Michele's in DC is maaahvelous (8-27-24)

 Last night we celebrated a dear friend's belated birthday and decided to try Michele's where we have not been for over 2 years and is helmed by Chef Matt Baker who we adore.

We sat at a table next to the huge windows which can be raised up to open the entire place but were closed in the intense summer heat. We literally fell into the seats as the very cushy seats are quite low slung and you do feel as if you are sunken below the table. They are comfortable but need a rethink! Our server Mauricio was a gem and superbly attentive and helpful. We ordered a bottle of Etna Bianca (Carricante) 2022 from Tornatore and I have to say that while there are only 5 whites and 6 reds all by the glass and bottle, the selection is decent, and the costs are pretty low. Sparkling water is available, but only in small bottles, making it a tad costly if everyone wants it and you use up a dozen or more bottles rather than 3 or 4 liter bottles.

Starters arrived in the form of superb plump Rappahannock Oysters with a pickled watermelon rind mignonette and horseradish cream. There was just a tad of the cream for a nice tang and the relish had a super crunch that we loved. The Beef Tartare was tasty with a creme fraiche, cornichons a small herb salad and crostini while the French Onion Soup was a big hit. We also all loved the Potato & Black Truffle Tart Flambee with caramelized onion, creme fraiche, gruyere and chives that would only have been a tad better if it got a tad mor flambee! I would avoid the Breads and Spread as it is several slices of sourdough with some pickled veggies, tzatziki and caponata and while tasty, any of the other starters are a better deal.

Our second white was a 2019 Albert Bichot Saint Veran which we loved especially with the crab dishes, and we also loved a 2022 Allegrini Valpolicella red.

Main courses were all huge hits from the superb Pan Seared Crab Cakes with pickled red onion, arugula, frisee and Old Bay Remoulade, but if you take statin medicine beware the grapefruit that is not mentioned on the menu! Steak Frites is a grilled bavette with Maitre d' butter and Bordelaise which was cooked a tad past medium rare(not as requested), as was the 15-hour Lamb Shoulder with Far-Zucchini-Spinach Pilaf and Roasted Garlic Jus.  Will loved his Crawfish Linguine (homemade) with Crab Nage, Lobster Butter and Brandy Tarragon. 

We all were in the mood for dessert, and they are quite delish from the sorbets and ice creams to the Peaches & Cream Tarte that I had with poached peaches, Creme Diplomate and Lemon Verbena Ice Cream to the Rocky Road Dark Chocolate Mousse with Toasted Marshmallow, Candied Cherries, Caramel Popcorn, Mint & toasted Walnuts that was lacking nothing! The Seasonal Ice Cream Sundae comes with crumbled raspberry bar ice cream, and more but needed a longer spoon to reach the bottom of the tall parfait glass.

Overall, we had a great time and are looking forward to Michele's bigger menu that is due soon! One note is to always check your bill as a 22% gratuity was added and had I not looked closely, I might had added one myself!

Last meal in the Berkshires:super sushi at BIZEN (Great Barrington, MA-8/25/24)

 Our friends who we spent the afternoon with recommended BIZEN here in town for dinner and it was pretty much a hit. The menu is monstrous and we finally settled in and made some choices. We chose the YAKI HOTATE GAI which were excellent Grilled Canadian Scallops with a super dipping sauce and then the DUCK TERIYAKE which was a tad dry and tasted more beefy than ducky and was saved but its dipping sauce. The Meibo Yowanotsuki Junmai Ginjo Sake"Midnight Moon" was super with a cantaloupe flavor and a dry finish. We tried the Seaweed sampler salad with Hiyashi Wakame and Hijiki seaweeds, the former being the more familiar green slimy and longer seaweed with the latter being a black shorter and direr more earthy tasting seaweed.

While we really wanted the Kamala Mamala sushi roll it sounded a tad sweet with mango and coconut. Will chose the Ukranian Peace Dragon Roll of avocado topped roll iwth tuna and salmon wrapped with coconut shrimp tempura and eel. He loved it but said the slices were uneven with one quite large.

It was good but I adored my Eat Your Bliss Roll with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, eel, king crab, kale and masago fat roll in komu nori.

