tammylc

While dining at a bistro in upstate New York on a business trip recently, my coworker D and I got to talking about what we look for in restaurants, and ye olde question of why there aren't any really good restaurants in our home town. I noted that a restaurant changing its menu regularly is one of the first things I look for in deciding where to eat. Red Newt Bistro, where we were having our conversation, changes their menu dramatically every 3 weeks. Most of the best restaurants I've been to are constantly modifying their menus. We couldn't come up with a single restaurant in Ann Arbor that made more than token occasional changes, with most of the menu remaining static. I think there's a definite relationship between restaurant quality and menu rotation. A constantly changing menu means that a) the chef is taking advantage of seasonal availablity of foods and b) they're creative and inspired and enjoy trying new ideas. What do you think?

While dining at a fabulous bistro in upstate New York while on a business trip, my coworker D and I got to talking about what we look for in restaurants, and ye olde question of why there aren't any really good restaurants in Ann Arbor. I noted that a restaurant changing its menu regularly is one of the first things I look for in deciding where to eat. Red Newt Bistro, where we were having our conversation, changes their menu dramatically every 3 weeks. Most of the best restaurants I've been to are constantly modifying their menus. We couldn't come up with a single restaurant in Ann Arbor that made more than token occasional changes, with most of the menu remaining static. I think there's a definite relationship between restaurant quality and menu rotation. A constantly changing menu means that a) the chef is taking advantage of seasonal availablity of foods and b) they're creative and inspired and enjoy trying new ideas. What do you think? Eve is probably one of the best restaurants in Ann Arbor right now, and while they do have some dishes that have been on the menu since the beginning, they do mix things up occasionally. One of the things that kept me from going to Logan for so long was the static nature of their menu - not what I expect from the kind of restaurant they seem to be trying to be. Please discuss.

