The Eating Well
80% food, 20% other stuff - just like me
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, London
They've reinvented the lunch menu at L'Atelier. As well as two or three courses with or without paired wines there is now a four course variant for £40 which doubled the number of starters. All versions also come with an amuse to begin.
I had an amuse of foie gras with port wine reduction and parmesan foam followed by salmon carpaccio with apple and then ox check with celeriac purée and a side of carrots. Chocolate Tendance (aromatic chocolate mouse with Oreo cookie crumbs and chocolate sorbet closed the meal.)
The best bit? The new lunch menu is now about twice as long giving you even more dishes to choose from.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Michelin Star'd restaurants I've eaten in
New state of play below. 31 so far... up from 25 in 2010.
UK
One-star: L’Escargot, Northcote Manor, Nobu, Adlard’s, Room in The Elephant, Orestone Manor (now lost it),
Juniper (closed), One Lombard Street, Arbutus, Wild Honey, Tom Aitkens (now lost it), Rhodes 24, Auberge du Lac,
Dinner, Viajante.
Two-stars: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
USA
California two-stars I've eaten at: Aqua, Michael Mina, Manresa.
California one stars: Fleur De Lys, La Folie, Boulevard, The Plumed Horse, One Market.
Vegas one-star: Bradley Ogden, Mix, Mesa Grill, Restaurant Charlie, Aureole, Le Cirque.
Vegas two-stars: Picasso
The latest additions are Picasso and Aureole in Vegas.
Of the two I prefered Aureole but not by much. Aureole's inventiveness, with its parallel tasting menu delivering eight dishes in four courses (plus and extra dessert in our case) just tips it ahead of Picasso's brilliantly delivered but very conservative fare.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Asparagus Dog recipe
I'm not the first to come up with the idea of asparagus instead of franks in a hotdog but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of recipes for them online. This is the way I do it: the S.A.D or Stevenage Asparagus Dog.
Steam four thin asparagus stems per person/dog until done. Only you can judge what 'done' is for you. I cheat and do them in a microwave with a couple of spoonfuls of water for about 3 mins.
While you are doing this take a heaped 5ml spoonful of jalapeños and chop them fine.
Take a hotdog bun - I prefer wholewheat if you can find them - and cut a wedge from the top along the full length. Eat the wedge, you deserve it.
Upend the bun and press it flat on a hot plate or grill. Toast it until it starts to burn.
While the bun toasts heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and add the 4 thin asparagus and some fine chopped onion (or some spring onion for a sort of yakitori effect). Heat them for no more than a couple of minutes but on a high heat so they colour - I like mine to even burn a bit. Add salt or garlic salt to the pan.
Butter the bun with spreadable cheese - I prefer Laughing Cow - and then spread the chopped Jalapeño along the length of the bun. Then pile in the asparagus stems and onion.
You can add other relishes but I don't think that mustard goes that well with an asparagus dog. Green relish is ok. Other garnishes could include corn, diced tomato or fried peppers (fried until soft I'd say since your asparagus will probably have a good bit of crunch left in them).
One makes a good snack, two a meal.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Where have I been?
Ok you may not care about this. I figure no one has my blog set as their home page. But yes I've had something of a break. The quick version of why is: the app I use to update was broken after iOS 5 came out. The app, Blogpress had been brilliant so I waited for a fix. The developer posted a fix had been submitted. Not long to wait I thought. It didn't come that week. Or that month. In the end I waited two months before giving up and switching app.
So anyway, I'm back.
To celebrate here's a picture of some Heston chocolate tart with popping candy base. Yes, a rich, grown up chocolate cake made trashy with the dumbest of kid's candies. Brilliant.
So anyway, I'm back.
To celebrate here's a picture of some Heston chocolate tart with popping candy base. Yes, a rich, grown up chocolate cake made trashy with the dumbest of kid's candies. Brilliant.
Labels:
Heston tart
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Eggs + Cheese Wedges = Yum!
Cheese Boy, and Cheese Toasties in general
Grilled cheese is back, much like Laura Werlin's classic take on the subject, revised and reprinted for a new generation. Jonathan Kaplan, founder of now RIP PURE Digital (the US version, not the UK one which makes super radios) is moving from tech to cheese with his Melt chain (not to be mistaken for the Ohio chain, which predates it by several years).
Lunch vans are popping up in the USA from Los Angeles (The Grilled Cheese Truck) to Boston (check out Roxy's - you can spot them by their tattooed kid logo). Heck, you know it's mainstream when you find a grilled cheese speciality vendor in a mall food court.
I visited CheeseBoy in Boston's Prudential Centre. For just $2.99 you can get a basic, white cheese, toasted sandwich. Other fillings start from just 49 cents and more specialised sandwiches from $3.79. It's cheap - cheaper than a decent burger - tasty and a bit more novel than another pizza slice or sub.
However Boston's best grilled cheese for me was at Trident bookstore cafe on Newbury, where for $13 you can get a deluxe grilled cheese with provolone, tomato and bacon grilled between two thick slices of challah bread. Or go for soup and half a grilled cheese for $11.50. Yum. I'm off to turn the grill on...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Things I ate in Boston
Regina Pizzeria
Talk of secret crust, natural sauce, speciality cheese is all showmanship but the pizza itself is a Boston classic, around in one form or another since 1926. This pizza is like crack, be careful with it.

70s throwback Pepsi. Made with real sugar. Still tastes like Pepsi. Pepsi One is better IMHO.

