Snack Bar!

[Diann]

Phil - They added some dishes to the menu this week and subtracted others. Here's what I remember:

Vegetables - spaghetti squash, corn and polenta, maitake mushroom, brussels 'n truffles. The squash is new, but I don't think they took anything off the menu veggie-wise.

Fruits - miso caramel wasabi pea apple (now there's a mouthful), cantaloupe/sunflower shoots/lavender salt, and figs/wine/sheeps milk custard. The cantaloupe is new.

Fish - escargot, whiting, ocean trout. The mackerel is gone (temporarily, I hope).

Meat - pork belly, BBQ chicken thigh, foie gras, beef gyoza.

Dessert - tres leches creme brulee with churro, a banana curry thing, the olive oil financier, and the chocolate cake.

Cheeses - rocastin, some funky blue cheese with a cool name, and two others.

My personal faves: I love all of the veggies, but I don't quite "get" the maitake mushroom. That's a personal thing, I think. Whatever. You can't please everyone all the time, and I am ridiculously in love with every single other vegetable on the menu, so it doesn't matter. As I mentioned to mrbigjas, I'm always really impressed by chefs who get the vegetables right; at some places (Django comes to mind) I'd almost rather eat a big plate of side dishes and forget about the meat part of the plate.

I like the cantaloupe dish -- very vegetal/green with the sunflower shoots. Maybe the cantaloupe flavor could have been intensified (it IS slow-cooked, after all) but that could be a seasonal thing.

Foie gras was a beautiful plate -- a wide brushstroke of magenta-colored plum sauce, a cup of "Peking duck soup", and a curlicue of foie gras sitting on a buckwheat bun. Delicious, too.

And finally, whiting: crunchy, crispy, smooth, salty -- really excellent.

I thought the food was good the first time I went, but it's actually gotten even better...

[mrbigjas]

which was the dish that came with the vanilla scented pommes puree and the cranberry? because it was the weirdest thing--i took one bite of those potatoes and thought 'lucky charms.'

i don't know if i just didn't realize that lucky charms had such a strong vanilla component to it (it's probably been 15 years since i had a bowl), or if there was something else in the potatoes that made me think that, but it was uncanny.

[Diann]

which was the dish that came with the vanilla scented pommes puree and the cranberry?  because it was the weirdest thing--i took one bite of those potatoes and thought 'lucky charms.' 

i don't know if i just didn't realize that lucky charms had such a strong vanilla component to it (it's probably been 15 years since i had a bowl), or if there was something else in the potatoes that made me think that, but it was uncanny.

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Ocean trout, cranberry... jus? and vanilla pommes puree. After you mentioned "Lucky Charms" I thought of it too. But weirdly enough, it turns out that I like the combination of fish and Lucky Charms. Ha!

[Vadouvan]

I'd almost rather eat a big plate of side dishes and forget about the meat part of the plate.

No you dont Diann.....

Did we not discuss your interest in a Pork belly creme brulee a few days ago ?

[Diann]

I'd almost rather eat a big plate of side dishes and forget about the meat part of the plate.

No you dont Diann.....

Did we not discuss your interest in a Pork belly creme brulee a few days ago ?

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Notice I said "ALMOST"!

[I_call_the_duck]

Pork belly creme brulee? Elaborate please.

[the rod]

i couldn't help myself, i had to go back. I tried the beef gyoza over black trumpets and gerkin. For fruit they replaced the canteloupe with ribbons of mango, it definitely knocked it up a few notches.

[philadining]

OK, this might be a new phenomenon: Rod's mention of the mango has caused me to order one. WIFI is a beautiful thing.

Nothing like on-site recommendations!

ETA - really nice, light, a little salty, made it extra tasty.

Edited November 10, 2006 by philadining (log)

[philadining]

spaghetti squash.yuzu.red pepper

beef gyoza. black trumpets. mustard

whiting. parsley. saffron. potatoes

pear jam. pain levain. white beer

SO good it deserves another pic....

mango. sunflower shoots. lavender

banana. curry. cilantro crumb

Another really excellent meal. I especially liked the pear jam - the beer foam gave the fruit a light boozy edge, and the texture of the bread was perfect. Perfect brunch food. Pretty damn good any time. The spaghetti squash and the mango both were way tastier than they had a right to be: they're very simple, but a little yuzu vinaigrette woke the squash right up, and a salty, herby edge to the mango really turned the fruitiness on its side. I love it when food is both delicious and interesting.

I loved the flavor of the gyoza, Im still deciding about the super-tender meat filling. I think I like it, but the texture will take some getting used to. I'm happy to try!

