Birthday Dinner c/o Le Diplomate

When we established that we were going to spend the holidays in the Maryland/D.C. area there was the matter of a birthday dinner. Dad and I talked a bit about it at K. and A.'s wedding and then I began my research stage to consider the options. At first I was limiting myself only to the Silver Spring/Wheaton/Rockville area, but the conversation with Dad made me broaden it somewhat. I considered this Top Chef guy's place, but honestly the reviews were a bit mixed on Yelp. And I don't take Yelp very seriously, but if the overall message is 'some of the food was really good, but it was kind of weird and service wasn't awesome,' you still need to ask yourself if it's worth the hassle. I did think that a French meal of some kind would please me and also be in Dad's comfort zone, so I began honing in on French restaurants in the D.C/MD/VA vicinity. In the end, and not without at least a little Facebook input, I suggested we try a reservation at Le Diplomate. This is a relatively new restaurant in D.C. and is actually part of the Stephen Starr umbrella. Stephen Starr has a definite stake and reputation in the Philly area as one of the 'big-time' restauranteurs. I have not been to all his establishments, but I have been to a hand full. And whatever the formula is, they generally seem to work. Le Diplomate certainly did. Due to not planning many more weeks in advance, the only available times were either around 5 or 10 PM. Dad went with the earlier of the options, which I think was a very good idea. I started off the meal with a pamplemousse cocktail, which I can't find on the website to more fully tell you about. From my own recollection it did the balance between sweet and tart quite excellently. Refreshing but not cloying, with just a little effervescence in the mix.

I will admit that the lighting in the restaurant was better for the actual moode and place than for the photographs I tried to take. They also had very neat/old school tiled bathrooms with sinks that one child I encountered called "really cool." So please forgive the photographs, is really what I'm saying. So the Starr restaurants, I think the thing that really is down to a science is how to put together a relatively effective and professional team. Our server never got flustered by our delays in actually making a decision about the meal, laughed at our jokes, asked the right questions and knew most of the answers to ours. Basically I have zero complaints about the service. Though I will say that we pretty much stumped one newer employee when we asked for more detail about some of the accompaniments to our first round of dishes. But when he didn't know the answer he made the effort to go find out and come back, so that was nice.

I debated on what exactly I would order quite a lot in the days and hours leading up to this meal. I had a few concrete ideas but didn't know what combination would make the most sense. In the end I showed very little restraint. Here is the foie gras parfait...this was the fluffiest, spreadiest, heaven-on-earthiest of foies that I've had in quite some time. The thick toast and fennel aigre doux were the perfect texture and flavor to accompany this rich piece of manna. Seriously good stuff.

I also couldn't resist the frissee salad with duck confit, poached egg and potatoes. Variations of this salad have been my favorite for quite a number of years. The way the yolk mixes in with the existing dressing just makes a magic meal, especially if you add duck into the equation.

Then there was the deliberation of what to actually eat. Ultimately I chose to go with the roasted scallops with red wine salsify, truffle sabayon and black trumpet mushrooms...as well as what I recall as being some kind of legume or potato? I kind of forget that detail. I thought the scallops were well prepared and executed though I thought they were perhaps just a tad salty...that might actually be a reaction to my father's dissatisfaction with the grilled loup de mer he ordered, which he found too salty. His dish did come with tapenade, so perhaps it should have been expected. Meanwhile when I tried his dish I thought it wasn't that salty and, in fact, though my own dish was moreso. Dad didn't agree on his own comparison testing. In the end I wasn't too bummed about the salt level and was pleased with the tenderness of the scallop and the savory elements of its rich butter sauce magic topping.

We had this wine with our entrees.

Above, the photoshopped version. Below, the original. It's bascially like I did nothing, except I spent 15 minutes trying to do something. Alas. The main change is that Dad's country terrine and lettuce accompaniment turned a very different set of colors. Blue lettuce is de rigeur, don't ya know?

