Dipping into the Philly wine bar scene at Tria

During my week to settle in before classes started, I met up with my cousin AB for drinks and bites at Tria, a highly acclaimed Center City wine bar that was close to both of our apartments. When I arrived, AB had snagged a sidewalk table, so we got to dine and people-watch at the same time. Score! That means I can't comment on the decor of the place inside (I literally haven't been in), but they do have a few sidewalk tables that are quite nice.

The menu at Tria is extensive and amusing. There's a solid selection of small plates as well as a long list of wines by the glass, beers, and cheeses, all divided into whimsical subsections (e.g., "stoic" vs. "racy" cheeses--?). We both chose glasses of prosecco, perfect and bubbly on a warm summer evening.

To eat, AB got the beet salad (a girl after my own heart, eh?). With a very generous portion of tender beets complemented by goat cheese, crushed almonds, thin red onion, and a tangy vinaigrette, this salad was very flavorful (I had a bite) and is definitely something I will return for.

Mound of cheese!

I got two cheeses to pair with my wine. From the "clean" section of the cheese menu, I got a wedge of Humboldt Fog goat cheese, which had a crumbly middle as well as an oozy layer just under the rind. It was very tasty, and I loved the interplay of textures, although it got a little salty by the end (or maybe I was just experiencing cheese overload at that point). I also got a hefty wedge of Malvarosa, an "approachable" cheese that our spunky server described as very salty, but in a good way. I actually didn't find this cheese all that salty at all (it was the Humboldt Fog that turned out to be the salt bomb); it was slightly chewy, kind of like a more crumbly Swiss cheese, with a mild emmenthal-like flavor. It was appealing but perhaps not something I would get again, simply because it wasn't especially special. Oh, and the cheese board also came with small ramekins of glazed almonds (for the Malvarosa) and some sort of compote (Humboldt Fog), which tasted slightly of beets to me, to be scooped by the tiniest and cutest spoons I've ever seen. The almonds were munchable on their own, while the compote actually did complement the Humboldt Fog quite well. The bread, planks of squishy, chewy, and almost stale baguette, was plentiful but utterly forgettable.

Really big portions of cheese, too

Overall, our first experience with Tria was a high-three-Offset-Spatula success. I hope to return soon to sample more of the wares-- from snacks to salads to bruschetta to more cheeses, the menu has quite a bit to offer...

Tria
18th Street and Sansom
215-972-TRIA

David Burke Kitchen delights... until dessert

Last week marked my parents' 38th wedding anniversary (!!!), so to celebrate, we all went out to dinner at David Burke Kitchen in Soho. I'd heard good things about the new outpost of David Burke's empire, particularly about the desserts, so I was excited.

Despite the fact that it was empty when we arrived (literally-- we were the first group to be seated that evening, which is always awkward), the space is quite nice. It's subterranean but still full of light, bright and whimsically decorated.

We started off with a bottle of prosecco to toast the parents' achievements (the wine list skews quite pricy, so budget accordingly). This went well with the bread course, which offered a choice of sourdough, multigrain, or olive walnut bread-- as much as you could eat throughout the meal, courtesy of an obliging bread man. The olive bread was luxuriously studded with enormous olives and was delicious with the soft, spreadable butter. My only gripe was that they only provided one tiny dish of butter for the table of five (maybe two tablespoons total)-- upon request more arrived, of course, but still.

LOVE olive bread!

Then came the appetizers. Mom and Dad both ordered the market salad, which we'll get to later. The bro went for the lobster soup, which came first as a bowl of just the included lobster dumplings and associated garnishes. As the maitre d' placed the bowl on the table, he asked the bro if he'd like more soup; "Sure, a little more," D responded in slight confusion. Of course, then the soup was poured tableside from a teapot-looking contraption, the plan all along. Mad props to DBKitchen for punking my brother. Culinarily punking.

Ashton, is that you?

While the appetizers were appreciated, the entrees were even more successful. Mom went for a soft-shell crab special, which the waiter offered to prepare in an entree portion (it was designed as an appetizer). As a lover of soft-shell crabs, she loved this preparation, which is visually bizarre yet kind of cool.

Tentacles everywhere

Dad and LM went for the pork chop, a huge Flintstones chop crowned with a couple of gargantuan onion rings. I took a bite of LM's onion ring, and it was exemplary-- fluffily battered yet still sweet and toothsome. They both really enjoyed the pork chop, though they noted it was a bit on the fatty side. LM also ordered a well-received and visually quite pretty side order of basil whipped potatoes.

Crowning onion rings

Purty potatoes

The bro went for the short rib, which got crowned with a dollop of truffle cream tableside (guess he was all about the tableside preparations that night, eh?). Along with the accompanying cavatelli and wild mushrooms, the bro pronounced the shortribs perhaps "the best plate of food he's ever had." Cheers to that!

