2 months out. They are usually open about three nights a week (in October it is 2). Unfortunately, they are not open when I am in town. She said that, for weekends, you can usually get a reservation 1 month in advance. For weekdays, 2 weeks is usually ok.
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Is there some magic trick to getting a response to a reservation inquiry? I am starting to be reminded of my ill-fated efforts to snag a French Laundry reservation a year ago.
When I call Galileo's main number (202-293-7191), they say that the person who takes Laboratorio reservation is unavailable. When I call the Laboratorio number (202-331-0880), I get an answering machine that prompts me to leave a message, which I have done to no avail. I am calling nearly 2 months in advance for a reservation for 2. If I can't get in, so be it. But, it is rather annoying to not even be able to get someone to say "yea" or "nay."
Any ideas or explanation? They don't like out-of-towners perhaps?
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Sounds like a good plan. Bloomsbury has a lively bar where you can get appetizers, but it will be crowded on a Friday night, and the bar is not large. Quite a different crowd from the Lilly's crowd. Although it would take your further down Glenwood toward downtown, consider Vin. It is a great place for sampling small portions of great appetizers, meat, and cheese. I would also say that it has a much more "hip" feel than Bloomsbury. Given the event and companions you describe, I would strongly consider substituting Vin for Bloomsbury, even though it would require a short drive. After all, is sounds like you have at least 1 designated driver anyway.
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I wish I had talent.
Looks great!
I like the pig head outline--it immediately makes me think of the looney toons screen with porky's head.
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Well done.
I think you should keep the French and dump the Latin. I mean, even if you can't read French, you have the visual imagery to tell the story. French is more clever.
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Well done.
It takes a bit of courage to visit random Q shacks, but the payoff can be quite good.
(I am sorry, and I am sure it is just the photos, but those 1st two pics do not make me hungry at all. Mount slaw is a bit intimidating, and the skins look dangerous.)
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I am partial to York Harbor, just north on Portsmouth in Maine. The York Harbor Inn is a nice place to stay and eat, with a great location.
In Portland, I would suggest eating at Fore Street.
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It is 9:30 pm, and I have not eaten today. Those pictures just killed me.
Sounds like a neat place. Thanks for the report.
Where is Everett?
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O'Brycki's at Fells Point is a pretty well-know crab place.
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Varmint, any chance I could up my count to 4? Seems everyone I know wants to party wid' choo.
If you're max count has been exceeded, I will certainly understand.
I think McCord is on vacation until next week. I doubt increased #s is a problem.
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We had an opportunity to try two eastern NC joints this week: Wilbur's BBQ in Goldsboro and King's BBQ King's BBQ in Kinston. My wife had been to both before, but these were my first visits. Both were excellent. Your basic eastern NC bbq with traditional sides of slaw and puppies (King's billboards on 70 advertise it as being the home of the "pig in a puppy"--we didn't try one). Wilbur's was jam packed; King's seemed to have more capacity. The general consensus among our group was that while the BBQ at Wilbur's was good, it was better at King's (juicier meat with better flavor)--and King's had better puppies. Wilbur's had better slaw. Both were worth visits and are conveiently located midway between Raleigh and Atlantic Beach.
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I was afraid McCord might cry if no one posted in his thread today.
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Maybe you could stage a bbq eating contest at Varmint-fest 2003, and we could all pay to watch you eat.
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Jeez McCord, nice quotes. I am sure your restauranteur friends will be pleased.
I like this description of you, "Dean McCord, semi-professional eater." What does it take to become a pro? I've seen you put away some grub--I'd hate to see what might happen if you became more proficient.
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What's that thing on your lower lip? Having a dip?
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Well, here's the full-sized baby picture. Brace yourselves.
Nice 'do. You should have worn a lid.
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Breakfast is for wimps.
Diet coke straight, unimpeded by solid food.
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But, brother, that's the charm.
Right. We stopped because we'd seen so many cars back here in Maine with the bumper stickers. While we weren't expecting the Hilton....
I guess other people have since discovered its unique charm as I haven't seen a bumper sticker from there in the last couple of years.
