...but in a good way.
Recently, we've had a renaissance in downtown Champaign. One of the key additions is the One, East Main complex. The house two restaurants that stand in contrast to one another. The first is a new branch of an old grease pit, MerryAnn's Diner. 24 hours, greasy eggs and burgers, moderate prices (though not necessarily cheap). However, on the adjacent corner of the complex is a very nice new restaurant, Jim Gould's. It's one of the few places in town where you get tablecloths and high quality food. I'm still not positive, but it may be the best restaurant in town. And really, it's relatively affordable. And more importantly, I think that the addition of Jim Gould's gives this town a legitimate chop house.
The floor is large, and there's a bit of a buzz to the place. The dark wood and dimmed lighting gives you a cozy feel. There's a fireplace that gives nice background, and the decor overall gives you the feeling that you're in a restaurant in a big city. However, one look at the prices on the menu reminds you that it's still central Illinois.
There are a few excellent openers at Jim Gould's. The steak tartare is generally excellent. There's a rich, garlicky taste to it, and the meat just feels fresh. The rock shrimp is an upgrade on popcorn shrimp. The light, crisp coating lets the shrimp, rather than a heavy breading, play the starring role. The oysters are also a fun way to start, and are always cold and fresh, and taste like a trip to the ocean. One appetizer that is a bit cliche is the ceviche, which just doesn't seem to carry a bright enough torch to make it worthwhile.
The soups are generally of high quality. The sausage and potato soup is always on the menu and is an excellent way to open a meal. A rich potato puree is accompanied by generous chunks of the italian sausage. For those of you who are fans of the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, this is sort of a fancy, upgraded version, that may be enough to serve as a meal for those with lighter appetites. However, I am still reminded that it's really hard to make a good bowl of red. The chili that I had last time was a disappointment - not enough texture to it, as a finely ground meat was used, rather than the coarse grind or fine dice that a good chili should have.
At lunch the sandwiches are always consistent, though nothing special comes to mind. What does conjure a nice memory are adding the wonderful onion rings as an a side. These onion rings have a nice thick batter, that almost gives it the feel and armoa of a fritter (or even a doughnut, actually). A nice splash of Cholula makes for really good eats. The pasta dishes are pretty standard fare and are available at lunch and dinner. One dish of note, though, is the portabella parmasean. This seems to be a winner that is a bit off the standard path. This provides a very nice alternative for our vegetarian friends (and dirty hippies for that matter).
Where Jim Gould's sets itself apart from the other places in town is with its chops. There is a 28 oz., bone-in Ribeye that is incredible. I don't know of any other place in town that uses aged beef that is as good as Gould's uses. Also, the pork chops are very tasty (though I'm not entirely sold on the cranberry-apple chutney that was used, as it seems to be a little too automatic, and could have been more inspired). While I haven't been able to try everything on the menu, there is still time, and I will attempt due dilligence at this task.
Desserts are also done well. There is a pastry chef on the premises, which generally bodes well. After all, my old comment remains - I can buy an Eli's Cheesecake as easily as they can. But having someone there doing things back there that I either can't or aren't willing to makes the difference for me. Highlights include a nice creme brulee and the cheesecake. I think that the winner of the bunch is the chocolate torte, which is a wonderfully dense, rich, but not too sweet creation. I like the idea of subtlety in dessert - the traditional American way is to just add sugar to make it better. With the torte, you let the dark chocolate play a role, and the sauces that are generally there for appearances sake actually enhance the dish.
Overall, the service at Gould's is always solid, if not excellent. The environment is upscale, but not stuffy. And the food is generally good. For the time being, I am impressed.
-foodgeek
Rating: 2 stars
Jim Gould's, (217) 531-1177. 1 E. Main St. (NE corner of Main and Neil) Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers - $6-$9; Soups - $4; Sandwiches - $7-$10; Pastas - $10-$14; Entrees - $12-$40+; Desserts - $5-$7.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Restaurant Review: Baccaro - Simple Sophistication
Baccaro is a relatively new (maybe 3 years old?) wine bar and restaurant in the heart of downtown Champaign. It's located on Walnut, between Cafe Kopi and Radio Maria. The decor is pretty modern, but relatively understated. Which is nice when compared to some attempts at being hip. It's usually dark inside, a little too much for my tastes, but I'm not as much into the romantic settings as the rest of the clientele may be. And I hear that it's a great place to take a date, though I'm not so sure that I want my dates to be into wine and fine dining. I think that I prefer my dates to be into fake ID's, cheap beer, and grinding to hip-hop music. But that's just me, and I'm a scumbag.
The wine list is largely from Italy (if not entirely - wasn't positive), and broken down by region. If you're not a wine connoisseur, your best bet is to ask the very helpful servers or bartenders. They'll point you in a good direction, and you'll get to try some good wines. But, really, I'm not a big wine guy. So, while the wines are a fun way to spend a few hours, I'll talk more about the food.
The food is solid. The portions are a little small, but the quality is high. Many local and/or organic ingredients. The menu changes probably every 2 months or so, as different items come into season. Overall, the food is lighter. You won't find many thick, heavy dishes, even as the seasons change from summer to winter.
There will always be a handful of appetizers, or small plates that run between $6 and $10. These are often small salads that would be great to split at the start of a meal. One of the highlights (which I believe is now off the menu ) is cured salmon, served with some potato crackers and poached quail eggs. The cured salmon was a little salty and a little smoky, but not overpowering. The potato crackers were really more like really thick cut chips, dried out, and then fried to a real crunch. The whole dish was a fun mix of flavors and textures, as the egg yolks ran over the salmon and potato. Another highlight was a duck confit salad, served with some fresh sweetcorn and tossed greens. Nothing transcendent, but just a mix of some nice ingredients, and a nice vinagrette.
There are also a few different soups that are served. You get a small bowl that runs about $5 or so. Last time around was an almond soup that was a bit of a miss. They just ground up almonds, rather than use almond flour to thicken the soup. The texture just didn't do it for me, nor did the flavor, which ran just a little plain. I was expecting aromatic, a little thick and smooth, and slightly sweet. Instead, I got something of a broth that had bits of almond, and was pretty plain in taste. Now, the previous time, I got a great green apple soup, so maybe it's hit and miss with the soups. Another regular item is the risotto of the day, which costs around $12. The last time I was there it was a great sausage and artichoke risotto. From my times there, the dish is always creamy, the rice cooked just right, and the seasonings are spot on.
The entrees also change quite a bit, but generally focus on fresh, in-season ingredients. They'll run somewhere between $17 and $25. The portions are small, but the food is generally of high quality. Last time, there was a wonderful pork shank dish served over smashed potatoes and some veggies. Incredibly tender meat, seasoned appropriately, was the highlight of the dish. I think that too many people focus on the "easy" cuts of meat - the loin and tenderloin. Large, lean, boneless cuts are easy to cook, but really lack the flavor of the fatter, more sinewy cuts that have those wonderful bones still in there.
Dessert also change frequently. Generally, you'll find a few relatively simple, light desserts like fruit tarts or a mascarpone cream with fresh fruit. The last time we went with a nice creme caramel as well as a pot de creme. Both were nicely done, though could have stood to be a bit richer, in contrast to the rest of the meal.
All in all, expect to spend in the area of $85 for a dinner for 2, which includes an appetizer, 2 entrees, a dessert, and 2 glasses of wine. I think that Baccaro is a place that would be nice to take a date who may know the difference. From what I've seen, the food is meant to be subtle. It would be sad to waste the experience on someone who may not catch the innuendo. A lot of the experience depends on the ambience. The place can become a little too noisy when the tables are filled up. I'd suggest that you go during the week, when it isn't as busy, and you're more likely to get some advice/conversation about the food and wine from the servers.
1.5 stars
-foodgeek.
The wine list is largely from Italy (if not entirely - wasn't positive), and broken down by region. If you're not a wine connoisseur, your best bet is to ask the very helpful servers or bartenders. They'll point you in a good direction, and you'll get to try some good wines. But, really, I'm not a big wine guy. So, while the wines are a fun way to spend a few hours, I'll talk more about the food.
The food is solid. The portions are a little small, but the quality is high. Many local and/or organic ingredients. The menu changes probably every 2 months or so, as different items come into season. Overall, the food is lighter. You won't find many thick, heavy dishes, even as the seasons change from summer to winter.
There will always be a handful of appetizers, or small plates that run between $6 and $10. These are often small salads that would be great to split at the start of a meal. One of the highlights (which I believe is now off the menu ) is cured salmon, served with some potato crackers and poached quail eggs. The cured salmon was a little salty and a little smoky, but not overpowering. The potato crackers were really more like really thick cut chips, dried out, and then fried to a real crunch. The whole dish was a fun mix of flavors and textures, as the egg yolks ran over the salmon and potato. Another highlight was a duck confit salad, served with some fresh sweetcorn and tossed greens. Nothing transcendent, but just a mix of some nice ingredients, and a nice vinagrette.
There are also a few different soups that are served. You get a small bowl that runs about $5 or so. Last time around was an almond soup that was a bit of a miss. They just ground up almonds, rather than use almond flour to thicken the soup. The texture just didn't do it for me, nor did the flavor, which ran just a little plain. I was expecting aromatic, a little thick and smooth, and slightly sweet. Instead, I got something of a broth that had bits of almond, and was pretty plain in taste. Now, the previous time, I got a great green apple soup, so maybe it's hit and miss with the soups. Another regular item is the risotto of the day, which costs around $12. The last time I was there it was a great sausage and artichoke risotto. From my times there, the dish is always creamy, the rice cooked just right, and the seasonings are spot on.
The entrees also change quite a bit, but generally focus on fresh, in-season ingredients. They'll run somewhere between $17 and $25. The portions are small, but the food is generally of high quality. Last time, there was a wonderful pork shank dish served over smashed potatoes and some veggies. Incredibly tender meat, seasoned appropriately, was the highlight of the dish. I think that too many people focus on the "easy" cuts of meat - the loin and tenderloin. Large, lean, boneless cuts are easy to cook, but really lack the flavor of the fatter, more sinewy cuts that have those wonderful bones still in there.
Dessert also change frequently. Generally, you'll find a few relatively simple, light desserts like fruit tarts or a mascarpone cream with fresh fruit. The last time we went with a nice creme caramel as well as a pot de creme. Both were nicely done, though could have stood to be a bit richer, in contrast to the rest of the meal.
All in all, expect to spend in the area of $85 for a dinner for 2, which includes an appetizer, 2 entrees, a dessert, and 2 glasses of wine. I think that Baccaro is a place that would be nice to take a date who may know the difference. From what I've seen, the food is meant to be subtle. It would be sad to waste the experience on someone who may not catch the innuendo. A lot of the experience depends on the ambience. The place can become a little too noisy when the tables are filled up. I'd suggest that you go during the week, when it isn't as busy, and you're more likely to get some advice/conversation about the food and wine from the servers.
1.5 stars
-foodgeek.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Site Update: New Location...
...same great service. Or least, the same service.
We're moving foodgeek to blogspot.
Updates soon.
-foodgeek
We're moving foodgeek to blogspot.
Updates soon.