We opted for coffee and Armagnanac instead of dessert, in large part because we did have a secondary appointment for the evening and I felt that we were going to be too late if we had any additional courses. When we exited the restaurant we both took a moment before looking around for cabs, and during those moments I noticed a guy standing a few feet away that looked vaguely familiar. After a few surreptitious glances, we met eyes and I finally just asked him if his name was H., which it was, and he asked me if I was me, which I am. H. and I went to high school together! I was quite amused by this random run-in and asked whether we could have a photograph taken in order to prove that it ever happened. Dad and I were both a little punchy, so this is actually the photograph that he took for us. H. is pretty tall and clearly Dad's main goal was getting the sign in the photo. Still, a funny ending to a great meal. 

Big thanks goes out to Dad for the birthday dinner!

Cocktails, Foie Gras and Duck c/o Bolete

Though we weren't unable to meet up for New Year's, M&A were on the east coast for the holiday season, so I did very much want to see them. This ended up possible the weekend after New Year's. The Saturday I drove out to the country to see them, A was still visiting with friends and family in New York, so M. and I went to Bolete just the two of us. This was a bit of a last minute plan, so we weren't able to get a reservation in the dining room proper. Instead we made ourselves comfortable at the bar, where I ordered one of their special cocktails, which had blood orange in it among other things.

M. tried their bone marrow consomme dish. I tried the broth and boy was it rich, but in the best possible of ways.

I chose to try their foie gras two ways: a little paté disc and a seared lobe served on brioche with huckleberry jam. Oh man. This was a no joke tasty plate. Delightful to look at and transformative in the buttery, buttery wonder of well prepared duck liver.

Oh yeah.

The color balance of the photograph above is wacky. Definitely not that green in person.

We then split the seared duck special entree of the evening, medium rare, which was served on a bed of risotto with, if I recall correctly, some very tasty mushrooms.

Mmmm. Yes. Such good stuff. Though I spend a fair amount of time up in the Bolete region, I rarely go alone, so it was good to both see M. for the first time since our Adirondacks meet-up while also enjoying a fully satisfying dinner. Thanks to M. for the entirety of the evening, which we concluded back at the house with fire, champagne and more talk.

Restaurant Week Dinner c/o R2L

The last two weeks have been Philadelphia's Center City Fall Restaurant weeks. This means that a whole slew of dining establishments in Center City are offering three course meals for $35. People in the foodie world have different perspectives on these weeks. A lot of industry folk grumble about it: folks come into a restaurant where an entree is usually $20 and expect the same level of service/food at quite the discounted rate, don't tip enough, etc etc. Which is all fair and good to note. But for those of us who aren't made of money but appreciate good food, restaurant week gives us the opportunity to at least get a sense of what these finer dining destinations have to offer, and whether we'd like to come back for a special occasion and pay full price. So when it came to choosing a spot or two to try out for the first time, I aimed at places I thought were pretty interesting but definitely outside of my normal budget. In previous years this led me to meals at Buddakan, Tequilas, and Union Trust. This time around I scheduled two outings. The first was to R2L with LW. I had been to R2L ever so briefly when my Childhood Friend, K. and I had dinner at Alma de Cuba and then K. suggested we at least take a look at R2l...even though they were very much closing for the night. But this time around they were in the swing of things. When we arrived and took the elevator to the 37th floor, we were quickly greeted and ushered to the bar while a table was set for us. There I ordered a dirty Stoli martini and requested three olives, which were happily provided by our friendly and attractive bartender. LW ordered a drink that involved those fancy marinated cherries, of which she requested extras and, again, the bartender was happy to oblige. Soon after our cocktails were in hand, we were seated. I was pleased that we were given a window seat, which allowed us to determine just which direction we were looking in: west. We kept trying to find landmarks and for the longest time really couldn't. Then after finally saying, yes, that is west, we realized that the most obvious landmark - 30th Street Station - was most clearly visible and in front of us. It was a 'duh' moment.

R2L's lighting is dim and moody, which made getting decent photographs a bit of a challenge, so forgive the rather less than perfect quality of the photographs that follow. I chose to go with the shrimp cocktail for my appetizer. They were plump shrimp with a nice spicy cocktail sauce to go along with them. LW chose the chicken liver and foie gras mousse, which was delicious.

