05Dec

Le Bernadin – Three Mich – Truly, Magnificently Extraordinary

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For my 1600th review, I definitely wanted to pick somewhere that was very special for me this year.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I first booked Le Bernardin, other than the fact that it was utterly freaking hard to get a reservation even when I did everything right (reminiscent of my TFL experience…) and ended up with a 10:45 PM reservation on Friday night. Yes folks, they serve you a coursed, long dinner at 10:45 PM. At night.

I insisted on keeping the res despite some obvious objections from the bf since I was very curious about why this place got such stellar reviews both online, from friends and some serious foodies recommendations. We arrived at Le Bern and were greeted warmly and promptly shown the lounge area.

I’m not sure how their lounge area works, but I suppose if you didn’t have a reservation you can always hang out there, grab drinks and maybe some food. They did have an excellent selection of scotches and bourbons on their shelf at the bar so I imagine you’d be quite entertained.

Just as quickly as we sat down, we were shown our table which was right by the door. I never saw Le Bern before the remodel but after the remodel, this place is GORGEOUS. Just breathtaking and it almost doesn’t matter where you sit.

One of the best things I loved about Le Bernardin was that they were fabulously well lit not in an in-your-face-see-your-pores kind of way, but a very elegant well lit that allows you to see the food you have in front of you and absorb the colors and vibrancy of the dishes you are enjoying. I thoroughly dislike poorly / dimly lit places because I feel like they’re trying to hide something…

We went for the two different tasting menu(s) because I’m greedy like that and want to try everything. Since one was 7 course and the other 8, we opted to add a dish that was on neither menu to the 7 course so the bf and I both had the same number of courses. It was, of course, all seafood and here you should most definitely not get anything else. We also, with help, selected a delicious bottle of white wine as we decided to pass on the wine pairings.

I loved that the service was relaxed. Yes this place is upscale, ties and jackets are required but in the end the service was not stiff. I didn’t feel like I had to sit up with my shoulders back and a plastered smile on my face or any kind of pretentiousness at all. This made for an extraordinarily enjoyable experience since the bf and I were able to chat, catch up, talk and have a wonderful time while dining here.

Each dish that came out was magnificent. I don’t say this often but every, single, dish was a complete and utter hit. It was perfectly cooked, seasoned, decorated and there were no repeats. Chef Eric truly displayed his culinary skills in cooking unlike some other Michelin restaurants and used all kinds of methods instead of dropping truffle on everything.

As many have said, it is completely worth every penny and more. I dare say this is one of my favorite, if not my favorite restaurant ever. I can’t compare it to French Laundry because they simply don’t serve the same thing, but this is most definitely in the #1 or #2 spot on my list of places to dine.

If you are in NYC, this is NOT TO BE MISSED. You will not regret it, no matter how light your wallet feels after!

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26Aug

L2O – A simply souffle-tastic experience

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I think it would be a sin to give this place any less than 5 stars but here are some of the reasons I feel L2O didn’t quite stack up:

- no replacement napkin when going to the restroom, almost every single Michelin star restaurant I know does this but L2O forgot for our table
- crab shells in my blue crab concoction, given the care taken into food prep in this place I was very, very surprised
- we ordered the summer and the singular because we wanted to try a variety of dishes and the waiter kept getting us confused since the summer includes a few more courses than singular
- why would summer, which is cheaper, include a few more courses than singular?
- Every, single, dish WITHOUT FAIL included sauce and was done with truffle. Every single one. even the summer course. I mean … using too much truffle is like using butter. It’s bound to be good, but it’s kind of cheating because you’re not illuminating your cooking skills.
- dishes are BEAUTIFULLY prepared but drowned in sauce. again kind of cheating, you should be able to cook the food perfectly without sauce and bring out the flavor without drowning every dish in sauce

For those reasons I felt that my experience at L2O was not on par with that of a 3 Michelin Star experience. Although this may be too cliche … French Laundry still holds the #1 spot in service, atmosphere, perfection of presentation and food as far as 3 Michelin Star experiences go. After all, you are paying upwards of $500 just to dine for a party of two with no drinks.