Will finished off with a Sapporo but I had the Hakkaisam Yukimoro "Snow Bath" Junamia Ginjo Sake which is aged in snow for years and tastes like a dream with a super smooth finish.

Off to bed for our flight home tomorrow after a great 2 days here.

Great Barrrington, Mass. Cafe ADAM is awesome(8-24-24)

 We headed up here to the Berkshires for two nights to specifically see a performance of FAUST at the Berkshire Opera Festival with two wonderful young singers who graduated from the Cafritz Young Artists Program at Washington National Opera and then had the pleasure of taking them to dinner last night. The area does not have a lot of fine dining, but with some research, I found CAFE ADAM just around the corner from our hotel and while quite casual, the food, service and wine were all superb.

We ordered some great starters to share:
Cape Oysters from Massachusetts were plump and tasty with a simple homemade mignonette, while the Old Bay Smoked Bluefish Dip was full of flavor and came with tortilla chips for dipping and some confetti pickles. One of our guests had dined here the week before and said we had to order the Truffle-Honey Bread which is made with fresh grated black truffles; it was an excellent choice and came hot to the table and was gone in seconds. Osetra Caviar Potato Chips were large homemade chips with a dimple of caviar and some dill sour cream that just needed more caviar.

We ordered a bottle of "Baby" Sancerre from Isabelle Clemente in Mentou-Salon in the Loire which we loved but switched to a delicious and citrusy 2023 Jack's Hill Chardonnay called "Le P'tit Paysan" which we had with our Caesar salads. They were yummy and made with romaine, escarole, pecorino and garlic croutons and some of us added white anchovies! 

Our server Jen was awesome and gave us just the right amount of time between courses so we could chat and catch up and discuss the wonderful performances that everyone had that afternoon in what will be a most memorable Faust! 

Our red wine was a yummy full-bodied Shiraz 2021 from Barossa Valley Estate in Australia which was great with the Korean BBQ Pork Ribs with Forbidden Black Rice, Red pepper, Asian pickles, curried peanuts and grilled scallion. Two of us had the d'Artagnan Steak Frites which one was a Grass-fed 16 ounce ribeye and one a bavette. They came with mustard butter and fabulous fries.  The New Bedford Scallops were some of the largest I have ever seen and came with sweet corn, red peppers, summer squash zucchini, basil and local cherry tomatoes.

We stayed for over 3-1/2 hours and decided to try some desserts with the Key Lime Tart & Raspberry Sorbet being the least exciting, while the No.6Affogato was Espresso, Vanilla Gelato, Chocolate ganache and homemade Biscotto with Toasted Almonds.

Summer Fruit Pie came with Vanilla Ice Cream and was declared a tad too sweet and my Banana Napolean was a monstrous portion of bananas, pudding, cinnamon, mille-feuille and bourbon-brown sugar syrup. It wsa made largely of the shredded wheat pastry known as kataifi or kanafeh and was delicious, but portion to share. 2014 Alvear Pedro Jiminez "de Aurida" sherry was the perfect finish to a great meal with two great isngers who will be on a route to major stardom!

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Santa Fe's JOSEPH's CULINARY PUB is premium dining (8-18-24)

 For our last dinner in Santa Fe we stayed downtown and headed around the corner from our hotel to Joseph's Culinary Pub which opened right before covid and was not on our radar until recently. It's off the main drag behind a church and has an almost country French setting with painted tables(they tended to be sticky as well!), floral curtains, wooden chairs and windows with curtains "painted" on them as well!

Our server Maria came over to explain the menu and specials and had an oddly arrogant air, but we finally got it, and she was superb in the end. Tenny black Nicoise olives arrived which had a great flavor burst and alongside were several homemade potato chips.

I chose a Majuelo Del Chiviitero "La Seca" 2019 Verdejo from Spain which was dry but had a wonderful creaminess to it. It was superb with our starters: Watermelon Gazpacho for Will and Watermelon Salad for me with Feta, Balsamic, Tomato, Crispy Prosciutto and a Black Oliver Puree. Both were full of flavor bursts and really great starters for a super-hot day!

