chez panisse / 1517 shattuck avenue / berkeley ca / 510-548-5525 / reservations recommended (see reservation policy for hours) / 3-course prix fixe menu varies from $50-100 jessica wrote me in a letter that we were going to go out to chez panisse on youngsun’s […]
i went to blackbird last wednesday, and i have to say that i have mixed feelings about the visit. i had heard that it was really good midwestern-tinged fare from various sources (people on egullet also seem to like it), which typically would bode well. […]
This is a list of what my sister and I could remember from our dinner at Alinea. I thought there were 28 courses but we could only remember 24. So maybe it was 24 courses. At any rate here they are, probably in the wrong order:
i / Amuse-bouche: zucchini, mango, saffron, and chamomile
ii / Kudos for not only room-temperature (ie spreadable) butter, but two kinds of butter – goat’s milk and cow’s milk (I liked the cow’s milk better – it tasted like the cultured butter jessica and I made over IAP)
1 / Heart of Palm in five sections: vanilla pudding, fava bean with preserved lemon, garlic bulghur wheat with a garlic chip on top, prune puree, pumpernickel bread with black truffles (a note here: this was so much fun to eat! each piece was placed on a pedestal, and the way they tell you to eat the thing is to tip it back into your mouth as if you’re taking a shot) (more…)
alinea / 1723 north halsted / chicago il / 312-867-0110 / dinner wed-sun / reservations required / chef’s tour $195 or 12-course tasting menu $135 So now that the hottest day I have ever experienced in my life is over (104 degrees, felt like 110, […]
my fellow bat-cave (we call it the bat cave because we don’t turn the lights on) denizens are out at various meetings, so i’m playing music on my computer right now (k’s choice). music aside, i finally got paid at work, so i finally have […]
central kitchen / 567 massachusetts avenue / cambridge ma / 617-491-5599 / sun-wed 5:30-1am, thu-sat 5:30-2am / reservations accepted for parties of 6+ (recommended) / entrees moderately expensive ($18-25)
celina and i have been trying to make indian food together for approximately four months now. as we’ll be in different cities for the summer, we’ll have to postpone that dinner for a few more months. on the bright side, we did manage to make it out to dinner on moving day. having spent the entire day moving stuff from lmf and my sister’s apartment, i was absolutely gross and sweaty. despite this fact, we wandered into central kitchen, which i’ve always wanted to try, and which i never had until now.
the interior of the restaurant is much nicer than the outside, which is a bit drab and looks very much like a slightly rundown, community-type neighborhood place. or rather, not rundown, but well worn from a lot of use. the interior is mod in a welcoming kind of way, with a bar surrounded by tables. the tables are chrome with dents in them – you have to see them to like them as much as i do, probably. the lighting is fairly dim, but since the walls are in warm dark colors, it’s somehow just right to be completely flattering. we were sitting between the bar and the street entrance, but there’s also a back area next to the back of the bar that has these fantastic lighting fixtures that are part lightbulbs, part lit-up old wine bottles. (more…)
craigie street bistrot / 5 craigie circle / cambridge ma / 617-497-5511 / tu-thur 6-10pm, fri-sat 5:30-10:30pm, sun 5:30-10pm / reservations recommended / entrees expensive (dinner will run you $35-70) goodness! not that i really care, but i can assure you that after having been […]
i’m somewhat at a loss because i’ve gone from such a high level of production (final review) to nothing. well, if “nothing” means “eventual packing.” i feel as though i should be relaxing, but am finding it difficult to do because i’m still coming off […]
petit robert bistro, 468 comm ave, visited : 30 april (6pm), 1 may (6:30pm)
saturday.
the buzz on the restaurant was good. i had really just sent the review from the globe to french house because the restaurant’s manager is loic le garrec – the name of the doctor in “a la folie…pas du tout” (he loves me, he loves me not) if you remember it. if you don’t, or if you have no idea what i’m talking about, you should go rent this movie from the video store.
walking into the restaurant requires you to walk down a narrow set of concrete steps, which lead into a charming little restaurant that really seems to take you into a different world (in contrast to the collegiate/brownstone atmosphere of kenmore square). wait at the threshold, where oddly enough, the main coatrack is in the anteroom, offering free access to anyone, and you will theoretically be greeted by the hostess. we were greeted by the hostess, but apparently our coats were not deemed to be special enough to be hung on the coatrack indoors. oh well. (more…)
ah, studio or cooking: which one is more important? well, seeing as a review is not a negotiable thing, but cooking is, i went with studio. for the past three or four weeks. in return, my body feels like it’s on its last legs, coughing […]