NYC's DIRT CANDY does veggie cuisine tasting menus as a true classic (11-29-19)

Each year when we head to NY for Thanksgiving, we try to choose a fun place to dine and this year it was NYC's vegetarian haute cuisine spot, DIRT CANDY on the lower East Side where Amanda Cohen heads the kitchen team and Rachel Basset is the pastry chef.

We  arrived to the sparkly outdoor sign (it looks like one of those silver spangly curtains in a doorway as some sleazy spot, and walked in to a simply decorated place with exposed white brick walls and white walls with stenciled green flowers and plants. There is a large counter for seating and a huge open kitchen behind and we could see a lot of the goings on(at least from my seat). We were given menus that listed drink options and two menu choices which were 5 courses for $65(+$50 for wine pairings) or 9 courses for $99(+$70 for wine pairings). The menu notes that 20% service charge is added and tipping is not encouraged on top of that. We decided on our drinks and waited and waited and waited. Finally we hailed down a server who apologized as it had been almost 15 minutes since we sat down!

I ordered the Betabel de Matamoros with mezcal, ancho reyes, house amaro and beet juice that was an earthly drink with lots of flavor and a hint of spice. Will chose the Dirty Trinity with vodka, pickled onion, green pepper and celery which tasted like a dirty martini made with pickle juice...a bit too puckery for me. Sam started with the Cucumber Sparkler of cilantro, serrano and soda, but preferred the beer. While we were having our drinks we chose the 9-course with wines(for Will & me) and the Amuse Bouche arrived in a small caviar container(marked IMITATION) which was adorable(see FB photos). It was a veggie seaweed caviar with creme fraiche, small chunks of cucumber and chives that was delicious and so refreshing. Alas, the first course also arrived shortly thereafter, even thought we told our helpful and considerate server, Yashar(which means "direct" or straight ahead" in Hebrew!) that we like to relax and dine slowly. The wine was poured while we still had our drinks, b ut from thence on, everything was timed perfectly.

Ben, the sommelier, poured the first wine, a Sottofondo orange wine made from organic fermented Trebbiano which was yummy and like a fizzy alcoholic cider; I have to say it changed my mind on orange wines. The first course was a "tower" like those you get in seafood restaurants but this was three tiers each with spring greens, edible flowers and parsnip tahini. The bottom level also had the celeriac kugel(which we all liked the best) with sliced green grapes. The middle was a glass jar with a butternut squash consomme that was so rich it reminded me of oxtail! The top had adorable mini tin watering cans with beet and beet pesto lollipops.

Monkey bread arrived and was a dark hue from the beets used and they were warm, so the butter melted so fast and the whole thing was a yummy treat. From here on in, each wine was poured just as the course arrived and were were happy campers.

2018 Margins Muscat Blanc from Poulsard  in Contra Costa was our next wine and the slight sweetness was amazing with the intensely spicy Korean fried Broccoli with garlic paste, sesame and scallions. This was our favorite dish indeed. It came with Shanghai shoot leaves(mini bok choy) with creme fraiche and fermented black beans,

Next was a rose from Valerie & Jean-Christophe Tissuad and we were happy to get to the dry wines. The dish was a Fennel Tagine of smoked prunes, apricot, shaved fennel, haricots cacao, preserved lemon all in a light fennel broth with  the amazing vegetarian "Merguez" that is a secret recipe....vegetarians you need to get it!

Fourth was Lady of Sunshine 2018 Chardonnay "Chene Vineyard" from Edna Valley that tasted nothing like your everyday chard! While the two head chefs are women, many of the staff are men!, yet the wine list centers on female producers as does the beer menu! It was paired with Grilled Radicchio with Sumac, pickled endive, chickpea crouton, Charmoula ranch falafel spice paired with a Truffle toast, portobello mousse(think pate), shaved portobello and grilled and dehydrated persimmon, sour cherry balsamic reduction glaze. The dish was overall rich and intense, but quite filing and yummy, and while Will is allergic to sumac, he got his own plate of the Portobello as a bonus.

We moved to red wine with Marin D'Eau Douce from Domaine des Buis in Aveyron made by Pauline Broqua served with a Carrott Confit Slider on a Chinese Style steamed carrot and sesame bun with yuba crisp and hoisin sauce.