It is good you stopped. It is bad luck to drive by South of the Border without stopping and paying your respects to Pedro. Better yet, you should buy the tackiest thing you can find.
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I do not "stock" anything in my desk drawer.
I inexplicably have an ancient can of Progresso "Classic" lentil soup. The label is yellowish.
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Nick and Katherine-
As you know, driving down here is all about the traffic. How well can you time it?? I can't recall where y'all are, but from Boothbay Harbor, it's about 900 miles and a bit more than 13 hours of driving. That is a haul, indeed. You could fly from Manchester NH on Southwest for under $200, but that's a lot of money for a pig pickin'. Picking up folks along the way may make the trip more enjoyable, too.
I certainly hope you can make it, but it's such a long distance that I can certainly see why that might make it a tad much.
I have driven from DC to York Harbor many many times. Trip is 8-10 hours. 8 is VERY fast; 10 allows for pit stops, traffic, etc.
I have also driven from Raleigh to DC many many times. The trip is 4-5 hours. So, that gives you 12-15 hours from York to Raleigh (I'd say closer to 15 unless you drive real fast in the middle of the night with no stops). Not sure how far it is from York to Boothbay.
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I loved your post. Great descriptions. How did you find time to eat while taking such comprehensive notes? I even tried to click on _Sometimes A Great Notion_, which made me laugh. Every time you see something underlined on the web you think its hypertexed. You forget that the proper way to quote a book is to underline its title. Thanks for the great review and the smile.
We actually don't really take notes. My wife has a great memory for all things food, so she can recall most of what we ate. Then, I often will go back and find the actual descriptions from the restaurant web-site, if they post recent menus. For other places, we actaully called-back later when doing the journal to get the decsription. For example, Peristyle does not seem to have a website, so we had to call them when we got home.
Sometimes a Great Notion is a novel by Ken Kesey. I highly recommend it.
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Thanks for the great report, Zebster and Deanna. When you going to get Mrs. A on eGullet?!?!
Not sure. She actiually asked about it once. I just need to get her set up. The value of our household contributions would increase ten-fold if she posted.
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So, my wife and I recently completed a trip to New Orleans. Below I will attach excerpts from a journal. On this trip, we intentionally tried to eat at nicer and/or notable restaurants. So, we really didn't experience any local dives. Long story short, we thought Bayona and Peristyle were very good. They are certainly restaurants that we would enjoy revisiting. We also ate at Commander's Palace, Brennan's, Emeril's Nola, and Galatoire's. While we enjoyed our meals at those restaurants and were also glad to experience them from a somehwat historical perspective, we would not return to any of them for another meal. None of the food was surprising at any of those restaurants, and, not surprisingly, they (except for Galatoire's) had a chain-like feel. Also, I personally find it hard to not factor cost into my overall perception of a restaurant, and, from that perspective, these four restaurants were seriously over-priced. I have to say that I was very surprised to not be able to find more restaurants in New Orleans like Bayona and Peristyle. Maybe we just missed them, but it was not for lack of serious research. In any event, it was a great trip, and I would recommend each restaurant for at least a one-time look-see. Here are the journal extracts (parts written by me, parts written by my wife):
New Orleans Trip
June 19-22, 2003
. . .
There was never any question that this trip would be about the food. Then again, it seems most of our trips end up focusing heavily on food. We did the obligatory research and made reservations for lunch and dinner. Here are the results:
Thursday, June 19, 2003
We arrived in New Orleans with just enough time to take a cab to our hotel, unpack, get our bearings and then head out for our first meal at Commander’s Palace. Commander’s Palace is a large house in the garden district that has served as a restaurant for 100 years. Many famous chefs in town started at this restaurant (including Emeril). We got to the restaurant (the only one to which we had to take a cab) early enough to stroll around the garden district and see some of the large houses and gardens in the area. Lafayette Cemetery, however, was closed, so Zeb was reduced to sticking his head through the metal gate.