the Bistro at Red Newt Cellars Red Newt Cellars is a mom and pop kind of thing - he makes the wines, she cooks in the bistro. They had my favorite wines from when D and I did our winery tour of Finger Lakes on our last trip there. And the menu in the bistro looked great, and it came highly recommended, so I was really looking forward to getting a chance to go. The menu changes every three weeks and focuses on seasonal local ingredients. We were there on the first night of the new menu, but we didn't notice any opening night glitches. It's a nice big open room. We had seat along the window and could look out over some vineyards off to the other side of Seneca Lake and the setting sun, which had come out just for us. While the food is upscale, the environment is pretty casual, as you'd expect given the cottage country location. They have a small kids menu, and one of my most amusing moments of the evening came when the 8 year old girl at another table asked her server, in the most serious and formal of voices, "Which do you recommend, the pizza or the macaroni and cheese?" <a href="http://rednewt.com/vm/content/view/16/53/">Red Newt Bistro</a> was the most wine-centric of the restaurants that we've visited in the Finger Lakes. They had about 20 wines being poured by the glass, most arranged into tasting flights, one for each of the main dinner entrees on the menu. You could order the flight, or just one of the wines in the flight, in half or full size glasses. Very flexible. And if you weren't sure what you wanted, they'd pour you a taste. I was overjoyed that they were serving the Tierce riesling by the glass. Tierce is a collaborative wine made by three different wineries on Seneca Lake, of which Red Newt is one. It's a really great riesling - best wine I tasted on my last trip, and one I've thought fondly of since then. But at $30/bottle, I just couldn't bring myself to buy any - I can get some mighty good German riesling for $30/bottle, and I'm not buying that either. But I was thrilled to be able to get a glass with dinner! In our usual way, D and I split an appetizer. I was voting for the <i>Foccacia with Wild Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Arugula, Feta, Roasted Garlic Oil and Proscuitto</i>, but D had a strong preference for the <i>Puff Pastry Turnover with Roasted Garlic Chevre, Carmelized Onions and Collards served with Roasted Red Pepper and Ginger Chutney</i>. And if you know me, you know that I find it hard to say no to chevre, so we went with that. It was tasty and the presentation was pretty, but there was nothing in it that made me say ooh-la-la. The roasted red pepper and ginger chutney had seemed so promising on paper, but didn't live up to its promise. All entrees come with a salad. D had the regular house salad with a spicy peanut dressing, and I spent the $3 to upgrade mine to something that I'd been looking forward to ever since seeing the menu online: <i>Mixed Green Salad with Carmelized Chevre, Shaved Fennel, Scallions and Toasted Pine Nuts with a Strawberry Vinaigrette</i>. I was most intrigued by "caramelized chevre" - what ever could that be? It turned out to be a ball of goat cheese, coated in sugar, and browned into sweet crunchy shell, like the top of a creme brulee. It was wonderful. The cheese was warm, the salad cold, the pine nuts toasty, the strawberries oh-so-fresh. I loved every bit of it. D's main was the <i>Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with a Chocolate Red Wine Sauce</i>. It was served with a lovely potato dish, which looked kind of like hash browns but tasted sooo much better. Being cooked in cream and parmesan will do that for you. The beef and the sauce were great too. For wines, D had tried one of the merlots recommended for the course, as well as a cabernet sauvignon, but ended up opting to just get more of the Red Eft that we'd had the night before. I was very impressed with the merlot pairing - I've often heard merlots described as chocolately, but this was the first that totally fit the bill for me. Even before tasting the dish I could tell these would be great together, and saved a sip in the sample glass for when I got my forkful from Donna's plate. I ordered a half glass of the Red Newt Cellars cabernet sauvignon to go with my main: the <i>Mixed Grill of Ancho Chili Coated Lamb Chops and Chorizo Sausage with a Cherry Glaze served with Roasted Garlic Grits</i>. The sausage was spicy but not overbearing. the lamb chops were tender and flavorful. The cherry glaze was tasty. The grits were great. Mmm... grits. Nothing transcendent, just really good food, really well prepared and perfectly seasoned. D and I were both quite full at this point, but there's always room in the dessert stomach. We opted for one of the lighter offerings, bypassing the turtle cheesecake and kitchen-sink brownie sundae and going for the more refined <i>chocolate roulade with white chocolate mint filling and raspberry sauce.</i> It was a perfect choice - light, but still chocolatey enough to satisfy a couple of demanding chocoholics. Our bill, including tax and tip, came to $132. That's a bit much for our company's expense account (we are a nonprofit, afterall), so we put $80 on the company card and split the rest. But I'd happily pay my own money to eat there again!