-foodgeek
Friday, September 30, 2005
Kitchen Happenings: Changing Speeds
Wow, it's been a while. I promise that we'll get a few updates in. We've had some reviews sitting on the back burner: Baccaro, Jim Gould's, The Jolly Roger, The Great Impasta, Hickory River, and some others. We've had some nice food experiences over the last few months. We've just been way to busy with this whole PhD thing to get it down in print!
One thing of interest that's been happening in my kitchen is the back and forth between fast and slow cooking. I love the grill. There's nice smoky flavor and tenderness that comes from that whole quick cook, high temperature thing over charcoal. But there's also a place in my heart that yearns for slow cooked, braised, and stewed dishes.
So today, I want to talk about pork loin. Done two styles. One, this southwest, more Tex-Mex, spicy grill. The other, more of a Mexican style braised dish with a pseudo-mole type cooking liquid. The first comes from a little bruschetta party that I had. One of the three types that I made was this awesome Southwestern Pork Bruschetta, which had thinly sliced pork loin, topped with this spicy/sweet white bean, corn, and jalapeno salad. Just FYI, the other two types of bruschetta were the Mediterranean chicken bruschetta that I talked about in a July posting, as well as a fancy Salisbury Steak bruschetta.
THE HARE
For the Southwestern pork, start off with nice, thick pork chops. Maybe 3/4" or so. It's just easier to keep it juicy, and to get it to a nice medium on the grill if it's thicker. Too thin, and you're automatically looking at medium well or better. But, go with a dry rub of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, black pepper, Cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt. I didn't really measure, but just seasoned pretty aggressively on both sides of the meat after I had cut my pork chops. I have a garlic and chili infused olive oil that I make, so I used that to dress the pork chops before grilling, as well. The whole idea with oil is that it gets hotter than water, so that you can get the surface hotter when you apply that nice, direct heat. Grill until the chops are medium, and then let them rest for at least 5 minutes (which is probably the hardest part for me... I just want to eat!).
The salad topping for the pork is ultra simple. A large can of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of white beans, a bag of frozen corn (I'm sure that canned corn would be fine, too), a chopped onion, some chopped bell pepper, some cilantro, some green onion (which is very underrated, I believe), some jalapenos. Add a similar spice blend that you used for the pork, and some fresh squeezed lemon and lime, and you're in business. Just let everything sit for a couple of hours.
To serve, just have the grilled bread ready, slice the pork chops really thin, on the bias, and top with a little bit of the corn and bean salad. Instant hit. Nice, warm, tender pork, a nice cold salad with some of that contrasting texture that you get from the beans and corn and the crunchy veggies. Some sweet, some heat, and a lot of good times, really fast. I think that pork loin is a perfect cut for this dish. Tenderloin would make for too small of a slice. The other cuts that come to mind wouldn't be quite as good for this fast grill that I want.
THE TORTOISE
The other route is the slow route. Slow cooking. I was flipping through my cabinets and found some dried poblanos and other chilies sitting around. It was sauce time. So, into the pot goes some of that infused olive oil, and these dried peppers. As things were heating up, I got to thinking. And I ended up thinking mole. Obviously, not real mole, but my take on it. I've discovered that a little knowledge can be dangerous, but in some cases, it can also loosen up boundaries. I think that cooking is one of those places where you can loosen up boundaries, and bring in your own flair to some traditional methods and ingredients.
So after the peppers started to smoke up, in went some water and vinegar. Then ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, black pepper, chili powder, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, a bunch of garlic cloves, and a lemon, cut in half. I didn't have any stock laying around, otherwise that would've been better for the sauce - stock is always more flavorful than water. So, I just went with some beef bullion. At this point, I let everything simmer, and when I tasted, it was this awesome, smoky, tangy hot sauce. I almost just wanted to bottle it then and there. But the image eating a slow, braised dish later on changed my mind. And hot sauce is it's own column, as well.
I didn't have much in the way of dried fruits and nuts, but I did have some canned fruit laying around. So in went some canned peaches and canned pineapple. I dug around, and found some fresh tomatoes. A large onion, cut into eighths helped out the cause, too. So, all of this just starts to cook down into that nice liquid. As things begin to soften up, I decided to just be lazy. Immersion blender. I did let it cook to the point where everything was fork tender. And then, in went the immersion blender. Strain with a not-too-fine mesh strainer, and you're in business. Let things keep simmering. I added some chocolate (dark, if you have it), as well as some vanilla extract. A little sweet, a little smoky, a little tangy, a little spicy, a little creamy. All sots of tasty.
Now, with the pork loin, I think that you want to leave it relatively whole, but a couple of cuts will help the cooking process move along. Brown off the fatty parts, and then just pour enough of the mole sauce to cover. Cook it down on low heat for a few hours, and then try to break apart the meat with tongs. After it's broken up, let it cook in the sauce for a little longer so that the inner parts of the pork loin get some more flavor. You can just serve it with tortillas, or what we did was on a plate with steamed rice, topped with a warm black bean and corn salad. Again, just really good eats.
In retrospect, I regretted using the pork loin in the braised dish, though it was good. I think that it would've been better with a pork shoulder, or another more fatty, less "premium" cut. The meat would've been a little richer in flavor and a little juicier, I believe. And was it a real, traditional mole? No. But it was pretty good. Especially for a college apartment of two dudes in grad school. And with all of the extra sauce left over, there will be more braised dishes (chicken comes to mind... Coq au Mole?) as well as some enchiladas in the works.
Oh well. Hopefully this will make you guys experiment a little in the kitchen.
Some restaurant reviews will be up soon!
-foodgeek
One thing of interest that's been happening in my kitchen is the back and forth between fast and slow cooking. I love the grill. There's nice smoky flavor and tenderness that comes from that whole quick cook, high temperature thing over charcoal. But there's also a place in my heart that yearns for slow cooked, braised, and stewed dishes.
So today, I want to talk about pork loin. Done two styles. One, this southwest, more Tex-Mex, spicy grill. The other, more of a Mexican style braised dish with a pseudo-mole type cooking liquid. The first comes from a little bruschetta party that I had. One of the three types that I made was this awesome Southwestern Pork Bruschetta, which had thinly sliced pork loin, topped with this spicy/sweet white bean, corn, and jalapeno salad. Just FYI, the other two types of bruschetta were the Mediterranean chicken bruschetta that I talked about in a July posting, as well as a fancy Salisbury Steak bruschetta.
THE HARE
For the Southwestern pork, start off with nice, thick pork chops. Maybe 3/4" or so. It's just easier to keep it juicy, and to get it to a nice medium on the grill if it's thicker. Too thin, and you're automatically looking at medium well or better. But, go with a dry rub of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, black pepper, Cayenne pepper, cumin, and salt. I didn't really measure, but just seasoned pretty aggressively on both sides of the meat after I had cut my pork chops. I have a garlic and chili infused olive oil that I make, so I used that to dress the pork chops before grilling, as well. The whole idea with oil is that it gets hotter than water, so that you can get the surface hotter when you apply that nice, direct heat. Grill until the chops are medium, and then let them rest for at least 5 minutes (which is probably the hardest part for me... I just want to eat!).
The salad topping for the pork is ultra simple. A large can of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of white beans, a bag of frozen corn (I'm sure that canned corn would be fine, too), a chopped onion, some chopped bell pepper, some cilantro, some green onion (which is very underrated, I believe), some jalapenos. Add a similar spice blend that you used for the pork, and some fresh squeezed lemon and lime, and you're in business. Just let everything sit for a couple of hours.
To serve, just have the grilled bread ready, slice the pork chops really thin, on the bias, and top with a little bit of the corn and bean salad. Instant hit. Nice, warm, tender pork, a nice cold salad with some of that contrasting texture that you get from the beans and corn and the crunchy veggies. Some sweet, some heat, and a lot of good times, really fast. I think that pork loin is a perfect cut for this dish. Tenderloin would make for too small of a slice. The other cuts that come to mind wouldn't be quite as good for this fast grill that I want.
THE TORTOISE
The other route is the slow route. Slow cooking. I was flipping through my cabinets and found some dried poblanos and other chilies sitting around. It was sauce time. So, into the pot goes some of that infused olive oil, and these dried peppers. As things were heating up, I got to thinking. And I ended up thinking mole. Obviously, not real mole, but my take on it. I've discovered that a little knowledge can be dangerous, but in some cases, it can also loosen up boundaries. I think that cooking is one of those places where you can loosen up boundaries, and bring in your own flair to some traditional methods and ingredients.
So after the peppers started to smoke up, in went some water and vinegar. Then ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, black pepper, chili powder, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, onion powder, garlic powder, a bunch of garlic cloves, and a lemon, cut in half. I didn't have any stock laying around, otherwise that would've been better for the sauce - stock is always more flavorful than water. So, I just went with some beef bullion. At this point, I let everything simmer, and when I tasted, it was this awesome, smoky, tangy hot sauce. I almost just wanted to bottle it then and there. But the image eating a slow, braised dish later on changed my mind. And hot sauce is it's own column, as well.
I didn't have much in the way of dried fruits and nuts, but I did have some canned fruit laying around. So in went some canned peaches and canned pineapple. I dug around, and found some fresh tomatoes. A large onion, cut into eighths helped out the cause, too. So, all of this just starts to cook down into that nice liquid. As things begin to soften up, I decided to just be lazy. Immersion blender. I did let it cook to the point where everything was fork tender. And then, in went the immersion blender. Strain with a not-too-fine mesh strainer, and you're in business. Let things keep simmering. I added some chocolate (dark, if you have it), as well as some vanilla extract. A little sweet, a little smoky, a little tangy, a little spicy, a little creamy. All sots of tasty.
Now, with the pork loin, I think that you want to leave it relatively whole, but a couple of cuts will help the cooking process move along. Brown off the fatty parts, and then just pour enough of the mole sauce to cover. Cook it down on low heat for a few hours, and then try to break apart the meat with tongs. After it's broken up, let it cook in the sauce for a little longer so that the inner parts of the pork loin get some more flavor. You can just serve it with tortillas, or what we did was on a plate with steamed rice, topped with a warm black bean and corn salad. Again, just really good eats.
In retrospect, I regretted using the pork loin in the braised dish, though it was good. I think that it would've been better with a pork shoulder, or another more fatty, less "premium" cut. The meat would've been a little richer in flavor and a little juicier, I believe. And was it a real, traditional mole? No. But it was pretty good. Especially for a college apartment of two dudes in grad school. And with all of the extra sauce left over, there will be more braised dishes (chicken comes to mind... Coq au Mole?) as well as some enchiladas in the works.
Oh well. Hopefully this will make you guys experiment a little in the kitchen.
Some restaurant reviews will be up soon!
-foodgeek
Friday, July 22, 2005
Kitchen Happenings: Yogurt Cheese
Homemade Dairy Products - What Could Go Wrong?
So, right off of Good Eats on the Food Network, I tried to make my own yogurt and cheese. And you know what? It's really good. Basically, a fat free version of creme fraiche that is a clean board for you to flavor as you see fit. Basically, just work some warm milk into some yogurt, and let it ferment for a few hours. After it thickens up, let the curd and whey separate with a cheese cloth. This will take a few hours, but what you're left with is this nice, creamy, tangy soft cheese, which is excellent. If you use fat free yogurt and skim milk, you end up with fat free cheese. Very healthy.