For my main course I chose the "R2L Style" veal stew, which was veal three ways: meatloaf, breast and tenderloin. I'd never heard of veal/cow having a 'breast' before, but I was quite pleased with the presentation and taste of this dish, especially the tenderloin.  LW ordered the flounder fluke paella, which also seemed to be a hit.

We both chose the roasted pears with concord grape reduction and buttermilk panna cotta. I wish one of my wider shots had come through so you could better see the presentation, but lighting conditions prevented a decent shot. My favorite part was most certainly the bites of panna cotta with concord grape essence. I could have gone for just a bowl of that grape stuff. Yes indeed.

The place seemed to be doing a brisk night of business for a Sunday, but no server seemed totally overworked or harried.

Wine, Cheese and Food, Oh My!

Last month LW and I went to McCrossen's for July's wine/cheese/food event. We sat at the bar and enjoyed a nice range of Rieslings and other treats. It began with a glass of Riesling, S.A. Prum "Essence," 2011.  My notes on this opening wine were spare, but included my observation that it had a little fruit to it and an effervescent apple aspect to it.

Our first cheese was the Edel de Cleron, an oozy French cheese that I much enjoyed, which was paired with a Reuscher-Haart, Piesporter, 2010. I noted that this second wine was much sweeter, kind of like my initial stereotype of what a Riesling was before L. of McCrossen's began her campaign of educating the likes of me into the subtler varieties of the grape. Sort of a third cousin twice removed from a Moscato. The cheese had a little bit to it, and yet a smooth finish in the end.

R., the cheesemonger of the event, seems to have a fig tree in his backyard...so each food course had a definite fig presence. I know it's pretty blasphemous, but I'm not actually as smitten with figs and the majority of people who love food. That said, I still enjoyed the arugula-fig salad with fennel marmalade and vincotto.

Next up was a Rippleton sheep's cheese from New York, which I believe may have been the first cheese from this farm to be out in the world...but I may have gotten that confused with some other cheese altogether. It was paired with a Fritz Hasselbach, 2008. The cheese was solid. The wine had a mineral/lime element to it. I kept giggling at the idea of a person coming up to a wheel of cheese and exclaiming 'Sir Rippleton, I presume!'

For the food element of this course we got a "White Gazpacho" with figs, candied walnuts and grapes. When McCrossen's first posted the menu for this event on Facebook, I inquired on exactly how a gazpacho could be white. T. chimed in saying that it was a mix of a number of things, all of which were not actually food ingredients. I believe there was a good helping of failure in it, according to him. So when we first arrived I did try to get a little more information from him, but T. was in fine form and mixed the truth of gazpacho's origin story (bread and water and maybe almonds) with no actual information about what was going into this particular version. Eventually it was allowed that it included honey dew, almonds, bread, cucumbers and lemon or lime zest. It was definitely a step up from gruel, which was T.'s smarty pants answer at first. That said, I think that I may just prefer gazpacho the old fashioned way.

Somehow I missed taking a photograph of the Tomme d'Aydius, a goat's cheese from France that I noted had a "semi-hard, crackling rind." Make of that what you will. The wine was Hexamer, Meddersheimer Rehingrafenber 'Quarzit' Reserve, 2010. Try to say that one time fast. Now three times. This had a little bubble to it when it hit the tongue. The food was a piece of sauteed foie gras with pickeld figs laid across a 'brioche soldier.' I am one of those people who almost always loves foie gras and so this was a hit for me.

Next up was a nice slice of Birchrun Hills Farm Eve's Apple Blue, to which I believe R. did something extra fancy. But now I'm totally blanking on it. Wrapped it in fig leaves? Maybe. The wine was a Karl Erbes Saptlese "Urziger Wurzgarten, 2010. My  notes on the wine were simple "sweet, sweet, sweet."

The final food course was grilled pork with blue cheese baked figs and mint. Succulent, juicy tasty pork. The blue cheese/fig pairing may have been my favorite of the fig aspects.

And that's a wrap. Afterwards we went on our merry way to dart night, where my team lost.