Went to Logan for dinner a week or so ago for my wedding anniversary. This "chef-driven restaurant" has been around for a little more than a year, I think. I haven't been, because the menu just never inspired me to choose it over more affordable options. But finally I decided, even though the menu still wasn't really exciting me, that we should check it out anyway. First off, I have to say that I really appreciate what Logan is trying to do. They're aiming for a level of fine dining that's higher than pretty much anywhere else in town. Offering an amuse bouche, interesting plating - it's clear that they're aiming for the top. Unfortunately, they're just not meeting the mark. Our amuse bouche came closest, and was really promising. The little bowl of asparagus vichysoisse was smooth, creamy and well executed, and the drizzle of pickled ramp oil pushed it over the top. They offer a 5 course tasting menu for $40 Tuesday through Thursday, but neither my husband or I thought it especially interesting, so we decided to order a la carte instead, reasoning that we'd get to try just as many dishes by ordering separate items and sharing. He started with BROILED MUSSELS - Fresh East coast mussels broiled with apple wood smoked bacon and halloumi cheese. Served on a bed of braised cabbage with a stained glass sauce composed of a citrus reduction and parsley and chili oils. This sounded intriguing, and the plating was certainly impressive (see the rightmost image on the restaurant's main page) but it didn't live up to expectations. The cheese stuck to the shells, making it was hard to get all the tastes in one forkful. The braised cabbage was quite tasty, however - my husband doesn't like cabbage and he ate it right up. I had GRUYERE CUSTARD - A savory Antique Gruyere custard served with handmade poppy seed crackers and a warm soffritto. I love custards. This was certainly tasty enough, just not very interesting. The soffritto added a little something. The poppy seeds on the crackers fell off if they moved from the horizontal, and that annoyed me. On to the mains. For me, OAXACAN SHORT RIBS - Beef short ribs braised in an authentic Oaxacan molè consisting of ancho & guajillo chilies, onions, tomatoes and garlic all blacked on a comal. Garnished with a parsnip puree and cilantro oil. Doesn't that sound like it should just be packed with flavor? The presentation was again right up there, with what I can only describe as a reversed pyramid of parsnips (4 sides, but going down in the middle not up) with the short rib nestled in the middle and the deep black sauce over it all. Sadly, it mostly just tasted burnt. Eric got the SEARED TUNA STEAK - A sashimi grade yellowfin tuna steak pan seared. Served with udon noodles, simmered in a lemongrass ginger broth. Garnished with sugar-snap peas, carrots and pickled ramps. The pickled ramps were again the star. The tuna steak was a pretty good cut and well prepared. I thought the broth for the noodles was good in the little splash I tasted, but my husband, after eating the whole plate, said it might as well have been ramen noodles. Across all of the dishes but the amuse bouche, I'd have to say that the flavors were just too flat. Maybe even a little more salt would have livened things up. Or just some effort at balancing flavors with some acid elements. I can't really guess what's going on in the kitchen, I just know that what's coming out of it just isn't hitting the mark. At $15-$20/plate it would probably have been okay, at $25-$30, the quality to price ratio is just off. While the flavors weren't huge, the portion sizes were, so we had to seriously ponder if we were up for dessert. In the end we decided not to "throw good money after bad" and go elsewhere for an after dinner pastry. But they did give us a new umbrella, so that's got to count from something! As we were retreiving our raincoat and umbrella, we made a joke to the host that we were tempted to steal somebody else's umbrella, because ours was in such pitiful shape. And he replied "well, these two have been here long enough to be fair game." So we swapped! It's really quite a nice umbrella, and helped offset some small amount of our dissatisfaction.

Best way to make sure there's a fish course is to volunteer to organize it, which it looks like you have! I'll put you down for the fish. Thanks!

And while I'm at it, one more bit of planning related talk. (On a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, so it will probably get lost, but what the heck...) We've decided to structure the menu as we did last year, by looking for volunteers to take charge of a course. If you're in charge of a course, it'll be up to you (and anyone who volunteers to help out) to check out the market offerings, grab ingredients and execute that course. This sounds more daunting than it is - you can be as complicated or simple as you'd like. There will be lots of people on hand to chop and stir and assemble, so you're by no means on your own. Please post if you'd like to volunteer for a particular course/dish. Last year we had hors d'ouevres, soup, salad, fish, meat, and dessert, IIRC. This year would have a pasta course as well or instead, or two meat courses and no fish, or whatever strikes your fancy. If you'd like to help as a sous chef, please speak up about that too, either offering to help a particular person, or just in general. Not very interested in cooking, or can't get there til close to dinner time? That's okay, because we need cleaners and dishwashers too. We have a Hobart dishwasher and a professional-style stainless steel sink, which makes clean up pretty easy, but many hands make light work!

I'm pleased to announce that our own Destroit has offered to "throw together a tasting menu" for us at Bella Ciao on Friday night. Thanks, Destroit - that sounds very cool, and we'd love to take you up on that offer. People who are planning to attend the Friday night - particularly anyone who's on a budget - please PM me and let me know what your price limits might be, so we can give Destroit some guidance on what kind of menu to put together. He noted in his comment that "Yes, I do take requests."

Well, let's see... Of the people on Alex's last list I've got specific RSVP info from: tammylc & Eric Alex daniellewilley (& Michael?) torakris NancyH & Bob Shannon_Elise destroit Fat Guy sweintraub edsel aznsailorboi Mr. & Mrs. Devilkitty (tentative) VickiA2 And a couple people not on the list: LainerX Ruthie Jewell Maggi (a friend of mine, not on eGullet) Nancy (ditto) I have yet to hear from: Sam Iam & Joyce ronnie_suburban cbarre02 & guest Elrushbo Palladion slbunge (tentative) CaliPoutine (& friends?) HeatherM Meez (maybe) jmsaul & L maggiethecat Flocko (maybe) annarborfoodie (part-time) ulterior epicure's spirit So if you're reading this on you're on the "yet to hear from list" please speak up soon! In particular, I need to know how many people are attending the wine tasting, so I can tell Ric his budget and he can start getting wines - we've only got about 4 weeks to go! Other planning news will go in my next post.