Best?

My choice was the same market salad Mom and Dad had had as an app. I got mine sans bacon, but it was still plenty interesting. It was a huge tangle of lightly dressed greens crowned with some translucently-thin shavings of what seemed to be pear; in the mix were roasted walnuts, caramelized dices of some sort of root vegetable (could easily have been potato or turnip), and a few large hunks of aged goat cheese. This was one of the more interestingly composed salads I've encountered-- a fine and satisfying balance of textures and flavors, and quite filling to boot.

Highly recommended

So the meal seemed to be on an upward trajectory, and given the raves I've heard about the desserts, I couldn't wait for the final showdown: dessert. We were all quite full at this point, so only Mom and LM got a real dessert (the chocolate caramel fudge cake), while I got an assortment of three of their ice creams.

The fudge cake went over well; it was pretty much just as you'd expect from the photo: chocolatey, cakey, pretty to look at. It got the job done.

Chocolate cake

But my ice creams-- for shame! This was, without a doubt, the worst ice cream I've ever had. And if you read this blog regularly, you'll know how much ice cream I eat and how much I love ice creams and frozen treats of all kinds. All three flavors here-- vanilla, cajeta (goat's milk caramel), and chocolate-- were atrocious. Icy, thin, flavorless, not rich at all: it tasted like eating ice with a bit of skim milk poured over it. The texture was all wrong. The flavor was all wrong. I took a couple bites, and once I realized what was going on, I did the unthinkable: I stopped. Not sure if this is sad or not, but this is the first and only time I've ever stopped eating a dessert a few bites in because it was terrible and simply not worth the calories (even at Scarpetta, when I should have stopped, I didn't.) It's just such a puzzler, because it's not difficult to make delicious ice cream, and if you can't, just order it from any of the many fantastic companies that deliver to restaurants (Il Laboratorio del Gelato, anyone?). Also, on a completely separate note, it's a little disappointing for an ice cream dessert preparation at an upscale restaurant to come with no garnishes or fun add-ons (whipped cream, cookie garnishes, anything); given that the ice cream was so vile it didn't matter, but had it been delicious the three small shot glasses of plain ice cream still would have been somewhat disappointing.

Worst?

Anyway, dessert screed over. Aside from that, the rest of the evening was pitch-perfect-- food was delicious, space enjoyable, and service prompt and friendly and everything you could ask for. In the right context and with a much improved ice cream service, DBKitchen could be pushing five spatulas. As it was, it landed at a low four, providing a memorably delicious evening to most of the party and unfortunately only truly disappointing the reviewer.

David Burke Kitchen
23 Grand Street at 6th Avenue
212-201-9119

The hidden and quirky Bahr Che

Bahr Che is a curious place. On the surface, it's kind of like any other wine bar in the city: dark-ish, vaguely modern-looking interior; tailored menu of cheeses, charcuterie, and other small bites; laid-back vibe made for lingering. But there are some important differences, primarily that there's nobody there. Seriously. I was there from 8-10PM on Friday night and there were, max, two other parties in the space at any given time. The one server handling the whole room looked almost bored. The lack of traffic is due, of course, to the location, which is in one of the weirder no-man's-lands in Manhattan: around the corner from Aster Place, on a bleak and almost industrial part of Cooper Square, guarded by a tiny, tucked-away door that pretty much nobody notices. And that's a shame, because Bahr Che has its charms and should certainly see much more traffic than it does.

Let's start with the wine, shall we? While the by-the-glass menu is impressively long and varied, here is where Bahr Che makes a misstep, in my opinion. Unless you're ordering a sparkler (which I was), you can't get just a glass-- you can get a carafe, described as around 1.5 glasses, or a bottle. That means, of course, that the prices are much higher-- around $15, give or take--than a single glass at most places, and given that at most bars and restaurants around the city a "glass" pour ends up being about a glass and a half anyway, this ends up being something of a ripoff. But it's easily remedied: Bahr Che, just add a true by-the-glass option, and you'll be fine. In any case, I went with a delicious, crisp glass of prosecco (a real glass at $10), and KS and AC split a carafe of txakolina for $15.

My yummy bubbly

Half the carafe

AC and I also split a five-cheese cheese plate. Our selections were the Selles sur Cher, Tomme Crayeuse, Sharfe Maxx, Pecorino Oro Antico, and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar (this latter an interesting choice for a cheese plate menu, no?). They provided a good variety of bread, a mix of rosemary bread and focaccia, but only a relatively small portion of each cheese except the cheddar, which was a big honkin' wedge. I enjoyed the Selles sur Cher, which was the ash-rinded soft goat cheese, the most; the others were all tasty, but a couple were almost overwhelmingly salty. And while there was a tiny composition of undressed frisee and beet sliver garnishes, that seemed to be more for visual interest than for consumption. There were no accompaniments to speak of: no chutney or jam, no honey, no nuts or dried fruit. For $16, I expected a bit more-- cheese is great, but cheese with the right accompaniments can be transcendent.

