James Beard Foundation Taste America returns to DC--and MOON RABBIT makes it magnificent (10-25-21)

 Last night MOON RABBIT on the DC Wharf was full of foodies as a part of the 25 city James Beard Taste America tour. each city has a host restaurant wine Chef Kevin Tien at Moon Rabbit brought his friends Tim Ma and Paola Velez to join him in a super evening of food and drink.

The evening started off poorly as I entered the garage at the wharf at 6pm(for the 630pm event) I hit a huge line of cars backed up the ramp and was stuck. After a while I got into the lot, but there were no spaces as the Anthem had a live concert at 8pm of H.E.R.!! Well, from now on, I will check the Anthem schedule before even thinking of trying to park at the Wharf. One of our friends was so upset after an hour of driving around, he gave up and went home. I go to the restaurant about 650pm and my other guests arrived just after 7pm.

I was so stressed and manager Noemi Herrera clearly saw I was frazzled and got me the arrival cocktail called RABBIT's TAIL of Rabbit Hole Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon with Five-Spice Dram, Lime, Lemongrass, Pineapple and Barley tea Syrup (created by Gemma Hardy).

Moments later, the photographer Shannon Finney stopped by (she thought she knew me) as I was still seated alone and asked how things were going. I may have been pretty miserable, but she totally cheered me up, as the drink did and soon after my friends arrived and we began what turned out to be a wonderful meal and evening.

The first course of "Bread" was created by Paola Velez & Kevin Tien: Pepita Cornbread with Charred Pineapple Butter & Chile Crisp(this was a dreamy spicy kick-ass butter) and whipped salted Kerrygold Butter were paired with Turmeric Milk Buns(think Bao) with Fermented Chile Honey that I fell in love with, but resisted so I could enjoy all the meal. There were assorted Kerrygold Cheeses and Eclectic Jams (but we did not know what they were??!!). Fotos are on FB

Tim Ma's appetizer of Skuna Bay Salmon Carpaccio(Crudo) with Pickled Charred Shallots, Sichuan Preserved Lemon & Herbs(he called it secret Chinese stuff!) was light and dreamy and topped with Beet Chips compressed in Miso & pickle juice. The wine was Venus La Universal Dido Monstant Blanc 2017, which in itself is a crazy enough name for a wine, but was quite tasty and a great pairing.

The main course by Chef Kevin was XO Rice Cake Gnocchi with Crawfish, Garlic Chives, Aromatic Panko Bread Crumbs and Lime. Chef explained that there was also krill in the broth and the sauce was a superb kick-ass spice that I fell in love with and will surely ask him to duplicate on our next visit(2 weeks from tonight!). There was a non-seafood veggie option as well with the Miso Rice Cakes and Roasted Mushrooms with Egg & Chive! Everybody was happy and the wonderful wine was a Colene Clemens Dopp Creek Pinot Noir 2019 as the dish was a heavy one and really begged for a nice red.

I forgot to photograph Paola Velez' simple but delish dessert of Coconut Panna Cotta with Tropical Fruit, Vanilla and Salted Oat Crumb topping. This was paired with the same flight of Rabbit Hole Whiskeys we had at the last Taste of America here in DC back in the spring!! As before I avoided the two middle drinks as they were way too intense for me and loved the first of the flight, but ADORED the last:

Cavehill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was nice;

Heigold Kentucky Striaght Bourbon Whiskey & Boxergrail Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey are not for me, and

Dareringer Straight Bourbon Whiskey (finished in PX Sherry casks) is my fave!!

A yummy fun night that started off bad, but turned terrific!

Istanbuls' MIKLA makes a magnificent meal and an elegant evening (10-18-21)

 On our last night in Istanbul we braved the taxi once again., but since it was a bit rainy, the traffic was minimal as we got to the Marmara Pera Hotel where MIKLA is located on the rooftop fairly quickly! On  arrival the front door staff escorted us inside quickly (after the mandatory security check that every hotel has) and popped us in a private elevator to the top floor. The view of Istanbul to the north was beautiful and our table overlooked the Bosphorus Bridge in the distance all lit up at night. The tables had crisp white linens, Nude crystal (the brand that most fine dining places seem to use there) and we settled in for a wonderful meal with superb service to boot from our wonderful server Timuçın (he told us to call him Tim!).

