Notable 2010 Dishes

[jenc]

My round-up of dishes in 2010 (blog post, photos, etc) that were either aesthetically or gastronomically pleasing. Maybe even both. Time to reminisce!

obligatory link to flickr

A decent rabbit dish, but I really liked how this photograph turned out. Luckily it was empty the night we ate at Bohmer, so it wasn’t too conspicuous when I stood up and took this top-shot. Bohmer’s beautiful plates (Aug 11, 2010)

A really lovely taste of slightly-seared briny uni and negi hamachi on rice at Yuzu. And it’s also in a masu cup, so you get the aroma of cedar too. So good. Yuzu Nov 2010 set on flickr.

You know, I had my doubts about brussel sprouts until I had The Black Hoof‘s salad. Superbly crafted with chicken skin bits, lovage, roasty/seared sprouts, and a fried lemon on top. So amazing we had to order it again the first night we had it.

obligatory link to flickr

Finally got the brioche French toast at The Hoof Café, but without the foie gras option. I keep passing on that, despite my love of foie. I happen to like their apple preparation of this dish better, but this shot turned out better. Hoof Café Crazy (Jun 6, 2010)

I helped out a friend with some cupcake tasting (hard, I know), but this was the best over all 20-25 cupcakes that we tried. Fully edible, lovely to look at, and a good taste to the apple cardamom cake and the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. From Wicked Little Cake Company. Check out all the cupcakes on flickr.

Lunch at Blackbird in Chicago was really delicious. Managed to get this classic food pr0n shot of the stuffed quail. Also a great meal, especially the soup. Blackbird Soars (Jun 26, 2010)

So un-photogenic. Though I tried every angle, this pig’s tail with fried kale just looked… wrong. But it was so tasty that I picked at all the bones to get at every last speck of meat. We had gone to try The Hoof Café‘s fried chicken, but this was the winner for me.

Delicately flavoured raspberry marshmallows from Bobbette & Belle were a surprise find. Really fantastic in hot chocolate.Unexpected Love at Bobbette & Belle (Dec 21, 2010)

obligatory link to flickr

Great appetizer, both in taste and looks at Fabbrica. Cherry peppers stuffed with anchovy, olives, capers, and bocconcini. Fabbrica The Fair (Nov 30, 2010)

Not of a dish, but a display at The Spice Trader. The whole shop is quite lovely, in fact. Lots olive oils in addition to spices.

Youlou preserved pork with bamboo – finally I have this dish’s name from Konner! For a long time it was “smoky bamboo dish.” Crunchy, salty, smoky. So good. Tongue-searingly good (Oct 24, 2010)

For whatever reason, it took a while to get to Yuzu. Glad we found it. Fresh fish and really tasty sushi. Purists need not apply here. Yuzu is a solid place for sushi in the ‘hood. (May 15, 2010)

The highlight of an Innovative and delicious meal at MOTO in Chicago: cuban cigar sandwich. Fascinating MOTO (Jul 13, 2010)

Perfect pea soup at Splendido. Really fresh taste. I’ve found I have a lot of success with vegetable-based dishes at Splendido.

Fondly called “The Knuckle Of God,” this enormous dish is the pork hock at Duggan‘s. Enough for two if that’s all you’re eating. Good appetizer… for 6. Duggan’s Brewery and the knuckle of God (Jan 12, 2010)

This roasted red pepper and lentil soup at Earth was all right, but I liked the composition of the shot. Though it’s not quite centred right.

Eggplant with dengaku miso at Fin Izakaya. Tasty. Lots of nice dishes at Fin. A Comfortable Izakaya. (Jun 16, 2010)

obligatory link to flickr

As much as I love The Black Hoof, I don’t always love their desserts. However, this rendition of sticky toffee pudding was awesome. With brown butter whipped cream and candied hazelnuts. The cake had this lovely salt-hit to play against the sweet of the sauce. Plus, this was during my favourite meal of 2010: International Pig Day at The Black Hoof(March 2, 2010).

[phoenikia]

beautiful photos!

foods I enjoyed in 2010:

chocolate espresso tart- from a cooking class taught by Chef Neil Baxter at Rundles in Stratford.

huevos divorciados at Easy.

fritto misto & grilled octopus at Malena.

biftekia + maroulosalata at Folia Grill.

various flatbreads & pigs' ears at Buca.

maki at Yuzu

ribeye steak at Globe Earth- surprisingly good for the pricepoint ($20 for the meat, sides a la carte)

pea soup at Stadlandters' Christkindl Markt

hungarian goulash on a potato pancake at Cafe Polonez

greek omelette at Detroit Eatery (greasy spoon- don't expect a French-style folded omelette)

outside Ontario:

Momofuku Milk Bar's candybar pie in NYC

fish tacos at Mercadito in NYC

fish tacos in Santa Barbara

chowder & fried calamari at Kitchen Galerie Poisson in Mtl

padron peppers at Bonny Doon's Cellar Door Cafe in Santa Cruz

breakfast pizza at Downtown Creamery in Healdsburg

Edited January 31, 2011 by phoenikia (log)

[phoenikia]

fritto misto & grilled octopus at Malena.

just thought I'd clarify that I ordered the fritto misto at Malena in November 2010, as well as in late April 2010. Liked the November version, which included perfectly fried calamari, spot prawns, crab cake & gigantes, much more than the April version which had included calamari, smelts/marides and softshell crab.Malena recently updated their menu, so I'm looking forward to another visit to try some new dishes in the near future.

Edited January 31, 2011 by phoenikia (log)