Shio ramen and pork gyoza (described on the menu as ravioli, bless 'em) at Men Tei. Noodles a touch firm for me. A very Americanized product, which is a shame because there's plenty of authentic ramen places in North America now. Still enjoyable.

Uburger had a nice bit of theatre in the form of a little conveyor belt that carries you order the 10 feet or so from the grill to the cashiers. Burgers are build your own but I went for the simplest with just american cheese. Tasty, but not as good as Flat Burger in Cambridge.

At Flat Burger the fries are exceptional and quite unlike any of the big chains. The burger is juicy and the bun just the right degree of toasted. A big win in the space between the burger chains and the bigger ticket burger restaurants like 5 Napkins.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Talk of secret crust, natural sauce, speciality cheese is all showmanship but the pizza itself is a Boston classic, around in one form or another since 1926. This pizza is like crack, be careful with it.

70s throwback Pepsi. Made with real sugar. Still tastes like Pepsi. Pepsi One is better IMHO.

Shio ramen and pork gyoza (described on the menu as ravioli, bless 'em) at Men Tei. Noodles a touch firm for me. A very Americanized product, which is a shame because there's plenty of authentic ramen places in North America now. Still enjoyable.

Uburger had a nice bit of theatre in the form of a little conveyor belt that carries you order the 10 feet or so from the grill to the cashiers. Burgers are build your own but I went for the simplest with just american cheese. Tasty, but not as good as Flat Burger in Cambridge.

At Flat Burger the fries are exceptional and quite unlike any of the big chains. The burger is juicy and the bun just the right degree of toasted. A big win in the space between the burger chains and the bigger ticket burger restaurants like 5 Napkins.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tremont647, Boston

I've never heard of pork momos before. Turns out they are small pork buns fried to a chimichanga level of crispiness served with hot sauce and soy. They're also damn tasty.
Next up was huervos rancheros, a dish I've had many times but never as nice as here. Tender steak, perfect fried eggs, gently tomato-y rice.
Overall breakfast was so good I booked to come back later in the week for the chef's 5 course tasting menu, one of those surprise affairs where they ask if you have any allergies but otherwise you get what you're given. In my case that meant another momo as an amuse and the fried Brussel sprouts as a first course.
Next up is Tremont's take on the Boston classic: the lobster roll. Lobster is mixed with corn then wrapped in a fried pastry cone. I could have eaten a half dozen of these. So could you. You should fly to Boston now and eat these until you're sick. Yes, they're that good.
Hake is served topped with gently curling bonito on a bed of fragrant rice and sweet peas (plus a single, possibly rogue, green bean.) I'm starting to think that Tremont647 has a degree of expertise with Asian cuisine that most placed in Chinatown
would kill for.
I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I love an open kitchen and this place offers great drama in that respect. With just four chefs serving what I guess is approaching 60 covers (bar included) the kitchen is busy and gusts of flame attract the eyes (as do the funky serving staff congregating at the pass).
The last main course was a Bit less successful. Hanger steak on a spicy Lady of Guadalupe sauce was excellent. I was less keen that the dish, like the earlier lobster one, relied heavily on corn. And I was surprised at the inclusion of a blue cheese tater tot since I'd indicated at the start that the only thing I didn't eat was stinky cheese and I specifically said "nothing blue".
And that's the one issue I'd take with Tremont647. That it's undeniably high energy seems to translate to a degree of sloppiness. At breakfast they got my cheque wrong. Twice. At dinner they served me the one thing I asked them to avoid. Oh, it's not put me off. It's a lovely neighbourhood restaurant and I'll eat here again. But I'll expect them to fuck something up and that's a shame.
Dessert is pot de creme. I'm told that it's cream on top then "a couple spoonfuls down" I'll encounter salt and then butterscotch creme. In fact the salt is on top of the cream next to a mint leaf and delicious chocolate cookie. Overall the dish is really more-ish which is lucky since it's a epically generous dessert to end a five (+1) course meal.
So ok, Tremont647 is not perfectly polished. But if it was I suspect it would not be Tremont647. And, almost certainly, they would not be serving a menu this creative, generous and adventurous at just $45 for five courses. Heck, when I think about how little I paid here for how much talent and quality I wish I'd eaten here every night on this Boston trip.
(The author would like to note that although he was hit on during the course of this meal it did not in anyway affect his review.)
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5 Napkin Burger, Boston
Bostonians might sniff at this New York chain invading their city and despite the faux-meat packing district trappings the room might be over manicured and sterile but the burgers are unassailable. The signature 5 Napkin Burger is a hearty lunch with a fat perfectly cooked burger topped with aioli, caramelized onion, and not too much cheese in a soft, melt away bun. Recommended (by Tegel bear too).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Grill 23, Boston

It's been a couple of years since I last ate at Grill 23 but I acted tonight on the lesson I learned then, and which I'll now share with you: don't eat a starter, tempting as the raw bar is, don't order lots of sides, comforting as they are. Just order the biggest steak your wallet and stomach can stand and await to be transported to carnivore heaven. Boston is rich with steak places, Capital Grille is just blocks away and there's Mooo for those who want something less clubby. But really, why? Grill 23 is hard to beat for style or the quality of the steak.
So I went for the 24oz porterhouse, a steak for all seasons. It was a perfect medium rare and though I only ordered mash with it there was a scoop of tobacco onions on the plate and a token of greenery too. I just about got it all on me.

That said I did also manage to fit in a small cashew caramel tart which was rich, tasty and sensibly portioned.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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