We had spent all week educating ourselves about Turkish wines(there are so many different varietals and regions that it is indeed daunting) and decided on a Corvus 2016 Emir(white varietal that is somewhere between Sauvingnon Blanc & Chardonnay) that we knew would be dry and refreshing from the Kapadokya region. Corvus is one of the well-known wineries, so we felt we could not go wrong and we were indeed correct. Mikla, it should be noted, has a monstrous wine list to boot and won the 2020 Wine Spectator "Best Award of Excellence!" It is also on the list of "The 50 Best Restaurants in the World!"

Four amuses arrived and they were all beautiful, different and superbly tasty:

-Lettuce with SeaBass

-Flax cracker with Hummus, cucumber and chile

-Spiced Lavash(flatbread) with Dried Duck & Mushroom

-Turkish cheese from Izmir with bergamot & Tomato

If the food to follow was anything like these varied and exciting tastes, we knew this would be one of the best meals we had all week; and it was! Bread arrived in the form of an entire "course" with a plate of wheat and sourdough joined by Cold Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Genius(I forgot to try and find that at the duty free the next day!) that was divine, Sheep Butter, Rock Salt and a divine four cheese mix spread that was soft sheep and cow that had aged to a delightful funkiness. The entire affair was a real treat and the various flavors just excited us even more about what was to come.

We thought the appetizers would be next, but boy were we wrong when Tim brought us another beautiful presentation of Balik Ekmek, Mikla's signature dish, which is a Turkish street food that has been fancied up beyond gorgeous. The plate featured two pieces of fried crispy "fish bread" standing on edge in semi-circles with lemon foam and chives to dip in! OMG! What an amazing treat bursting with a quasi-anchovy salty taste that was out of this world! The fish comes from the nearby Black Sea and this is one snack I could eat every day!

Will started with Zeytinyağli a delicious olive oil braised artichoke with sorrel and vegetable purée, while I was insane about my Lamb Heart with fresh Mushrooms from adjoining Thrace, Cress, Pomegranate Vinegar, Sumac, Malkara Lentil Purée and Pickled Plum. It sounds like alot, but the flavors all melded magnificently (be sure to catch all the FB photos).

We asked Tim for help choosing a red wine and decided on the Chateau Kalpak 2016 Şarköy also from Thrace and a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. We have found these to be the best Turkish reds and for some odd reason they all have very high alcohol levels (15% here!) making them quite strong. 

Will and I decided to try the two lamb main courses and switch halfway. His was the Grilled Lamb with Charred Smoked Eggplant, Kars Gravyer Cheese, Isot Chili and Mushroom, while my Braised Lamb had been cooked for 12 hours and was served with Walnut Pesto, Olive Oil, Braised Çibes(we never did find out what this was!), Potatoes & Bergama Tulum Cheese. Needless to say, we were stuffed, but the set menu included dessert and it was indeed a special treat!

Wıll chose the Şüllaç, a rice pudding with fig seeds, hazelnut crumb and sour apple sorbet. I am not a fan of rice pudding, but this dish was fabulous and my dish was simply termed "Strawberry" which the menu described as "Condensed Strawberry, Cardamom, Basil & Antep Birdshit Pistachio. YES!!! It is apparently a specific pistachio, but who knew?? The entire dish was light, refreshing and superb, including the birdshit, not to mention the use of pressed wild strawberries and both peach & blackberry sorbets!! Don't forget to check out the fotos. WOW What a great last night!!

Istanbul's Karaköy Lokantasi kills it across the board! (10-17-21)

We had much more success on our next night out here in Istanbul the taxi managed to find the restaurant only about a 100 m after we passed it.

 The location in the Novotel was right on the water although the docks blocked our view. It really didn't matter as our eyes were set on the mezze(appetizer) bar as we walked in and the wonderfully varied menu.

There were beautiful teal tiles on the walls and fine white linens on the tables(something we have not seen here) and while many tourists were here, locals seemed to love it as well.

We ordered a bottle of a novel rosé made from Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah called Innocent Angel from Sevilen which was very dry with citrusy notes and high acidity, perfect with the varied mezze we decided to try:

We knew we had to try the Tarama, a super spread made from fish roe that was thicker than the Greek version we know, more like a paste here and richer too; heavenly on the toasted fresh bread.