The best part? Excessively versatile. You can adjust it to whatever you want. Some cucumber and spices make it go with gyros. You can add some dill and lemon zest and top it on salmon. Mix in garlic and herbs and spread it on bagel chips. Top it with honey to make a great strawberry dip. Just put it directly on tacos. Or flavor it however you like in place of flavored cream cheese or sour cream.
I don't know how useful this is for everyone else, but I like it
-foodgeek
So, right off of Good Eats on the Food Network, I tried to make my own yogurt and cheese. And you know what? It's really good. Basically, a fat free version of creme fraiche that is a clean board for you to flavor as you see fit. Basically, just work some warm milk into some yogurt, and let it ferment for a few hours. After it thickens up, let the curd and whey separate with a cheese cloth. This will take a few hours, but what you're left with is this nice, creamy, tangy soft cheese, which is excellent. If you use fat free yogurt and skim milk, you end up with fat free cheese. Very healthy.
The best part? Excessively versatile. You can adjust it to whatever you want. Some cucumber and spices make it go with gyros. You can add some dill and lemon zest and top it on salmon. Mix in garlic and herbs and spread it on bagel chips. Top it with honey to make a great strawberry dip. Just put it directly on tacos. Or flavor it however you like in place of flavored cream cheese or sour cream.
I don't know how useful this is for everyone else, but I like it
-foodgeek
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Kitchen Happenings: A Green Thumb?
Not a restaurant post, but just a general food posting by a college kid about having good food in a college environment on a college budget. Today's note? Fresh herbs.
One thing that I love is my little herb "garden." It's not so much a garden as it is a big, sturdy 15" plastic bowl with topsoil that sits on the railing of my apartment balcony. It's nice. Right now, I've got some basil, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, green onion, parsley, dill, and rosemary going strong. They each have their own little area in the bowl, which is just enough for what I need for my everyday cooking. I even had little 2 basil plants sprout out so I took them up and re-planted in little pots and I'll give them to my friends when they grow a little more.
So what am I doing with all of this? Well the first thing that I did was make a compound butter spread with the sage. Decided to get more flavor out of the sage, so I actually cooked the sage (chopped) along with some chopped garlic in olive oil under low heat for a while, and then let it cool before I mixed it with a small tub of butter. It's really tasty and spreads easily. I can actually just brush it on with a silicon scraper. Tonight's late dinner? Roasted vidalia onions (brushed a roasting pan with the sage butter, then salt and pepper) and cod fillets (salt and pepper on one side, then brushed with just a little bit of butter on both sides). Simple, tasty, and pretty healthy.
While the fresh herbs (particularly the basil) are great for the obvious, up-front uses (like with simple pizzas with fresh tomatoes or just finishing off dishes). They also add a great underlying taste. I had some extra mushrooms laying around, so I wanted to take a shot at some sort of mushroom pate or similar sort of thing. I decided on using softened cream cheese with some seasoning, but it wasn't quite right. So, a little trip out to the balcony gave me some chives, green onion, and parsley to chop up and work into my spread. Just a nice fresh, bright taste that balanced the earthy flavors from the mushrooms. A great topping for bruschetta.
Speaking of which, another great use for fresh herbs is in vinagrettes. Last week, I found half a jar of olives and some canned tomatoes that needed to be used up. So, into the blender they went. Fresh basil and green onion followed along with some red wine vinegar and olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Halfway through making the vinagrette, I had this thick puree. I made a thinner version for my salad that night, but I wanted to hang on to the thick sauce. It had a lot of potential for grilling as a marinade, so I tried it with chicken. And it worked. But where it was so much nicer was as a topping. I had left it in the fridge overnight, which let it get thicker (the olive oil sort of solidified, I think). I grilled up some bread, and put on a little bit of the mix (once it hit the bread, you could see the oil just melt and spread out a little), and then topping it all with some slices of grilled chicken breast and more of the topping. Excellent grilled chicken bruschetta. Nice bright flavor from the tomatoes, a good herb flavor with some richness from the olives and tang from the vinegar. Good stuff.
Anyway, I think that I'll be reporting a little more out of my kitchen and less from the restaurants (I need to shed about 20 pounds in the near future and about 40 pounds down the road). We'll see. I've got at least 2 writeups that need to get done for restaurants from a while ago. And there are a couple of places that deserve visits and writeups. We'll see how much I can stay away from the eateries
-foodgeek
One thing that I love is my little herb "garden." It's not so much a garden as it is a big, sturdy 15" plastic bowl with topsoil that sits on the railing of my apartment balcony. It's nice. Right now, I've got some basil, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, green onion, parsley, dill, and rosemary going strong. They each have their own little area in the bowl, which is just enough for what I need for my everyday cooking. I even had little 2 basil plants sprout out so I took them up and re-planted in little pots and I'll give them to my friends when they grow a little more.
So what am I doing with all of this? Well the first thing that I did was make a compound butter spread with the sage. Decided to get more flavor out of the sage, so I actually cooked the sage (chopped) along with some chopped garlic in olive oil under low heat for a while, and then let it cool before I mixed it with a small tub of butter. It's really tasty and spreads easily. I can actually just brush it on with a silicon scraper. Tonight's late dinner? Roasted vidalia onions (brushed a roasting pan with the sage butter, then salt and pepper) and cod fillets (salt and pepper on one side, then brushed with just a little bit of butter on both sides). Simple, tasty, and pretty healthy.
While the fresh herbs (particularly the basil) are great for the obvious, up-front uses (like with simple pizzas with fresh tomatoes or just finishing off dishes). They also add a great underlying taste. I had some extra mushrooms laying around, so I wanted to take a shot at some sort of mushroom pate or similar sort of thing. I decided on using softened cream cheese with some seasoning, but it wasn't quite right. So, a little trip out to the balcony gave me some chives, green onion, and parsley to chop up and work into my spread. Just a nice fresh, bright taste that balanced the earthy flavors from the mushrooms. A great topping for bruschetta.
Speaking of which, another great use for fresh herbs is in vinagrettes. Last week, I found half a jar of olives and some canned tomatoes that needed to be used up. So, into the blender they went. Fresh basil and green onion followed along with some red wine vinegar and olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Halfway through making the vinagrette, I had this thick puree. I made a thinner version for my salad that night, but I wanted to hang on to the thick sauce. It had a lot of potential for grilling as a marinade, so I tried it with chicken. And it worked. But where it was so much nicer was as a topping. I had left it in the fridge overnight, which let it get thicker (the olive oil sort of solidified, I think). I grilled up some bread, and put on a little bit of the mix (once it hit the bread, you could see the oil just melt and spread out a little), and then topping it all with some slices of grilled chicken breast and more of the topping. Excellent grilled chicken bruschetta. Nice bright flavor from the tomatoes, a good herb flavor with some richness from the olives and tang from the vinegar. Good stuff.
Anyway, I think that I'll be reporting a little more out of my kitchen and less from the restaurants (I need to shed about 20 pounds in the near future and about 40 pounds down the road). We'll see. I've got at least 2 writeups that need to get done for restaurants from a while ago. And there are a couple of places that deserve visits and writeups. We'll see how much I can stay away from the eateries
-foodgeek
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Restaurant Review: KO Fusion - Faulty Science?
Back in 1989 a couple of scientists named Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann out in Utah issued a huge press release. They had discovered cold fusion, or the ability to generate almost limitless energy at room temperatures. Of course, there was a huge backlash against cold fusion after attempts to replicate their discovery failed. Flash forward to spring 2005. The "science" of cold fusion was thrust back in the headlines after some scientists at UCLA were able to perform a very small scale experiment that supposedly suggests nuclear fusion is possible at ambient temperature. Is cold fusion "back"? Or had it never left? Or is this just a passing trend?
Who knows? But here in Champaign, the revitalization of the downtown area continued with the opening of
***insert drum roll here***
KO Fusion.
This is not to be confused with Konfusion. Or even Confucious. (Warning, politically incorrect comment coming up) Think of it as someone with an Chinese, Korean, or Japanese accent trying to say, "cold fusion."
The restaurant looked pretty cool, chic, and trendy. Think dark lighting, stainless steel environment, and splashes of color here and there coming from alternative light sources. It looks a little cliche, but in Champaign, that's still about 10 years ahead of the game.
So, a couple of weeks ago Darren and I ventured out for a taste of the new, trendy spot. We got outside seating, and the server was pleasant. Overall, the server did a great job. She got us drinks very promptly, checked on us at the right intervals. There was a minor mix-up when the kitchen forgot one of our appetizers, but she corrected that very quickly. So, a thumbs up for the server. Now the manager doesn't get quite as high marks, and we'll talk about that later.
The food looked like it had potential. There was a sushi bar, as well as a kitchen, so that was promising. I figured that I could try to introduce Darren into sushi a little at a time. We opened up with a sushi platter and a couple pieces of toro (fatty tuna) and uni (sea urchin). We started with the more luxurious items first. I still haven't been able to really appreciate toro as much as I should. It just doesn't really carry any more flavor for me than regular tuna. Now uni is a different story. I describe it as the fois gras of the ocean. You get this addictingly rich, creamy texture that tastes like a visit to the beach, without the Coppertone. The rest of the sushi platter was solid, though nothing spectacular. Everything tasted fresh and of a good quality, but there wasn't anything different than going to any of the other older, more traditional places here in town.
Now, I know that sushi isn't supposed to be a huge rice ball, but the amount of rice here was just a little bit too small. I've been to some places that just overwhelm you with the amount of rice they put into their sushi, which isn't good. But there's something in between which is hard to find, apparently.
So, we took a little break after the sushi and just hung out, enjoying the night breeze and the pretty girls at the next table (okay, okay... I enjoyed the pretty girls at the next table; Darren has a girlfriend and isn't allowed to look at other girls). This was when the night took a turn for the... well, different.
Champaign-Urbana is still a pretty rural town, once you take away the university and the tech industry that has been brought in by the university. You still have more trailer parks than condos. And of course, some of the locals want to wander and check out that new place. Which generally is fine. But when your outside, people don't think that they don't have to use their "inside voices." And when a restaurant is trying to sell a 30% premium based on ambiance, it makes for a pretty annoying situation. We had a table that looked that they had just gotten done at the bowling alley and needed some more Coors before they headed home. We had another guy get into an argument with some stranger off of the street that almost evolved into a fistfight. And during all of this, no one from the restaurant came out to apologize, though our server did come out with a smile and a little joke for us.
But, we survived and continued with our tasting menu. Next up was an order of the baby octopus salad and an order of the pan fried shrimp cakes. The octopus salad was tasty (a little sweet, a little sour, a little spice, a little crunch, a little chew - just nice), though the octopus was shredded, rather than left whole, which would've been awesome. The shrimp cakes were also solid. Served over some greens, topped with a sweet chili sauce.
The entrees that we went with were the sweetcorn and duck confit risotto and the the stir fried veggies and soba noodles with scallops and shrimp. Again, both were solid dishes. The seafood stir fry had good crisp veggies, really solid seafood, soba noodles that were cooked well. The sauce was a little bland (tasted like standard Oyster Sauce like you would get in beef and broccoli at the local takeout joint). But overall solid. The risotto was creamy and rich, with little sweet bits of corn, though the duck was a little bland. This dish needed some more salt (or better yet, some grated parmaseano reggiano on there).