Dinner consisted of:
Trio of Soups – Turtle Soup au Sherry, Country Gumbo and Truffled Bean Soup
Grilled Veal Chop Tchoupitoulas - Veal with goat cheese, stone ground grits, and brandied wild mushroom demi-glace
Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé with Whiskey Sauce
Romaine Salad - Romaine lettuce, slivered red onion, crushed capers and aged Parmesan, tossed with creamy artichoke-black pepper dressing
Jack Daniel’s Glazed Stuffed Quail - Blue crab-black pepper brioche stuffing with green apple braised cabbage and toasted pecan-molasses demi glâce
Cheese plate
Dinner here was good and the service was fine, if not a little ill-timed (our main courses came out on top of our appetizers and Zeb was almost finished with dinner before his wine arrived). Best part of the meal – Bread Pudding Soufflé. Worst part – the check – overpriced, but still worth one visit.
Post-dinner—a leisurely stroll down Bourbon Street. Now that was a sight to see. It is almost like some kind of madness takes over when one walks down these 8-10 blocks. Every cheesy and tacky item you can think of is for sale. All vices are on display. Open beer is allowed (more accurately, it is encouraged). Grandparents and Great-grandparents who I bet have not ever had cheap keg beer in a plastic cup walk around with monster size beverages (I wanted to follow them to see if the cups of beer magically dropped from their hands when they exited Bourbon Street and came back to reality.) A handy A&P that stays open almost perpetually supplied some beer for the room. In most cities, I would have felt foolish carrying a newly-purchased Styrofoam cooler, filled with beer and ice, back to my room—but not here! I fit right in.
We stayed at Soniat House, in the French Quarter, but a bit off the beaten path. It was a very nice place, furnished with antiques and offering good service. As with most hotels that come with charm, it also came with some inconveniences, such as poor plumbing, but we would definitely recommend the hotel.
Friday, June 20, 2003
Lunch was at Bayona, one of Susan Spicer’s restaurants and a nice walk from our hotel. Only a few tables were occupied when we arrived, but the place soon filled. We had a long, leisurely lunch here with great food at reasonable prices – one of the best, if not the best meals we had. Zeb picked all the winners, although mine were all great, too. His sandwich was outrageous – like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with duck – you’d have to taste it to believe it. The soup he ordered was cold, spicy and sweet with cantaloupe. But his dessert – holy cow – one of the best things we ever put in our mouths. Fresh peaches on top, followed by a crunchy, cinnamony, almond meringue, creamy panna cotta and when you reached down to the very bottom, caramel. Yum.
Here’s lunch:
Spicy Thai Cucumber and Melon Soup
Smoked Duck, Cashew Butter and Pepper Jelly Sandwich
Parfait of Fresh Peaches, Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Cinnamon Meringue and Caramel
Sauce
Salad of Mixed Greens, Avocado, Vidalia Onions and Fried Crawfish
Penne Pasta with Smoked Trout, Asparagus and a Lemon Cream Sauce
Crème Caramel with Blackberries
After lunch, we spent the day walking along the various streets and alleys in the Quarter. The weather was not as hot as had been expected (still plenty warm), and it was a very pleasant way to spend the day. After a beer at Pat O’Briens and a DVD back at the room, we were ready for dinner.
Dinner was at Peristyle. Anne Kearney, chef, has won many awards. The restaurant is small and the tables intimate (read, close together). We had the misfortune of being seated next to a very young, very loud, very pretentious lawyer, who spoke loudly both on and off the phone during his entire dinner. Nonetheless, an enjoyable meal, making Friday our best food day.
Dinner consisted of:
Pissaladiere – a caramelized onion tart with goat cheese and black olives
Pan roasted yellow fin tuna with Yukon potatoes and celeriac, hericot verts, and demi glace reduction with balsamic soaked sun dried tomatoes and pines nuts
Cheese plate
Coconut Tart
Tomato, Pepper and Shrimp Soup
Pan roasted chicken with toasted walnut acini de pepi "risotto", hericot verts, and carrots, sauced with reisling demi glace reduction of applewood smoked bacon and seedless grapes
Fresh Peach Tart
Tonight, after dinner, we took a stroll over to the Faubourg Marigny section, which borders the Quarter. The streets were jumping as music streamed out of the many bars and clubs. But, we are old and tired—so, we called it a night.
