Denver's FRUITION is fabulous (2-23-23)

 We checked out a lot of options and chose FRUITION in Denver for its sustainability as well as its charity work. They donate a lot and have been doing so for 18 years while they have been serving yummy food as well. We arrived an hour late as our flight sat on the tarmac for an hour but our friends held the fort, and we were so thrilled to see them when we finally arrived at 830pm. We ordered a bottle of Barbera d'Asti from Marchese Alfieri "La Tota" to start and it was smooth and delish on the 3 degree evening (windchill -12!!) while our friends had beer and margaritas. The starters were very varied but the one dish that disappointed was the Raw Oysters as only two tiny ones arrive (for $12!) with a cucumber mignonette and caviar. Not sure how much the caviar cost as the type was not listed, but our guest felt slighted, and we felt a tad cheated. The Grilled Mediterranean Octopus Salad was huge with giant braised beans salsa verde and Castelvetrano olives while my Veal Sweetbreads Scallopini (at an amazing $9) was a superb presentation in a yummy rich melted leek sauce with crispy fried capers. A piece of grilled bread would have been nice, but I got a spoon instead (and then they told me bread was available at a cost!--no matter, my doctor told me to cut carbs!).

The main of Braised Lamb Shank with Anson Mills polenta and Pomegranate BBQ got raves and Will loved his Sauteed Striped Sea Bass with baby artichokes and berigoule emulsion, while I was thrilled with my huge juicy Roasted Half Chicken with Brussels Sprouts, bacon lardons and butternut squash puree (fotos on FB).

Dessert was irresistible and we tried two: Chocolate Torte with Chantilly cream and hazelnut caramel was rich and intense while the Leon Meringue with Graham cracker crust and blueberry was also nice and tart.

We had a great time seeing our friend Teri and meeting her husband Michael, and having great food was an added treat!!

Dallas CBD (central biz district--not the other cbd) is Texan cuisine with bravado (2-14-23)

 I came down to Dallas this week to see the new Rheingold at the Dallas Opera and take out a bunch of clients/friends for dinner. I chose CBD at my hotel, the Joule and we were all very happy with the food and ambience.

The bartender Kelsie created a drink for me called the Kelsizzle made with vodka, hot sauce, lime, simple syrup and basil--think spicy margarita made with vodka and a salt-chili rim!! YUM! After that we moved on to a delicious Talbott Chardonnay from California and finally a yummy Ferrari-Carrano Merlot 2018 from Sonoma.

We decided to share a bunch of starters and they were all fun:

Pimento Cheese toast was on sourdough with pickled peppers and arugula which was yummy and also satisfied our veggie/salad needs! Texas charcuterie was a large platter with more of the pimento as well as house sausage, spicy salami, pickles and yummy liver mousse. The Crab toast was also quite tasty with lump crab as well as marinated spaghetti squash with herbs and pepitas.  Our favorite was the Tango Tuna Nachos which came in a giant crunchy fried taco shell with cucumber, lime, cilantro aioli, serrano and sweet soy.

Several of us had the gorgeous filet au poivre with shallot potato rosti and one had the Mussels Frittes with chorizo, fennel, onion, beer, garlic and herb aioli, while the majority of us hunkered down on the BBQ Texas Quail which is always a dish I love when I come to Texas. The two huge quail were seasoned amazingly with great sauce, persimmon and sat on a bed of Texas Red Beans & Rice. It was, as most dishes are in Texas, a huge portion!

We had a grand time, and I am so excited to see these amazing clients and the thrilling cast at the opera tonight.

CENTROLINA in DC always has creative and colossal cuisine (2-11-23)

 We were downtown for a concert on Saturday night so we headed to CENTROLINA where Chef Amy Brandwien is in charge and always offers up some of the best modern Italian cuisine in town and the place is always hopping. We had not been since before Covid, so it was a nice reunion indeed.

We ordered a bottle of Bibi Graetz 2020 Casamatta Vermentino from Tuscany which had all kinds of minerality and acidity as well as lemony-pineapple notes. Our server Tim also suggested our red, the Nerello-Mescalese 2015 from Terazze dell' Etna in Sicily that was fruit forward and earthy! We loved them both.

