And we're off: Fork eases us gently into Philly

After the big move down to Philly, my mom stuck around for a couple of days to help me get set up. Thanks Mom! And so of course we made time for some meals, including Saturday night dinner at Fork.

It's a welcoming dining room with a vibrant open kitchen, and especially when it's 100+ degrees out and it's air conditioned inside, Fork feels like heaven. The vibe is casual and slightly eclectic, just on this side of "fine dining."

To start, we were offered a choice of three breads. Mom took the fruit and nut with a devilish look on her face, and she gobbled it down. Mine was a multigrain roll, and it was hearty and studded with all kinds of yummy seeds that I gracelessly picked off the top.

Fruits and nuts inside

Yeah, this is a terrible picture, but you get the idea

To start, we split the baby lettuces salad. This was very simple, with two fried balls of lemon ricotta- surprisingly lemony, and a nice touch. Sadly, the leaves themselves were a touch oversalted, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Lettuces, y'know.

For her entree, Mom went for the halibut, with parsley-garlic puree, wax beans, and parisienne potatoes (essentially little potato balls sauteed in butter). She enjoyed it, noting that the fish was well cooked and not dry at all. I do also applaud the kitchen for putting a textbook golden-brown sear on that puppy. Check it out:

Pretty fish

My entree was the pickled beets and garden vegetable salad. This was decent, but it didn't blow my mind; the vegetables (beans, radishes, beets) and tangle of micro-greens were fresh, but there wasn't anything particularly special about the dish. Every now and then, I'd get a bite of pickled beet, and the burst of vinegar was the tastiest thing about the dish.

There are veggies under there

On to dessert. We debated going elsewhere for ice cream, but instead we decided to stick it out at Fork-- which may have been the wrong choice, given that pastry doesn't seem to be the restaurant's forte. Mom went for the malted chocolate cream cake, which packed layers of flourless chocolate cake, caramel mousse, and malted vanilla cream, all enrobed in chocolate ganache and paired with blackberry gelato. This got the job done-- it was chocolatey, after all-- but the plating seemed to be a bit of an afterthought.

I guess?

I went for an order of salted caramel gelato, which came with a cocoa nib shortbread cookie. The gelato was mild and sweet, which was good, but it was the shortbread that was the surprise winner: crumbly, sugary, and buttery, all interspersed with little bursts of bitter chocolateyness from the nibs. I could have gone for just a plate of those cookies, frankly.

Welp, it's gelato. Plus cookie.

So all in all, Fork was decent. We agreed it didn't blow us away, but I'd certainly return if the opportunity presented. So therefore I award fork my inaugural Philly three OS rating, with an eye toward many more ratings to come.

Fork
306 Market Street, between 3rd and 4th Streets
215-625-9425

LWF&D goes to Napa and chills with Michael (Chiarello) (not really)

Our last dinner in Napa was at Bottega, famous chef/food personality Michael Chiarello's Yountville restaurant. It's a palatial complex, a huge house-style restaurant with a lovely semi-wraparound patio for dining outdoors, and it was crowded in the way Cheesecake Factories are crowded... that is, it was enormous, and it was packed with people. Fortunately, we had a reservation, and we were seated at a large table set for four, which meant we had plenty of space for the two of us.

Wine comes in quartinos here, so I chose a quartino of grechetto, a light Italian white, to complement my food. Unfortunately (especially since this was our last dinner in Napa), I really didn't enjoy this wine... it was somewhat insipid and the flavor was flat and harsh. Oh well.

A half-loaf of crusty, flaky bread with a dish of some sort of cheesy spread landed on our table (literally on our table, too; there was no plate for the bread, which sat directly on the butcher paper covering our tablecloth). But there was barely time to eat it, since our shared appetizer arrived barely a second or two after the bread. This was a delicious salad of fresh ricotta, arugula, stewed peaches, pecorino, and some sort of peach gel. There's usually coppa as well, but I ordered it vegetarian-style for the two of us. And while the portion was pretty small, this was a very tasty dish; while the smear of ricotta on the side of the plate wasn't especially tasty, the rest of the ingredients were fresh and vibrant.