Marinated Sea Bass came and reminded me of pickled herring in cream sauce (just not pickled nor as fishy) as it was creamy with a mayo sauce and onions.

The Artichoke in EVOO was also nice and simple but tasty.

The hit was the warm Hummus served with dried Pastrami and chili oil(all fotos on FB) that we fell in love with. Grilled Octopus was tender and simply grilled with superb seasonings.

We switched to a yummy red our super server , Azer, recommended from Chamlija called Nev-i Şahsina Münhasir 2018 a wonderful blend of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc. Merlot and Petit Verdot which came from  Lüleburguaz Kiriklareli in Thrace, the region of Turkey outside Istanbul on the European side.

As we were filling up, we decided to share one main course as we know the portions are large. The Dana Çökertme was tender straps of veal cooked in a yummy yogurt and tomato sauce with shoestring potatoes underneath. 

We knew that the Ritz-Carlton had sent us a small anniversary cake, so we headed back for a bite of that and bed.

One more night out before we head home Tuesday!

--

Istanbul's NEOLOKAL loads it on for a fabulous food and wine experience with a view (10-15-21)

 On our 2nd night here in Istanbul we hopped a taxi from the hotel and we were absolutely sure he knew where he was going, indeed his English was pretty good and he used his translator app to say that it was his friend who was the taxi driver the night before who was extremely distraught over what happened... We told him it was OK and he told his friend that we were not mad and that we were out for another great night of food.

Neolokal  Is is located on the 3rd floor of the M Gallery hotel very close to the Galata Tower and our table had the best view across the Golden Horn to the magnificently lit Sülemaniye Mosque(Sulaiman the Great's homage to Islam).  It had started to rain but it didn't matter as the view was spectacular and we were ready for a wonderful night. We debated the various menus and finally selected the 6 course tasting menu with paired wines after our server, Yildirim, assured us the portions were small. WRONG!  We were stuffed by the 4th course and barely ate any of the meat course but it was a wonderful experience and the wines were truly spectacular including a repeat of the red wine we had discovered the night before that we fell in love with.

 Istanbul and even more Turkey are very inexpensive for Americans.  Most of the meals we have had for 3 people have cost $20, Neolokal is a very special restaurant and it was $65 for the tasting and $50 for the wine pairing, but back home this would have cost over $200 at one of the top restaurants in any city. There were mostly foreigners here, thought some locals that were celebrating special occasions or such.

 Sourdough bread with parsley butter and cep mushroom powder was brought to the table along with an amuse which consisted of  two amuses: crispy cucumber with yogurt sauce inside, as well as a timbale of tomato paste with cumin and garlic.  They were both very nice but what came next really got us excited. Baked Celeriac Börek  comes with Apple celeriac butter,  carrot and Celeriac sauce and celery mayo.  This was basically a deconstructed Borek pastry with a layer of phyllo on top of the creamy rich vegetable purée, it was one of our favorite things all night. Yildirim paired this with a Hasandede(local white varietal) 2019 from Vinkara in the Kalecik region near Ankara,  which was a super crisp wine with apple notes and extremely dry and refreshing to cut the richness of the dish.

 Stuffed leek with bonito,  raw bonito  dried bonito Mayo, dried bonito and bonito juice was an interesting dish but since the bonito is extremely close to the Mackerel ,the intensity of the fish really overwhelmed us. Turasan 2020 Emir(another white varietal) from Cappadocia was a mineral intense wine worthy of the strong fish.

Kalecik Karasi is Turkish for Pinot Noir  And they really know how to make this wine with a huge nose much fuller, less fruitier and way more oomphier than anything I have ever tasted other than a truly aged French Burgundy. Vinkara made this wine as well from 2017 called Mahzen."  It was served with the Kadinbudu: ground chicken and lemon compote in crispy skin with an extremely rich rich rich heavy sauce, chicken demi-glace and potato chip atop.  I think the fact that this dish was so rich is what completely filled us up as it was also really delicious.

