From now on, the only asshole I’m eating with is myself. Really. The only thing I hate more than shitty service are people who treat the service like shit. Rant started.

*pictures taken from a great tasting menu at Sky Room under Chef Luke Johnson. Full set here

Now, blatant negligence is one thing; otherwise don’t be an ass. There’s nothing wrong with offering feedback on likes and dislikes, that’s a way to ensure quality or make things better. It’s even okay to be critical so long as it’s meant to be constructive, not insulting.

So here are a few things to keep in mind before giving your thoughts on that restaurant, meal, dish, or component that wasn’t quite to your tastes. At least, if you’re planning to offer them to me.

You’re not the only diner in the restaurant
-As much as I’m sure the chef would love to provide a custom tasting menu accommodating your 17 different dietary restrictions in the middle of rush on a holiday weekend, it’s not always feasible.
-The waitress at the neighborhood bistro let your water glass stay empty for an entire minute?! That shit would never happen at Per Se…but you’re not at Per Se, and you’re not going to die of thirst.

Nobody is trying to serve you bad food
So don’t act like it.  You won’t like everything, and mistakes will happen, but I promise you the Chef isn’t scheming in the kitchen to figure out ways to piss you off.

There’s more to a menu price than ingredient costs
Oh you know the wholesale price, or saw it for less at the farmers market? You’re also paying for labor, skill, the setting, and the cost to keep the lights on.  If you’re expecting to eat “at cost” than you’re going to have to cook it for yourself at home.

Your actions reflect on your entire party
So if you act like a douche and you’re sitting at my table, I end up looking like even more of a douche by association. That’s like the last thing I need.

Being an asshole isn’t funny
It’s not hard to be clever and cutting. No one is impressed with your witty simile comparing the food to something inedible, especially not the waiter. It takes a lot more skill to cleverly describe something you liked than be insulting.

Check your ego
-For all the talk of chefs with big egos, there are diners out there with bigger ones.
-I don’t care if you’ve eaten all over the world, or had better in LA, Copenhagen, or Spain for that matter.  That doesn’t make it okay to belittle. If your palate is so refined, mention a few things you like.  Every dish doesn’t have to be exquisite for it to be enjoyable, and your incessant  nit-picking is killing everyone else’s good time.

Treat others like..
You know the rest of this one. If you’re disrespectful to the service team, you’re more than an asshole, you’re missing out on an opportunity to have a really enjoyable experience.

…and if you really don’t like it, don’t go back. There’s a natural cycle to these things, if it’s that bad then the place won’t last. You can save yourself the effort of trying to ruin reputations with your personal vendetta.  End rant.

Even though my friends took  better pictures, gave thorough course by course descriptions, and already revealed the biggest surprises from our recent visit to Solace and The Moonlight Lounge.  I still wanted to write about a few of the reasons that made this one so memorable for me personally. 

For starters, we were given the story behind each dish. Take for instance the Sea and Smoke inspired by Chef Gordon’s high school track days when he and fellow pole-vaulters would head to the nearest convenience to make their own post-meet canapes. Now I like smoked oysters, mayo, and wheat thins as much as the next guy, but I’ll give the nod to this slightly more refined version with duck fat clam dip, lemon shallot chutney, and squid ink crisps alongside.

There were also a few ingredients, or rather forms of those ingredients, that I haven’t seen before – like chive crusted bone marrow in the Offally Interesting. I’ve had the traditional fat-jelly scooped from the bone, or crusted atop a steak, but these airy crisps of chive flavored marrow were completely new and my favorite by far. Confit sweetbreads, white onion-gruyere purée, and a consommé presented table-side completed this take on French Onion soup..a really, really, rich take that I hope I’ll see again.

Chef Gordon wasn’t the only one responsible for the evening’s menu. Sous Chef Billy Gieger came out to introduce his Curds and Whey which gave new meaning to “using the whole cow.”  Gieger made a caramelized reduction from the whey left over from the housemade ricotta roulade. Then paired it with a cayenne candied kombocha Squash, honey jelly, and vegetarian osteria on top…or diced olives if you’re boring. This is how to do a composed cheese course.

Yes this really happened, Uni-Laterally Banned. It would have been easy to rely uni and foie alone, but the shrimp corn fritter highlighted the sweetness from the two star players and took this one from being simply decadent to complimentary and composed.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the pairings from the other half of the Solace empire, beverage director Young-Mi Gordon. I only heard praise from a group notorious for bringing (and spilling) their own wine. My wine palate is amateur at best, but I did particularly like the Alameda Cream Sherry which was paired with the first dessert course, the Popper Bonilla

..as in surprise guest pasty wiz Jeff Bonilla. The only guy I absolutely trust to make a cauliflower pot de creme with brown butter cake, jalapeno caviar, whipped vanilla bean, bacon dust and a cheddar crisp taste amazing. The sweetness of the browned butter cake cut by the gelled jalapeno spice, texture and salinity from the cheddar crisp to contrast the rich custard base.  The ingredient list may appear busy, but the overall dish was focused and delicious.