The whiting was very nicely done: clean, simple, but you know, it's a whiting so it's just not going to get super-exciting. Loved the potatoes that accompanied.

And the curry on the banana was just great, and it was cooked perfectly, just a tiny bit soft, but not mushy. Cilantro sand gave some crunchy contrast.

It was still pretty crowded when I got here about 10pm on a weeknight, but some tables opened pretty fast, and there were no wrestling matches over tables. I'd suggest off-peak times, it's much more chill....

Menu's pretty complete now, although I heard some rumors of baby octopi...

I'll be back for them!

Edited November 10, 2006 by philadining (log)

[matthewj]

Loo.ks great John kepp going! Push a little further. Hold back nothing

[Holly Moore]

Depth-of-field-o-phobic here, Jeff. I have a hard enough time figuring out which pair of glasses to put on when.

[philadining]

Sorry Holly!

I'm actually not trying to be arty, it's a consequence of shooting with available light. I just took those shots at the table (I'll admit to actually pushing the table around, or moving the plates up onto the windowsill to get better light) but in order to not use flash, I need to use a really wide aperture on the lens. And it's just part of the physics of lenses, that creates a very shallow depth of field.

That happens to be a popular style of food photography these days, and it sometimes does look cool, but I'd actually prefer to have a little more of the food in focus some of the time! But until I start bringing the tripod, or violating my own no-flash credo, I'm going to end up posting that whacky background blur...

I can assure you that the food is fully in-focus in person.

[Capaneus]

Since they're right around the corner from me, I've been walking my dogs that way to check how crowded they're getting. Last night at midnight they still had several tables going. On the other hand, at 7pm today they had a couple of open tables - on a Friday night, yet... I'm going to say most people haven't gotten the word.

Are they actually serving lunch yet?

[CherieV]

Since they're right around the corner from me, I've been walking my dogs that way to check how crowded they're getting. Last night at midnight they still had several tables going. On the other hand, at 7pm today they had a couple of open tables - on a Friday night, yet... I'm going to say most people haven't gotten the word.

Are they actually serving lunch yet?

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The hubby and I made it there last night around 6:30. Our server commented that they were packed Friday night till late. By the time we left, 8 or so, every table was occupied. I get the impression that it is a later venue kind of place.

That being said, we really enjoyed our selections. We ordered a bottle of Paul Hobbs Mendoza Merlot which was quite tasty for $55. Followed by the gyoza, pork belly, squash, bussels and truffels, and an awsome cheese plate. Probably one of the best I have had in a while. The service was good and the food creative. I think once the word gets out they will be crazy busy!

[philadining]

Filled-in a few holes in the snackbar experience:

octopus

I'm not sure if these have hit the regular menu yet, chef is still tweaking, but it seemed ready for prime-time to me! The octopus itself is nice and tender, and although the flavor is subtle on its own, it really sings when combined with the lemon-apple purée underneath, and the little cubes of parsley/truffle gelée. I really liked it.

foie gras. plums. buckwheat bun

I've become accustomed to a hard sear on foie gras, and while I still like that textural contrast, this more gentle preparation is still quite luxurious. I like the look of these cool painted-on sauces, but I'm always frustrated that I can't taste them as much as I'd like, they tend to just cement themselves to the plate... Nonetheless, the decadent richness of the foie, a trace of plummy sauce, a dab of fruity compote, the hearty, soft bun, nothing wrong with that!

The other half of the buckwheat bun was floating in a cup of Peking Duck broth, and that bread, soaked with the intense duck flavor was an interesting alternate angle on duckiness. We discovered that the broth was a little over-salty to enjoy on its own, but soaked into the bun - really nice.

tres leches brulée. churro. mate chino

The creamy custard and crunchy surface was indeed a delicious fusion of the flavors of a tres leches cake and creme brulée. Excellent. The crumbled churro off to the side was an interesting textural contrast, but I found the infused foam on top kind of weird, a little too much like airy warm milk.

We revisited a few previous dishes as well. The Spaghetti Squash and Pear Jam on toast were again quite tasty and interesting. The corn/polemta/tallegio dish was a little looser than the first time we had it, and not quite as intense, but still pretty good.

I'm sad to say that on the second tasting, I think I've decided that I just don't really care for the texture of the gyoza filling, but that might just be me. I'd like something a little more chunky, or crunchy or chewy or something.... Still, I like the combo with the cornichons, trumpet mushrooms and coffee sauce.

