Restaurants

Morimoto

January 31, 2008 by Dave!

Last November (yes, November) my wife and I visited Philadelphia for a wedding. While there, I couldn’t resist visiting Morimoto.

Morimoto: Toro Tartare

For those who may not know, Morimoto is Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant in Philly, which was his first in the United States. In addition to being an accomplished chef, Morimoto was also on Iron Chef, and even though he wasn’t my favorite Iron Chef (go Sakai!) he’s still pretty damn good.

I had the pleasure of meeting Morimoto when he was here in Chicago at Fox & Obel for a book signing and tasting. At the Fox & Obel event, he made a daikon linguine which was pretty good (although most impressive were his knife skills, wow!!) and a tuna sashimi “pizza” that rocked.

My wife and I stopped by Morimoto for lunch, thinking it would be less expensive than dinner. It probably was, but we still spent an obscene amount of money for lunch–and it was worth every penny. We both had the chef’s degustation menu, and I had the wine pairing as well. And now, here’s the rundown:

*1. Toro tartare*, with shallots, caviar and fresh wasabi, in a dashi-shoyu-miran broth. Served with a mountain peach as a pallate cleanser.
*Pairing*: Brut Champagne, Veuve Clicquot, Reims France
The tuna tartare was amazing. Simply amazing. The fresh wasabi was delicate and floral, with just a hint of heat–not the punch you get with Americanized green horseradish passed off for wasabi so often (although, I like that, too–it’s just different). The broth was a nice compliment, and the shallots, fried and crispy were the perfect texture offset to the delicate tenderness of the tuna. And I normally hate champagne, but I have to say this was an excellent pairing. Finally, the mountain peach–a tiny little ball of peachy goodness… it made me really, really want a good Japanese peach, which you just can’t get in the U.S.

*2. Kumamoto oysters*, with a japanese salsa
*Pairing*: Sauvignon Blank ’06, Kono, Marlborogh New Zealand
Another hit. The oysters were amazingly fresh–in fact all the seafood was, which is why it was so delicious–and the “salsas” were very simple and complimentary. They tasted like the sea. It was fantastic. And the pairing hit the spot, too… a white that I really enjoyed!

*3. Scallop Carpaccio*, with hot oil and mitsuba leaf
*Pairing*: Riesling ’03, Ratzenberger, Steeger St. Jost, Germany
I think this was my favorite dish of the meal, if not, it’s a close tie. The scallops were just amazing, so fresh and delicious I am at a loss for words to describe them. I think I’d still eat this if I had a seafood allergy. Take a bite, EpiPen shot. Bite, EpiPen. Yes, it was that good. And once again, the pairing of the riesling was perfect. A wine I normally hate, that was just taken to another level with the delicate flavors of the scallops and the hot oil–which was not overpowering in the slightest. This was the dish.

*4. Sashimi Salad*, mixed greens with tuna tataki, striped jack and shoyu dressing
*Pairing*: Chardonnay ’05, Daniel Gehrs, Santa Barbara County, California
Can you go wrong with sashimi? Not when the fish is this fresh. Seriously. I wouldn’t say the dish was out of this world, or anything special, but when you have really fresh, high quality ingredients, it doesn’t need to be over the top to be amazing.

*5. Honeydew Sorbet* as a palate cleanser
Have you ever had honeydew sorbet? If not, have some!

*6. Soba carbonara*, soba with edamame, bacon and scallops
*Pairing*: Morimoto Soba Ale
On to the hot dishes… the soba carbonara is my second/tied favorite dish of the meal. First, you have to understand that I love soba. If buckwheat isn’t your thing, this wouldn’t be the dish for you! The soba were perfect… cooked just right to noodlely perfection. Then you add those amazingly fresh scallops and the coup de grace–bacon–and how could this not be amazing? Then, the pairing was a soba ale–hearty and with a nicely developed buckwheat flavor that just complimented the dish so well–as good if not better than any of the wine pairings. I want this for lunch today!

*7. Black Cod Miso*, cod, with red and yellow sweet peppers and sweet beans
*Pairing*: Pinotage ’05, Wildekrans, Walker Bay, South Africa
This was probably my least favorite dish of the meal… although, that is to say if you served it to me, I’d still be impressed. The problem is cod–I’m just not a cod fan. But I really did enjoy the sweet beans, and combined with the pepper they really did compliment the cod nicely. I just can’t get past cod. This was my favorite of the wines. I’d never had a Pinotage before, but I have to say, I like this grape. It was a deep red, and reminded me a lot of some American Zinfandels–not a wimpy wine. It’s not an expensive wine, either, but very tasty!