It would be hard for me to do anything but commend such a generous and thoughtful menu, and that’s all I plan to do. I only hope the Solace team had half as much fun putting it together as our party did tasting it, and that maybe, just maybe we’ll see something like it again.

In November 2010, French cuisine was hailed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO as an “intangible heritage of humanity.” The UN’s cultural arm had been making the list since 2003, y gathering cultural practices from across countries it deemed worthy of preservation. France’s gastronomical tradition was included in the list for its emphasis on “togetherness, the pleasure of taste, and the balance between human beings and the products of nature.” Any restaurant in the world can whip up a boeuf bourguignon or a fillet mignon, but nothing beats experiencing that “pleasure of taste” in its original environment.
Partypoker.fr
A French food trip tour should always include the spa town of Enghiens Les Bains in one’s itinerary. Situated 13.4 kilometers from Paris, the town is never/ lacking in places visitors can go to but without the hustle and bustle of a city. The Hotel du Lac Enghiens Les Bains is popular for the relaxing view of the Lake Enghiens it affords guests. Built beside the lake, too, is the Casino Barriere, the oldest card and slot gaming accommodation in the Paris area. It houses the only slot machine room in Paris, with 488 slot machines. With 44 card dealing tables, the gaming hall of the casino is also the biggest in the country. This makes Casino Barriere a fitting venue for the 2013 World Poker Tour–Europe, which will be held in October. Poker, blackjack and roulette are all of French origins. Poker, for one, originates from its predecessor, the ancient French card game poque. It was brought to America by the French settlers in Louisiana. The card game played by originally four players became the game of choice in saloons and gaming houses in the 19th century. A century after that, poker has become the most popular card game in the world. In France, online poker sites like Partypoker.fr are becoming popular. The online poker sector attracted 1.7 million new players in 2012.

Like poker going online, the French favorites like pot a feu and veal blanquette are given a modern and healthy treatment by the chefs of Le 85 Restaurant and Bar inside the Grand Hotel Barierre with ingredients being posted online. Created with dieters in mind, the dishes in the menu are divided into categories: fit, figure and detox. Only the freshest ingredients are used for these “well-being” dishes.

The La Taverne is another restaurant in Enghiens Les Bains that is racking up excellent reviews. Guests often come back for the steak in blue cheese sauce, as well as for the aubergine and feta mille feuille. The strawberry tartare also won’t disappoint any sweet tooth. The price of the dishes is also something foodies would praise. You get an entire meal, from kir to dessert, costing only €27.

Even more talented than we thought! Check out Chef Aki from Akinori sushi on lead guitar with the Dojo Masters.

Let’s just hope this stays his side gig, we need those skilled hands for other things.

Eat N Park – not exactly my type of restaurant. For those unfamiliar with the Western PA chain, think Denny’s/Perkins with a better breakfast buffet. It’s a classic blue-collar chain turned late night hipster hang-out , well, the non food-snob ones at least. It was never a routine spot for me, but a very big part of growing up in the Pittsburgh area.They’re best known for their Smiley Cookies, which aren’t anything more than a standard, sometimes stale, frosted sugar cookie. So I was a bit surprised to be contacted about their new national mail order service. I was wondering why anyone would mail order these things.

Now I know. The smiley cookie service doesn’t use preservatives, and they have much better offerings than just the big-ass smiley guys. I had ever tried EnPs chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, so I wasn’t expecting much – I was wrong.
The chocolate chip were up there with the best I’ve had. Barely holding together.  Buttery, not oily,  tons huge semi-sweet chocolate chunks.
You know those over baked dry oatmeal cookies, studded with raisins pebbles? These are the opposite. Huge plump raisins in a soft slightly chewy oatmeal base.

I’m sure there are plenty of cookie companies out there with comparable quality, but if you’re looking for a nostalgic gift for a Western PA native, send them these.

Grade: B+

I was about to make a list of best meals just like last year, but when I started thinking about the best things I ate this year, I realized many of them came from otherwise pleasant but average meals, or weren’t complete meals at all. So here were my 12 best bites of 2012.

12. KirbieCravings Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Just look at them.

11. Yokohama Yakitori Koubou 3rd from the left – chicken cartilage
Foodieflirt and I had this month’s ago…we still routinely bring it up.