I started with the Pesce Spada (fotos on FB) or swordfish carpaccio sliced thin and so tasty with roasted plum and lime zest. I adored this novel take on carpaccio. Will had the Fritto of tempura fried halibut with agave nectar, orange and jalapeno.

I know things have changed in the restaurant biz, but I do regret having to pay for bread, but it was all delish with focaccia, breadsticks and crusty country bread.

Our friend ordered the while Branzino (without the head) and it looked luscious with potato confit, roasted tomato, basil and olive. Will's Paccheri was pasta with braised octopus, tomato, fennel and garlic bread crumbs and my Pappardelle was decadently rich with chestnuts, white Bolognese sage sauce & Parmigiano.

We are indeed grateful that certain dining spots don't change and that's indeed one great thing about the conquering cuisine of Centrolina

Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai's GOLDEN DRAGON is superb spicy Chinese in India (2-3-23)

We had to depart the hotel at 1AM for the airport and hence chose to dine early at our hotel to try and catch several hours of sleep, which was a perfect plan. GOLDEN DRAGON is the renowned elegant Chinese restaurant at the grande dame of hotels in Mumbai, the Taj Mahal Palace. The dining room is not very large and was cozy, warm and plush with linens, fine china, crystal and excellent service. We wanted to ensure our food had a kick, and the staff made sure we were truly pleased. We ordered a bottle of the Fratelli Chardonnay from India that we have always enjoyed and is a crispy fruit-forward wine that works so well with spice.

We decided to split two starters, two mains and a rice (photos on FB).

Truffle Edamame Dumplings were nice, but not a prize winner and I used some of the many condiments to knock up the flavor profile a tad. The hot chili sauce was great and there was also soy sauce, duck sauce, winter melon and pickled cabbage--the latter two especially yummy to munch on.

The Asparagus & Lotus Root came in a yummy Pickled Vinegar Sauce, and we felt very good for eating some nice veggies.

We moved on to the Wok-tossed Tiger Prawns in XO Sauce that was smoky and packed a nice punch as well. There was a fab Veggie Stir Fried Rice with Crunchy Burnt Garlic that also gave it great flavor. 

We finished the white and chose two glasses of red to try: Grover Zampa La Reserve Cab/Merlot which was totally weird with a slight fizz(maybe it was off) so they replaced it when the server asked how it was and we both ended up with the house red, Taj(the hotel chain) Svara by Fratelli  Vineyards Cabernet/Sangiovese Blend, a new wine for our last night in India that we loved and paired great with our final main of Smoked Duck in Red Chilli Sauce that also packed a punch as was so tender, just like the juicy shrimp.

Will wanted to try the Beijing Milk Cake with Coconut Crumb which he called a quasi-Chinese tres leches, but I found way too sweet and only had a bit of.

We did manage three hours or so of sleep and are now waiting for our connecting 15+ hour flight home from Abu Dhabi after a truly wonderful food experience on our first Indian journey.

Mumbai's MASQUE is magnificent and more (2/3/23)

Our first night in Mumbai had us dining at the tiny MASQUE which we had heard so much about and it is indeed a theatrical experience of Indian food as the name comes from "masquerade" as Ishaan, the sommelier explained. There is a choice of veg and non-veg menus of 10 courses both priced at 4500 rupees (under $55!!) which may be a lot for India but is indeed a steal for any tasting menu anywhere!

The unassuming doorway leads to an intimate room with a large bar on one side and ten tables seating two to six people each facing it. Drinks and wine here are indeed special and they have a wine or cocktail pairing, but we chose to order two bottles of fabulous Indian wine for much less with Ishaan's gracious assistance and lots of extra tastes, too. Will started with a drink called the "Gamble" mad of pisco, mezcal, pink guava, celery leaf, sea buckthorn and mango ginger which he loved, but I preferred my stronger "Grassroot" of tequila, raw ambada, wild thyme, sichuan pepper and pear with a sated rim that was really wonderfully earthy. 

Masque takes two seatings at 7pm and 945pm, so if your dinner runs long, they kindly escort you upstairs to their "living room" where you cozy down with an after-dinner drink and dessert. We were thrilled we did not have to rush and loved the idea. The room is stark with limited decor, dark brown wood tables and a slate floor, so the food is truly center stage, not like some crazy design-centered gimmicky Michelin star spots we have been to.