Of course, this sort of begs the question, "Where's the fusion?" I didn't see any dishes that took Western techniques into Asian foods, or vice versa. There's a lot of potential in this area for food that's genuinely different, but still of high quality. How cool would beef bulgogi/Wellington have been? Or how about sun-dried tomato and Sichuan peppercorn cream sauce over soba noodles? Or Coq au Sake? How about teppanyaki steak over daikon frites? I think that my little brainstorm has potential.
KO Fusion's desserts sounded rather plain - different ice creams (green tea, red bean, mango, etc.) for the most part. We drew a pass on that. Again, there was a lack of fusion (or at least to the depths that I was hoping for). A green tea creme brulee would have been interesting. Red bean and white chocolate moon cakes could be a real winner. Frozen lychees stuffed with marzipan cream have me just wondering why desserts need to be so boring.
At KO Fusion, there was a good looking menu that had dishes from different parts of the world. Of course, so do TGI Friday's and Applebee's. The place has only been running for about a month or so. We'll give it some more time before we try it again. But for now, there's an incomplete. I think that there's potentially 1 or 1.5 stars to be given out here down the road, if they clean some things up, remove the confusion, and find the fusion in KO Fusion.
-foodgeek
Who knows? But here in Champaign, the revitalization of the downtown area continued with the opening of
***insert drum roll here***
KO Fusion.
This is not to be confused with Konfusion. Or even Confucious. (Warning, politically incorrect comment coming up) Think of it as someone with an Chinese, Korean, or Japanese accent trying to say, "cold fusion."
The restaurant looked pretty cool, chic, and trendy. Think dark lighting, stainless steel environment, and splashes of color here and there coming from alternative light sources. It looks a little cliche, but in Champaign, that's still about 10 years ahead of the game.
So, a couple of weeks ago Darren and I ventured out for a taste of the new, trendy spot. We got outside seating, and the server was pleasant. Overall, the server did a great job. She got us drinks very promptly, checked on us at the right intervals. There was a minor mix-up when the kitchen forgot one of our appetizers, but she corrected that very quickly. So, a thumbs up for the server. Now the manager doesn't get quite as high marks, and we'll talk about that later.
The food looked like it had potential. There was a sushi bar, as well as a kitchen, so that was promising. I figured that I could try to introduce Darren into sushi a little at a time. We opened up with a sushi platter and a couple pieces of toro (fatty tuna) and uni (sea urchin). We started with the more luxurious items first. I still haven't been able to really appreciate toro as much as I should. It just doesn't really carry any more flavor for me than regular tuna. Now uni is a different story. I describe it as the fois gras of the ocean. You get this addictingly rich, creamy texture that tastes like a visit to the beach, without the Coppertone. The rest of the sushi platter was solid, though nothing spectacular. Everything tasted fresh and of a good quality, but there wasn't anything different than going to any of the other older, more traditional places here in town.
Now, I know that sushi isn't supposed to be a huge rice ball, but the amount of rice here was just a little bit too small. I've been to some places that just overwhelm you with the amount of rice they put into their sushi, which isn't good. But there's something in between which is hard to find, apparently.
So, we took a little break after the sushi and just hung out, enjoying the night breeze and the pretty girls at the next table (okay, okay... I enjoyed the pretty girls at the next table; Darren has a girlfriend and isn't allowed to look at other girls). This was when the night took a turn for the... well, different.
Champaign-Urbana is still a pretty rural town, once you take away the university and the tech industry that has been brought in by the university. You still have more trailer parks than condos. And of course, some of the locals want to wander and check out that new place. Which generally is fine. But when your outside, people don't think that they don't have to use their "inside voices." And when a restaurant is trying to sell a 30% premium based on ambiance, it makes for a pretty annoying situation. We had a table that looked that they had just gotten done at the bowling alley and needed some more Coors before they headed home. We had another guy get into an argument with some stranger off of the street that almost evolved into a fistfight. And during all of this, no one from the restaurant came out to apologize, though our server did come out with a smile and a little joke for us.
But, we survived and continued with our tasting menu. Next up was an order of the baby octopus salad and an order of the pan fried shrimp cakes. The octopus salad was tasty (a little sweet, a little sour, a little spice, a little crunch, a little chew - just nice), though the octopus was shredded, rather than left whole, which would've been awesome. The shrimp cakes were also solid. Served over some greens, topped with a sweet chili sauce.
The entrees that we went with were the sweetcorn and duck confit risotto and the the stir fried veggies and soba noodles with scallops and shrimp. Again, both were solid dishes. The seafood stir fry had good crisp veggies, really solid seafood, soba noodles that were cooked well. The sauce was a little bland (tasted like standard Oyster Sauce like you would get in beef and broccoli at the local takeout joint). But overall solid. The risotto was creamy and rich, with little sweet bits of corn, though the duck was a little bland. This dish needed some more salt (or better yet, some grated parmaseano reggiano on there).
Of course, this sort of begs the question, "Where's the fusion?" I didn't see any dishes that took Western techniques into Asian foods, or vice versa. There's a lot of potential in this area for food that's genuinely different, but still of high quality. How cool would beef bulgogi/Wellington have been? Or how about sun-dried tomato and Sichuan peppercorn cream sauce over soba noodles? Or Coq au Sake? How about teppanyaki steak over daikon frites? I think that my little brainstorm has potential.
KO Fusion's desserts sounded rather plain - different ice creams (green tea, red bean, mango, etc.) for the most part. We drew a pass on that. Again, there was a lack of fusion (or at least to the depths that I was hoping for). A green tea creme brulee would have been interesting. Red bean and white chocolate moon cakes could be a real winner. Frozen lychees stuffed with marzipan cream have me just wondering why desserts need to be so boring.
At KO Fusion, there was a good looking menu that had dishes from different parts of the world. Of course, so do TGI Friday's and Applebee's. The place has only been running for about a month or so. We'll give it some more time before we try it again. But for now, there's an incomplete. I think that there's potentially 1 or 1.5 stars to be given out here down the road, if they clean some things up, remove the confusion, and find the fusion in KO Fusion.
-foodgeek
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Restaurant Review: Tracks - Going to the Other Side
The other side of the tracks was usually a term that described the poor neighborhoods that were situated near railroads. It always carried a negative connotation - poor, dangerous, and not us. Even today, you see some remnants of truth in this term. Here in good ol' Champaign-Urbana, there's a train track that runs parallel to and just north of University Ave. To the south, the beautiful brick buildings of the U.'s world renowned engineering campus. To the north? Largely African-American residential neighborhoods. Some of them are government subsidized. Others are just normal middle class housing. But it's definitely the other side of the tracks for most of the students here at the U.
So why is this little nugget here at Foodgeek?
Well, there's a new bar/restaurant in town, called Tracks that is situated, appropriately enough, right by those railroad tracks, in the heart of downtown Champaign. Tracks has gotten the Foodgeek seal of approval, which was sort of surprising, given the biases that I had going in. The major thing was the location. While the old train station is a cool place to have a bar, it had been empty for the last couple years. Also, this is on a corner without a lot of parking, and multiple bars between the majority of parking spots and Tracks. I'd figure that a lot of peple would just park, and as they started to walk to Tracks, just stop off somewhere along the way and sort of forget about getting to their original destination.
But, I figured that I had to visit the place so I could get a decent review in here, and I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. So much so, that I've actually gone back a couple times to sample a little more. They actually have a pretty large menu - a handful of entrees, probably 15 or so sandwiches, a few different salads, a handful of appetizers, and a few surprisingly good desserts. You don't go to sports bars for dining experiences, but you do go for good portions, reasonable prices, and solid food. Tracks does this well.
I haven't gone after the entrees, yet, but have sampled a good number of the appetizers and sandwiches. The one conclusion that I've come to is that frying isn't as easy as you may figure. You see so many places get it wrong. Limp french fries. Heavy onion rings. Burnt food in general. Happily, I am very impressed at how Tracks gets this very simple act down well. The calamari was crispy and fun to eat. (who doesn't like eating the tenticles? Communists, I bet). The frog legs, while being a little fishy, were fried just right in a nice batter. I think that the one surprising fried treat was the potato cheese puffs. While not really a puff, but rather little fried pucks of hash brown and cheese casserole, it was so darned addicting.
Of course, for those who are somewhat health conscious, they have plenty of non-fried options. For those of you into the soup and salad sort of thing, Tracks delivers surprisingly well for a bar/grill. The onion soup isn't earth shattering, but it's solid - how can you go wrong with onion soup, a crouton and a layer of melted cheese? The chili is also good - not the absolute best in town, which would probably have to go to Crane Alley, but this is a solid effort. The salads are generally well executed, though not revolutionary. The oyster and spinach salad is very good. Slices of egg and red onion accompany cornmeal breaded oysters atop a surprisingly tender spinach salad that's dressed with a very tasty bacon vinagrette (think German potato salad dressing). The balsamic steak Caesar salad is also done well. Thin slices of grilled steak, go on top of romaine tossed in a balsamic Caesar dressing. Rich and tangy, and a little changeup from the usual effort.
The sandwiches are generally ample in size and are solid fare. The southern-style catfish was excellent. A nice cornmeal breading that was crunchy and seasoned just right covered an incredibly tender catfish fillet. With all due respect to my old friends at the Seaboat, this is probably the best southern style fish sandwich in town. The burger was a solid effort, though not transcendent. They also serve a muffuletta that is probably the best fascimilie of the New Orleans classic within 100 miles.
The desserts at Tracks draw an incomplete, for now. The banana bread pudding is excellent - caramel and pecans top a creamy bread pudding made from banana bread, all served warm. Very rich and decadent. The chocolate cobbler has been spotty. I describe is as being a medium rare brownie, topped with a chocolate crumb topping, a la mode. I'm still not sure if I like it. It's rich, warm, and chocolatey. It's also messy, and perhaps a little too sweet, and not enough of the chocolate's depth is brought out. The first time, it came looking like a mound of chopped up flourless chocolate cake, topped with a scoop of vanilla. You couldn't really tell what it was. For not, we'll just leave it as an incomplete.
Of course, that is not to say that there weren't any misses. As mentioned before, the frog legs were a little bit on the fishy side and the meat was somewhat bland (though it was fried well). The other obvious miss was the chicken wings, oddly enough. They were seasoned pretty well, but they were tiny. And that made them a little bit tough. Considering that they cost more than my catfish sandwich, it was disappointing when the server brought them out.
The other miss is in the service. The servers were all friendly, and seemed competent enough at first. But then you look around. The first thing that you'll notice is that Tracks is a pretty big place, with a good sized patio. And on the nights that I've been there, the crowds have been somewhat sparse. While I'm not all that concerned about seeing and being seen, I am concerned about this for a different reason. You end up with spotty service. Servers get bored when they don't have enough customers, so they hang out at the bar and chat with each other. So, oddly enough, if a server had 4 tables, I'd get a visit every 10 minutes or so, if I'm the only table, there's a good chance that I'll see my server only about 15 or 20 minutes. Which is fine when I'm not needing anything. But when I need another drink or a condiment that was forgotten, then it becomes annoying. I think that we may have caught our server on a bad night, but she dropped glasses on two separate occasions, which sort of jarred our attention. But she was pleasant enough to joke about it with us later when she came back to the table. One thing to note about the patio - trains actually run by every so often, so you'll be distracted then. Also, sometimes they're passenger trains, that will actually stop and let the passengers out to stretch and get some fresh air (and the engineers to use the bathroom and to get a scotch and soda). One time on the patio, some of the passengers came out, and started chatting with us while we were out on the patio. Now, I sort of dig that randomness, but that may note be the most appealing thing for everyone, so this is fair warning.