Our hostess sat us promptly, and our waitress was nice, but I had on a wrap and it slightly fell over and touched the ground on the chair, but when the server moved my chair he completely got it caught and all wrapped up in the chair. It was kind of weird that it was pretty obvious what would happen and all he had to do was just lift it back onto the chair before moving it … but anyway

Overall, it was a good experience with a few setbacks here and there. The food was good but again drowned in sauce, so I can’t even say the waygu was spectacular because … it was drowned in truffle sauce and a little overly salty. The oxtail pasta was memorable and thankfully came with a broth and not a thick sauce.

The highlight of the night though which overrode everything since so far it sounds more like a 3.5 star experience was the souffles.

OH EM GHEE. I was blown away upside down and then around again. These were just simply AMAZING.  There are no other words to describe the perfection that L2O has created with their souffles. Both the praline hazelnut and the grand marnier were exceptional (caps bolded underlined twice!) because they were cooked perfectly and the sauce paired amazingly well.

This was a solid, freaking, dessert experience that I have NEVER had at any Michelin star restaurant because it was always a … EH experience since I’m not that much of a dessert girl.

I’m in love. Go to L2O. Just order the souffle. lol …

25Aug

Cute Speakeasys – Bathtub Gin & Co, Seattle, WA

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Maybe my 5-star experience stems from having made friends with the bartender the first time around but every time I’ve been to Bathtub Gin & Co it’s always been a fantastic time with no wait at the door.

This place is, like many said, in an alley next to a parking lot and completely unsuspecting, like speakeasys tend to be. At the door, you are greeted by a doorman who will hold you back if there are too many people inside already and you will have to wait for someone to leave before you’re let it.

Once inside, there’s two levels, the upper level is always packed but that’s where the bar (and bartender!) is who whips up delicious drinks on and off the menu. Downstairs is a very loungy relaxy area (are those even words?!) because it’s dark, dimly lit and has some wanna be book shelves in a small room.

I would not recommend this for a first date since the atmosphere is interesting, the crowd is … interesting and the drinks are STRONG. But other than that, what a fantastic little speakeasy!

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25Aug

The Best New Disappointment? – The Purple Pig, Chicago, IL

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I think I’m going to get mobbed for giving this place 3 stars but first … hear me out.

Despite it’s great ratings and high profile as one of the best new restaurants of 2010, The Purple Pig honestly doesn’t actually offer that much if you think about it. Most wine spots have a great selection of cheese already (they had almost 10) and a great selection of wine. But of course with a title like “Wine, Swine & Cheese” most people come here for the swine.

We got the bone marrow, the waygu slider, the milk braised pork shoulder and a cold dish to share. Despite what little food it was (since its all in tapas form) we were extremely overfull with how greasy everything was. The bone marrow, to be expected but the toast they gave us was DRENCHED in butter. Literally there was butter dripping onto the plate the whole time …

Then their infamous milk braised pork shoulder was incredibly heavy with the mashed potato it was served with almost 80% butter and 20% potatoes from a box (or that was the texture anyway …).

I felt like the place was over hyped because none of the dishes were spectacular, and if you cook everything in butter that’s just kind of cheating. I went away feeling very greasy and kind of gross despite the fact that the pork shoulder itself was very tender.

In the end I didn’t think this place had anything special to offer. Yes it’s a quaint, cute wine bar with tapas, but there’s plenty of those. There’s nothing that distinguishes this place from any other place except for its liberal application of butter. Seriously, I do not want a heart attack.

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25Aug

Best Foods – Protein Bar in Chicago, IL

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Oh, my gosh, Protein Bar, WHY DID I DISCOVER YOU.

Now nothing will be good enough here in CA :( And I say that with great weight and sadness.

I must completely agree with Gail A since I actually went there because of her review since I was very curious about said “skinny bitches.” Jokes aside, this place is just fantastic. They have a large menu of “bar-itos” (burritos / wraps) and bowls full of goodie nutritious stuff that you will only find at Whole Foods that you have to go home to cook yourself.

They make healthy eating delicious and the numbers show. Usually when you think of healthy eating, you think dry and bitter, and when healthy eating is “good” then it’s really no longer healthy. Not the case at the protein bar.

This place has smoothies and fresh juices to suit every mood you’re in and every need you have. If you want muscles, they have a drink for that, if you want antioxidants, they have a drink for that, if you just want something yummy, delicious and 100% all juice with no added junk, they have a drink for that!