Ishaan wanted us to try an Indian Riesling, but we were leaning towards Sauvingnon Blanc so he brought out three tastes. We did not care for the "orange-style" wine which was a salty weird Chenin Blanc from Kustavaan. The Charosa Sauvignon Blanc from nashik was great, but Ishaan was correct as we adored the Vallonne 2022 Riesling also from Nashik (in Mumbai's Maharastra state) that Will noted had a briny-ness that paired so well with the food and the spices. 

The first course was Starfruit Kanji(dressing)/Kohlrabi(pickled with coriander seeds)/Squid and set the mood for the evening as we were in love with every bite and flavor burst we got, The dish also had watermelon radish, lime leaf and Aam Papad which is a candy that was a fun sweet taste and we both actually got in the last bite only(I am clueless how they managed that as we stirred everything up!). All the photos are on Facebook!

Makai Mathri was a play on chips and dip offering corn chips with hemp seeds and Bhautta chaat, a Kashmiri chili dip with a corn base. We loved the dip and the chips, but there was so much dip, we had to slather tons on the 4 chips we got!!

I guess we could say there were favorite courses, but they were all so different and unique, but Seaweed/Ponkh stood out in that the seaweed from Goa was fried like cracklings and the Ponkh is an amazing green sorghum that was steamed, dehydrated and then fried with a green apple chutney! Need I say more.

Fourth was BBQ Pork/Pea Patra/Saffron which was a pork that was served in a chorizo sauce(yes, sauce!) that was as smoky as you could wish with crunchy morel mushrooms(again from Kashmir) that were also dehydrated and fried, and a parsley chutney(read, puree). Green Pea Patra is simply peas wrapped in chickpea flour and looked like a small sushi roll! We have adored the green peas found almost everywhere in india, only the okra was a more favorite veggie!

Xacuti/Poached Egg/Ladi Pao is a play on a Goan omelet with xacuti curry of chewy carrots, clams and rat tail radish(yes!!) with a poached egg atop and served with Ladi Pao, which are really Portuguese-Indian Parkerhouse rolls which are used to mop up the egg and curry. Egg curry was one of my favorite dishes for breakfast in India, but I could have easily switched to this divine preparation any morning (or evening).

I have to also say that at Masque the servers work in teams, so Mirelle also gets great credit along with Ishaan for explaining everything so clearly, patiently and precisely as I wrote it all down!

Ishaan arrived with several tastes of red wine and while we have loved the Grover Shiraz/Cab blend everywhere, the Grover 2019 Zampa Chene Grand Reserve of Tempranillo and Shiraz was a letdown, so we immediately went with a new choice also from Vallone which was a fabulous full bodied 2017 Merlot Reserve. We wrote all the names down hoping to grab several bottles at the duty free when we departed Mumbai early this morning, but alas they sell NO Indian wine in the monstrous duty free shop; what a disappointment! I also have to mention that Ishaan studied at the C.I.A. in Hyde Park, NY and hence knows a tons of chefs in DC and elsewhere, so we have some great future contacts that are his buddies from school (we promise to mention you so highly, Ishaan)!

We were nest escorted into the large airy, modern kitchen (see video) where one of the chefs prepared our next course, a fabulous palate cleanser: Red Tamarind sorbet/Rose Apple.

The main meat course was, of course, Lamb/Ambemohar/Black Garlic which was served with rice with black garlic. The lamb was prepared with kohlrabi leaves, cherry tomatoes, green lentils or toor dahl and a sundried tomato chutney(mixed with something that I cannot decipher in my notes), hemp & Murg Dahl, "Habanero" Chutney fermented for Masque by a local farmer that was easily the spiciest chutney on the entire trip and puri kaththi. The red wine was divine with the lamb and all the spices and it was tons of fun to take the different chutneys or dips for each bite of lamb or food and mix different ones, which is truly the essence of Indian food from breakfast on!

There were three dessert courses of which the first was Nolen Gur/Gondhoraj or simply a wonderful lemongrass granita palate cleanser served with Jaggheri, the date palm sweet but here turned in a Bengali-style yogurt, which was a pulpy lemony treat that really made your mouth forget the spices before and get ready to move on.

