Tag Archives: food

The Morning of My Departure for Bangkok

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Daylight Saving Time has ended – yeah, an extra hour this morning before departing to the airport.  Holly and I are sitting around her living room watching New York 1 for local news, drinking coffee, and I’m thinking about walking down to the corner bagel shop for one last taste of New York.  Thai Airways webite is showing an on-time departure (hours and hours before departure) for my flight.

 

Saturday night it was a pleasure hanging out with Keith and Aaron for about ninety minutes.  Keith had his “Boyfriend-aholic” t-shirt on, which seems appropriate.  Had a good conversation with Aaron about a little puppy that has been following him around!

 

I walked down Seventh Avenue to Blue Hill and thankfully allowed myself enough extra time because I overshot the restaurant by six blocks.  It is in that section known as Greenwhich Village – the point where the grid of streets ends – that I got confused.  Holly was just starting on a glass of Pinot Noir at the bar when I arrived, spot-on at 9:00.  We had a fantastic dinner, that only could have been improved with the presence of Tawn and you, of course!

 

Holly and I chose the tasting menu, paired with a wine tasting menu.  It was fantastic:

 

Amuse bouche

  • Celeraic soup
  • Butternut squash sorbet

First plates

  • Grilled wild striped bass with salsify puree and tomota-pepper vinaigrette
  • Wine: Lieb Family Cellars Rose, North Fork Long Island (New York) 2004
  • Chatham Cod with razor clamgs, lobster, crab and sucrine lettuces
  • Wine: Channing Daughter’s Vino Bianco, South Fork Long Island (New York) 2004

Main plate

  • Loin of Vermont baby lamp with wild mushrooms, chestnuts, banana squash, Stone Barns brussel sprout leaves
  • Wine: Joseph Phelps Le Mistral, Monterey County (California) 2002

Desserts

  • Buttermilk Panna Cotta with plum marmalade and plum sorbet
  • Cheesecake with bitter chocolate sauce
  • Wine: “MR” Mountain Wine, Malaga (Spain) 2004

Last taste

  • Miniature chocolate muffin top

 

The celeraic soup, served in a tall, thin shot glass, was very tasty and quite hot.  It had a infused foam on top that was really a nice textural contrast to the rich soup.  The butternut squash sorbet, served on a demitasse spoon, was richly flavored and subtly sweet.  Very interesting and buttery but the flavors are better as a soup.

The bass and the rose wine were the best pairing.  The bass had a seared crust with a tomato-pepper vinaigrette that absolutely melted in your mouth.  The rose, which was enjoable on its own, just jmped to life following the bass and the flavors continued to evolve for the next several moments.

The cod was very lightly cooked, tender and flaky.  The broth was a high point full of great crustacean flavors that I sopped up with one of the fresh soft breadsticks.

The lamb, an unusual choice to serve a generous portion of loin, was lightly breaded on one side, tremendously tender and flavorful, and also a bit too salty.  The banana squash slice was delectable and wild mushrooms and chestnuts captured the season beautifully.

Of the desserts, we suggested to the server afterwards that the order should have been reversed.  The cheescake was served in individual small preserve jars and had a small dallop of bitter chocolate on top.  The cake increased in richness the deeper you dug and the chocolate had an interesting counter-note of saltiness.  It was very enjoyable, but had been completely overshadowed by the amazing buttermile panna cotta.  Like a fresh yogurt, the tangy creamy base had a layer of plum marmalade that was bursting with ripe fruitiness.  A wedge of plum sorbet added a coolness to the whole thing.

It was an absolutely fantastic meal and I can’t wait to return to Blue Hill again.

Reflections After a Toronto Visit

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Wow – back home in Kansas City this evening after three weeks on the road.  Two in BKK, one in Atlanta and Toronto.  I’ve been quite busy and have had minimal personal email access so haven’t had the time to update the blog.

Toronto is always a favorite place to visit because I think the food scene is vibrant.  Lots of good eats for a good value.  The city is widely recognized as the most diverse city in North America with more than 80 languages spoken by its residents.  The diversity influences the cuisine and I made sure to get dim sum and jok (congee – rice porridge) while there.

