Reviews - - Page 7

by gansie

Tricks And Foams May Break My Bones

It’s cold here. Cold! When I booked my flight for Atlanta to see 80P and his parents (and cat, Sophie) I was not only excited about the fun food adventures, but the warm weather.

Yea, no. I assumed the South meant warm. I assumed wrong. It’s just as cold here as it was with my family in Jersey. But I’ll take it because while Jersey may produce Top Chefs it does not lay claim to Kevin Gillespie‘s ode to farm-to-table dining.

On my first night in Atlanta, 80’s parents (minus Sophie) took us to Kevin’s restaurant, Woodfire Grill. We were there not even a full 60 seconds and we saw Kevin! He was posing for pictures with diners, a celebration of celebrity that we would see many times that night.

After a few sips of pre-seating cocktails we were led into the long, narrow dining room—sophisticated, yet warm—and immediately upon entering we saw the tattooed, bearded fellow again. He preps out in the open, ensuring all diners can gawk at this almost-winner.

Maureen, our hysterical server, asked us if we watched Top Ch… and she couldn’t even finish her thought before we enthusiastically nodded. Maureen explained the sustainability mantra and the close attention paid to sourcing of the ingredients. Except for the fish (which is flown in the night before serving, usually from the Pacific Northwest) all ingredients are sent to the restaurant the morning of and are prepped all day for dinner service. The menu changes daily, which leads to another form of celeb worshiping: When 80’s mom asked if we could keep the dated menu, Maureen whips back “And would you like Kevin to sign it? Most people frame their picture with Kevin and the signed menu. And be sure to check the ladies’ bathroom. It’s really cute in there”

by gansie

Eating Jonathan Safran Foer

I haven’t read the book yet. I’m actually scared to.

I emailed with my friend Tim yesterday and I told him about my latest purchase and what I did on Tuesday night. Liza (of ES) and I saw Jonathan Safran Foer speak about his new book, Eating Animals. As I wrote to Tim, I’m afraid that after I read it my pending vegetarianism will be cemented. Or I will only eat properly raised animals. Ugh. I just don’t know.

I’ve been on a mostly vegetable diet for the past year and a half. There are a ton of reasons for the slow conversion, but reading Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, his New York Times Magazine pieces) has been undeniably influential. And of course my ritualistic dedication of eating what the farmers are selling at my local market has enthusiastically showed me how to eat produce with the seasons.

Andrew Sullivan, of Subway fame, introduced Foer at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue in DC. I had no idea that the already segmented gay Republican is also a vegetarian. He started with a story of his own book tour in Scotland. He’d been hammered with questions regarding his sexual orientation and was then innocently asked, “Do you eat meat?” With laughter from the audience, Sullivan joked with us that there were several possible answers to that question. He replied, however, that “No, never. It’s the only thing I can truly justify.”

And then Foer came on and pisted me off.

by gansie

Avocado Oil is a Scam

I don’t give a shit. I fucking love chips. I could not live without potato chips. When I lived in Barcelona for a month I ate Ruffle brand chips and gelato for breakfast everyday on my way to Barceloneta, the closest beach. Everyday. I was in Spain. I could have eaten anything and I carried around a bag of Ruffles with me everywhere I went.

I still can’t eat a sandwich without a side of chips. Slices of apple won’t help. Maybe a pickle, but I’d rather eat a pickle and chips. Actually, I don’t even like sandwiches that much, but we can talk about that later.

When I’m hungover there’s no cure like chips and a Coke. I can only sub chips’ grease with fries, but if I’m at home without a fryer, chips are the only thing that truly makes me feel better. Yes, even over eggs.

My only problem — the chip addiction not being the problem — is I only like plain chips. I love ruffled/ridged chips, but that’s the only texture I can handle. I hate kettle. I hate pretty much all flavors. I hate BBQ and any other chip that would leave weird orangeness on my fingertips (and I hated this as a kid too). At parties I can snack on some other flavors, but only out of desperation. Salt and pepper is okay, as is sour cream and onion and shockingly, salt and vinegar. But that’s about it. It’s weird that I love chips so much, love so very much, but only in a very limited way.

in Rants & Raves 14 comments

by ML

What the FroYo?

Newsflash from ES: America is still eating shit.

I jumped on the froyo bandwagon several years too late. I don’t know why it was a bandwagon to begin with. The trend is just now hitting Philadelphia, I’d think mostly because everyone likes water (wuder) ice better, and we actually like things that taste good. If you type “frozen yogurt, Philadelphia” into Google, the first thing that comes up is “Philly Steak & Gyro.”

Enough said.

My first try was last year in Chicago at Yogenfruz, a lesser known Canadian chain. I was immediately in love. They only have chocolate and vanilla, in low-fat and non-fat varieties. I always go for the vanilla, low-fat (The BF always has non-fat, both are delicious). The bonus at Yogenfruz is that you can have your froyo blended with frozen fruit. Real fruit flavoring? Nom nom. The texture is perfect — ridiculously thick and creamy, and it doesn’t melt quickly.