Okay, just back from Red Newt Bistro, which was even better, but first things first. Madderlake Cafe was a good choice for our first night in, because unlike most of the other restaurants on my list, it's on the same side of the lake and near the top as Geneva, where we're staying. Our flight was late, so we went there straight from the airport. You can tell the building they're in is a bit dingy, although they've done a pretty good job of covering it up with some nice bright paint and some great glass artwork on the walls. It's funky and cheery - different colored napkins at each place setting, things like that. There was a bit of an odd smell to it, unfortunately - never did figure out what that was about. It was a very small menu, not even as broad as what's posted on their website. Six openers including a soup, two salads and a cheese course, and just 8 mains. Not a lot was jumping out at us, to be honest. But my coworker and I each managed to find something that appealed, and ordered a bottle of wine to go with. Their wine list had a good number of Finger Lakes wines as well as wines from other regions and was really reasonably priced - nothing over $50. There was nothing by the glass that I was interested in (only 4 reds, and only one of those from Finger Lakes), so I took a look at the list and jumped at the chance to order a bottle of the 2003 Red Newt Cellars Red Eft. This is a red blend that I'd just loved when I'd visited the winery on my last trip. (And given that it sells for just $12.50 at the winery, you can see that the wine markup is really reasonable.) To start we split an order of deep fried calamari, shrimp and scallops, with sides of mignonette and remoulade sauces. Tasty, satisfying, well-prepared, although nothing particularly special about it. For mains, I had the roast breast and potted leg of duck with grilled fresh pineapple and wild rice spoonbread. This was wonderful. Duck and pretty much any fruit goes great, but I was surprised at how well it played with the grilled pineapple. There was some nice rich demi-glace based sauce under it. The spoonbread was quite tasty, although I wasn't sure it went quite so well with the rest. But all in all a quite delightful and different dish. My coworker had the grilled pork tenderloin with apples, dried cherries and roasted fingerling potatoes. Again with a lovely rich sauce, unidentified on the menu. Fairly basic fare, but very nicely prepared. Dessert was glorious. I didn't steal a dessert menu, so I have to reconstruct the description from memory, but it was baked cream with vanilla bean, kahlua sauce and a mexican wedding cookie? A rich, creamy, glorious custard, served atop a caramel and kahlua sauce (like a creme caramel or flan, but with the sauce and custard cooked separately) and a perfect little nutty cookie along side. Incredible. Definitely recommended if you're in the neighborhood.

Madderlake Cafe is great! We did make it to the restaurant despite delays in our plane departing from Detroit, and we were very glad to make it. I'm too tired, and my meeting starts too early, to write too many details about it tonight, but I can say that I had one of the best desserts ever. Mmmm. More tomorrow.

The description of the shop sounds spot on, though. Maybe it was an assistant or employee? The time I was there she was busy working in the back corner of the shop with an assistant, and another woman was selling chocolates from the case.

Sounds like Kee's.

Read the Per Se and JG threads right here on eGullet, and I'm sure you'll find reports from solo diners. I have a friend who frequently dines at 4 star/Michelin starred restaurants all over the world, usually alone, with never a problem at all. I think Babbo is the exception, not the rule!

Oh, and one more note on the survey - it asks for contact information in case we need to get in touch with you for whatever reason. But only the organizing team (myself, Alex and daniellewiley) can see that information - it won't be generally distributed or anything like that.

Yes, you can make changes later. Or, more precisely, you can fill out the survey again, and I'll only take into account your later response. I should note that the wine tasting will be held here at Great Oak, the same place where we'll be doing the cooking and eating, etc. So if you don't drink, you can still hang out with all of us lushes who do. But you don't need to sign up or pay - that's just if you want to imbibe.