Stark cheese

Lotsa bread

So I'll say overall our experience was mixed. Because there were so few other parties in the bar, we could linger as long as we wanted without feeling guilty or being nudged out the door, which is a rare luxury in the city. But also because there were so few other people there, our voices echoed in the high-ceilinged space and it felt a little, well, awkwardly empty. If Bahr Che can fix its menu quirks-- offer wines by the glass, kick up the cheese plates a few notches-- it could be a real gem in a neighborhood not known for relaxed, upscale places to grab a nice glass of wine. I hope then the crowds will come.

Bahr Che
26 Astor Place (but entrance is on Cooper Square)
212-260-2220

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

A lovely, lovely evening at Union Square Cafe

For my birthday (yes, that would be last July), my parents got me a sizeable gift certificate to Union Square Hospitality Group. Thrilled, I put it in my desk and left it there. For months. Well, two weeks ago I got exciting news (business school!) that means I'll actually be moving away from New York City in a few short months. Of course, one of the first things that popped into my head was a small but growing list of things I have to do before I left the city. First on that list: use that gift card!

So last Saturday, I got the privilege and honor of taking the lovely SL out to dinner at Union Square Cafe. A delicious, free, wine-soaked dinner at a Danny Meyer restaurant AND a few uninterrupted hours of one-on-one time with SL? Count me in.

I've been to USC a few times before, and I really like it. It's a lovely, quirky space, although the quirks may mean that your table is in a bit of a corner with the back of a chair holding a very, very large man abutting one side of the table. You know, hypothetically. It also may mean that midway through the meal a fork may fall from the balcony above onto the ground a few feet from your un-hard-hatted heads. More on that later.

But first, wine and bread. Even though I'm no longer Wine Centurying, I chose a glass of Blanco Seleccio Can Feixes, a Spanish wine I'd never heard of. It was light and crisp and delicious. SL toasted with a classic glass of prosecco.

My wine!

A bread basket landed promptly, full of delights: Crunchy, crisp mini baguettes; hearty half-slices of seeded multigrain bread; and a sheet of paper-thin flatbread. On the side was a large square of butter sprinkled with interestingly herbed salt in addition to a dish of orange-rind-studded olives. Quite a treat to begin the meal.

A lovely variety

And accompaniments

Out exceptionally professional waitress left us as much time as we liked to place our order, so the meal proceeded at a leisurely place. But our entrees appeared soon enough. For SL, the meal was homemade lasagna bolognese, topped with a sunny side up egg that, punctured, becomes part of the rich sauce. SL really liked it, although as the dinner (rather than appetizer) portion, it was on the small side.

Pretty, eh?

My choice, in contrast, was the bibb and red leaf lettuce salad, mixed with a dijon dressing and crowned with ample shavings of gruyere. This salad was unusually satisfying: the ingredients were all fresh and tasty (particularly the handful of crisp croutons that made their way in there), but more importantly there was just so much of it. I kept eating and eating and it seemed like I was eating forever. Which I like, mind you-- I'm definitely a volume eater. But I did feel bad when SL was finished and I was still plowing along. (That's what she said?)

So many leaves!

Oh, and then all of a sudden a fork fell from the balcony above, almost on our heads but thankfully not quite, clattering from the ground next to us. Yikes?

Potential forks-in-noggins aside, we pressed on to dessert. USC's desserts pretty much all seemed appealing, but we made our tough choices. SL went for the banana tart with macademia brittle and honey-vanilla ice cream. This was actually a really large portion, although SL noted there was too much banana and not enough crust. The exterior of the tart was actually a whole banana covered with crackly caramelized sugar; the only crust was really in the center. When she had tired of slogging through the banana, I ate a bit of it... and a few of the sugar-covered macadamias.

There's a lot of banana in there. (That's what she-- oh, nevermind)

And, of course, I ate my own dessert, too. That would be the Italian apple cake with cara cara oranges and country cream. The cake was absolutely delicious, moist and studded with tender, cooked apples and sitting in a pool of sweet syrup. The center of the cake was sublime; the crust was a different texture sensation and equally entrancing. The cream was a perfect complement, though I wished there had been about four times as much of it so I didn't have to ration. Oh, and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream would have been nice, too. But that's just gluttonous.

Traditional and simple but oh so satisfying

Our dinner was just so lovely. The food was incredible, the service flawless, the whole evening just special: a four spatula experience if ever there were one, and a gift-certificate-meal worth waiting for.

Union Square Cafe
21 E. 16th Street
212-243-4020