The main courses were quite varied, and it was hard to decide but, in the end, Will chose the Swordfish Special which was grilled with a Green Chili Risotto and Asparagus, and I went for the New Mexico Lamb Burger with Green Chile Sheep Cheese on a house made English muffin.  the meat came perfectly rare to medium rare, and the cheese oozed all over so no sauce or ketchup or condiment was really needed. A side of Duck Fat French Fries were delish as well. I had a glass of Cruii Uvasy un dia Garnacha 2021 which was ideal with the lamb as Will finished off the white.

Desserts sounded great and indeed were with Will having the Butterscotch Pudding with Caramel Sauce & Sea Salt and I chose the Orange Blossom Tres Leches with Burnt Strawberry Meringue and Berry Puree. It was another flavor burst dish and both came with some little cookies as well.

A glass of Colkeagan Scotch was Will's after dinner choice and the pour was huge while I sipped a Royal Tokaj Betsek 5 Puttonyos which was perfectly sweet and like a second dessert.

When and if we are back in Santa Fe Joseph's has to be on our itinerary.

Santa Fe's COYOTE CAFE can still serve up some of the best Southwestern cuisine (8-17-24)

 Last night we dined downtown at COYOTE CAFE which was a huge hit when it first opened in the last millennia. It's been years since we went, and the place looks better than ever and the food is still fabulous.

The setting is really beautiful with the giant Chihouly Chile pepper glass candelabra right over our heads, beautiful grey velvet chairs and banquettes and what has to be the best service around. We ordered Norteño Margaritas made from Silver tequila, Hrach Green Chili and a glass rimmed with spicy Chapulin(chile) salt. Our wine was suggested by the server and was a superb full bodied 2021 Saint Cosme red blend (mostly Syrah) from Sain Joseph in the Northern Rhone, one of our favorite wine regions. I was also surprised to see wines on the menu as low as $50, as so often the upscale dining spots here have wines starting at close to double that price! Warm corn bread sticks arrived with whipped butter which were yummy, but a tad of chile in the corn bread would have made them perfect.

We started with Tempura Squash Blossoms filled with Cotija & Goat Cheese with a Green Chili Aioli and citrus salad as well as a Market lettuce Salad with peppered Bacon, Betts & Radish, Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese and a yogurt dressing. My Chile Moritz Mexican White Prawns came with Crispy Grit cakes, Green Chile Aioli and a citrus salad as well. The dish was superb with a kick of spice but served in a deep bowl that made it hard to cut the shrimp and cakes and eat them easily. I managed and then of course, the utensils kept falling off the dish as I laid them on the side! Our friend, Sara, brought her 9-year-old (whose birthday it was!!) and he seemed to enjoy the Bacon Mac and Cheese a lot as well.

Mains were all top notch with Will & I loving our perfectly cooked Tellicherry Peppered Elk Tenderloin(all fotos on FB as always) served with a beautifully constructed Potato Nest filled with Roasted Garlic Mash, Smoked Bacon, Mushrooms and Snap Peas.

Seared Diver Scallops were also magnificent with Mascarpone Arboria Rice, seasonal veggies and a slightly spiced Calabrian Chile-Passionfruit Butter.

We opted to share some desserts: Pinon Buttercakes with Mascarpone Mousse came with Pineapple Brulee and Pinon Brittle. There were bite size cakes that were rich but tempered by the pineapple and quite yummy, even for someone like me who is not a buttercream frosting person. The Mesilla Pecan Pie was superb and came with Bourbon Brown Sugar Ice Cream and Ginger Compote.

We loved everything and will definitely return again when next in Santa Fe!!

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Santa Fe's LA BOCA is brilliant for tapas (8-16-24)

 We moved into town for our last three nights to enjoy dining here as well as Indian Market (our credit card hit a fraud alert!!) and chose to move away from southwestern cuisine for one night as we heard great things about LA BOCA, and it was super.

The tapas menu is not huge, but varied and make sure you check out the specials. We decided to order a couple each time so that we set the pace and everything did not come out too fast; it worked wonderfully and also, we did not over-order!

The Ceviche of Shrimp and Bay Scallops was nice and more on the spicy tomato side that a leche de tigre or sorts. It came with large crunchy slightly puffy tortilla pieces but was a tad messy. Luckily the napkins were large and thick.