So, no stars offered to Tracks, yet. It's only been open a month, and it's still working out the kinks. We'll see what happens with the entrees. I think that if they're solid, a little tweak of the menu and a little emphasis on service, you could have a quality 1 or 1.5 star grill on our hands. Which is more than what you'd expect to find on the other side of the tracks.
-foodgeek
So why is this little nugget here at Foodgeek?
Well, there's a new bar/restaurant in town, called Tracks that is situated, appropriately enough, right by those railroad tracks, in the heart of downtown Champaign. Tracks has gotten the Foodgeek seal of approval, which was sort of surprising, given the biases that I had going in. The major thing was the location. While the old train station is a cool place to have a bar, it had been empty for the last couple years. Also, this is on a corner without a lot of parking, and multiple bars between the majority of parking spots and Tracks. I'd figure that a lot of peple would just park, and as they started to walk to Tracks, just stop off somewhere along the way and sort of forget about getting to their original destination.
But, I figured that I had to visit the place so I could get a decent review in here, and I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. So much so, that I've actually gone back a couple times to sample a little more. They actually have a pretty large menu - a handful of entrees, probably 15 or so sandwiches, a few different salads, a handful of appetizers, and a few surprisingly good desserts. You don't go to sports bars for dining experiences, but you do go for good portions, reasonable prices, and solid food. Tracks does this well.
I haven't gone after the entrees, yet, but have sampled a good number of the appetizers and sandwiches. The one conclusion that I've come to is that frying isn't as easy as you may figure. You see so many places get it wrong. Limp french fries. Heavy onion rings. Burnt food in general. Happily, I am very impressed at how Tracks gets this very simple act down well. The calamari was crispy and fun to eat. (who doesn't like eating the tenticles? Communists, I bet). The frog legs, while being a little fishy, were fried just right in a nice batter. I think that the one surprising fried treat was the potato cheese puffs. While not really a puff, but rather little fried pucks of hash brown and cheese casserole, it was so darned addicting.
Of course, for those who are somewhat health conscious, they have plenty of non-fried options. For those of you into the soup and salad sort of thing, Tracks delivers surprisingly well for a bar/grill. The onion soup isn't earth shattering, but it's solid - how can you go wrong with onion soup, a crouton and a layer of melted cheese? The chili is also good - not the absolute best in town, which would probably have to go to Crane Alley, but this is a solid effort. The salads are generally well executed, though not revolutionary. The oyster and spinach salad is very good. Slices of egg and red onion accompany cornmeal breaded oysters atop a surprisingly tender spinach salad that's dressed with a very tasty bacon vinagrette (think German potato salad dressing). The balsamic steak Caesar salad is also done well. Thin slices of grilled steak, go on top of romaine tossed in a balsamic Caesar dressing. Rich and tangy, and a little changeup from the usual effort.
The sandwiches are generally ample in size and are solid fare. The southern-style catfish was excellent. A nice cornmeal breading that was crunchy and seasoned just right covered an incredibly tender catfish fillet. With all due respect to my old friends at the Seaboat, this is probably the best southern style fish sandwich in town. The burger was a solid effort, though not transcendent. They also serve a muffuletta that is probably the best fascimilie of the New Orleans classic within 100 miles.
The desserts at Tracks draw an incomplete, for now. The banana bread pudding is excellent - caramel and pecans top a creamy bread pudding made from banana bread, all served warm. Very rich and decadent. The chocolate cobbler has been spotty. I describe is as being a medium rare brownie, topped with a chocolate crumb topping, a la mode. I'm still not sure if I like it. It's rich, warm, and chocolatey. It's also messy, and perhaps a little too sweet, and not enough of the chocolate's depth is brought out. The first time, it came looking like a mound of chopped up flourless chocolate cake, topped with a scoop of vanilla. You couldn't really tell what it was. For not, we'll just leave it as an incomplete.
Of course, that is not to say that there weren't any misses. As mentioned before, the frog legs were a little bit on the fishy side and the meat was somewhat bland (though it was fried well). The other obvious miss was the chicken wings, oddly enough. They were seasoned pretty well, but they were tiny. And that made them a little bit tough. Considering that they cost more than my catfish sandwich, it was disappointing when the server brought them out.
The other miss is in the service. The servers were all friendly, and seemed competent enough at first. But then you look around. The first thing that you'll notice is that Tracks is a pretty big place, with a good sized patio. And on the nights that I've been there, the crowds have been somewhat sparse. While I'm not all that concerned about seeing and being seen, I am concerned about this for a different reason. You end up with spotty service. Servers get bored when they don't have enough customers, so they hang out at the bar and chat with each other. So, oddly enough, if a server had 4 tables, I'd get a visit every 10 minutes or so, if I'm the only table, there's a good chance that I'll see my server only about 15 or 20 minutes. Which is fine when I'm not needing anything. But when I need another drink or a condiment that was forgotten, then it becomes annoying. I think that we may have caught our server on a bad night, but she dropped glasses on two separate occasions, which sort of jarred our attention. But she was pleasant enough to joke about it with us later when she came back to the table. One thing to note about the patio - trains actually run by every so often, so you'll be distracted then. Also, sometimes they're passenger trains, that will actually stop and let the passengers out to stretch and get some fresh air (and the engineers to use the bathroom and to get a scotch and soda). One time on the patio, some of the passengers came out, and started chatting with us while we were out on the patio. Now, I sort of dig that randomness, but that may note be the most appealing thing for everyone, so this is fair warning.
So, no stars offered to Tracks, yet. It's only been open a month, and it's still working out the kinks. We'll see what happens with the entrees. I think that if they're solid, a little tweak of the menu and a little emphasis on service, you could have a quality 1 or 1.5 star grill on our hands. Which is more than what you'd expect to find on the other side of the tracks.
-foodgeek
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Restaraunt Review: Antonio's - Thick or Thin?
Now pizza can be a dicey thing, particularly on a college campus. The University of Illinois is no different. Certainly, we have our share of national chains. We have a couple places that make good thin crust (Jupiter's comes to mind) and a place that makes a good deep dish or stuffed pie (Papa Del's is the exemplar here). And there are the "college" pizza places where cardboard, ketchup, and cheap cheese served warm passes for pizza. Of course, this isn't to say that I haven't ordered a 3 pound calzone from one of these places at 2:30am for $6 delivered. But what I haven't really had out here is a good slice of New York-style pizza here. Being a kid who spent his late teenage years near Albany, NY, it's definitely been something that I've missed.
And now there's been a change. We have a new pizza joint in Campustown. I can actually get a reasonable replication of New York-style pizza here on campus. So with that, welcome, Antnoio's. What's wonderful about Antonio's is that it's open late. Until after the bars close. And it's right in the heart of campus. That right there gives it syle points in a college town. Add in the fact that you can get a huge slice (1/8th of a 24" pie is a meal for many folks) for $1.50, and you're golden.
It's pretty fun to go in there. First, you see this big white board that lists out like 30 different pizzas. Next you notice that they have racks of like 30 pre made pizzas ready to go. You go into line, and call out what you want (or just point to the examples that are on the counter), and they go and grab a slice that's already made, and run it through an oven to warm and crisp it up while you go pay. It's a little different, a little louder, a little less civil, and a little more salt of the earth. If you're not ready to go, someone who is will call out what they want. They'll have a few guys working during the rushes so it's not like you'll lose out with the Soup Nazi and get sent back to the end of the line. It's more like working on the floor of the stock exchange. You may miss your shot now, but it'll come again shortly.
As for the pizza itself? Well, it all starts with the crust. You can watch the guys hand stretch the dough, and even let gravity do the work. You see a ball of dough turn into this huge sheet of soon-to-be pizza. What I didn't see was them toss the dough into the air. Which I'm just fine with. I think that most pizza guys will acknowledge that the toss is really more for the show than for the dough. It looks good, but doesn't really help anything.
Then, a ladle full of sauce goes on, and is spread out over the dough. And they get it right. There's enough so that you can feel the sauce (and not eat the pizza too quickly for fear of losing a layer of skin from the top of your mouth), but not so much that it oozes out of the slice when you bite in. The sauce is solid, though not spectacular. I doubt that it's made in house, but it serves its purpose.
The layer the top with cheese, and whatever toppings are needed for a particular pizza. As for the toppings, Antonio's has a blend of old school and new school. You can get all of the traditional toppings, or just a nice slice of cheese. Or, you can get some more "gourmet" toppings for a little more (they do a pretty good version of margherita (tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella, make some good pesto pizzas, and white pizzas). They also do some interesting theme pizzas like a steak burrito pizza where instead of sauce, there is a layer of bean, cheddar, some rice, tomatoes, peppers, and steak. Now, no pad thai or peking duck pizza, so we haven't gone California, yet, which is good for a college place.
So how does it taste? Wonderful. The crust is crispy and still chewy. The sauce does it's job as an accomplice. The cheese is ample, but not overwhelming. The rest of the toppings can be overwhelming, but only if you want to order it that way It's nice now you get this huge slice of pizza, fold it over at the corners of the crust, and just start eating it from the point. No silverware needed. Here's the thing. If you want something simple and traditional, go with just a slice of cheese, pepperoni, sausage, or tomato. It'll give you the feel of what New York-style is. Then branch out and try some different topping combos.
With 30+ varieties, I haven't gone with them all, yet. But I am happy to report that so far, I've had no bad experiences, and have really enjoyed the BBQ steak pizza (steak, cheddar, bacon, onion on BBQ sauce) and the Meatcravers (sausage, pepperoni, beef, bacon, etc., etc. on red sauce) when I need to indulge the carnivore. The neapolitan pizza (spinach, tomato, feta on red) was also a good bet when I felt the need to pretend to eat vegetables.
Now some traditionalists will hold that you should only have cheese, or something traditional like the margherita. I'm much more liberal in my interpretation. Happily, Antonio's allows for both conservative and liberal thinking in pizza. They're a uniter, not a divider. After all, you can't really go wrong with stopping in, grabbing a slice or two, and not breaking the bank while getting a good meal. Particularly when it takes me back to my time back East.
-foodgeek
And now there's been a change. We have a new pizza joint in Campustown. I can actually get a reasonable replication of New York-style pizza here on campus. So with that, welcome, Antnoio's. What's wonderful about Antonio's is that it's open late. Until after the bars close. And it's right in the heart of campus. That right there gives it syle points in a college town. Add in the fact that you can get a huge slice (1/8th of a 24" pie is a meal for many folks) for $1.50, and you're golden.
It's pretty fun to go in there. First, you see this big white board that lists out like 30 different pizzas. Next you notice that they have racks of like 30 pre made pizzas ready to go. You go into line, and call out what you want (or just point to the examples that are on the counter), and they go and grab a slice that's already made, and run it through an oven to warm and crisp it up while you go pay. It's a little different, a little louder, a little less civil, and a little more salt of the earth. If you're not ready to go, someone who is will call out what they want. They'll have a few guys working during the rushes so it's not like you'll lose out with the Soup Nazi and get sent back to the end of the line. It's more like working on the floor of the stock exchange. You may miss your shot now, but it'll come again shortly.