*8. Sushi Course*: oh-toro, kanpachi, kohada, hamachi, and mirugai
*Pairing*: Morimoto Junmai Sake
Delicious sushi and a sippin’ sake! What can I say about the sushi? It was so fresh it was very good. And the sake was very nice, too. Sometime sake can just be too harsh to me and have more of a chemical taste. This was a smooth, smooth sake… no knocking back this stuff, it had to be sipped to be enjoyed. And did I mention that by this time in the meal, I was enjoying a serious buzz? A serious food high and more drinking that I’d done in ages. They were not stingy with the portions of drink.

*9. Sweet potato cake*, with sweet beans, spiced whipped cream and a sweet potato chip
*Pairing*: Madeira, Blandys Alvada, 5 year
Another first. I’d never had a Madeira, but I enjoyed it a lot as well. The sweet potato cake was fantastic, of course. It was just sweet enough to satisfy the desert lust we were feeling, but not cloying or over-powering like some seven layer chocolate cake of doom. Very typical of the sweets/desserts I’d had in Japan, the sweetness was understated,but complimented by the sweetness of the Madeira. It was a perfect end to an amazing meal.

So, there you have it. If you read this far, you must be hungry. If you are ever in Philly, I recommend stopping by Morimoto’s, and believe it or not, you can have an enjoyable _and_ affordable lunch if you don’t go all out like we did. Many of the dishes we sampled were on the lunch menu as ala carte entree.

Don’t get the impression that I’m always this shi-shi with my dining. Next up: Dalessandros, the best “steak” I had in Philly.

Filed Under: Food, Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: Food, Morimoto, Philadelphia, Philly

Topolobampo

April 8, 2007 by Dave!

A few weeks ago my wife took me to Topolobampo with friends for my 35th birthday. It was actually a birthday surprise, which was pretty damn cool! I’m not easy to surprise… Topolobampo is Rick Bayless’ fine dining Mexican restaurant in Chicago, the “upscale sister” to the Frontera Grill. The name comes from a port in Mexico that was also once home to a utopian colony in the late 1800s.

The atmosphere is really fantastic. It’s adjacent to Frontera, but much darker and more sedate. It’s quieter, which lends itself to good dinner conversation. Our server, Oliver, was friendly without being pushy, had excellent recommendations and was very attentive without being obnoxious. Oh, and Bayless himself was dining a few tables over, which is always a good sign.

Now, the food! My friend Ken had the Pato al Pasilla con Higos, which was a pan-roasted duck breast in a sauce made from pasilla chiles and figs, with a bacon and potento torda, green beans, and a fig-jicama salsa. It looked very delicious. His girlfriend Kelly had the Borrego en Mole Coloradito, which I was able to sample as well as part of the chef’s menu.

Since it was my birthday, my wife and I splurged and went with the degustation menu. I went all out, and got the wine pairings as well–and I’m glad I did!

The first course was Sopes de Papa con Mantarraya, which were these little potato-masa “boats” that were filled with a tomato braised skatewing. It was topped with some roasted tomatoes, capers and pickled jalapeno salad with queso fresco. They were delicious. The skatewing was perfect, and the potato-masa boats gave a nice texture contrast. This course was paired with a 2004 Nora Da Neve Albarino, a Spanish wine that was *perfect* with this course. Absolutely perfect. By itself, I think the wine was decent, but not something I’d normally drink, but it just matched the flavors of the tomato and and skatewing to perfection.

Next was Sopa Azteca de Hongos Silvestres, which as a wild mushroom broth, flavored with pasilla chiles, tomatos and epazote, with crispy torillas, mushrooms, and cheese. I wasn’t as impressed with this dish–it was server lukewarm, and I just prefer my soup hot. The taste of the broth was nice, and the cheese was fantastic. But overall, I was a little disappointed with the dish. It was paired with a 2004 Andrew Murray Vinyards “Enchante” from California, which was a nice pairing, but after the perfection of the first dish, my expectations were built up to expect more.