 We went back to white wine with a Blanc de Noirs from Vino Deserra 2020 which was creamy and citrusy and loaded with acidity to fight the bluefish that was to be served with it.  Black Sea Bluefish was cooked in fish broth and served with Badalan beans and carrots, Bluefish sauce, leek and onion, scallion oil.  The fact that the 2nd fish was also intensely fishy got to me. The seafood here I am sure is awesome but we seemed to get two really strong fish dishes.

 We asked for a very long break and they accommodated us perfectly and then came a yummy lime sorbet followed by the main course of Slow Roasted Lamb, Fig Beğendi and red plum sauce with an eggplant paste served with our new favorite wine, the Porta Caeli Ament blend 2017!! Perfect!  We barely touched the meat and in addition 4 women from Spain sat down at the next table and were wearing so much perfume we were beginning to choke. If the late Charlie Trotter was the chef at this restaurant, I'm very sorry but he would have died from the perfume scent mixes.

Şekerpare  Is a Semolina Orange cake served with peach cream and caviar pearls along with a Turkish coffee ice cream that was absolutely spectacular. This was paired with a nice refreshing Late Harvest Muscat(called Misket) from Sevilen in the Izmir region. Chocolate truffles and Madeleines followed which we packed up to take home for dessert in our room tonight!!

 The experience was amazing but it was sadly way too much food and a lot wasted. I think if we return we will definitely not eat anything all day long!!

Istanbul's YENI LOKANTI is local, modern and loads of fun(10-14-21)

 While our 1st meal here in Istanbul started out as basically as a disaster since the taxi driver had been misinformed of the address for the restaurant and what should have been no more than a 30 minute drive took almost 2 hours to get us to the restaurant through the horrific traffic here, in the end the evening turned out to be a total delight once we arrived. The hotel was so horribly upset about what happened they took care of the taxi and sent a private car to pick us up after dinner which turned out to be a truly spectacular affair.

 The staff greeted us at the door warmly and escorted us in  to a cute little space with a large bar and cozy seating(with good spacing) and offered us a cocktail menu and we immediately chose the Çarkifelek, a delicious of spicy meets a tad of sweet mix of passionfruit,  and Isot(Turkish native pepper)pepper vodka.

Hakan was our server and sommelier and was thrilled we wanted to try new Turkish wines and we hit the jackpot with a Porta Caeli "Ament" 2017 from the Gelibolu region which was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot with a 14.5% alcohol levels that made is hugely gutsy and reminiscent of an American red zin!! 

Hey UK folks --Yeni Lokanti now has a London branch where the owner/chef, Civan Er, himself is on site at 55 Beak Street W1F 9SH!!

A delicious amuse of Onion and Ginger dumpling in a yogurt sauce with chili oil was a hint of the magnificent meal to follow. Bread arrived in the form of a delicious homemade roll with a peppery butter.

Çig köfte tartar was an excellent Steak Tartare with a Potato Croquette perched atop and amaranth flowers.  The surprise treat was when you cut open the crochet a is at a yolk burst out and covered the entire dish which was seasoned with sumac and isot chili.

Kitel, antep kuru patlican, kestani mantari, yoğurt was a novel version of a traditional dish of Bulghur Fritter with Antep dried aubergine(eggplant) with chestnut mushrooms, cabbage and yogurt with chili oil. There are photos on FB for your viewing of these amazing preparations.

For our mains we shared two dishes: Odun Firinindan is a melt in your mouth Oven Roasted Beef ribs with isot chili. Cumin and yogurt sauce, while the second dish by a similar name was Oven Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Procini Mushrooms, Spinach and Tamarind.

We were stuffed and exhausted after having traveled in from Nairobi on a flight from 4am to 1030am and headed home without dessert, but fully thrilled with our first meal in Istanbul.

Hey UK folks: Yeni has opened in London at 55 Beak Street, W1F 9SH and is headed up by owner/chef Civan Er, who has left his Istanbul home in great hands!

We're in HEAVEN in Kigali, Rwanda (10-6-21)

 We arrived back in Kigali after an amazing 3 day/2 night trek to the northwest to visit the Mountain Gorillas in Volcanoes National Park that was a truly event of a lifetime. We were both finally feeling much better after various ailments (tummy and minor sprain) so headed to HEAVEN here in the capital for a truly delicious meal on our last night.