Bread on table

Greens on ricotta smear

For entree, Mom ordered the fish of the day, which was a white fish similar to red snapper whose name we both missed. The server came and finished filleting the fish at the table, a service note that is probably better in theory than in practice. But nonetheless, Mom enjoyed the fish.

Without head and tail, too

My choice for entree was the insalata del bosco, which was mixed greens, sliced pear, candied hazelnuts, and pecorino. While the pear wasn't much of a presence in this salad, the hazelnuts especially were quite flavorful. Again, the portion was on the small side, but otherwise this was delicious.

Pretty greens

We also shared a side of asparagus, which was both pretty and tasty, although I ate a little too much of it. But that's my own fault.

Too much asparagus. Hoooooboy.

Finally, we decided to have dessert at the restaurant. Mom chose a simple scoop of salted caramel gelato, which was really tasty. It also came with this slice of peanut-butter feuilletine-fudge-like confection, which I really enjoyed (but Mom, not so much).

Plain, unadorned

My dessert was the tiramisu profiteroles, three puff pastries split and stuffed with tiramisu & sponge cake gelato, all drowned in chocolate sauce (the menu also listed "cocoa puff," but I'm not sure what that is and don't think I had it on my plate). This was a well-executed rendition of profiteroles, although the gelato-- chock full of chunks of espresso-soaked lady fingers-- was too strongly coffee-y with me, especially with the bitterness of the chocolate sauce as well. I definitely would have preferred vanilla gelato, but I'm glad I tried the dish as is. And it was very, very rich; I only downed two of the three profiteroles before having to stop.

Pretty, no?

On balance, we did enjoy the food at Bottega, and the service was friendly and professional. It's worth a stop if you're in Napa. But-- how to put this-- it wasn't the most personal of our dining experiences. For better or for worse, Bottega is so successful that it's perennially packed and feels sort of like, well, a factory, churning diners out in a fast and efficient, albeit tasty, fashion. That said, you can get a great meal there, and if you don't necessarily want to linger or aren't out for a romantic, personalized atmosphere, it'll fit the bill.

Bottega
6525 Washington Street, Yountville, Napa
707-945-1050

LWF&D goes to Napa: Soaking up the evening air at Brix

Friday found us motoring north to Calistoga to take in the Old Faithful Geyser and the local Petrified Forest. Suffice it to say that the geyser was a geyser and the "petrified forest" was the lamest thing my mother and I have ever done. By far.

So on to dinner. This evening found us at Brix, a sprawling restaurant by the St. Helena highway. We sat outside on the patio by their incredible gardens, taking in the sunset, the ideal weather, the grape vines, the vegetables... it was pretty much the perfect setting. Oh, and the food was good too.

Mom started with the butter lettuce salad, which she claimed was tasty. It looked simple and fresh from across the table.

Herbs, lettuce, croutons

There was a long wait between appetizers and entrees; our waiter apologized several times and explained that the kitchen had lost the ticket, so as we waited he brought us each a half-glass of zinfandel on the house. It was delicious. Props to Brix for being honest and dealing with a mix-up in a stand-up fashion.

Yummy zin

Once the entrees arrived, we were back to being happy. Mom chose the halibut once again and asked for potatoes instead of the fregola pasta; those potatoes ended up being incredibly delicious, creamy and crispy and completely indulgent.

Can't you tell it was a beautiful evening?

AND they came in a cute mini cast iron pan!

My choice was a combination of sides: warmed spinach with saba vinaigrette and pan-roasted wild mushrooms with fines herbs and shallots. The spinach was pretty standard-- wilted spinach with an occasional sweet kick from the saba. The mushrooms were delicious, though; not as butter-drowned as those at Cuvee but tender, flavorful, and earthy in all the right mushroomy ways. Outstanding.

Green as expected

Brown and umami-rich

Brix was a top contender for the best meal we had. While the food was quite good, it was the atmosphere that was priceless... sitting out on the patio in the delightful early evening, drinking wine and eating fresh food, then strolling through the garden to see where that food came from-- it's a Napa experience that shouldn't be missed.