Hey all, it's formal RSVP time! With so many different events happening throughout the weekend, we need to start collecting more detailed information about who will be attending what, so that we can plan accordingly/ make restaurant arrangements, etc. It's seems awfully inefficient to try to collect this information here in the forum, so I've set up a web form for people to fill out. Let me know if you have any questions or problems with the survey. Thanks, and looking forward to seeing all of you in August!

Very sorry you won't be able to make it! I'm sure there will be a detailed play by play...

Sure. There's a Fairfield Inn about 10-15 minutes away. http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/ARBFI And there's a Courtyard right there too. http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/ARBCH They're just a couple highway exits away, so no big deal to get to and from.

Okay - we have a group rate at the Best Western for $71. It's good for both Friday August 4 and Saturday August 5. If you've already made your reservation there, you can call and get your room transferred to the group rate. Our group code is "egullet." Right now we have 10 rooms blocked for us each night, and we'll be able to add more if we need them.

I often feel like I pay too much at Morgan and York, actually, particularly for wine. Their wines are always $2-$3 more than I expect or see them listed for elsewhere. Their cheese and other items are pretty reasonable, though, and they do have a great cheese counter - better than Zingerman's, sometimes. That said, I like both stores. I'm really surprised by your characterization of Zingerman's employees as snobby - that's never been my perception. Really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about food, and eager to share that, absolutely. But not snobby.