Tapas c/o Jamonera

In April at some point, or even late March, I sent out an email to some of my Philly folks asking if anyone had interest in going to a Santigold show with me in early May. Tuffy Winky (formerly BC) responded with a resounding yes. I suggested that we have dinner before the show and in the end we decided on Jamonera, which was on the list. It will come to no one's surprise that I ended up in the neighborhood early. I chose to kill a few minutes looking in at the Open House Store, which is owned and operated by the same business partnership as Jamonera and Barbuzzo. Basically, the duo has a lockdown on most of the block of 13th Street between Chesnut and Sansom. The store was chock full of cute things you couldn't imagine ever ending up at Q Mart, but still struck me as just a lot of stuff (some of which I'm sure I'd covet far more if I owned a house with the room for such things). On the other hand, who pays $14 for a chicken stapler? Not me.

In any event, when I finished killing time I entered Jamonera through its imposing black door and found myself face to face with a guy standing in the entry way. We made eye contact, but I wasn't quite sure whether he was a patron waiting for someone, or a host. This would have been easier to determine if, you know, he had said something along the lines of "Welcome to Jamonera, how can I help you?" but he didn't do that, which then made me feel awkward about telling him I had a reservation. It was weird and not the most auspicious of beginnings, I must say. Once seated, I took a look at the cocktail list while I waited for Tuffy. I had read that their vermouth cocktails were a nice change of pace, so when the server came up and asked if I'd like anything to drink, I went with the "Blanco Especial,"  which was a Bodegas Montana-Perucchi Vermouth "served in a traditional vermuteria style" with chamomile, lemon verbena, ginger and mint. Definitely a change of pace from many a Philadelphia cocktail. Sweet, almost cloyingly so if not for the balance of the verbena and lemon. I didn't want another, but I'm glad I gave it a go. Once Tuffy Winky arrived she ordered the Bizet,  which sounded like it was going to be too sweet (vodka, passion fruit, clementine, fresh tyme), but was actually just right and refreshing.

Tuffy Winky's a good sport about my craziness when it comes to food, and gave me a lot of freedom when suggesting the meal that we would enjoy. I'm not sure if I ended up making the best decisions or not. The first two things that arrived were the shishito peppers with a little salt and perhaps another slight accompaniment. I liked the blistered skin and the taste of the peppers on their own, but Tuffy Winky preferred them with a dose of the restaurant's sherry vinegar hot sauce. The presentation was simple, but appealing.

At the same time we also had the papa frita: crispy skin potato, wood smoked garlic aioli and brava salt. They were good and crispy, and the potato chunks were nicely proportioned, but somehow I wasn't overawed. It was dish that, like the peppers, seemed to rely on its simplicity and the quality of its minimal ingredients. In this case there wasn't enough pizazz. I'm not sure what was missing. Not salt. Maybe a little more of the aioli? Or perhaps a little more garlic zest to the aioli?

I knew that Tuffy Winky isn't a fan of fish, but I still wanted to check out the "Wedding of Anchoas," one Cantabrian anchovy, one Boquerone with charred peppers, goat cheese and arbequina olive oil.This may actually have been my favorite dish of the night. Actually, it was. No 'may' about it.  The contrast between the straight up fishiness of anchovy compared to the slightly more mellow flavor of the boquerone was an interesting one, and the cheese and pepper foundation grounded the difference between them quite nicely. This was the best realized dish of the evening.

We also ordered the ham croquetas, which I'm not sure were the same as the online menu's description, which is: iberico ham croquetas with horseradish crema, pickled mustard seed and ham fat. Ours seemed to have a little piece of onion, some kind of pepper, and a waxy/honey quality to them. I've gotta say that while the first half of one's first bite was quite enjoyable (nice and hot, a little salty), the finish that these little guys left was not as enjoyable. There was a waxiness (from the honey?) that coated both of our mouths and the taste that went with that coating was not a pleasant one nor was it easy to part with...cleansing one's palate of a waxy compound is a challenge. If the wedding was a 'hit,' then these were a definite 'miss.'