Brassica is a mix of cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and more in a smoked cabbage broth here with fennel, kohlrabi and a yummy ricotta dumpling. Spinach spaetzle were in a shiso broth with dehydrated Alpine cheese and lilac spinach, while the dish was rounded out with a Turnip Cake(akin to Banh mi)with Chinese fice spice, pickled daikon, purple ninja radish and finger lime. It was all delish, but the latter quite heavy with the "bun." 

Beet Yakatori with Lemon Vinaigrette was garnished with salt and pepper on the plate and I realized I got a large salt crystal, so avoided that as the dish was just fine without the seasoning. I don't have wine notes, so am assuming we continued with the red from before??

Dessert started with a Swiss Chard Sundae with candied pear, but the basil was so cold it lost its flavor. This was paired with Cauliflower confetti cake with roasted cauliflower ice cream(yes!!), chocolate mushroom of mushroom espresso pudding with thyme blondies, sunflower seed brittle, spinach mint crumble with hot chocolate sauce poured tableside. It was a lot of things to absorb, but we loved it all. The wine was a Franquette Oloroso El Maestro 15 year old dry sherry, which was nice, but we really prefer sweeter wines with dessert. Thinking about all the ingredients, though, the pairing was earthy and dry to complement the sweetness of the food.

The second dessert and last course was Sweet potato meringue  with white chocolate sweet potato, pomegranate seeds and a Radicchio pate a fruit that was akin to Turkish delight. What fun we had and even though some of the dishes were heavy, rich or intense, none of us felt bloated and it was a truly fun and memorable experience.

Kudos to Yashar, Ben and the whole staff, who work here as team to insure that things move without a hitch(except for our arrival and drink order).

Vegetarians take note as this is a rare an more than enjoyable treat!

Long Island's LIMANI leaves your pockets empty, but your tummy satiated (11-27-19) 1 post by 1 author

We had a little pre Thanksgiving gathering for dinner out on Long Island near my brother-in-law's at the large but elegant Limani.  There are several of these restaurants in the area and they all have the basic theme of seafood and steaks and everything is very large portions and very expensive.

 The drinks run in the high teens and all tend to be fairly sweet so we'll asked for his Persephone which was stoli vodka, Cointreau, pomegranate, muddled raspberry and muddled lime to be less sweet and it was a wise move. My Fig Cosmo was too sweet with Firenze Fig vodka, Cointreau and cranberry. The wines were better with a Gaia Thalassantis Assyrtiko 2018 and Spiro Hatziyiannia both being from Santorini being nice and dry for the fish dishes we chose.

 We all ordered a ton of appetizers to share around which is a great idea because again the portions are quite large and all of them were excellent except for the Spanakopita of spinach and leek which had a way too rich and creamy filling.

 The sushi quality octopus was grilled to perfection and came oddly enough from Tunisia. The grilled shrimp were huge and king 8 to the pound for one portion of 1/2 pound.  The tomato feta salad was very nice but wouldn't win a prize, While the saganaki made from fried kefalograviera cheese was crispy and tasty.  I think the biggest hit was thev Kolokithi made from zucchini and eggplant sliced super thin and then fried and served with tzatziki to dip them in!

 Most the main courses here run in the $70 range and many of the Fisher served for 2 people the best of which was easily the Greek whole snapper grilled for 2 people called Fagri.  The tender white fish was tasty and had not a single bone in the entire plate. The grilled Royal Dorado on the other hand was a bit fishier and had many more bones.

 Swordfish with skewered with grilled peppers and tomato and the yellow fin tuna or had  Egyptian sesame crust and was the only entree served with a side of sauteed spinach.  So there is a need to order sides which are all Allah cart and come in quite expensive in the $20 own such as the broccoli Rabe with garlic and feta and the delicious crispy potatoes.

 Samuel ordered the filet mignon and nobody asked him if he wanted any sauce with it and when it came on the plate with no side dishes not even a piece of parsley it looked dry and unappetizing. He asked the server if there was a sauce and the server offered to bring both of the sauces for him but they never showed up the entire rest of the meal. 

 We decided to split 2 desserts for the entire group of 7 and it was just the right size. The Chocolatina  was a chocolate souffle with fig ice cream and the Milopatina  was a tart of Granny Smith apples with almond cream on puff pastry with pistachio ice cream.  Both were delicious and it was nice of the server to remove both desserts in lieu of the sauce failure during the main course for the steak.

 The 2 dining rooms here are huge and we were in a quieter one in the corner so the noise levels were not so bad even though the place was pretty full. I guess I would go back again because the quality of the food is very good but the problem is the prices are just so elevated.

