Restaurant Tallent
Here in Indiana, the weather can’t seem to make up its mind (81˚ Friday, 35˚ Monday) … go figure. Among the casualties of this uneven start to spring has been the early harvest of local vegetables. Indiana asparagus recently became available, as did some local greens like spinach; but otherwise, it’s been a little thin. Knowing this, it could have been a less than ideal time to explore an Indiana restaurant that has been getting great reviews for its use of local seasonal produce: Restaurant Tallent in Bloomington. It was an incredible meal, and it was a magnificent example of the opportunities when we cook (& eat!) closer to home. Tallent is located ...Lidia’s
This week, one of my rapidly becoming good friends introduced me to his wife at one of their favorite restaurants - Lidia's. The restaurant is well-executed Italian with an emphasis on hand made pastas (ravioli w/ Wagyu beef cheeks and rosemary sauce was my choice) and succulent chicken (olive oil, whole olives, lemons sauteed - this was my friend's selection) and many things in-between (the wine made by the proprietor - Bastianich - was really pleasing); but what made the evening special was sharing time with some of the most magnificent soulful and spiritually enlightened people I have ever broken bread with. Was the food great? Yep. But the company was so extraordinary it demands ...Best Grilled Cheese Ever
While in NYC, my sister took me to Resto. She - being the good vegetarian - ate something healthy. I - being married to a hog farmer's daughter and having an overall amorous feeling about all things bacon & cheesy - went for their grilled cheese sandwich. Think you can't do much to a grilled cheese sandwich? Well, Resto just won the Best of New York in the grilled cheese category. Click here to read why. Paired w/ one of the Belgian beers on-tap ... so very good!Gramercy Tavern
I ran off last weekend to spend some time with my sister in New York City which means what it usually means when I make the trip: some great food, fantastic beverages, fun company, and unique shopping. On Saturday evening she was able to get us a table at Gramercy Tavern – the restaurant Danny Meyer made famous for its style, service and cuisine. This is also where Tom Colicchio broke out and earned the prestige that led to his ultimate opening of Craft. In a city that certainly has its own unspoken caste system, pretense can easily creep into how a restaurant imagines itself and how it delivers its product. Among what ...Room 39
The most recent Food & Wine had a brief write up about Room 39 (one of F&W’s best restaurant dishes of 2007, B39’s Spicy Sautéed Shrimp). Being in the area, I took advantage of eating at their Leawood location. Setting is fine (part of the new retail concept that marries housing with upper end specialty restaurants and stores), but doesn’t match the level of execution of the cuisine. However, this moderate disconnect is remedied very early into the experience of dining. The evening began with a bit of a whimper – the amuse bouche of cold potato with tapenade and non-descript white sauce left a lot to be desired. It had a vague cafeteria food ...Club Noma
Having grown up in the South Bend area, when I now return to the area I am always curious to see how the area has changed. The ubiquitous growth of suburbia and the surrounding new shopping areas aside, watching how my hometown’s downtown area has changed over the last several years has been an interesting commentary on how many smaller cities are working to revitalize their downtowns. What makes most downtown renovations interesting is that the changes typically made when the area is renovated occur at a level which allows for creative ideas and entrepreneurs to open interesting restaurants, clubs, stores and shopping. South Bend has always had a blend of the college town feel due to ...40 Sardines Restaurant
Debbie Gold, former wife and partner of Michael Smith, has received numerous awards for her restaurant 40 Sardines. This week I was able to have dinner at the restaurant, while Debbie was in the kitchen cooking (i.e. the “chef was in”). My first impression was that the restaurant was larger than I was expecting; consequently, it was a little less intimate than I prefer when dining in what is considered a fine dining establishment. The décor is very post-modern, with eclectic choices in art lining the walls. Electing to start with one of Gold’s signature dishes, the Crispy Potato Wrapped Portuguese Sardines stuffed w/ chorizo, black olive & onion, pickled carrots & salsa verde, was ...Bourdain on Hung
Maybe it's because of my recent trip to Vietnam, but Bourdain's most recent post at his Top Chef blog (the show among my guilty pleasures) is probably some of his best writing in the last year. It's him at his best - avoiding postmodern liberal "cultural" sympathies and actually having something insightful to say about the interplay that is culture and food.Cuisine in China
I am writing this as a celebration of some really great meals the last week while in Guangzhou in particular. It's also intended to be a reminder that those who think Chinese food consists of fried nuggets of chicken meat of indeterminate origins coupled to sauces that are a vague concoction of soy, hoison and maybe some chili oil misrepresent the incredible opportunities within Chinese cuisine. Derivations of this misunderstanding revolve around what Americans call stir-fries – thrown in sliced bamboo from a can (along with the not so complimentary taste of aluminum), assorted nuts on the top, maybe even a number of mushrooms: that’s a pretty good primer on how Americans view Chinese food. Too ...Michael Smith
Those of us who look from outside the kitchen often characterize the emotion that draws chefs to hone and practice the culinary arts as love, but this is the wrong word; professional cooking at elevated levels is about passion. Best practiced, it is as all consuming and intense as the manic art that is painting, sculpting or writing music. It is little surprise that the lives of successful chefs often trace the same storylines as our famous artisans - of love found and lost, the inexorable intertwining of personal and professional - but everywhere and always going back to the food, perhaps the most tangible forms of art that can be practiced. This past week Michael ... « Previous EntriesAbout MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
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