Tasti-D-lite was my second try, this time because a friend in South Florida loves it. To be honest, it tasted kind of like…Dairy Queen? Fake ice cream? It was creamy, tasted milky, but melted very quickly. I kept hoping to taste flavors that just weren’t there. I ate it feeling empty and unsatisfied. Boo, not-so-Tasti-D-Lite.

Another review, after the jump.

in Desserts / Trends 9 comments

by gansie

Guy Beat Me To It

I was in Pasadena, MD last week with my friends Katie and Lory. Lory, a native Pasadenian, found us a classic Chesapeake Bay restaurant. And when I say classic Chesapeake, I only mean one thing: crabs. Maryland loves their crabs.

Unfortunately, after I snapped a few pictures, I realized I was beat. Guy Fieri already brought much deserved attention to Stoney Creek Inn. Noticing our paparazzi ways, the waitress asked us if we had heard of the place through Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Ugh, no, I hadn’t. Not that I thought I was discovering the place, but man, I was embarrassed to know that Guy (or his assistants) and I shared the same taste. He’s such a douche!

But I won’t let that ruin it. Here’s some pics of the crab-infested food from this adorable restaurant right off the water.

Above you will notice the most heavenly appetizer. I’m a sucker for a soft pretzel, and not just a soft pretzel to share as an appetizer, but a soft pretzel as my entire meal. I perfected the practice in college with Rock Bottom’s TWO large soft pretzels with spicy cheese sauce.

Anyway, there was no doubt I could not order this. A soft pretzel, topped with crab meat and cheddar cheese, served warm and with a huge steak knife. I’m not usually a fan of fish with dairy, but this worked really well. Shit, anything and a soft pretzel will work well together.

Here’s Lory with our awesome waitress, Donna (I think that was her name.) She rocked the cutest boat shoes. It was nice to see someone that actually has been on a boat wear these now trendy shoes. Lory ordered the thickest crab soup I’d ever seen. If I were a better writer I would bring on a kick ass metaphor to describe the thickness of the soup. I wanted to compare it to health care or something, but it just didn’t work. If I do think of one deserving of the soup, I’ll throw it in the comments. I’m also game for suggestions.

in Celebs / Photos 6 comments

by Russell Warnick

First Class Virgins

I happened to be one of the fortunate few who survived the Labor Day weekend unscathed from flight delays and lost luggage, unlike a lot of my friends, so I thought I’d spend the time reporting back some of the culinary experiences I had at 36,000ft. When flying coast to coast, my preferred choice of airline is Virgin America. Not only do they provide an excellent flying experience, but they’re also able to give me a taste of home, thanks Sir Richard. And, since Travel + Leisure recently named VA home of the best airline food, I had to check this out in more detail.

We all know that airline food is over priced and totally sub-par, so I wasn’t prepared to spend a lot of cash on poor quality airline food. Yes, my expectations were high going into this as you can tell. With that in mind I upgraded myself so I wouldn’t feel cheated when ordering the food — it also enabled me to skip the security lines and get drunk in the air on the free champagne- what else was I to do on a 6hr flight from IAD to LAX?

The good, the bad, and the soggy, after the jump.

in Food Travel / Personal / Rants & Raves 7 comments

by Maids

Time to Social-ize

Social’s savory spin on the traditional Louisiana pastry, the Beignet.

Brace yourselves people… I’m about to gush. Last Saturday I went to Social – a new D.C. restaurant located at the north end of Columbia Heights. Social is the first lounge-y, Dupontish-style joint to venture north of Columbia Road, but it thankfully forgoes the snooty downtown attitude in favor of warmly welcoming waitstaff and hosts, and a design that encourages you to stay and hang out all night (and get Social – get it?).

The service was superlative, the lounge-y setup is comfortable (think low lights, candles, comfy black couches and chairs, softly stuccoed walls, and plenty of cherry wood tables to rest your drinks and food upon), the drinks were fun and dangerously delicious, and the food … the food was incredible. Period.

The food is Creole/Cajun and Asian fusion inspired. This is a serious claim to make in my estimation – as much of my mother’s family hails from Louisiana. I get pissed when restaurants purport to be Creole or Creole-inspired and then fail to come through with the requisite creativity and spicy zestiness that typifies Creole cooking. But Social delivers creative menu items ranging from meatball pomodoro sliders (a large portion of which our group scarfed down in less than five minutes) to “Mud Bug” Beignets (the crawfish fritters, pictured above. Sometime ES blogger Edubs described these fritters as shredded and deliciously spiced crawfish goodness, surrounded by a lightly fried batter). Edubs also fully enjoyed snagging bites of her husband‘s Sonoran Mahi Mahi Tacos — corn tortillas filled with an unexpectedly intricate blend of southwestern, Mexican, and south pacific flavors – the crisp citrus tones of the grilled and marinated white fish were accented by jalapeño cabbage and mango salsa and were topped with tomato and garlic sauce.

The menu is organized in a really interesting fashion. It’s built to handle parties of varying sizes. You can order 3 different portion sizes, which was perfect for our birthday group, as we waxed and waned in size throughout the night.

More stories about gorging on cheftastic kitchen creations and dodging skeezey dudes after the jump…

in Cheese / Drinks / Restaurants / Veggie 9 comments

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