AdSum

[Holly Moore]

AdSum opened yesterday at 5th and Bainbridge. Chef owner and ex-Lacroix chef is Matt Levin, He's moving on downtown with an uptown bistro menu. I hit AdSum today for a late lunch -

Started off with fois gras poutine (shouldn't eGullet have a spell check that recognizes fois, gras and poutine). Excellent, but I'm not sure how much the fois gras added beyond aesthetics. Curious if pate fois gras might blend in better. Fresh mozzarella for the cheese. A little stringy which is not how I remember poutine - but it's been quite a while.

Also, in a gesture towards healthy eating, I tried bib salad with pears, Maytag blue cheese and candied cashews. Could have used more pear, but great taste combination.

Lots of other exciting dishes on the menu.

Great feel, overall. Excellent hangout potential.

[KatieLoeb]

Stopped by Monday evening to check out the bar, headed up by my good friend Preston Eckman. Tried one of the Logical Consequences - a gin and dill based cocktail that was both refreshing and challenging at the same moment. The space is beautiful and I love the cabinetry that's been built into a really neat back bar. Place is off to a fabulous start...

[Holly Moore]

Their fried chicken starts out sealed in buttermilk and in sous vide (can sous vide be a verb?) for about a day.

Edited August 7, 2010 by Holly Moore (log)

[zeffer81]

Hit up Adsum the other night. Yes, the fried chicken is everything it's been lauded to be and much, much more. Also enjoyed the pierogies and fried oysters. They just premiered their fall menu (starting today, I think.) I'm interested in checking out their late night specials!

[Holly Moore]

Ad Sum's contribution to curing Tastykake's woes - the Kandy Kate Slider

[angevin]

That's just silly and gross - Levin's smokin' crack.

[Holly Moore]

Yeah, I want to try one too.

[KatieLoeb]

Tommy Up of PYT has apparently been giving Matt Levin and Kar Vivekananthan of Adsum a hard time about this via Twitter, claiming that they're copycats and that he's the first to use some sweet pastry as a foil for a protein. Apparently he's backtracking now via Twitter as well

pytphilly: @mattlevin @don_kar I was just playing around. You guys are totes awesome. We should party together.

, having had the error of his ways pointed out to him that there are places that got press for this sort of thing at least as early as 2006.

Not for nothing, but seriously there's just not that much new under the sun. The world doesn't end at the tip of anyone's nose who is paying attention and isn't just being an ass. No Tommy, you didn't "invent" the Krispy Kreme bun. Someone beat you to it. Just like I didn't "invent" the Manhattan by putting whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters into a glass together. Doesn't mean I can't have my own spin on it, but that's a far cry from being an originator...

[Andrew Fenton]

Not for nothing, but seriously there's just not that much new under the sun. The world doesn't end at the tip of anyone's nose who is paying attention and isn't just being an ass. No Tommy, you didn't "invent" the Krispy Kreme bun. Someone beat you to it. Just like I didn't "invent" the Manhattan by putting whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters into a glass together. Doesn't mean I can't have my own spin on it, but that's a far cry from being an originator...

It doesn't matter whether he invented it or not- he got you to mention him. Dude is a master at free publicity. Win!

[KatieLoeb]

Only a win for those that don't know better. Sadly, that's a big proportion of folks. But I try to be as in the know about those things that effect my industry and job as much as possible. If I have to be good at anything, it might as well be my job, yes? Not so much a "win" to me...

[Tim Dolan]

I didn't think it was possible, but I've hit my limit for indulgence. I now know better than to go overboard when ordering at Adsum. First, the "super" poutine. It's the same as Holly's picture above, only with bacon, more cheese, and a fried duck egg. Yikes. So good though. Up next was a giant lamb shank with roasted red peppers and brussel sprouts. Falling apart tender. Gf got the pierogies, which she said has now ruined all other pierogies for her. I got a little more than halfway through my lamb shank before throwing in the towel.

After all that we were sufficiently stuffed. But I looked on the blackboard and saw something called a "bacon Snickers bar". Yep, it's just like it sounds, a homemade Snickers bar with a thin strip of glorious bacon slipped in there. My gf could only manage a small bite, but I took one for the team and polished it off. First time I ever left a restaurant and wondered if Kevin Spacey was marking me as a target for gluttony.