Fortunately, the next dish, Arroz a la Tumbada, was back on top. This was a Mexican “paella” which had mahimahi, shrimp, scallops, Dungeness crab and baby octopus, served over white rice with a roasted tomato-jalapeño salsa. Oh. Man. The seafood was perfectly cooked. I mean, perfect. The scallops were done to perfection, and all of the dishes components came together perfectly as one–not a collection of different ingredients. It was paired with a 2002 Joan D’Anguera “Finca L’Agrata” from Spain, which at first seemed an odd pairing–it’s a red, syrah/cab blend(?), a bright berry taste and a hint of pepper, not unlike a Zinfandel. It was quite tasty on it’s own, and it actually worked as a pairing, so I was pretty pleased.

The final dish was Borrego en Mole Coloradito, which was the lamb dish that Kelly had. The lamb was done to perfection, delicate and succulent. It was served in an ancho chile mole, with wild mushroom/chocolate tamales and spinach. The lamb itself was my favorite dish of the night. I’d never had lamb with a mole, but it was divine. The mole was one of the best I’ve ever had, and it was just fantastic with the lamb. The spinach was great (it be hard to mess up spinach!) but I really could have lived without the tamales. They didn’t look particularly appetizing, as they had a dark brown color and a shape that just–well, let’s say if you ran across them at the dog park… At first, I thought they were interesting, but after a bite or two, the mushroom and chocolate were just not working together well. Overall they were the biggest disappointment of the night. This dish was paired with a 2004 Betts & Scholl Grenache, from Australia, which wasn’t the best pairing of the night, but was solid.

Finally, we ended with a sample of desserts: a chocolate and banana tart with peanut frangipan, prickly pear ice cream with chocolate sauce, and a passionfruit panna cotta. The tart was good, but somewhat typical, and the prickly pear ice cream was pretty good. I’d never had prickly pear ice cream before but I would again. Really, though, it was the passionfruit panna cotta that really stood out, it was incredible. It was a great balance of sweet and tart, and was garnished with a thin slice of dried passionfruit that just put it over the top. I would have gladly traded the other two desserts for more of the passionfruit! The dessert was paired with a 2005 Hirschbach & Sohne “Binger St. Rochuskapelle”, an Eiswein from Germany. I may love German beer, but I really don’t care for German wine. If you like eiswein, it would probably be a good pairing, but I find it cloying.

Overall, I thought Topolobampo was really a fantastic dining experience. The atmosphere was exactly what I want in a fine dining restaurant: subtle and elegant. The staff were on their game and the service was excellent. And the food was out of this world. Yes, there were some “misses” on the degustation menu, but I think that’s to be expected. It means the Chef is taking some risks, and on some dishes, it really pays off, even if occasionally it doesn’t.

There was also a final surprise (my wife really went all out this year, did I mention how much I love her?!!) which was a copy of Mexico: One Plate at a Time that she had gotten Chef Bayless to personalize for me. A very cool 35th birthday, indeed.

So, if you’re looking for a great fine dining experience in Chicago with a great ethnic twist, I think Topolobampo is an excellent choice. I will definitely be returning!

Filed Under: Chicago, Food, Restaurants

Chicago Eats

August 22, 2006 by Dave!

Chicago certainly has a fine dining scene with some great selections, like the classic Charlie Trotter’s or the nouveau Alinea. We are not lacking for fine dining experiences.

However, if you want to know about the heart of Chicago food, we’re talking fine dining, you should check out GreaseFreak who reviews (with photos!) real Chicago food, from Italian Beef to Hot Dogs. I’m both proud and ashamed to say that I know many of the restaurants on GreaseFreak’s list. Check it out!

Filed Under: Chicago, Food, Restaurants

Zapatista

October 1, 2005 by Dave!

There’s a new Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood, called
Zapatista so my wife (who loves Mexican food) and I decided to try it out tonight.

The head chef is from the less-than-stellar Adobo Grill and there are several touches that give that away… like the guacamole made fresh table side. Only in our case, it was made fresh 15 feet away at the bar and brought to us, I don’t know why. We ordered it “hot” (as we are wont to do) and it was anything but. Seriously, I’ve had hotter oatmeal. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good–the ingredients were all fresh and it was quite tasty. But not hot.
My wife had the chilies rellenos which were decent, but nothing special. One was cheese, the other stuffed with chicken, and while good quality, they just weren’t very flavorful. The same, however, could not be said of my fajitas, which were incredible (with one flaw I’ll get to in a minute). The meat was stewed along with cheese and onions in this stone? iron? pot and the flavors were really outstanding. However, their tortillas bite. I mean, they suck. Seriously, how can you have bad tortillas at a Mexican restaurant?! I don’t know, but they do. Awful.
In the end, it was a decent meal (despite my tortillas). A little pricey for the inconsistent quality; however, I might return in a few months after they are more settled-in to see if the minor inconsistencies have been worked out.