And our pork belly was very fatty this time. I suppose that's partly the luck of the draw with pork bellies, and of course it's an inherently fatty piece of meat, so I'll admit that it's a weird thing to complain about. But there's some mysterious percentage at which it just gets too much for me, and this time it was just a touch over the line. Flavor was fantastic though, I could drink jugs of that smoked onion dashi. Again, it made me crave noodles though...

So, maybe not an out-of-the-park home-run this time, but a good solid stand-up double, might have even made it to third if the wind was blowing the right way. I'm totally going back for what I still say is some of the most interesting food in town.

Edited November 17, 2006 by philadining (log)

[mrbigjas]

tres leches brulée. churro. mate chino

that plating is kind of awesome. it looks like a dali painting.

[KatieLoeb]

Wow. Pretty plates. Looks gorgeous and I can practically taste it.

And it's official. Everyone has been there but me. Gotta fix this ASAP.

[shacke]

Wow. Pretty plates.  Looks gorgeous and I can practically taste it.

And it's official.  Everyone has been there but me.  Gotta fix this ASAP.

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Not everyone - still a few more dreggies like me - hope to fix that soon.

Evan

[Rich Pawlak]

Wow. Pretty plates.  Looks gorgeous and I can practically taste it.

And it's official.  Everyone has been there but me.  Gotta fix this ASAP.

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Everyone? Not I. And I NEED to get there.

Are they DDC material? Imagine the possibilities...or mabye I'm just silly.

[Capaneus]

Wow. Pretty plates.  Looks gorgeous and I can practically taste it.

And it's official.  Everyone has been there but me.  Gotta fix this ASAP.

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Everyone? Not I. And I NEED to get there.

Are they DDC material? Imagine the possibilities...or mabye I'm just silly.

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You big silly!

As to a DDC dinner... I wouldn't think so: pricewise, spacewise, liquor-license-wise. Be hard to make it fit.

[herbacidal]

I still haven't been there yet.

Maybe we should do a dinner there for Egulleteers a little farther behind the trend.

[Rich Pawlak]

As to a DDC dinner... I wouldn't think so: pricewise, spacewise, liquor-license-wise. Be hard to make it fit.

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[philadining]

Had another great meal at snackbar (sorry I didn't have the good camera with me, so I'll have to do a little work on the images a little to see if I have anything useable....)

Revisited the spaghetti squash, brussels and truffles, Pear Jam, chicken thighs, gyoza and pork belly. All were dead-on delicious, some with minor tweaks from earlier preparations. The brussels sprouts were accompanied by hazelnuts instead of the marcona almonds, and I think I might have liked that pairing every bit as much. The pork belly was nice and meaty, served in more manageable pieces, and in a smaller, more stable bowl. The smoky onion dashi in which the pork was submerged was as delicious as always.

Tried a couple of new things too. The rainbow trout with smoked scrambled eggs and scallion purée might have been my favorite thing all night. The combination of tender, simple fish, with boldly smoky, creamy eggs reverses the flavor profiles of the smoked trout with duck egg at Ansill, and gives it another level of polish, while staying homey and comforting. It will make a great brunch item when they start serving that (in the spring, maybe before...)

I'm not sure if it's on the menu yet, but they've got a small supply of little baby chipparones, so get over there soon, and try that impossibly tender, sweet, seared cuttlefish, skating atop a glistening slick of squid ink sauce. The texture was intriguing, and waves of flavors ebbed and flowed: first some lemon, then the sea, then the cuttlefish itself, then mixtures of those three, swirling around the palate in spiraling eddies. Synaesthetic.

Then a sneak attack: the kitchen sent out some tiny pickled kumquats, stuffed with pomegranate seeds, that exploded like fruity grenades in the tongue. I thought the DDP's eyes might pop out of his head, but thankfully he managed to divert the explosion by breaking into laughter. It was indeed a taste sensation, the ultimate palate cleanser, and an amazing combination of juicy flavors.

Before dessert, we were treated to some cheese, presented in an amusing and exciting way. A Spanish Roncal was accompanied by a saffron-infused Rice Crispy Treat. Yes, really. A chunk of Irish Ardrahan really stunk up the joint, but that funkiness was tempered a bit by some doctored pear, and a tower of soda bread that had been sneaking shots of bourbon. Really nice, creative cheese plating.

We finished with the molten chocolate cake, stuck in its drift of coffee licorice dust, and the vanilla financier scattered with rose petals. Both perfect enders to the meal, indulgent but not merely sweet.

Drank some shiraz and a Hitachino Ginger Beer, which were independently enjoyable, and occasionally made good matches with the food.