Boquerones were superb anchovies and came served on the side with two large pieces of pan con tomate which we simply placed them atop for a great flavor. The Alchachofas were beautifully cooked huge artichoke hearts with long tender stems and came with a rich queso de cabra(goat cheese). The artichokes were flavored with lemon for a great bite and flavor as well.

Tacos de la Boca were three huge soft tortillas stuffed with fried shrimp and fried morcilla sausage bites and came with a super spicy pimentón agrodolce salsa as well as mango slaw. We loved the flavors again and realized that while the dishes lean Spanish tapas, the flavors are often Spanish/Southwestern US! The special was a gorgeous Grilled Bok Choy also with Morcilla Sausage and a roasted red pepper and tomato salsa that was speckled with chicharrónes, but they were soft as they marinated in the salsa! YUM. We felt we tried enough and were stuffed but Will had a scoop of rum raisin ice cream before we headed to the opera.

As always, the photos are on FB!!

Santa Fe's GABRIEL --southwestern grub gone grande (8-4-24)

 Our second night here we headed several miles north of the opera house for dinner at GABRIEL's where I had not been for decades. It is a quaint indooro/outdoor venue with that Sante Fe/Tex-Mex feel. Margaritas are a must and Will had the Silver Coin with Cointreau while I had the Picante with jalapenos. YUM! The chips and spicy red salsa are horridly addictive and beware, the portion sizes are beyond grande!

We both ordered the Tortilla Soup and here it is a veggie based one with cabbage, zucchini, potato, onion, avocado, chard and more and the giant bowl had to have way more than a quart of soup! Will's beef burrito was monstrous and came with chile, refried beans, rice, corn and crema. My Crab Enchiladas were loaded with crab ina green tomatillo salsa with sour cream, black beans and corn on the side; I sadly could not get though much more than half of it.

Tonight, dinner at the opera and tomorrow we head into town.

Santa Fe's SKYFIRE at Bishop's Lodge is super (mostly) 8-13-24)

 We are dividing our week here in Sante Fe between two hotels and settled in just north of town the other day at Bishop's Lodge, an Auberge Resort for our first three nights. I had heard great things about the restaurant here called SkyFire so we decided to try it our before our first opera. 

The setting is very Sante Fe/Southwestern decor with woods and leathers chairs and woven fabrics with a large barroom one side and lots of outdoor seating.

We perused the pricey menu, and our server said the truffle bread was amazing, but we really did not want to fill up on carbs on an almost $20 plate(that much with tax and mandatory 20% service charge for sure!!)! Will chose the Tortilla Soup with roasted chicken and charred avocado which he loved, and I was thrilled with my Nopales Salad with heirloom tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, green chile, spicy hibiscus-oregano vinaigrette and of course the fabulous tender local Nopales cacti. Will had the Pazo de Brujas Albarino and I enjoyed the JL Chave Cotes du Rhone "Mon Couer" Syrah blend with my entree.

We had asked our server for a nice break it worked our perfectly. Will said the Barramundi a la Vizcaina sauce with confit potato and yellow drop chile was nice but the potatoes were a bore. My Lamb Chops with New Mexico inspired mole, peas and fava beans was a fabulous dish marred only by the fact that the chops were medium on the edge and closer to medium rare at the bone.  I mentioned this to our server, and he immediately removed the charge. WOW! The sauce was slightly spicy and full of flavor and I loved the peas and beans to boot. My only regret was there was no bread to mop up the sauce and at these prices (mains from $45+) there should be some bread.

We split the yummy Braided Churros with chocolate ganache dip and caramel ice cream.

Overall, a good experience and the flavors here do abound, but watch your wallet!

The Dining Room at Vermejo is delicious (A Ted Turner reserve in remote northeastern New Mexico near Raton)(8-12-24)

 After our fabulous lunch/cooking class with Chef Giovanni where we made and dined on Biston Tartare and home made Linguini with a simple Vegetable sauce we were looking forward to dinner and it was indeed delicious.