As for the pizza itself? Well, it all starts with the crust. You can watch the guys hand stretch the dough, and even let gravity do the work. You see a ball of dough turn into this huge sheet of soon-to-be pizza. What I didn't see was them toss the dough into the air. Which I'm just fine with. I think that most pizza guys will acknowledge that the toss is really more for the show than for the dough. It looks good, but doesn't really help anything.
Then, a ladle full of sauce goes on, and is spread out over the dough. And they get it right. There's enough so that you can feel the sauce (and not eat the pizza too quickly for fear of losing a layer of skin from the top of your mouth), but not so much that it oozes out of the slice when you bite in. The sauce is solid, though not spectacular. I doubt that it's made in house, but it serves its purpose.
The layer the top with cheese, and whatever toppings are needed for a particular pizza. As for the toppings, Antonio's has a blend of old school and new school. You can get all of the traditional toppings, or just a nice slice of cheese. Or, you can get some more "gourmet" toppings for a little more (they do a pretty good version of margherita (tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella, make some good pesto pizzas, and white pizzas). They also do some interesting theme pizzas like a steak burrito pizza where instead of sauce, there is a layer of bean, cheddar, some rice, tomatoes, peppers, and steak. Now, no pad thai or peking duck pizza, so we haven't gone California, yet, which is good for a college place.
So how does it taste? Wonderful. The crust is crispy and still chewy. The sauce does it's job as an accomplice. The cheese is ample, but not overwhelming. The rest of the toppings can be overwhelming, but only if you want to order it that way It's nice now you get this huge slice of pizza, fold it over at the corners of the crust, and just start eating it from the point. No silverware needed. Here's the thing. If you want something simple and traditional, go with just a slice of cheese, pepperoni, sausage, or tomato. It'll give you the feel of what New York-style is. Then branch out and try some different topping combos.
With 30+ varieties, I haven't gone with them all, yet. But I am happy to report that so far, I've had no bad experiences, and have really enjoyed the BBQ steak pizza (steak, cheddar, bacon, onion on BBQ sauce) and the Meatcravers (sausage, pepperoni, beef, bacon, etc., etc. on red sauce) when I need to indulge the carnivore. The neapolitan pizza (spinach, tomato, feta on red) was also a good bet when I felt the need to pretend to eat vegetables.
Now some traditionalists will hold that you should only have cheese, or something traditional like the margherita. I'm much more liberal in my interpretation. Happily, Antonio's allows for both conservative and liberal thinking in pizza. They're a uniter, not a divider. After all, you can't really go wrong with stopping in, grabbing a slice or two, and not breaking the bank while getting a good meal. Particularly when it takes me back to my time back East.
-foodgeek
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Kitchen Happenings: Chinese Ingredients
We're going to go away from restaurant reviews today, and take a peek into the happenings in my own kitchen. I think that I'm starting to feel a little guilty about my lack of ethnicity. Let me explain. In class, I've learned about how people identify themselves with their ethnicity to different degrees. Some are really gung-ho about it. I guess that I barely acknowledge that I'm Chinese (or Taiwanese - see? I don't even care about the distinction). A little while back, my friend Sarah noted that if she were to describe me, "Chinese wouldn't be in the top 5 things." And I couldn't agree more.
But darned if I'm not craving Chinese food more and more. At least neo-Middle American/Chinese-college-food. Because that's what I can pull off here in Champaign-Urbana.
My kitchen goes through phases. I have something that I like in a restaurant, or I read a neat article in NYT, or I see a neat show on the Food Network. And then I'm inspired to figure out how this cooking deal works. I've gone through classical French phases, Southwestern phases, braising phases, seafood phases, fried food phases, among many others. Recently, I've been on an Iron Chef kick. And I'm becoming more intrigued with Chinese food. Iron Chef Chen is a badass. And I want to be like him when I grow up. I've got some Szechuan heritage, so this should be in my genes.
I'm looking at how I can make dishes that aren't "name" dishes like MaPo Tofu, General Tso's Chicken (even if it's American), or Peking Roast Duck. Those have some reference point, that I'm not particularly wanting to recreate. I want to figure how I can take readily available ingredients and turn it into 1-star quality food on the fly. How am I doing it? I'm looking back at my youth.
I didn't get along so great with Chinese food back in the day. My mom made a few stellar dishes and a lot of good ones. Problem is, my young (and at the time, sensitive) palate disagreed with some of the ingredients. I never liked tofu (and I'm still not fond of it, really), fermented black beans, and other things, so lots of the condiments just never made it for me. Well, people grow up and so do tastes.
I'm now on a quest to re-discover the fundamentals of Chinese food. I want to know what's beyond Oyster Sauce or Sweet and Sour sauce. I'll give some updates as I venture more into the kitchen. Today's update? Playing around with ingredients.
I went into Am-Ko (the local Asian grocery) to get a bag of rice and some other odds and ends. That was when inspiration hit. I walked out of there with (among other things) spicy chili bean sauce, fermented bean curd, and ja jiang (jiang means "sauce", ja means fried) which is a sauce that's sort of sweet and pungent, made from bamboo, beans, and other things, fried up in a not-too spicy chili oil.
Spicy bean sauce is a very stock ingredient in Chinese cooking. And I've never owned a bottle of it. I had always made do with other ways of spicing up the food. I had always been missing something. Spicy bean sauce adds kick and depth to the flavor. There's a rich, almost earthy heat that comes through when you use it.
Another ingredient is the femented bean curd. It looks very intimidating. Essentially, it's 8 cubes of fermented tofu that's sitting in a salty, somewhat spicy brine. And it's incredible tasting. It doesn't add any real heat to food, but it gives a salty, and earthy taste to dishes that you just can't get with soy sauce. All the things that I had been missing out on.
One thing that you find in Asian food is this interplay of sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter, and everything else, all in one dish. How it all comes together is with some flavors that inherently span multiple boundaries. In western cooking, we tend to like things compartmentalized. We like different layers of the same theme. Asian cooking seems to throw that out the window, and encourage a holism.
So what did I do with this new found power? 2 things. The first was creating a dish that I called "fire dumplings." Essentially, I made a batch of pot stickers (sauteeing uncooked dumplings for a bit, before adding just a bit of water and covering to let everything steam and cook), and then instead of just making a dipping sauce, I decided on making a sauce and then coating the dumplings with the sauce in the pan, so you get a little carmelization going, and a little reduction of the sauce to concentrate the flavor.
What was the sauce? Well, you'll have to forgive me. I never measure, unless someone is watching. It was a little bit of my three newly found ingredients, some sambal (an American-made, Indo-inspired, garlic-chili sauce), a little soy, some ketchup, a little sugar, and some lemon juice. Just a couple of teaspoons over the dumplings, a few tosses in the pan, and bam! A prime-time appetizer. One of these days, I'll get the inspiration to actually make my own appetizers, but until then, I'll just stick with my favorite frozen ones.
The other dish was a late-night comfort food craving. Noodles in spicy broth. I had made this chicken stock I knew that I was going to be cooking with it, so I was fine with boiling the heck out of the bones, and then just filtering out whatever big bits were floating around. This was a pretty standard broth - flavored with bullion, sage, rosemary, and pepper. Nothing remotely Asian about it. But it's there for flavor. And meat flavor is international.
So what went into the broth? Some more of my new found ingredients, some soy, and some sa cha sauce - another spicy sauce, this time seafood based, in chili oil. Some chinese noodles cooked up, and into the broth it goes. Some veggies and chunks of braised beef would have made this a meal, but I was just looking for some quick food. The noodles soaked up the spicy liquid, and I got to slurp them up - almost like street food in Shanghai. Only I got to make it.
At some point, we'll dig up some ingredients to make some more variations on "traditional" Chinese food. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. And don't let me forget to make a note of this awesome polenta dish that I made (not Chinese, but entirely awesome).
-foodgeek
But darned if I'm not craving Chinese food more and more. At least neo-Middle American/Chinese-college-food. Because that's what I can pull off here in Champaign-Urbana.
My kitchen goes through phases. I have something that I like in a restaurant, or I read a neat article in NYT, or I see a neat show on the Food Network. And then I'm inspired to figure out how this cooking deal works. I've gone through classical French phases, Southwestern phases, braising phases, seafood phases, fried food phases, among many others. Recently, I've been on an Iron Chef kick. And I'm becoming more intrigued with Chinese food. Iron Chef Chen is a badass. And I want to be like him when I grow up. I've got some Szechuan heritage, so this should be in my genes.
I'm looking at how I can make dishes that aren't "name" dishes like MaPo Tofu, General Tso's Chicken (even if it's American), or Peking Roast Duck. Those have some reference point, that I'm not particularly wanting to recreate. I want to figure how I can take readily available ingredients and turn it into 1-star quality food on the fly. How am I doing it? I'm looking back at my youth.
I didn't get along so great with Chinese food back in the day. My mom made a few stellar dishes and a lot of good ones. Problem is, my young (and at the time, sensitive) palate disagreed with some of the ingredients. I never liked tofu (and I'm still not fond of it, really), fermented black beans, and other things, so lots of the condiments just never made it for me. Well, people grow up and so do tastes.
I'm now on a quest to re-discover the fundamentals of Chinese food. I want to know what's beyond Oyster Sauce or Sweet and Sour sauce. I'll give some updates as I venture more into the kitchen. Today's update? Playing around with ingredients.
I went into Am-Ko (the local Asian grocery) to get a bag of rice and some other odds and ends. That was when inspiration hit. I walked out of there with (among other things) spicy chili bean sauce, fermented bean curd, and ja jiang (jiang means "sauce", ja means fried) which is a sauce that's sort of sweet and pungent, made from bamboo, beans, and other things, fried up in a not-too spicy chili oil.
Spicy bean sauce is a very stock ingredient in Chinese cooking. And I've never owned a bottle of it. I had always made do with other ways of spicing up the food. I had always been missing something. Spicy bean sauce adds kick and depth to the flavor. There's a rich, almost earthy heat that comes through when you use it.
Another ingredient is the femented bean curd. It looks very intimidating. Essentially, it's 8 cubes of fermented tofu that's sitting in a salty, somewhat spicy brine. And it's incredible tasting. It doesn't add any real heat to food, but it gives a salty, and earthy taste to dishes that you just can't get with soy sauce. All the things that I had been missing out on.
One thing that you find in Asian food is this interplay of sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter, and everything else, all in one dish. How it all comes together is with some flavors that inherently span multiple boundaries. In western cooking, we tend to like things compartmentalized. We like different layers of the same theme. Asian cooking seems to throw that out the window, and encourage a holism.
So what did I do with this new found power? 2 things. The first was creating a dish that I called "fire dumplings." Essentially, I made a batch of pot stickers (sauteeing uncooked dumplings for a bit, before adding just a bit of water and covering to let everything steam and cook), and then instead of just making a dipping sauce, I decided on making a sauce and then coating the dumplings with the sauce in the pan, so you get a little carmelization going, and a little reduction of the sauce to concentrate the flavor.