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Only one meal today, since the wedding was tonight. So, we had to do it. We had to include at least one of Emeril’s restaurants. We chose Nola, Emeril’s most casual restaurant for lunch. It looked as if others had the same idea, as the place was packed and we watched a few groups without reservations get turned away.
Lunch was good, but oh so overpriced. Maybe it wasn’t this way before Emeril hit it big, but lunch takes on a whole new meaning with $25 entrees. (The Chorizo was served medium rare, which, at least to us, was somewhat disconcerting—Zeb, of course, ate it anyway.) Anyway, here it is:
Cornmeal-Crusted Plaquemines Parish Oysters with Baby Spinach, Warm Apple-Smoked Bacon Dressing, Goat Cheese, Calamata Olives, Hard-Boiled Eggs and Shiitake Mushroom Chips
Mixed Grill of Herb-Marinated Filet Mignon Brochette, Homemade Chorizo and Gulf Shrimp with Slow-Cooked Greens, Roasted Garlic-Potato Cake and Creole Meuniere Sauce
Absolut Lemon Drop Cake with Citron-Crème Anglaise, Blueberry Coulis and Fresh Berries
Seafood chowder
Cedar Plank-Roasted Redfish with Citrus-Horseradish Crust, Lemon-Butter Sauce and Vietnamese Seafood Salad (cooked in wood burning oven)
NOLA Banana Pudding Layer Cake with a Graham Cracker Crust, Homemade Vanilla Wafers and a Warm Fudge Drizzle
After lunch, we again ambled around the Quarter. We also went down to the river and checked out the Aquarium. Jelly-fish are truly strange.
The wedding was on the upper deck of the Steamboat Natchez. We arrived just before 7:00 and watched a casual, very nice ceremony lasting only 15 or so minutes. Everyone then moved inside for drinks and appetizers as the ship headed down the river. Dinner was typical New Orleans fare – gumbo, jambalaya, etc. A zydeco band played, the groom “beat boxed,” your typical scene. . . .
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Our last day in New Orleans. We slept late again and headed out for brunch at a restaurant known for breakfast – Brennan’s. Brunch was good, but (and we hate to harp on price), incredibly overpriced.
Eggs Sardou - poached eggs on artichoke bottoms with hollandaise
Grillades of veal in a tomato-pepper sauce with grits
Crepes Fitzgerald - Crepes filled with cream cheese and sour cream served with a topping of strawberries flamed
Creole Onion Soup
Eggs Hussarde - Poached eggs atop Holland rusks, Canadian bacon, and Marchand de Vin sauce, and Topped with Hollandaise sauce.
Bananas Foster
We had a nice walk, looked through some galleries, ate 3 beignets at Cafe du Monde, and then saw a good German movie set mostly in Africa at a theatre by the water. Our last meal was at Galatoire’s, a New Orleans institution that has been run by the same family since 1905. Amazingly enough, the restaurant is right on Bourbon street, nestled between strip joints, bead shops, and a massive number of bars selling “Big Ass Beer” and “Grenades” (actually in big cheesy plastic grenades). The downstairs of the retaurant is reserved for “locals,” so we were seated upstairs with the rest of our kind. Our waiter was a nice ol’ guy – Zeb said he kept wanting to ask questions just so he could hear him speak (New Orleans style). Our meal was solid – everything we got was good, but it was still amazing to think that Gourmet had rated this restaurant as the 24th best in the country. On the plus side, the meal was not nearly as pricey as some hade been. Our meal:
Oysters Rockefeller – an amazingly bright green
Crabmeat Sardou – lump crab over artichoke bottoms with hollandaise
Salad Maison
Trout Meuniere Amandine
Cup Custard Maison
O.k. uncle. I told Zeb this latest binge is just what I needed to send me into maternity clothes once and for all. Anyway, a nice, relaxing trip and good food.
Varmint's Pig Pickin'
in Southeast: Dining
Posted
Marlene:
I would suggest the Peace Street Market (used to be 7-Even -- not a typo). Probably 5 minutes from Dean's house. Head south on Wade toward downtown. Turn right on St. Mary's. Turn left on Peace Street, and its on your left at the corner.