Brix
7377 St. Helena Highway, Yountville
707-944-2749

LWF&D goes to Napa: More fish and salads at Celadon

The Thursday evening of our trip found us at the Napa Chef's Market, which we wandered around until we were tired of walking. Then we sat on a bench and debated dinner. I wasn't hungry (and my stomach was telling me that probably wouldn't change soon), so we simply went someplace nearby. As we were perched outside the Napa General Store, to Celadon we went.

It turned out to be one of the better meals of our trip, starting, as all good meals do, with good bread and olive oil/balsamic mixture.

Starting on a good note

Then Mom started with the macadamia-crusted goat cheese, served with port poached figs, apple slices, and crostini. It was with this dish that she learned the pleasure of cheese + fruit + bread in one bite; a smear of goat cheese plus a slender plank of apple topped with a piece of stewed fig brought her around.

Positively Parisian

Next up, for Mom, was the special fish of the evening: halibut. The kitchen even graciously substituted mushrooms and eggplant for the vegetables it came with, which didn't delight her. The finished product, however, did.

Hugely portioned AND delightful

My choice was the endive and apple salad with goat cheese instead of blue (sense a theme here)? This was quite delicious, actually, with a tangy vinaigrette and an appealing crunch from the julienned endive. It's a creative preparation for endive that's so much better than the usual plain spear; points to Celadon for that.

Craveable

Our meal ended, as all good meals do, with more ice cream from Three Twins at Oxbow. But Celadon truly impressed-- the service was kind and friendly, and the food was unexpectedly good. If we'd had more time, we probably would have been back to Celadon for another meal. As it was, it's highly recommended.

Celadon
500 Main Street, Suite G, Napa
707-254-9690

I'm back! And LWF&D goes to Napa

Dear readers,

I've been a bad blogger recently, I know... there's been travel, there's been me trying to prepare for my move to Philly... essentially a whole bevy of excuses. My week in Bermuda was food-photography-free, so that brings us up to last week, which I spent in Napa with my mom. Since these are restaurants that might be of interest to some of you, what follows are some reports of our culinary travels.

The first night, we convened at Cuvee, since it was right next to our hotel. It's a beautiful restaurant with a lovely, sun-drenched courtyard and a very friendly staff (actually, the service was uniformly good throughout the trip). We elected to sit inside due to the oppressive heat and got started right away.

Mom started with the "Tumble of Local Organic Lettuces," which had a few radishes and a bit of goat cheese. It was a small portion, but she complimented the flavors, particularly the goat cheese.

Basic but fresh

My salad was the wild arugula, sans pancetta and with goat cheese instead of blue. The crispy parsnips and roasted muscat grapes were both flavorful and creative; I only wished there had been a touch more cheese.

Wine country on a plate

For an entree, Mom chose the salmon, which she enjoyed. She also ordered a side of Cedar Roasted Forager Mushrooms, which I was planning to share. That is, until they arrived positively BATHED in butter. They had clearly been cooked in butter, and then they'd been drizzled in what looked like a butter sauce. I ate a half dozen of the mushrooms and cut myself off-- while tasty, the mushrooms were unfortunately ruined by the lack of fat restraint.

Pretty fish

Butter with a side of mushrooms

We decided to try the desserts, and in retrospect we should have stopped at the savories. Mom chose the fruit cobbler, which she pronounced "okay." I went with the bronzed tart apple, which was also just "okay"-- everything, from the poached apple to the wan strips of puff pastry, was just all right, nothing special or inspired. That is, until I found a dead mosquito floating in the melted ice cream when I was halfway through. Um, ick. I doubt it was the restaurant's fault (I suspect it may well have dive-bombed the plate while I was eating), and they were appropriately apologetic (and removed it from the bill), handling it in textbook good-restaurant fashion. Unfortunately, it was a bad way to end what was otherwise a good experience.

Mediocre cobbler

Apple, pre-mosquito?

Overall, I'd recommend Cuvee for the atmosphere and the savory foods. Bugs aside, the desserts weren't worth returning for, since as you'll see there were many delicious sweets to be found elsewhere in Napa...

Cuvee Napa

1650 Soscol Avenue

707-224-2330

The sweets are the stars at DB Bistro Moderne

DB Bistro Moderne is a classic choice for a swanky, pre-theater dinner in the Times Square area. While we didn't have a show to attend, Mom and I ducked in for an early dinner last week, dodging the too-close-together tables to dine on some sophisticated, beautiful food. And what did we find?