You'll note that I chose to take photographs with a flash but with a funny shutter speed. I like the look of the photos, but they're definitely a little 'moody.' Next up was the Foie y Setas, seared foie gras with wild mushrooms, amontillado sherry, maple buttered toast and roasted chesnuts. This was Tuffy's first foie! I think she liked it, which was a relief. The size of the foie was fair, given the $12 price. The mushrooms and the sweeter maple notes were earthy and successful contributors to the overall presentation. This was a good dish, not astounding, but not disappointing either.

When I went to Barbuzzo with Mr. Ass a while back (a full year and a month back, actually) we ordered the meatballs. Here, too, meatballs (albondigas) were on the menu...but I can't find them on the online version, so I can't tell you exactly what they consisted of. That said, they were extremely reminiscent of the Barbuzzo balls: very tasty but not as complex as you might expect.  During our meal we also enjoyed glasses of red wine...but I'm not sure the online list mirrors the choices we made.

So my overall feeling about this visit was so-so. While the host's opening left me feeling strange, our actual server's attitude and demeanor were great. She answered questions, suggested wines and was generally on top of her game without attitude or pretense. Food came out at a nice pace, though there was abit of a lull at one point that had me a little worried. When I go to any restaurant - high or low end - I go because I've heard good things about the establishment and want to enjoy those good things. Jamonera received a lot of great press during its opening months, and I very much enjoyed my Barbuzzo experience, so I did expect Jamonera to live up to that combined amount of hype. Unfortunately, it didn't. I guess I really am looking for those dishes that make your eyes bulge a little from the sheer surprise and enjoyment of whatever it is that is dancing across your taste buds. My eyes did not bulge. My buds did find some joy, but for the overall price tag (about $55 for each of us before tax/tip) I would have expected  more stand-outs. The ratio isn't right; for every dud/dish that needs just a little more fine tuning, you should have at least three dishes that are going to make your patrons swoon. I felt this was reversed. For every swoon-worthy dish, there were three that just barely missed the mark. Of course, if I were a professional reviewer with a better budget, I'd go back three or four times before writing it off, but as it stands, I'm not a reviewer. I can only tell you that at the end of the meal, Tuffy Winky and I both felt like we had a nice experience with good enough food, but we weren't really thinking about coming back or recommending it to others.