Second was Chocolate/Passion Fruit, a fudgy treat served in a caramel crust that we both adored.

At this point our 2-1/2 hour slot was approaching, and we were escorted upstairs where we ordered a glass of Indian dessert wine to share from Vallone(again) 2018 Vin de Passerillage that was intensely viscous, super sweet and highly acidic, so I let Will enjoy it as it just reminded me of the Indian sweets that are SOOOO sweet, I just cannot fathom them. Our final dessert was the only course we were not blown away with and I think it is largely because the Paan or betel nut leaf is an acquired taste, Strawberry/Fennel/Paan was the leaf wrapped around pickled strawberry and fennel and beautifully presented, n=but as you know while I love pickles of all kind, and India truly wins the pickle variety competition, I am not a fennel fan at all.

So one course out of ten was simply not to our liking, but that was really a personal taste issue. Check out the photos and video on Facebook and please realize this was one of the most wonderful meals we have ever had ANYWHERE, not to mention the wonderful service, kindness of the staff, generosity with their time and also just a fully fun night out in Mumbai!

VEMBANAD Seafood Restaurant at Kumarakom Lake Resort in Kerala, India makes room service spectacular(2/1/23)

 The other day we discovered that there are multiple "dry days" in India such as holidays when alcohol is not sold, and in this state of Kerala the rules are even stricter where hotels, restaurants and bars cannot sell any booze! When we headed to the mountains, we also discovered that many of the small hotels don't have liquor licenses as they are so costly, so we grabbed some local wine to consume in our room, as you cannot even bring it to dinner!

After our first two dry days during this trip, we also were advised that since many people get their paychecks in Kerala on the first of the month, every 1st of the month is also a dry day in this state. I was pretty upset and contacted our tour operator in Kochi and she figured out a brilliant bypass. We would order the wine the day prior and have it delivered to our villa and then order room service, as private consumption in the room or at home IS allowed.

We arrived at the magnificent Kumarakom Lake Resort on the shores of Vembanad Lake just south of Kochi yesterday and the white wine(Paul Banyan--produced by the hotel under their own label-Big Banyan 2018 Sauvignon Blanc) was already chilling! We were blown away by the menu and Vishnu came to the room to help us order in advance and agreed that each course would be served at a specific time. It went as smoothly as could be and

 we told the head of catering that we were mightily impressed. The photos are on Facebook and we had an extra treat as there was a theatrical Kathaliki performance right before dinner for a private couple that we could see from our porch; this was followed by some very nice English pop music performed by a live musical group while they dined on the lake in a small pavilion right next to our villa.

Will started with the Njandu Elaneer, a peppery soup made with crab and coconut milk, while I adored the very spicy Prawn Rasan, a broth of spicy Kerala shrimp with lentils, tomato and intense black pepper. We had to share the starter of Chemmeen Peer as it was so novel, and Vishnu said it was a unique dish to this region. The shrimp are dried and then mixed with coconut, green chilies and served with pot tamarind and steamed tapioca all cooked in a clay pot. The dish reminded us of the veggies we had in Malaysia and Singapore served with fermented shrimp paste as the dried shrimp are really intense, funky and indeed novel. Think of a soft shell shrimp served with spices and fermented. We had some paratha and garlic naan with our two mains which were both divine dishes:

Meen Politchathu (again cooked in a banana leaf) is the local kingfish (or pearl spot) in coconut milk with spices and the

Malabari Prawn Biryani was a yummy mix of tiger prawns served with raita and pickled dates as well as pappad(a lentil based and spicy pappadam). The pickled dates were interesting, and the raita was the best ever indeed. Even though this is a fish dish, the menu suggests red wine and we opened our own bottle of Grover Cab Sauvignon/Shiraz that we bought the day prior as well for $13!

The timing of the service, the friendliness of the staff, servers and team and the food made this a truly memorable meal.
Tonight, we shall dine at Ettukettu, the hotel's other restaurant as we hear they serve local duck and quail, and wine is once again available!

We opted for a western and less sweet dessert of Coconut Pannacotta with fruit and berry compote that was very refreshing.

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