10. Georges California Modern TBL3 – Peas, lettuce, lemon
Want your kids to love vegetables? Introduce them to Trey Foshee

9. Century Eggs 
My favorite find from 99 Ranch. I have trouble keeping these in the house.

8. Akinori Sushi -Fried Amaebi Heads
Real Deal shrimp chips…and they’re entertaining.

7. Ariccia Market - Roasted Beet Agnolotti – Blue cheese, Beet Leaves, Pancetta, Pecorino
Bobby Pascucci make’s the best fresh pasta anywhere, and I’ve been lucky enough to have his complete dishes. 

6. Ariccia Market - Foie Torchon – Caramelized Apples, Grilled Green Onion, Cider Reduction. 
Not all torchon are created equal, this was the best I’ve had. It was as dense as rillettes but smooth as butter. I miss it.

5. Sky Room at La Valencia – Gourd - Chocolate, spice, streusel, chestnuts
Spongy Macaroons and a chocolate “no bake” cookie that reminded me of the fudge crunch layer from a DQ ice cream cake.  I’m upset to see Sky Room close, but very happy to know Chef Luke Johnson is hoping to stay in San Diego.

4. Urban Solace 5th year reunion party - Braised beef cheeks on cheddar biscuits.
The visual definition of comfort food.

3. *FoodieFlirts wedding reception at Georges Modern – Maine Lobster – vanilla poached apples, turnips, truffles, lobster emulsion.  
As great as this was, I I think my favorite course was the Chanterelle Stew, it’s just not nearly as photogenic.
*Best meal of the year

2. Spoon – Seared Foie + Short Rib – celery root puree, foie butter
From way back in January when I was still around Pittsbrugh. I ate some pretty great stuff, this remained one of the best. 

1. Jeff Bonilla’s - Watermelon, Prosciutto, Basil, Love & Break Dancing
Pastry chefs never get the recognition they deserve.  I’ve never had anything from Jeff Bonilla that hasn’t been outstanding. He’s one of the only chefs that I completely trust to make any combination of ingredients taste amazing. He’s another guy on the hunt for a new position in 2013, I’ll be making the trip to wherever he lands.

… and one to grow on. Oscar’s Mexican Seafood – all of it.
2012 started my relationship with Oscar’s. Yes, relationship. Amazing food and amazing people. Few things make me as happy as biting into a taco especial, except maybe alternating with a spoonful of fish stew. Of all the places I’ve mentioned, I guarantee Oscar’s will be the frequented of 2013.

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy New Year.

You may have seen Kim Severson’s latest NYT article on mislabeled fish prompted by the recent Oceana report, Widespread Seafood Fraud Found in New York City. The former is the more entertaining read, if you haven’t.

According to the report, 39 percent of the 142 seafood samples tested in New York City were mislabeled  This may seem alarming, but it’s not actually that surprising. It’s still less than the 42% from Boston, or the much more problematic 55% around LA.

So why is this happening? A number of reasons,  but most notably greed (over-fishing, deliberate mislabeling) and buyer/consumer ignorance.

This is why you find wholesalers you trust, ask about an establishment’s sourcing, and avoid those roll-factories calling themselves sushi restaurants. Most importantly, this is why you should educate yourself… or risk shitting your pants. I’ll explain.One of the examples given in the article was the mislabeling of 3 of my favorite fish as White Tuna. White Tuna or Shiro Maguro generally refers to Albacore. However, it’s often used as an umbrella term for anything Albacore/Ono (Wahoo)/Escolar

Real Ono is Wahoo (pictured above), but I often find something labeled Ono ends up being Escolar. They’re easy enough to confuse at first glance, so I’ve learned to ask (though I love them both).

but Albacore (left) vs. Escolar (right) that’s easy photo credit. If you can’t discern between the two, you deserve every bit of what may come.

“To be frankly and bluntly specific – and I’m sorry for this – consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea.”  -The Kitchen

Now before you swear off the deliciousness of Escolar entirely, realize this generally only happens when eaten to excess. The fish can’t metabolize certain wax esters found in their diet, and guess who that GI distress is passed on to? This guy.

Yes, it has happened to me.  Yes, I still risk it.  Yes it’s that good…just try to stay under 6oz.
Buyer beware, or rather, informed.

Who the hell is Quang Hong? Actually, I found out who it is. He’s the author of a popular fast-food blog, and obviously he isn’t me.  This post has been a long time coming, aside from truly horrible food writing, I don’t think anything bothers me more than shitty outreach from public relations accounts. 

The opening example wasn’t actually so bad. It’s no secret that these companies work from mass media lists, and send them out to tons and tons of addresses.  Although a quick look at my site would tell her I probably wouldn’t make the best Quiznos blogger, there was at least an incentive for participation.