Well, we were in the middle of the pre-theater rush, so at times things felt, well, rushed. Or at least sort of-- the upscale version of rushed, if you will. But that also meant that our food arrived promptly, starting with the bread-and-butter course, which consisted of both tiny cheese sticks (think slightly less cheesy cheez-its) with anchovy dip and strikingly green, creamy zucchini dip AND a large cone filled with hearty bread slices, white baguette, and pretzel-style baguettes along with a palette of soft, room-temperature butter. Whew. I ate a slice of the bread, which was sourdough, tangy, and surprisingly good for its plainness. The butter was also admirably creamy and flavorful.

Mmmm bread

Cheesy batons!

Mom went with the prix fixe menu, a relative bargain at $45 for three courses. Her first course, the fish quenelles with sauteed rock shrimp, spring bean fricassee, and lobster emulsion, was a big hit; she described it as "something like a matzo ball." For all those non-Jews out there, that means it's kind of like... um... well... just Google it.

The matzo balls are underneath the foam

Next, Mom's entree was the sauteed sea bream with roasted ramps, onion puree, and tomato confit. While she enjoyed this, it didn't seem to inspire as much swooning as the appetizer. I tasted a bit of the shockingly green puree, and the oniony taste was powerful; certainly not for the faint of heart.

Pretty, though!

My choice, on the other hand, was slightly on the blander side. I chose the "legumes de marche," described as young garden vegetables, ricotta cheese, and beet vinaigrette. This one was pretty much just as you'd expect: a tangle of spring veggies, each perfectly cooked but not necessarily in close harmony with its neighbors. Don't get me wrong-- it was beautiful and very fresh. But aside from a slight overarching bitterness, there wasn't a huge amount of flavor here aside from "vegetable." You know what I mean. The ricotta was delicious but there was so little of it and it was so mild, as ricotta is wont to be-- this salad practically BEGGED for a strong, salty complement (pecorino, anyone?). Ah well. Such as it is.

Also beautiful, veggielicious

On to dessert! Mom's prix fixe choice was the chocolate hazelnut bar, a candy-bar style confection with a thick layer of rich chocolate-hazelnut ganache sitting on a crackly feuilletine-style crust. The accompanying scoop of cookie ice cream was deliciously cool and fresh-flavored. My one tiny bite of the bar was so rich I can't imagine finishing the whole thing, but Mom did an admirable job.

For some reason I was unable to get a non-blurry photo of this dessert. You get the idea.

I was originally brought the wrong dessert, so while I waited for the right one to come out, I munched on the tiny gratis mignardises that were brought to the table. First, I devoured a raspberry macaron, which was nearly perfect: crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, incredibly sweet and tasty and bursting with raspberry flavor. I'm not particularly a macaron fan, but this may have converted me. There was also a bit of chocolate studded with nuts, which was also very rich, and a little slab of semi-fruity cake (date cake, maybe?) that was very chewy and surprisingly bland. Hmmm.

Look at that beautiful macaron!

And then my "real" dessert arrived: gianduja chocolate mousse with hazelnut rice crispy bar, lemon cremeux, and nougat ice cream. I was later told this was the debut night for this dessert, and I'd say it's a success. First of all, it's beautiful-- just take a look! There's a layer of addictively crunchy hazelnut feuilletine somewhat similar to the base of Mom's chocolate bar, all of which is covered with a whisper-thin layer of mousse. Make your way toward the inside of the bar and you'll be surprised by an almost microscopic layer of lemon cremeux making its way in between those two layers, adding a surprising bright note to the chocolate-hazelnut richness (there are also two accompanying dollops of the lemon cream elsewhere on the plate for consuming straight-up). The nougat ice cream (my second nougat ice cream experience in three days, bizarrely) is nutty and creamy, perfect for including in each chocolatey bite.

Unassumingly rich and tasty

Overall, it appears that dessert is DB Bistro Moderne's strong suit. There is clearly talent and creativity in the pastry kitchen; each dessert emerging from the kitchen was more beautiful than the last, presented in incredible architectural styles that you rarely see around town (seriously, check out their version of tiramisu). The savory kitchen is certainly no slouch, of course, in either preparation or presentation, but it's the sweets that elevate DB Bistro Moderne to a four Offset Spatula destination. Go, and be sure to leave room for dessert.