Remington at the Houston St. Regis gets raves(10-28-19)

 I joined two of the sales managers for dinner at my hotel on Monday night and the place was fairly deserted which made for a nice quiet evening in a restaurant located in a luxury hotel.  The menu is simple with some exciting dishes, all well prepared and the service is excellent. So many hotels these days are going for superstar chefs or noisy dining rooms and this was none of those.

 Every St. Regis hotel has a famous Bloody Mary recipe(who knew it originated at the NYC location ages ago), and this location is no exception, but here it's made with tequila, spiced up with a giant jalapeno on the rim as well as a shrimp hanging on the rim next to it...tasty indeed.  The wine list is very lengthy but tends to center on single varietals wine such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet or Merlot and lacks a bit in blends.  We hit the jackpot with a 2017 Sancerre from Pascale Olivet in the Loire.

 I started with the crudo of yellowfin ahi tuna which came with Tempura Kabocha squash and miso braised daikon radish in a yuzu-soy glaze with wasabi lime aioli.  There was a lot on the plate it was fun to dip the pieces of tuna in different things for different flavors. My host chose the tortilla crusted crab cake and I have to say it was huge and looked delicious.

 We sat drinking and munching on the fabulous bar snacks for a while so by the time it came time to order the main course the 3 of us decided to split two of the Peking style duck breast with steamed buns, Lo mein Stir fried noodles with egg and shrimp along with Chinese long beans, scallions and of course plum sauce.  I'm not sure who was in the kitchen but the different styles were perfectly executed and I am so glad we all chose to split these main courses as a course in Texas everything is huge.

 Indeed at my breakfast every morning I would ask for a 1/2 portion of everything because the portions were monstrous.

 That said we were all quite full and decided to forgo dessert and head up to bed.

Houston's XOCHI is much much more than Mexican(10-27-19)

I came down to Houston for some opera and had the opportunity to take out one of my clients and his family and we all had a real ball at XOCHI located in the downtown Houston Marriott Marquis. The place is slightly noisy and Sunday night at 630pm it was indeed full. I ordered a Nervous Traveler(no I am not) made from Reposado Tequila and Mezcal with Grand Marnier, Lime & Salt and it is a wonderful upscale Margarita indeed. Our super server Christian had an extra margarita later in the mail and was kind enough to offer me the Xochirita made from mezcal, orange liqueur, lime, citrus sugar and gusano salt which was nice, but a bit fruitier than the Nervous Traveler, which I liked much more.

The four of us decided to order some starters and share everything which was a tone of fun.

I think we had three orders of the Pulpo as their 8-year old son was crazy about the crispy wood roasted octopus with masa pancake, puya pepper adobo and roasted pumpkin seeds. The guacamole was superb and it comes with very thick chips that are more the thickness of pita and a different approach for a nice change. Taquitos Dorados were filled with chicken picadillo and served in a mole coloradito with crema and queso fresco. We all marveled at the Tacos de Lengua which were small soft tacos with a huge chunk of braised tongue on each with a morita pepper sauce.

The wine list had many Mexican wines that are virtually UNAVAILABLE in this country and Arturo was thrilled to cross the UNICO 2012 from Santo Thomas in Baja California off his bucket list; it was intense, full bodied and truly spectacular.

Pato en Estofado Almendrado was an amazing duck cooked in a mole sauce of tomato and almond that was out of this work.

The Cordoniz was two huge Texas quail(the best in the country for sure) with bacon wrapping and chorizo stuffing in ayacote beans, Istmeno sweet potato in a mole de cabeza(pumpkin) which was another marvel. There must be a dozen different mole sauces on the menu and we wanted more, but were getting full.

The side of Brussels Sprouts came roasted with butternut squash and onions in chintextle(chile pepper) sauce.

The gorgeous Lechon was slow cooked suckling pig with a super crispy skin, plantain molotes(mixed with pork masa and fried) and huaxmole(yet another version of the wonderful mole sauces).

We decided on one dessert and it was light and fun..Helados de Elote(corn custard ice cream) with blue corn atole, corn cookie and Texas Blue Corn Whiskey infused Ice Cream. So many of the dishes here are gluten-free as they are corn-based and it was especially nice with two folks at the table with celiac issues!

 What fun we all had and be sure to check out the FB pics which also have the magnificent Dia de los Mortos statues on display in the restaurant.