Now, this one from Whole Foods was a truly poor example. In fact, it was so bad that I decided to respond.
I haven’t heard back…
I’m not going to pretend that positive exposure from my site alone will make or break a campaign, but in order to get a positive response from anyone there are a steps that can increase the chances:

Find out their name  - Make sure it’s the right one. I’d actually rather be called Quang than Rodney.
Look at their site  - Oh you read the title of my most recent post and thought it was “really interesting”? What else did you pretend to read?
Tell them why they’re content fits with the campaign - I was once contacted about hosting a girls night at Applebees – still not sure if I should be insulted or flattered. However, when King Oscar asked me to try out their line of Sardines,  they really didn’t even have to tell me why.
Offer an incentive –  publishing posts can take a considerable amount of work, and there is rarely an equal payout for the effort put in. That’s okay, I didn’t start my site in hopes of getting free stuff (though I may have if I knew about the girls night at Applebees) but PR account executives should be respectful of the amount of time put into these posts.

Feel free to offer your thoughts and experiences, I’m considering making this a routine topic. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a citrus showdown to prepare for.

I first set my sights on TBL3 nearly two and a half years ago. I can thank ChuckEats for spurring the initial interest and the countless reviews, articles, and even seeming criticisms that followed for making that interest so much stronger. Expectations can be built quite high in such an amount of time and despite my best efforts to moderate them, well it doesn’t matter..I didn’t need to. The actual visit was November 8th, so yes, I’ve let some time pass, but for this one  I wanted to see what I kept as the most memorable aspects of the meal. That’s not to say it wasn’t noteworthy in its entirety, but with fourteen courses I would rather focus on what I felt were the cornerstones of the experience, the most exciting or unexpected dishes, and the characteristics of TBL3 that will keep me coming back.

Beef Tongue – brandade cream, cherry tomatoes This dish was inspired by the Italian classic, Vitello Tonnato, but to make an even more familiar comparison (and do it little justice) imagine the best roast beef ever, but better. Thin slices kept the rich, melting tongue delicate enough to be paired with a full flavored brandade cream without feeling heavy in the least.

Peas – lettuce, lemon A subtle lemon foam  complimented the natural sweetness of perfectly textured peas in a creamy lettuce-pea puree. I doubt this dish was as simple to prepare as the presentation or name would imply, but it’s possible. When ingredients are foraged the very same day, their characteristics come through in a way that needs few accouterments.

Carrot – coffee, yogurt, carrot jam The tenth course, a point in most tastings reserved for heavier protein-focused dishes. To me, this felt like Chef Foshee’s way of saying, “Yes, vegetables really are a focus here.”

Foshee brought out a large clay planting pot where the carrots had been roasted in a soil of coffee, salt, star-anise, and egg white. After a table-side foraging, they were placed atop a house-made yogurt with its strong tangy flavor cut perfectly by inherently sweet purple carrot jam. I’ve enjoyed many vegetable courses, but few have changed the way I thought about them. Here it was the savory side of sweet, and anything but an afterthought.
 Lamb – Paella, squid, squid ink hollandaise, seaweed salad – With so many flavors present, I was unsure of how to best approach the final savory, and I still haven’t arrived at an answer. Every combination worked – including them all.  The expert preparation of each component was a great example of the kitchen’s skill,  and making all of them function as a cohesive dish – their  innovation.

Others in my party have penned complete course-by-course reviews, and I would encourage anyone to read them. I’ll also take the time to thank my friend, and TBL3 veteran Yao for  lending me his beautiful photos (full gallery below).

TBL3 really does showcase the best of San Diego. The cuisine would be expected, pairing this level of culinary skill with the quality local bounty is truly something special. But even the service has a much more relaxed and intimate familiarity. There is a perfectly efficient and free flowing interaction between the diners and the service team.  It’s more  personable, comfortable.

I opened by mentioning expectations, alluding to a failed attempt to moderate what I felt might be unreasonably high. I also noted that such attempts were unnecessary.  When I finally sat down to TBl3, I had pent-up over two years excitement. As I left and as I am writing this now, that excitement is still building.

Braised beef cheeks on warm cheddar biscuits during Urban Solace’s 5th year anniversary party. There is a reason people rave about both of these items, and the combination was one of the best things I’ve tasted this year.

Japanese eggplant, popes nose (chicken butt), chicken cartilage, and chicken heart yakitori from Yokohama Yakitori Koubou. My good friend FoodieFlirt agreed that the cartilage was a standout. Definitely will return.

Possibly the best oatmeal-raisin cookies I’ve ever had, and they were mail ordered…from Eat-n-Park. Really.

and of course, a lot, lot, lot of eating at Ogawashi.

I also finally made it to TBL3, and that post will be coming shortly. This was just to mention a few items I never got around to writing about, and to show I’m still kicking, or eating anyway.