Dinner c/o Marigold Kitchen

Since CP began pursuing her Master's, which involves commuting to Baltimore for a large part of the week, we haven't seen as much of one another. This saddened me greatly. So a while back I proposed some kind of dinner where we could catch up ... and I could cross another restaurant off the list. CP perused the remaining restaurants I need to frequent and chose three that were particularly appealing to her. Ultimately we concluded that a trek to West Philly for the culinary stylings of Marigold Kitchen was in order. I pretty much never ever go to West Philly. Like, really ever. And CP was pretty much in the same boat. In fact this turned out to be the first time either of us had taken the underground trolley. I feared we'd somehow get on the wrong one or in some other way mess up...but we didn't. We arrived at Marigold in one piece, and I finally got to see Clark Park. Marigold is located in a corner row house on a well maintained, nicely landscaped street. It's very unassuming, and if you didn't know to look for it, you could pass right by thinking it was just a really nice house with a funny name. We were quickly seated in the front dining room, and soon thereafter our prosecco was popped (it's BYO) and the first of oh so many small courses came our way. Let me take a moment to explain further. Marigold has a relatively small menu of appetizers and entrees, but in addition to those dishes, it provides its patrons with a number of 'amuse bouches' throughout the meal. So while we were still trying to determine our meals proper, we were given fried parsnips. Crunchy, earthy, with a light dusting of - if I remember correctly - confectioner's sugar?  Next up was another little treat. A mango pearl on a little bed of creamy custard. Or I think that's what the bottom layer was. That little orange dollop packed quite a mango punch. Its thin skin, once punctured, allowed concentrated mango magic to flow directly onto our tongues. It was surprising and clever and tasty all at once.
Then there was a little helping of chick peas. Simple, but not ordinary.
Then came little foie gras squares wrapped in caramel. Yes. Caramel. The richness of the foie and the salty sweetness of the caramel were a nice, and atypical, pairing. I was particularly fond of this dish.
This unassuming thing might make you think that it was a Combo unadorned. And, in a way, you would be correct. Only the cheddar filling of this cracker was anything but stale. It oozed. Oozed with joy at being so cheesy. I think it was a Cabot Clothbound cheddar. But maybe I'm making that up.
When this dish was explained to us I think both CP and I were a little skeptical about how much we were going to enjoy it. Looks like a cappucino, don't it? In actuality it's a cauliflower soup with ham foam. Yes. Ham foam. CP and I both took a spoonful predominantly of the foam and were at first a little less than enthusiastic. It certainly had the smoky ham thing going on, but it didn't seem all that anchored in any deeper taste or texture. This initial misstep was quickly righted by getting a better ratio of creamy cauliflower soup to light and airy ham foam. Once we properly balanced the two in our spoons, this dish really came alive. The  soup in and of itself was creamy, rich and delicious. But the added smoke/salt of the ham foam made it come further alive.
This was a ravioli filed with pea puree, and maybe a touch of cheese? I love everything pasta, and I have quite the penchant for peas, so this little treat was nothing short of happy making for CC.
We decided to be ballers and order both appetizers and entrees. The menu is a little pricy. But I think the cost of the appetizers and entrees takes all the small little dishes into account. CP chose to have the Hudson foie gras "Lunch Inspired". This turned out to be a piece of seared foie gras with a special foam (that I forget but hopefully CP can tell me soon) and a foie gras root beer float with fries that I suppose were probably fried in duck fat. The foie's texture was a little less smooth and fatty than many a foie I've had. And it had a slightly different overall taste than what I'm accustomed to, but it was still quite good. CP said the float tasted mostly like root beer, and that she didn't really pick up on the foie aspect of it.
I debated whether to go with the Blue Crab Mac and Cheese with Clothbound cheddar (so maybe that wasn't what was in the cracker), orzo, wild mushrooms, pickled jalapenos and herbed crumbs or the Chicken Gallantine Banh Mi. I asked our server what she would suggest and she endorsed the mac n cheese and so that's what I went with. It's very hard to go wrong with mac n cheese, and Marigold didn't get anywhere near wrong. The cheddar had a sharpness to it that I worried would overwhelm the crab aspect. But I worried in vain. It balanced. It worked. I also enjoyed the herbed crumbs. I don't really remember picking up on the jalapenos, and wouldn't have said this had any real spice or kick to it.
I believe this is a sorbet. I can tell you no more than that. Though I think I thought it did a good job of properly cleansing my palate.
For my main course I chose the Wild King Salmon with foraged wild mushrooms, fiddleheads, ramps, farm egg and a sauce verte. These more in depth menu descriptions come directly from their website, so I'm not sure if they are completely accurate to that specific evening. I say this because I don't really recall a sauce verte. In any case, the salmon was cooked perfectly. Still a little rare in the center. Flaky. Moist. I had expected a full egg, so I was a little surprised by the yolk crumbs that represented the egg. I can't say that I found them to add much to the dish. But the ramps and fiddleheads were great. 
CP chose the Wild Caught Barramundi with parmesan broth, english peas, bacon lardons, wild mushrooms and puffed skin. If I recall correctly, she was quite pleased. The broth was marvelous. Really, just marvelous. The fish, like the salmon, was cooked excellently. And the puffed skin was a fun and tasty texture change.
Next up were a series of little sweets. This was some kind of custard or pudding?
This was like a tiny little ice cream sandwich.
We went the whole hog and ordered dessert in addition to the amuses bouches. CP went with profiteroles filled with mint ice cream.
I chose the dish that had a number of different forms of chocolate...maybe chocolate seven ways? This included ganache, white chocolate ice cream, a chocolate snake, little chocolate pellets, and chocolate dirt. So rich.  I would probably suggest just splitting one dessert. Between the bigger plates and all the smaller ones, there was no way I could truly ravage this plate as savagely as it deserved. I was delighted by the white chocolate ice cream.
And that was our evening at Marigold Kitchen. It was totally worth the trek and the overall price tag. Definitely a 'special occasion' kind of place, with excellent and friendly service.