Everyone here in Rwanda is kind and MORE than friendly and we felt at home within seconds as soon as our server Chanceline introduced herself and was so attentive to everything we asked. I must add that while I was miffed about the wine price 3 nights earlier, the wine list here started at 45$(45000 francs) so the $55 we paid Monday was not crazy. We ordered another $55 bottle of Vonderling Shiraz 2018 "Baldric" from Voor Paardeberg in South Africa. Our beyond brilliant guide here, Ezra, explained there is a huge import tax on wine, so the prices tend to be high. I joked with Chanceline that I wish there was Rwandan wine and she said, "there is banana wine," and proceeded to bring a taste of the after-dinner-liqueur like drink with a super-high alcohol content, smooth, but strong.

We were quite surprised when an amuse of Carrot-Ginger Soup arrived which was superb, although we had a lot of this up north and I had had a superb Spicy Carrot & Tomato Soup for lunch; it is a local staple worth repeating often. Will ordered a starter of Slow Cooked Soup with Chicken, Lemongrass, Ginger and Coconut Cream, that had a nice kick and was super tasty.

For main courses Will chose the Grilled Chick Brochette with Peanut & Turmeric Sauce and a side of French Fried (he passed on the accompanying salad) which he loved. My Rwandan Beef Filet with a Rustic Tara(yam) mash, Sauteed Green Beans all in a Virunga(Rwandan)Beer Brown Butter Sauce and an awesome Cassava Leaf Chimichurri which was easily the best main course we had in the entire trip; even the meat was as tender as could be and cooked to a heavenly medium rare.

We didn't want anymore and were shocked when the whole staff and our guide showed up to sing Happy Birthday to Will(28 hours before his b'day on the 8th) with a chocolate fudge cake and huge sparkler(which did not get onto FB fotos as it burned out so fast!!). What a great treat and a perfect end to our amazing stay here in what could be one of the friendliest countries on earth!!

Rwanda's Repub Lounge gets some raves (10-3-21)

 We arrived here in Kigali last night shortly after midnight and a 24 hour trip from home, so tonight was our first dinner out in Rwanda and Repub Lounge just across the valley in a neighborhood that seems to have all the top dining spots next to each other was  a great choice. The weather has turned rainy, but we sat on the covered terrace with a view of the city center all lit up and settled in with a couple of Vodka(Absolut) & tonics, running about 6000 Rwandan francs each(under $6!).

Will & I decided to share two starters and two mains and we chose fairly well with a brilliant plate of local fried fish called SAMBAZA which was battered with a nice spice and served with a tartar-style sauce based largely on onion.; the dish was so good the sauce was not even necessary. The other dish was Pilipili Sausage & Rwanda cheese which had a quite spicy sausage with mustard and the simple but tasty local cheese which worked well to cut the spice from the sausage. We were both happy that Rwandans seem to like nice spice.

We ordered a bottle of white wine, but there was no wine list, so more on that later, Donath, our server, brought a yummy bottle of a white blend from Pay's d'Oc in France called Roche Mazet. It also cut the spice in the sausage and was great with the fried fish, which it turned out is a small (no bones at all) sardine from nearby Lake Kivu.

Main courses were Nyama Chana or roasted goat which was nice, but a bit on the dry side. A side(all mains come with one side dish) of Kachumbari was a perfect chimichurri or pico de gallo style salsa of tomatoes, chiies, garlic, onions and lemon juice. The Coconut Curry Fish was superb made with the local Tilapia also from Lake Kivu and a nice sauce, not sweet or too rich. Donoth suggest we take a rice dish, and he was spot on with the side of Ginger Rice. The winning side dish, however, was Isombe, a mix of cassava leaves and ground nuts the consistency of creamed spinach, that we both fell in love with. A nice plate of Crepes Flambees was set aflame tableside with orange liqueur, but we have now noticed (also at breakfast) that the local crepes are also called pancakes and sit somewhere between the two, not as thin as they are at home or in France, the thickness of a tortilla.

When the bill arrived I was quite thrilled to see the total was 50,000 francs, under $50, but attached below was a bill for the wine only at an additional 60,000 (yes, $60 and more than ALL the food). It seems there is no wine list so they can offer up a quality wine for a very high price! Next time I will ask for the price, as most folks don't  drink wine here!

Off to Volcanoes National Park tomorrow and home to the famous gorillas of Rwanda.