What was the sauce? Well, you'll have to forgive me. I never measure, unless someone is watching. It was a little bit of my three newly found ingredients, some sambal (an American-made, Indo-inspired, garlic-chili sauce), a little soy, some ketchup, a little sugar, and some lemon juice. Just a couple of teaspoons over the dumplings, a few tosses in the pan, and bam! A prime-time appetizer. One of these days, I'll get the inspiration to actually make my own appetizers, but until then, I'll just stick with my favorite frozen ones.
The other dish was a late-night comfort food craving. Noodles in spicy broth. I had made this chicken stock I knew that I was going to be cooking with it, so I was fine with boiling the heck out of the bones, and then just filtering out whatever big bits were floating around. This was a pretty standard broth - flavored with bullion, sage, rosemary, and pepper. Nothing remotely Asian about it. But it's there for flavor. And meat flavor is international.
So what went into the broth? Some more of my new found ingredients, some soy, and some sa cha sauce - another spicy sauce, this time seafood based, in chili oil. Some chinese noodles cooked up, and into the broth it goes. Some veggies and chunks of braised beef would have made this a meal, but I was just looking for some quick food. The noodles soaked up the spicy liquid, and I got to slurp them up - almost like street food in Shanghai. Only I got to make it.
At some point, we'll dig up some ingredients to make some more variations on "traditional" Chinese food. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. And don't let me forget to make a note of this awesome polenta dish that I made (not Chinese, but entirely awesome).
-foodgeek
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Restaurant Review: BoBo Mandarin - Drop It Like It's Hot (Pot)
This will differ slightly from other restaurant reviews. This is more of a review of an experience - the restaurant could be any Chinese restaurant that offers the service.
Some things often get Lost in Translation, and food is no different. Today's topic? Hot Pot. Or, Chinese Fondue. By buddy Darren and I have this weekly ritual where every Wednesday night we catch up on life and gorge ourselves on food. In fact, many of my reviews are based on my adventures with Darren. And tonight was another night where we ate enough for 4, and loved every second of it. Tonight, we were going to have Hot Pot at BoBo Mandarin over on 4th St. in Campustown.
Hot Pot or Fire Pot would be the literal translation of the dish that is somewhat common throughout Taiwan and China. The beauty of this dish is that it's really good for all seasons. In the hot summer months, you'll see people in China eating hot pot at midnight, when it's still warm and muggy out. The spicy food helps you sweat and cool off. In the cold winter months, it's quintessential comfort food. Hot, spicy, rich broth, used to cook your favorite meats and vegetables, that warms you inside and out.
Basically, it's an electric burner (or a portable gas burner) with a big, wide pot on top. You fill up the pot with this spicy broth, bring it up to a boil, and then you eat. You eat it all family style, everyone cooking their own food. So what do you eat? Anything you want. First thing into the broth was vegetables. These would slowly cook and release some flavor. Spinach, napa, carrots, Chinese turnips, whatever you had on hand. Today we just chose spinach.
As this cooked down, you'd each make your sauce bowl. You'd add whatever sort of spicy seasonings that you had. Start with some soy. Add some Bull's Head Barbecue sauce (Asian barbecue sauce that's very different from what you'd expect), some spicy bean curd, maybe some garlic or chili oil, and crack an egg in there to give it all a little texture. They also brought out some pickled mustard plant, a peanut sauce, and some MSG for us, if we wanted to use it, but we didn't.
Once the pot comes back to a low boil, you can start cooking meats. Today, we had beef, squid, beef meatballs, and shrimp. It was pretty awesome. The shrimp were whole shrimp with the heads still on. They were a little hard to peel (white shrimp usually are), but the flesh had a sweet taste to it that worked well with the spicy dipping sauce. The beef was just thinly shaved (I believe) round steak. Basically, you just dip it into the boiling broth for a second, and it's cooked to a perfect medium. The squid is probably the most interesting. Now, if you slice open a squid, and cut it into pieces, you'll find that it curls up when you cook. Now, if you were to score the meat with cross hatches, you'll see this really neat pattern emerge as the flesh is cooking. It's almost artistic.. And it creates more surface area to cook faster and pick up more flavor. The only downer was the meatballs. Now these Asian meatballs are intended to be a almost chewy and bouncy, but the ones that we got were ridiculous. It's not the cook's fault - they just buy them frozen. But I was used to ones that had a different texture, so that was sort of a miss today.
After you cook the meat and eat the vegetables, you can finish off the meal by cooking some rice vermicelli. The noodles cook quickly and soak up all of the flavor of of the broth, which has been further enhanced with the cooking of the meats and vegetables. You then add the noodles and some of the broth to your dipping sauce, which becomes like a spicy noodle soup. Add on a poached egg, and you've got yourself an indulgent way to cap off a fun meal.
Of course, this is not for those in a hurry. This is meant to be a place and time to converse, to catch up, and to slowly enjoy a meal. After all the food's been eaten, you'll still have a pot of broth, which you can sip on leisurely as you chat into the night. While the food is very simple, it's the ritual and the experience that makes hot pot so wonderful. It's something where the meaning may be lost on someone not looking for it. This isn't fast food. This is something worth taking a few extra minutes to experience, so that you don't lose anything in the translation.
The damage? After tax and our usual 20% tip, it came to just over $36. And we ate enough for 4. This is a relatively inexpensive way to really have a good time with a bunch of friends in a very interactive meal. The thought of being with friends, sitting in the street on a warm and muggy night, lingering into the early hours, sipping on that spicy broth just makes me grin.
-foodgeek
Some things often get Lost in Translation, and food is no different. Today's topic? Hot Pot. Or, Chinese Fondue. By buddy Darren and I have this weekly ritual where every Wednesday night we catch up on life and gorge ourselves on food. In fact, many of my reviews are based on my adventures with Darren. And tonight was another night where we ate enough for 4, and loved every second of it. Tonight, we were going to have Hot Pot at BoBo Mandarin over on 4th St. in Campustown.
Hot Pot or Fire Pot would be the literal translation of the dish that is somewhat common throughout Taiwan and China. The beauty of this dish is that it's really good for all seasons. In the hot summer months, you'll see people in China eating hot pot at midnight, when it's still warm and muggy out. The spicy food helps you sweat and cool off. In the cold winter months, it's quintessential comfort food. Hot, spicy, rich broth, used to cook your favorite meats and vegetables, that warms you inside and out.
Basically, it's an electric burner (or a portable gas burner) with a big, wide pot on top. You fill up the pot with this spicy broth, bring it up to a boil, and then you eat. You eat it all family style, everyone cooking their own food. So what do you eat? Anything you want. First thing into the broth was vegetables. These would slowly cook and release some flavor. Spinach, napa, carrots, Chinese turnips, whatever you had on hand. Today we just chose spinach.
As this cooked down, you'd each make your sauce bowl. You'd add whatever sort of spicy seasonings that you had. Start with some soy. Add some Bull's Head Barbecue sauce (Asian barbecue sauce that's very different from what you'd expect), some spicy bean curd, maybe some garlic or chili oil, and crack an egg in there to give it all a little texture. They also brought out some pickled mustard plant, a peanut sauce, and some MSG for us, if we wanted to use it, but we didn't.
Once the pot comes back to a low boil, you can start cooking meats. Today, we had beef, squid, beef meatballs, and shrimp. It was pretty awesome. The shrimp were whole shrimp with the heads still on. They were a little hard to peel (white shrimp usually are), but the flesh had a sweet taste to it that worked well with the spicy dipping sauce. The beef was just thinly shaved (I believe) round steak. Basically, you just dip it into the boiling broth for a second, and it's cooked to a perfect medium. The squid is probably the most interesting. Now, if you slice open a squid, and cut it into pieces, you'll find that it curls up when you cook. Now, if you were to score the meat with cross hatches, you'll see this really neat pattern emerge as the flesh is cooking. It's almost artistic.. And it creates more surface area to cook faster and pick up more flavor. The only downer was the meatballs. Now these Asian meatballs are intended to be a almost chewy and bouncy, but the ones that we got were ridiculous. It's not the cook's fault - they just buy them frozen. But I was used to ones that had a different texture, so that was sort of a miss today.
After you cook the meat and eat the vegetables, you can finish off the meal by cooking some rice vermicelli. The noodles cook quickly and soak up all of the flavor of of the broth, which has been further enhanced with the cooking of the meats and vegetables. You then add the noodles and some of the broth to your dipping sauce, which becomes like a spicy noodle soup. Add on a poached egg, and you've got yourself an indulgent way to cap off a fun meal.
Of course, this is not for those in a hurry. This is meant to be a place and time to converse, to catch up, and to slowly enjoy a meal. After all the food's been eaten, you'll still have a pot of broth, which you can sip on leisurely as you chat into the night. While the food is very simple, it's the ritual and the experience that makes hot pot so wonderful. It's something where the meaning may be lost on someone not looking for it. This isn't fast food. This is something worth taking a few extra minutes to experience, so that you don't lose anything in the translation.
The damage? After tax and our usual 20% tip, it came to just over $36. And we ate enough for 4. This is a relatively inexpensive way to really have a good time with a bunch of friends in a very interactive meal. The thought of being with friends, sitting in the street on a warm and muggy night, lingering into the early hours, sipping on that spicy broth just makes me grin.
-foodgeek
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Restaurant Review: Manzella's - It is What it is
What it is is one of the most cliche lines that's going around right now. And it describes Manzella's perfectly. If you're looking for some quality Italian-American food in Champaign, I'd point you out to Manzella's. This place is sort of cool, in an old-school sort of way. It's a little dark inside. There are a few wall decorations, though nothing gaudy. They have these empty chianti bottles hanging on the walls, too, which actually is surprisingly interesting on the eyes. It's sort of cramped seating, but it's what you expect when you go into a mom and pop Italian joint.
I've been there a few times, and I've never been disappointed. You don't go into a place like this looking for fine dining. You look for a quality meal at a reasonable price. You want some nice comfort food, a basket of warm bread, and a place to catch up with friends over a good meal. You're not there to transcend the boundaries of foie gras and white truffles. You're there to enjoy a plate of rich, red sauce over layers of noodles and meat and cheese. Manzella's does not disappoint.
So here's the scoop - the bread service is good. They bring out warm, crusty bread that's really tasty. You can make a meal out of just the bread and the olive oil that they bring to the table. Again, nothing fancy - just pretty standard EVOO (for you Rachel Ray fans... both of you), some of the Parmesan out of a bottle, and black pepper not freshly ground, and good ol' table salt. But it's darned good. You don't need special olive oil, fresh Parmesan, freshly ground pepper, and magical sea salt for a good dipping sauce. Making do what you have can be really enjoyable sometimes. This is one of those times.
Every entree includes a soup or salad. Again, nothing special, though the house Italian is pretty tasty - a little sour and tangy, and sort of fun. The manicotti is always good, though every once in a while they don't sauce it quite enough and the pasta dries out slightly on the edges. The lasagna is solid and darned tasty. The spaghetti is generally just par, but then again, when was the last time you really had an experience eating just plain spaghetti? The marinara is just chunky enough so that you know that you know it's there, but not so much that you think that you're eating a tomato dish.
As always, I added on a side of meatballs and a side of Italian sausage. Manzella's passed with flying colors. The sausage order was actually 2 decent sized links, that were grilled up with just a little bit of char. It was meaty, it was juicy, and it was tasty. I don't think that they made it themselves, but it was still good enough. The meatballs were homemade, and they were really good. Meaty, with just enough of the filler in there to make it tender.