All in all, the food was every bit as good as the first time I was in, which is to say, pretty spectacular. We couldn't stop commenting on how the flavors, especially the juxtapositions of flavors, were novel and surprising, but the food was still delicious, not just stimulating. That's all I ever want...

It's a lovely, comfy space, so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised to see people just sitting and drinking, but they're really missing out. Order some food! You won't regret it.

[Andrew Fenton]

I went to Snack Bar recently with eG poster hathor, Mr. Hathor, and Mrs. Fenton. In theory, I think we were going to practice our Italian-- in practice, it was mainly about the food...

I was glad to see that, after all the kerfuffle, getting a table was easy and quick. The service was as friendly and solicitous as could be, and we had no trouble finding a very good bottle of Malbec to go with the meal.

Now, on to the food! Most of these have been mentioned before, so I'll keep my thoughts brief:

Brussels and truffles were wonderful; that richness of truffle flavor complements the sprouts so well. Absolutely a lovely dish, and it gave hathor the chance to sigh about missing the truffles of Umbria... Which made me sigh, too. Ahhhhh...

All of the flavors of the pork belly were terrific-- pork, egg, broth. It's a wonder what sous vide'ing can do for an egg, infusing it with a subtle taste. That said, it's an awkward dish to eat, served with a fork and knife, in a bowl full of broth. The awkwardness is exacerbated if you're sharing-- the egg dissolves when it's cut, making it hard to divide, and you're left with eggy broth. Tough to know what to do with, unless you know your dining partner very well. I suppose the dish is designed for one person, but the nature of a place like Snack Bar is such that people will be sharing dishes.

The tallegio polenta is a great flavor combination, but I wasn't crazy about the gluey texture. I'd have preferred either a traditional polenta or something more like a polenta custard. Like the pork, it's a dish designed for one person. It's served in a bowl, with a fork; we had to ask, and wait, for separate plates to share the dish.

At some point around here, we had the mackerel... I actually don't remember much about that dish. I think I liked it...

Foie gras was perfectly done, lovely and rich. I was less crazy about the serving of the broth-- the broth itself was intense and ducky, but the dab of bun in it was, well, soggy bread, and not that appetizing. I guess it's tough to figure out a way to show off broth if you aren't going to serve a soup-- I'm not sure that this is the best way to do it, though.

We ended with a Portugese cheese (Toledo?), well presented and very tasty.

All in all, I enjoyed the things Snack Bar is doing with tastes. I do think that some of the dishes could do with some more thought in terms of texture, or how they'll change as they come out of the kitchen (e.g. soggy bread) or even just how they're going to be experienced by their diners. But it's an interesting place.

[philadining]

Andrew, those are interesting points about sharing logistics that never occurred to me. I have ended up sharing pretty much everything I've ordered there, except for one solo trip, but I guess it just goes to show how far down the obsessed foodie path I've gotten: we've always been just passing plates and bowls around with no thought of trying to portion things out to personal dishes.

Of course you're right that the soupy or gooey things require some pretty intimate interaction! My dining partners have just been scooping a spoonful of polenta, or broth, or whatever, and passing it on, but of course that's not always comfortable or appropriate, depending on the company.

I'll bet they pictured people just ordering a small plate and eating it, rather than sharing everything, but I wonder if that's what's happening? It might be, outside of the eGullet crowd, it's not a given that everyone will NEED to have a taste of everything! But I do think the experience is better when ordering a pile of food and sharing all of it.

I don't think there's any elegant way to share a hot spring egg, broth or no broth...

And sharing soup is rarely pretty.

Interestingly, the pork belly we got most recently was cut into smaller pieces, and not served with a knife, so I think they already realize that aspect was cumbersome. The chef says they're getting some donburi bowls from Japan that should make a better vessel for this, and I think they might be well-served to cut the pieces of pork even a little bit smaller, more easily bite-sized for everyone.

And I agree that the peking duck broth is a slightly uncomfortable partner for the foie gras: it's a little intense to just drink straight, and the bun floating in it won't please everyone. I actually really liked the soggy bun, but I'll admit that I'm weird that way. I had a dish at Susur in Toronto that featured skewers of foie wrapped in carpaccio of beef that one "cooked" for a few seconds in a little pot of broth, then one drank the broth at the end. I wonder how snackbar's foie would be dipped in its accompanying broth? Might have to try that.....

One of the things that has really impressed me about this place is how they are constantly tweaking things, and they seem really interested in hearing what people think, so feel free to tell them. Of course, certain things would be more appropriate to just talk to them directly about, but I'm pretty sure they read this forum too...

Edited December 9, 2006 by philadining (log)