DB Bistro Moderne
55 W. 44th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues
212-391-2400

LWF&D experiences Nougatine... finally

Nougatine, the slightly more casual part of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's flagship Jean-Georges restaurant, has been on my list of places to go pretty much since I moved to NYC. Now that I'm imminently moving south to Philly, I wasted no time in checking it off my list once and for all, toting Mom along for a delightful dinner.

And delightful it was. We were a little underdressed, to be sure, but we could appreciate the relaxed decor, the friendly and professional servers, and the eye-catching open kitchen bustling with activity at the end of the room. My only room-related gripe was the table: It stood on a tapered pedestal that was thick at the bottom (kind of like a mushroom), which cut drastically into the table's foot room. Kind of a bizarre choice.

But once we got beyond that, it was smooth sailing. One of the greatest things about Nougatine, I discovered, was that they offer wine in half (3oz) pours as well as full pours, which meant I could try two different kinds of wine! I started with a half pour of Domaine Carneros bubbly, which was fantastic, and finished up with a superlative Torrontes that was aromatic, crisp, and pretty darn delicious. Also, notably, for some reason they offer Cristal by the glass (and half glass). Huh.

Bubbles

Two half glasses = more than 1 glass. Yay!

To accompany the wine (and club soda, for Mom), we started with bread. Though the butter was cold and hard to spread, the bread was delicious, with a slight sourdough tang and an irresistibly stretchy inside.

And they give you two pieces at once!

Oh, and there was an amuse-bouche as well. A shot of warm carrot soup was surprisingly yummy; the accompanying rye toast was pretty standard, but it certainly got the job done.

Dollhouse food

To start, Mom went completely rogue and ordered the artichoke with mustard mayonnaise. Crazy town! After a steep but rapid learning curve in terms of how to eat it, she declared her love for the dish. I sense a long and happy artichoke-laden future for her.

The 'choke!

On to the entrees. Mine was warm asparagus topped with mixed mushrooms and a vinaigrette. Though there were only four thick spears (a bit paltry, in my opinion, for an $11 dish), all the ingredients were top-notch and remarkably flavorful. I particularly loved the mushrooms, which were actually the best part of the dish for me.

Lots of flavor, little portion

Mom chose the red snapper, with asparagus, shiitakes, and sesame vinaigrette. It was as satisfying as she expected, with perfectly-cooked fish sporting a crisp crust and a flavorful, Asian-inflected gingery sauce.

Really pretty fish

Of course, dessert was up next. The dessert menu was extensive and enticing, with everything from carrot cake to hazelnut dacquoise. It was hard to choose, but we did. In a startling turn of events, Mom chose the warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. She loved it, but I thought it was surprisingly plain for a Jean-Georges dessert: pretty standard chocolate cake, above average vanilla ice cream, job done.

Mod chocolate cake

Mine, however, was transcendent, one of the best desserts I've had in a while, in fact. This was a coconut and mango-passion mint vacherin with exotic fruit chutney. A cylinder of mango-passion sorbet-ish substance sat atop a dish of crunchy meringue, all crowned with whipped meringue and crystallized mint and surrounded by a small-dice tropical fruit salad. The plate was painted with passion fruit puree, and a long stick of meringue provided both garnish and textural and visual interest. The dessert was an explosion of flavors, fresh and vibrant and sweet and satisfying. And the textural range was impressive, from soft and silken purees and whipped meringues to firm, toothsome fruit to crunchy baked meringue. In.Sane.Ly. Good.

Explosion of color and delight!

Oh, and to send us off were three tiny mignardises each: two pates de fruit of indeterminate flavor and a chocolate-covered orange jelly stick. These were ah-kay, nice sweet bites but nothing too special.

Freebies

All in all, though, Nougatine is quite a special place. The food is spectacular, and the service and overall experience are both pretty great as well. It's a four Offset Spatula destination that's perfect for special occasions and any time you want to feel, well, delighted.

Nougatine
1 Central Park West
212-299-3900