Filed Under: Chicago, Restaurants Tagged With: chicago food restaurants

The Cheese Stands Alone

September 25, 2005 by Dave!

The Cheese Stands Alone isn’t really a restaurant, it’s a cheese shop in Chicago (Lincoln Square). I just discovered this little gem, and thought I would give it a plug because it has several really great things going for it, all of which I support.
First, it’s owned by husband and wife Matt and Sarah Parker. They share a love of cheese and a love for each other, and I just think that’s cool. I’d love to do something like this with my wife… maybe we’ll open our own practice someday!
Second, it’s a locally owned small-business, which in the day of economies of scale and megamart wholesale shopping is exactly the kind of entrepreneurial spirit I like to support with my dollars.
Third, and most importantly, it’s a cheese shop!
It’s located in Lincoln Square on Western Avenue. They don’t seem to have a web site (?!) but I guess that’s because they spend their time finding great cheese. I spend too long in the shop this afternoon sampling cheeses and walked away with a pretty extensive array for tasting this week (reviews of individual cheeses to follow). Sarah was working today, and she was friendly, offered samples of cheeses I was interested in, and was knowledgeable about their stock–and cheeses they didn’t have.
A great local Chicago find and well worth a visit. If you’re a cheese fan in Chicago, you owe it to yourself to stop in.

Filed Under: Cheese, Food, Restaurants Tagged With: cheese chicago food

Chowki

August 10, 2005 by Dave!

I had a chance to explore some of the curry houses of Brick Lane before my wife arrived. However, she wanted to try some Indian while in London, so we hit some review sites and found a place very close to a theatre we were going to see a show at. That place was Chowki.

The decor at Chowki was a little on the hip-for-the-sake-of-hip side for me, but it doesn’t matter. I would highly recommend the place, especially if you are out for a night of theatre. It’s less than a block off Picadilly Circus, so it’s very convenient to an amazing number of theaters and it’s also some of the most unique Indian food I’ve had.
For reasons I won’t go into here *cough*imperialism*cough* London is swimming with Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. I couldn’t find decent Mexican there to save my life, but man, the variety of food from the Asian subcontinent was amazing.

Chowki features a rotating menu that showcases different regions of India each month. So there were only a few dishes on the menu that I recognized from the traditional Indian fare we get around Chicago. The August menu featured cuisine from Bangladesh, Gujarat and Karnataka.

We began with starters from Karnataka that featured a chili-chicken dish with onions and coconut that was so flavorful, with just a little kick. For our main course, we went hog wild, with some Chicken Kori Gassi, and another dish of flageolet beans and peagon peas, all rounded out with a “meat” kebab selection. We left very full and very satisfied.

Filed Under: Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: england food london personal restaurants travel

Talbot Inn, Mells

August 8, 2005 by Dave!

We arrived at the B&B where we are staying and it’s a very charming little coaching inn located in the medieval village of Mells. It’s called the Talbot Inn.Mells, in case you were wondering, is somewhere between Radstock and Frome, not too far from Bath. Okay, so you can picture it, right? It was recommended to me at the office party when I was really drunk, but I recall the gentleman who recommended it saying they had a fantastic restaurant.

Anyway, Mells is very quaint, as in, there’s a Post Office/Store here and not much else. My wife and I are traveling out this way with a friend, and we all remarked that if this were a similar sized town in America, we’d all be thinking “Deliverance,” but instead, it’s cute. Very cute. Darling, in fact. There’s a church (St. Andrews) down the road from the inn, so we walked down and had a look around the courtyard. It was a very old church, let me tell you, and very pretty. In fact, it’s pretty all over around here… and quiet. A person could really get used to this.

Now, I did mention that this place had a good restaurant, right? Because this place has a good restaurant. It is really amazing… forget everything I’ve said about British food. Well, not everything. But this place is outstanding. We split a bunch of appetizers, which included a carmalized apple and blue cheese tatin, some mussels in cream and white wine sauce, and some Scottish smoked salmon. All were out of this world. The we had our main courses… I had a fillet with wild mushroom ragou in a Madeira sauce, with garlic roasted potatoes. Did I say out of this world??! My wife had the lamb though, and–oh my god–I’m getting the lamb tonight!! It was the most tender, succulent lamb… with none of that “lamb” smell/flavor/aftertaste. It was simply out of this world food.