 

The best eat in terms of food was the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.  This “small plates” restaurant is overseen by the hottest chef in Toronto.  No reservations are accepted and it is one of “the” places to eat.  Nonetheless, it has a reputation for great food.  We headed down there on Saturday night, fully realizing that the wait would be long.  There is a lounge so we figured we could drink and nibble our way through the wait.

Sure enough – “ninety minutes to two hours” greeted us at the hostess stand.  Not disuaded one bit we entertained ourselves with a bottle of the 200 Alizan Tempranilla from Spain and an order of Yukon Gold Potato Fries (amazing!), olives and spices pecans.  We noticed that tables and seats at the bar regularly opened up and were left empty for long periods of time – unusual if the wait was really 90+minutes.

Thirty-five minutes later the hostess came over and told us that she had space available for us at “the chef’s table” (pictured above) – a secondary open kitchen area where some of the dishes are prepared that is surrounded by a high bar with seats.  So our 90 minutes evaporated and we were soon seated and enjoying what could best be described as a “leisurely” pace of service.

While the place was busy, the friendly server seemed rushed.  But it was never a problem, allowing us plenty of time to watch the action in the kitchen.  The small dishes we tried included Braised Beef Cheeks with Soft Polenta; Sautéed Duck Livers with Apples and Sherry Sauce; Rabbit and Duck Rillettes with Prune Compôte, and an Entrecôte of Beef with Sweet Potato Pavé. 

With dinner we had an Edmeades Zinfandel from Mendocino, California.  An old favorite, hard to find sometimes, and a brilliant wine.

The beef cheeks were the best of the lot, tender and flavorful.  The duck livers were nice but veiny.  The rillettes – essentially a paté of duck and rabbit – were tasty and nicely complemented by the prunes, but we were getting full.  The roast of beef had been finished on the grill when we arrived and we watched it resting in all its glory, so had to try it.  It was excellently flavored, just a touch too rare (and I love my meat red, so I do mean “rare”), and the sweet potatoes were a nice addition. 

For dessert, despite an absence of space ini our bellies, we tries the Marscapone and Sugar Pear Shortcake.  This was a flop, because the pear was completely raw and the spoon and fork were inadequate for slicing it.  In fact, it nearly slid out of the bowl more than once. 

We accompanied dessert with a serving of the 2004 Bonny Doon “Viogner Doux”, an amber dessert wine that smells of nothing so much as candied apricots.  It was nice in and of itself and would have done better on its own without the over-crunch pear.

So it was a fun time.

But now it is time to get back to reality in KC.  I have bags to pack, magazine subscriptions to modify, and much to do in the ten days or so I have left.

Summer Bounty – Bacon Lettuce and Tomatoes

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The best part about living back in Kansas City is that I can get really good summer produce.  Every Saturday I go to the Farmers Market in Overland Park and buy some yummy veggies and fruits.  Right now is peak season for peaches and tomatoes – corn is pretty good, too.  A few weeks ago it was all about the blackberries, but that’s over.

 

The Farmers Market is especially important because, due to heat and drought, my tomato plants never really bore much fruit.  I am not ready to become a full-time farmer.

 

This afternoon I fixed my favorite summer meal – one that I’ve been eating almost daily for the past two weeks – a Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwich!  Once I move to Bangkok, I suppose that I’ll trade this in for a BBT – Bacon, Basil, and Tomato.  There is a recipe in this month’s issue of Sunset magazine.

 

Artfully arranged, don’t you think? 

Starbucks Moon Cakes

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What the hell?  Starbucks Mooncakes!?  Reports from Tawn (my husband – already in Khrungthep.  Picture above.) that Starbucks in Thailand is selling mooncakes.  Instead of the usual flower image on the top, there is a Starbucks logo.  The filling?  Instead of traditional bean paste, they have a coffee-flavoured filling.

 

How does one react to things like this?  Part of me is just aghast: are there no depths of cultural appropriation too deep for Starbucks to sink to?  Another part of me is tickled by the cheeky audacity.  Then I remeember that Starbucks is a major client of my company, and figure maybe I should shut the heck up, eat my mooncake, and smile.

 

Talk about your conflicted feelings.

 

I’ve asked Tawn to snap a few photos of one of these culturally cross-pollinated cakes and will post one as soon as it is available.