After one too many close calls, Andy Quady left his career in pyrotechnics to become a winemaker. And he did this back in the '70s, when being a winemaker wasn't a trendy thing like it is today. We should all be happy about this choice. <a href="http://www.quadywinery.com/">Quady Winery</a> makes one of the only traditional vermouths, flavored with fresh herbs rather than oils. They also makes wine from little used grapes like orange and black muscat. While these are generally marketed as dessert wines, we found them to be excellent accompaniments to our dinner. This was my favorite dinner since the very first one I attended. Like that one, the menu was simple and focused, with a clear goal of pairing well with the wines. And since that's what I'm looking for, it was a total win for me. All the food was great, with no duds or misfires. Pre-Dinner Cocktail: <b>Andy's French Twist</b> - half Vya dry vermouth and have Vya sweet vermouth, with orange zest. Cheers! Starter: <b>Zingerman's Creamery Little Napoleon goat cheese, Niman Ranch salumi napolitana, and California Figs</b>. Wine: Elysium. In addition to the named ingredients, this had some black and green olives, and a sprinkling of some sort of crushed red pepper. Meat, cheese, olives - as Jillian said, this is the kind of food you'd be happy to make a meal out of all on its own. The cheese is my favorite that the Creamery makes, and it turned out to be an absolutely exceptional match with the paired wine, Elysium, a fortified wine made from black muscat. When the Elysium was poured, the scent of roses nearly knocked me out of my chair. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it didn't last all that long, and the nose in the glass was more lychee with just hints of rose. Soup: <b>Roasted garlic and creme fort</b>. Wine: Essencia Unfortunately we forgot to remind Jillian to take the picture before she took her first bite, so you can't see that this was garnished with individual sections of chive flower. The toast in the middle was surprisingly crispy. And the soup was luxurious. Essencia is one of Quady's original wines and is made from orange muscat grapes. One of the great things about the wines at this meal was how glorious the colors were. That's the Elysium on the left, and the Essencia on the right. And the all smelled fabulous. Salad: <b>Local mustard greens and roasted asparagus with Niman Ranch speck</b>. Wine: Electra<lj-cut text="pictures"> A really perfect salad. Bitter greens, perfect aspargus, salty sweet speck (similar to prosciutto). In contrast to the previous wines, this one was a mere 4% alcohol - they stop the fermentation just as the grape juice is turning to wine. It's not-too-sweet with some nectarine tang, and a little bit of fizz. It's marketed as a perfect picnic wine, and we think it would be great for that. Although made with the same orange muscat as the Essencia, the color was much lighter, reflecting it's lighter nature and short aging time. This has become one of their best selling wines (and at around $10 a bottle, it's easy to see why.) Entree: <b>Fillet of California lemon sole with braised fennel and local carrot tops</b>. Wine: Vya Extra-Dry Vermouth I'm so happy I chose the sole. The lamb was good, but the sole was just what I was in the mood for. The fish was nicely prepared, but the sauce - oh the sauce - just blew me away. A buerre blanc made with the liquid from braising the fennel, it was amazing in texture and flavor and did the oddest things in my mouth - here one minute, gone the next, only to come back full force a moment later. The carrot tops did nothing to change my opinion of them (ie. tough and not worth eating). But the braised fennel was awesome. OR <b>Braised Niman Ranch California lamb shank with guajillo chiles</b>. Wine: Vya Sweet Vermouth I just had one little taste of this, but it was meltingly tender and served atop a mound of mashed potatoes. Whereas the fish and the dry vermouth were only an adequate match, the sweet vermouth was excellent with the rich flavors of the reduction sauce. Dessert: <b>Goat cheesecake from Zingerman's Bakehouse with honey-essencia essence</b>. Wine: Starboard Batch 88, 1992 Vintage Starboard is Quady's euphamism for Port, and it is made with the same mix of grapes as in Portugal. I wasn't very excited by it at first. Then the cheesecake arrived. Tasting it, you wouldn't have known it was goat cheese based - Zingerman's fresh and cream goat cheeses are actually too clean and mild for me to like them as goats. But it was an excellent flavor and texture all the same. With the tang of the sauce and the citrus, I couldn't imagine it going well with the Starboard, but I was oh-so-wrong. Definitely the most surprising pairing of the night, the two harmonized beautifully. I was pretty full, but couldn't resist eating the whole thing. After Dinner Wine: Deviation Deviation is their newest wine, and is their attempt at making a "love potion." Love potion or not, I'm in love with this wine. I was fortunate enough to try it when I happened to be at the Roadhouse the night a couple months ago that Ric opened a sample bottle. It's the Essencia wine described above, but infused with damiana and scented geranium. And it's utterly wonderful. Complex, deep, with a finish that lasted (literally) all the way home. I'm gonna have dreams about this one. Andy almost didn't make it to the dinner, when his flight out of middle of nowhere California was cancelled. 4 connecting flights later he and his wife arrived at the Roadhouse just as we were being served course number three. Between dinner and dessert Andy stood up to tell us the story about how he got his start in winemaking. It was a hilarious tale of the worst wine making practices of huge wine companies in California in the 70's. How they marketed their wines as being better than their competitors because they were darker, sweeter and had more alcohol. And lots more funny stories from a man in Buddy Holly glasses. It's so interesting that he started in something so corporate and ended up being so artisanal. His wines are relatively widely available and quite affordable, because he's making them in good quantities. I need to go looking for what I can find in town. I'd love to have a few bottles of Electra on hand for just about any occasion. And when next Eric is looking for a martinia vermouth, perhaps I'll grab some Vya for him. And I have a friend visiting soon who will just love the Elysium, so I'm hoping to track down a bottle for her. (And as always with these meals, thanks to Jillian for the excellent picture taking.)

Just a heads up - I have a call into the Best Western about getting a group rate. So if you haven't yet made a reservation, hold off a little longer until I have more information. (If you've already made a reservation you'll be able to transfer it into the group block.)

Here's a little primer from Zingerman's on the different kinds of things labeled balsalmic vinegar. http://www.zingermans.com/Article.pasp?ArticleID=article30 Also, there was a really good eGullet thread recently about the history of balsamic vinegar in the US. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...714&hl=balsamic

Tonight's Andy Quady dinner was the best of all the dinners I've attended at the Roadhouse. The wine, the food, it was all just stellar. I'll write more about it tomorrow, after I sleep off the pre-dinner cocktail, paired wine with each of five courses, and the post-dinner wine. Oh, and did I mention that nearly all of them were fortified? Goodnight.

I think the restaurant it still doing a booming business, but it does seem like bruch hasn't really caught on. I've come around a lot to the restaurant since I made these original posts here, I'm happy to say. Tonight I attended one of their montly special dinners, and it was the best one yet!