If you’re ever traveling out this way, I’d have to recommend this place as a B&B. The rooms have all the quirks–like low ceilings in the bathrooms and weird stairways–that you associate with country B&Bs, with a staff who are friendly and outgoing and a restaurant that is simply amazing.

Filed Under: Food, Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: bath england food personal restaurants travel

Kulu Kulu Sushi

August 6, 2005 by Dave!

Sushi Night!

Anyone who knows me knows that I loves me some raw fish on rice! So with the help of some recommendations, I found Kulu Kulu Sushi near Soho/Covent Garden and decided to give sushi in London a shot. I was not disappointed.

For some reason Kaiten sushi places seem to be more rare in the States than in Japan, or in Britain for some reason. In fact, all of the places in Chicago are Sushi-ya or Izakaya (as far as I know). If you’ve never been Kaiten are “conveyor belt” sushi restaurants, where instead of ordering from an Itamae, you grab what you want off a giant conveyor belt that keeps new and tempting pieces rolling past you all evening long. If you haven’t been to one, go.
Kulu Kulu was quite tasty and as far as sushi is concerned, quite affordable. There was a good mix of nigiri and I had a really excellent soft-shell crab temaki that was out of this world.

I won’t compare sushi in London (or the U.S. for that matter) to eating Sushi in Japan–it’s just not fair. However, I will say that Kulu Kulu was as good as many of the places I’ve had sushi in the States, although not quite as good as the best sushi I’ve had in the states. Since my experience with sushi in London was limited, I can’t say how good Kulu Kulu is in relation to other London offerings, but I will say that it was good quality, tasty and affordable, which means I wouldn’t hesitate to go back again.

Filed Under: Food, Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: england food london personal restaurants travel

Refettorio

August 4, 2005 by Dave!

Do you normally associate great restaurants with hotels? I don’t. Maybe you do, but I don’t. Tonight we hit Refettorio though, which is located in the Crowne Plaza hotel, not far from our hotel in London (The City). The place came recommended for its cheese and salami selections, and I’m a cheese fiend. So we gave it a shot…

We weren’t disappointed. The cheese was outstanding–especially this creamy Gorgonzola that was the most amazing Gorgonzola I have ever had. It was phenomenal. The pasta was out of this world too, all hand made. I had a linguine with pesto and some Sangiovese and ended up going back to the hotel a well fed man.

It wasn’t the best restaurant I’ve been to on this trip, but it was a solid restaurant that I would go to again, hotel or not.

Filed Under: Food, Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: england food london personal restaurants travel

Barcelona

August 3, 2005 by Dave!

Tapas tonight! And I mentioned to one of the Brits at work and they said, “You’re going to a topless bar with your wife??” Nice to know that the English use the same stale jokes we do.

Anyway, we went to a tapas place called Barcelona, which apparently has multiple locations, but we didn’t know that at the time. We went to the original, which is on Bell Lane not terribly far from Brick Lane (Indian central). From the outside, you would think it was a total dive. And from the inside it has the most uncomfortable bar stools ever. But the decor is still very bright and lively. And for what it lacked in decor, it made up for in quality. On the whole, some of the best tapas I’ve ever had. Everything we sampled was delicious… the Mejillones con Sofrito (mussels) were absolutely fantastic and the patatas bravas were just the right balance of flavor and spice. I could go on-and-on about the menu, but since we had so many dishes, it would take forever. Just go check out the menu on their website.

I was speaking with another co-worker about Spain–I’ve never been. He was saying how great it was to walk out of work at 9:30-10:00PM into the warm night air as restaurants are just beginning their first seatings and to feel the cool Mediterranean breeze. He did a great sales job; Spain has moved way up on my “must visit” lists. Any place that believes that dinner shouldn’t start until 10pm and that thinks mid-day naps are an important part of life gets a huge thumbs up from me.

Filed Under: Food, Personal, Restaurants, Travel Tagged With: england food london personal restaurants travel

Morimoto

Topolobampo

Chicago Eats

Zapatista

The Cheese Stands Alone

Chowki

Talbot Inn, Mells

Kulu Kulu Sushi

Refettorio

Barcelona

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