If you buy 10 drinks, you get 1 free! This place blows my mind and my palate. I wish they were EVERYWHERE instead of just Chicago. Oh how I love you Protein Bar, and that’s hard for me to say to many other places in the country…

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15Aug

The Impending Doom of 25

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Of course many people would think of this as silly, but I am truly terrified of turning 25. Not like anything will be different on Thursday when I wake up in the morning and go through my daily routine. In fact, I still have to go to work, work out and make the best of the traffic heading my way … but somehow, I just feel scared to be in this new territory where it feels like time just gets faster and you just get older.

One of the reasons I feel so terrified is because although many may feel differently, I don’t think I’ve accomplished much at all in life. Not what I have wanted anyway. I’m not in grad school, I’m not making a million bucks (ha! as if that was ever going to happen in a million years..) and I’m not living on my own, etc. etc. I could go on.

I guess in a way I have to remember not to focus on the failures of my life (as I define them) and focus more on the positives and what is to come. I’m excited for my Chicago trip to mark the all important 25th anniversary of my birth and fairly psyched for all the wonderful Michelin stars awaiting my carefully planned trip with epic advance reservations.

I suppose it’s not so bad after all, I still do have quite a few years left to make those failures successes, and will have to work even harder now that I’m old and raggity!

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08Aug

INFOGRAPHIC! What a Cool Way to Represent Deals!

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INFOGRAPHIC: Daily Deals: A Lasting Sale or Just the Latest Craze? | GPlus.com.

Interestingly enough there has been an extreme push towards analyzing the profitability of businesses using these sites and it does appear that most businesses tend to lose out and become overwhelmed because they are simply not ready for the amount of publicity they will receive.

I want to say that Groupon is not as good as LivingSocial and bloomspot has yielded me a few good ones…

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02Aug

Even more hassle for you to fly – worth it?

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Boston airport expands behavior detection program – CNN.com.

so not only will there be full body screenings but there will now be casual conversations. plan to arrive even earlier at the airport!

26Jul

Celebrities & Politics – George Lopez for mayor

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George Lopez for mayor? – CNN.com.

really? I am starting to feel like we are the only state with this problem as perhaps Hollywood is just too close to politics for any separation. Although I personally love George Lopez, I don’t believe a good comedian or actor makes for a good politician. As with the past few cases of such a turn in career paths, I don’t think it’s quite worked out the way they thought it would.

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25Jul

Meadowood – Not Quite TFL

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Coming here I was definitely guarded as I had been to TFL more than once to be able to say that TFL was a solid 3 Michelin Star experience that has never let me down in every aspect from ambiance and food to service and hospitality.

I was skeptical that a young chef, especially with an even younger restaurant would achieve such a success as TFL had so worthily held onto for so many years. We opted for the full tasting menu ($225) and skipped on the wine pairings as we had spent the whole weekend in Napa already with wine aplenty in us.

We were seated, but interestingly enough moved between our amuse bouche and our first actual course because they fitted a larger party in the community table we were sat at and we ended up next to a nice window in a more private and romantic setting. I didn’t mind this but it was a bit awkward.

All of the courses arrived elegantly and without delay for the most part so I didn’t feel like I was dining for hours, however TFL definitely does not make you feel like this even though the meal is tending to be over 4 hours each time I’ve visited. I think Meadowood could shorten some of the wait times a bit better. Each course though was exquisitely prepared and perfectly placed with the exception of one particular course where there were two prawns on two stacks of veggies and some broth. When I looked at the bf’s plate, he had two prawns and as the waiter described to me my dish, I was wondering what he was talking about.

I later found one of the prawns drowned within the murky broth. The dish was delicious but what a huge fault to send a dish out from the kitchen that was not properly plated? For a 3 Michelin Star location that really commanded such attention to detail I was disappointed.

Also there were no take home goodies like at TFL. The whole experience was good, nothing was bad and the food was delicious but I can’t bring myself to give it five stars for the various things that were amiss during the meal like the plating issues and seating and the no take home goodies. I feel that the food is there but their hospitality could be better combined with their service to give you a full, well rounded experience. Some kinks to work out I’m sure.

At the end of the day I would still say that TFL is flawless and one of the best representations of a 3 Michelin Star restaurant on this side of the coast line but Meadowood comes close.

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