Maybe we are 60 minutes from the nearest town and far from the ocean, but the KAMPCHI CRUDO was divine with Lemon Oil & Black Garlic Sauce. Chives, Capers, Orange Zest, Lemon Cucumber and Sea Beans most from the garden here. I asked Chef Giovanni who he prepped the fish and learned that a 30-40 min bath in salt and sugar, then a rinse really enhances the fish! Gotta try this. Warm focaccia arrived with butter and sea salt (I prefer olive oil) and it was nice, but not as delicious as the chili corn bread from the night before.

Summer Peach Salad was a work of art with Vermejo Garden Blend lettuces, Palisade peaches, Fonda Farms Goat Cheese (from Trinidad, CO-about 75 mins away), green-house tomatoes, pepitas, pickled red onion and aged balsamic.

The GRILLED OCTOPUS got raves with Shishito, Yuzu Aioli, Chili Garlic Vinaigrette and Bonito Flakes, while the ROASTED DUCK BREAST was divine with carrot puree, broccolini, roasted potatoes and a Cherry Demi-Glace.

I had another glass of Domaine de la Haute Olive "La Chene Vert" a 2021 Cabernet Franc from Chinon in the Loire that Wes, the bartender/sommelier recommended the night before and Will had the Albarino.

We headed off on our 2-1/2 our evening safari drive and returned to a yummy Tres Leches for dessert. Super food here at the ranch!

Colorado Springs' SUMMIT--some good, some bad (8-10-24)

 For our trip to the Santa Fe this summer, we decided to start in Colorado Springs at the famed Broadmoor Hotel and Resort where I had not visit for almost 35 years. It is still a beautiful resort and location and even bigger than it was before with many dining options. I had heard that Summit, designed by Adam Tihany, has an AAA Five Diamond rating for many years and that the food was fabulous, I also assumed it was at the top of the hotel with a great view of the Rockies. WRONG! Summit is located across the street in the hotel's Convention Center Complex and while quite a beautiful setting, the only view is of the sidewalk. We had a really exhausting travel day so we moved our reservation so 530pm as we had been up since 3amEDT (1amMDT), which was a blessing. We were seated at a beautiful teak wooden table with cuts n each side so that runners could intersect in the center run across the rectangle and drop through the slots and hand just above our laps. The chairs matched and there were many large circular beige-ish chandeliers than ran the length of the narrow space; a classy bar was on the other side of the room.

The place was fairly empty at this point, although we were told they were booked solid and indeed did fill up as we dined.  We perused the menu and chatted with melody about the options, though she never mentioned any specials. 

An amuse of Cucumber Gazpacho came which was very refreshing. We placed our order and the appetizers arrived which were the same for us both: Crispy Duck Confit Tostadas with Pueblo Chile Mole, Peach Brulee, Serrano Slaw and Hatch Chile Beehive(from Utah) Cheddar (a spiced cheddar if you will). We loved them and they were large three tostada portions, but we felt confident as we had asked Melody for a long break between courses. As the plates were cleared, she said our mains should arrive in about 10 minutes, but arrived before she could finish her sentence. We were not happy.

On top of this, as other folks were seated, we heard the servers offering the speicals and were quite upset as some of them sounded wonderful and might have been our first choices. 

The Alamosa Country Striped Bass with Anson Mills Wild Rice, Olathe Corne Puree (& corn bread) came with a Poblano & Onion Criolla and was a superb fish with yummy crispy skin as well thought the corn bread (not on the menu) was as dry as could be.

The Prime Certified Angus Beef Tenderloin was perfectly cooked and as tender as could be and came with Hudson Valley (humanely produced) Foie Gras, Potato Puree, Brioche and Bordelais Jus, a nice homage to our new home in France! I also had a glass of Babylonstoren Chenin Blanc 2022 from Simonsberg-Paarl that was citrusy and acidic and quite fun; a special treat as we shall stay at this winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa in December.

As we finished, we mentioned to the manager about the short break, even though we asked for a long one and the fact that we never heard the specials. He was in shock and offered us complimentary desserts, but we were so stuffed as we had downed the amuse, the fabulous bread and butter and both courses in under 65 minutes! We did get a 30% discount on the food and Melody apologized profusely and said that she was taking care of the cost of the glass of wine. We left feeling a little better as the food was really good, even if the prices are OUT OF THIS WORLD.