Now one thing to avoid is the pizza. We tried to make an appetizer out of it. It didn't work. The toppings were pretty ample, and the sausage on the pizza was definitely good. Unfortunately, the crust was not. Think crunchy cracker-like crust. Dense and like a saltine in taste. In my mind, a thin pizza crust should have a little crisp and a little chew. There was no give to this stuff at all. We'll just be a little smarter and just stick with the bread service, in lieu of the pizza.
We didn't even try the desserts. Two reasons - 1) we were stuffed and couldn't handle it, and 2) nothing was made in-house. I figure that I can get an Eli's cheesecake as well as anyone else, and add a few dabs of whipped cream and some sauce or other.
Again, if you go into Manzella's with a friend, looking for a nice plate or tortellini and some nice bread and a good conversation, you won't be disappointed. At least not in the food. It is what it is.
-foodgeek
Rating: 0.5 star
Manzella's Italian Patio (217) 352-7624; 115 S. First St (west side of 1st, just south of University). Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $3 - $6; Pizzas: $6 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $12; Entrees: $12 - $20.
I've been there a few times, and I've never been disappointed. You don't go into a place like this looking for fine dining. You look for a quality meal at a reasonable price. You want some nice comfort food, a basket of warm bread, and a place to catch up with friends over a good meal. You're not there to transcend the boundaries of foie gras and white truffles. You're there to enjoy a plate of rich, red sauce over layers of noodles and meat and cheese. Manzella's does not disappoint.
So here's the scoop - the bread service is good. They bring out warm, crusty bread that's really tasty. You can make a meal out of just the bread and the olive oil that they bring to the table. Again, nothing fancy - just pretty standard EVOO (for you Rachel Ray fans... both of you), some of the Parmesan out of a bottle, and black pepper not freshly ground, and good ol' table salt. But it's darned good. You don't need special olive oil, fresh Parmesan, freshly ground pepper, and magical sea salt for a good dipping sauce. Making do what you have can be really enjoyable sometimes. This is one of those times.
Every entree includes a soup or salad. Again, nothing special, though the house Italian is pretty tasty - a little sour and tangy, and sort of fun. The manicotti is always good, though every once in a while they don't sauce it quite enough and the pasta dries out slightly on the edges. The lasagna is solid and darned tasty. The spaghetti is generally just par, but then again, when was the last time you really had an experience eating just plain spaghetti? The marinara is just chunky enough so that you know that you know it's there, but not so much that you think that you're eating a tomato dish.
As always, I added on a side of meatballs and a side of Italian sausage. Manzella's passed with flying colors. The sausage order was actually 2 decent sized links, that were grilled up with just a little bit of char. It was meaty, it was juicy, and it was tasty. I don't think that they made it themselves, but it was still good enough. The meatballs were homemade, and they were really good. Meaty, with just enough of the filler in there to make it tender.
Now one thing to avoid is the pizza. We tried to make an appetizer out of it. It didn't work. The toppings were pretty ample, and the sausage on the pizza was definitely good. Unfortunately, the crust was not. Think crunchy cracker-like crust. Dense and like a saltine in taste. In my mind, a thin pizza crust should have a little crisp and a little chew. There was no give to this stuff at all. We'll just be a little smarter and just stick with the bread service, in lieu of the pizza.
We didn't even try the desserts. Two reasons - 1) we were stuffed and couldn't handle it, and 2) nothing was made in-house. I figure that I can get an Eli's cheesecake as well as anyone else, and add a few dabs of whipped cream and some sauce or other.
Again, if you go into Manzella's with a friend, looking for a nice plate or tortellini and some nice bread and a good conversation, you won't be disappointed. At least not in the food. It is what it is.
-foodgeek
Rating: 0.5 star
Manzella's Italian Patio (217) 352-7624; 115 S. First St (west side of 1st, just south of University). Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $3 - $6; Pizzas: $6 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $12; Entrees: $12 - $20.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Restaurant Review: Minneci's - Cool, if Retro Were Cool
You ever have one of those places that has been perpetually on your list of places to try? That was Minneci's for me. There are a couple international groceries right next to Minneci's that I always visit, and every time I drive by, I always say to myself, "I should really try that place some time." They used to have this really bright and gaudy pink neon sign that wrote out "Minneci's" in this lettering that just looked like squiggles which would catch my eyes and cause them to roll. But a few months ago, they updated the sign so that it wasn't so much Miami Vice. So I figured that it was time for me to actually wander in there and have some food.
Now one thing that I really need to do is to make sure that when I'm looking to do a review is to bring along more than just one of my buds. Two people can only eat so much... though we always try to push those boundaries. Hey, we can always work it out in the gym later.
So, I'm off writing at Panera and CJ drops me a line, and dinner is on. The first thing that we notice is that we strolled in at 9, and they closed at 10. The place was pretty much empty, except for the staff, and a couple old guys who were drinking wine. This was sort of cool, actually. I half expected to see some goodfellas in the back, but we didn't. The decor was sort of plain - relatively understated. Except for one thing. Teal upholstery. Very old school. Very amusing. And still very Miami Vice. It was pretty much what I expected, though I didn't know it.
Now, the service was pretty decent. It wasn't busy, our server was pretty good about bringing refills and checking on us just enough to make us feel like we were being served without being intruded on. She gets props for that. She was able to answer my questions pretty well. In my book, if you don't notice a server, then they've done their job well. I didn't really notice her, so she must have done well.
In general, the food was solid, not spectacular. The appetizers looked pretty standard, but she did mention that they made the fried mozzarella sticks in house. So we tried them, but really, they weren't much different than anywhere else. The mozzarella was actually a little bland, and the breading wasn't anything special. Oh well. Even if they won't ever make Zagat's, they're still darned fun to eat. We also decided to get a small pizza with Italian sausage as an appetizer. This was actually darned good. Crispy crust on the bottom, with a little chew still there. Sauce was ample without drowning the pie. Nice and cheesy with plenty of sausage. Only downer - it was just a little bit on the salty side, but that was nothing that a couple sips of water between slices didn't fix.
For dinner, we went with pasta dishes. We split the meat lasagna and the mixed manicotti. In both cases, the portions were a little smaller than I would have liked and expected for the price, though it wasn't much of a concern given that we had already downed mozzarella sticks and pizza. The manicotti was pretty good. I think that I preferred the meat to the cheese, but both were done well. And really, can you go wrong with filling up pasta with meat and cheese, covering it up in sauce and baking it? Which, really is the same result with the lasagna. I really liked the taste and texture of the cheese mix (which presumably is the same for the lasagna and the manicotti).
In addition to the pasta, we also ordered a side of the the meatballs and a side of the Italian sausage. The meatballs were decent enough - maybe a little bit on the tough side, but they tasted good. However, the Italian sausage was a disappointment. It was the same crumbled sausage that went on the pizza, covered in sauce. I had just assumed that it was going to be a link. It tasted OK, but had I known that it was going to come like that, I would have passed. Oh well. Live and learn.
Dessert was mediocre. The cannoli's were decent enough, though not quite as tasty as I have come to expect. And we also tried the zabajone, which was served cold, and was light and creamy, but didn't have a great flavor to it. I think that a better bet would be to trek over to a different place for some sweets and coffee after dinner, rather than doing dessert there.
Overall, it was alright. Not a bad place for a meal, though not exactly a place for a special night, either with the ambiance or the food. Unless you're really into Crockett and Tubbs and have a burning need to relive the mid-80's. And, really, who doesn't?
-foodgeek
Rating: 0.5 stars
Minneci's Ristorante (217) 352-4425; 401 S. First St (NW corner of 1st and Springfield)., Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $4 - $7; Pizzas: $7 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $15; Entrees: $12 - $20.
Long overdue update: Apparently, they remodeled the restaurant, and then opened a second location in west Champaign. The original location looks like it closed in 2014, and the west Champaign location closed in 2017.
Now one thing that I really need to do is to make sure that when I'm looking to do a review is to bring along more than just one of my buds. Two people can only eat so much... though we always try to push those boundaries. Hey, we can always work it out in the gym later.
So, I'm off writing at Panera and CJ drops me a line, and dinner is on. The first thing that we notice is that we strolled in at 9, and they closed at 10. The place was pretty much empty, except for the staff, and a couple old guys who were drinking wine. This was sort of cool, actually. I half expected to see some goodfellas in the back, but we didn't. The decor was sort of plain - relatively understated. Except for one thing. Teal upholstery. Very old school. Very amusing. And still very Miami Vice. It was pretty much what I expected, though I didn't know it.
Now, the service was pretty decent. It wasn't busy, our server was pretty good about bringing refills and checking on us just enough to make us feel like we were being served without being intruded on. She gets props for that. She was able to answer my questions pretty well. In my book, if you don't notice a server, then they've done their job well. I didn't really notice her, so she must have done well.
In general, the food was solid, not spectacular. The appetizers looked pretty standard, but she did mention that they made the fried mozzarella sticks in house. So we tried them, but really, they weren't much different than anywhere else. The mozzarella was actually a little bland, and the breading wasn't anything special. Oh well. Even if they won't ever make Zagat's, they're still darned fun to eat. We also decided to get a small pizza with Italian sausage as an appetizer. This was actually darned good. Crispy crust on the bottom, with a little chew still there. Sauce was ample without drowning the pie. Nice and cheesy with plenty of sausage. Only downer - it was just a little bit on the salty side, but that was nothing that a couple sips of water between slices didn't fix.
For dinner, we went with pasta dishes. We split the meat lasagna and the mixed manicotti. In both cases, the portions were a little smaller than I would have liked and expected for the price, though it wasn't much of a concern given that we had already downed mozzarella sticks and pizza. The manicotti was pretty good. I think that I preferred the meat to the cheese, but both were done well. And really, can you go wrong with filling up pasta with meat and cheese, covering it up in sauce and baking it? Which, really is the same result with the lasagna. I really liked the taste and texture of the cheese mix (which presumably is the same for the lasagna and the manicotti).
In addition to the pasta, we also ordered a side of the the meatballs and a side of the Italian sausage. The meatballs were decent enough - maybe a little bit on the tough side, but they tasted good. However, the Italian sausage was a disappointment. It was the same crumbled sausage that went on the pizza, covered in sauce. I had just assumed that it was going to be a link. It tasted OK, but had I known that it was going to come like that, I would have passed. Oh well. Live and learn.
Dessert was mediocre. The cannoli's were decent enough, though not quite as tasty as I have come to expect. And we also tried the zabajone, which was served cold, and was light and creamy, but didn't have a great flavor to it. I think that a better bet would be to trek over to a different place for some sweets and coffee after dinner, rather than doing dessert there.
Overall, it was alright. Not a bad place for a meal, though not exactly a place for a special night, either with the ambiance or the food. Unless you're really into Crockett and Tubbs and have a burning need to relive the mid-80's. And, really, who doesn't?
-foodgeek
Rating: 0.5 stars
Minneci's Ristorante (217) 352-4425; 401 S. First St (NW corner of 1st and Springfield)., Champaign, IL 61820. Appetizers: $4 - $7; Pizzas: $7 - $18; Pasta: $8 - $15; Entrees: $12 - $20.
Long overdue update: Apparently, they remodeled the restaurant, and then opened a second location in west Champaign. The original location looks like it closed in 2014, and the west Champaign location closed in 2017.
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