Restaurant Review: The Great Impasta - It's Real, and It's Spectacular (Sort Of)

Well, sort of. It certainly isn't an imposter. Though, it's not "spectacular," The Great Impasta is a pretty good restaurant. It's is a fun place to have some pretty good Italian food in the heart of downtown Champaign. The place has a lot of flexibility. I'll stop in there on my own for a late dinner and want to snack at the bar if I want to treat myself, or use it as one of my regular date places. The ambience is solid - fun wall murals, interesting lighting, though when it's busy, the place can be a little loud. But overall, it's a good experience for dinner. I have to confess that I've never eaten there for lunch. That may change, though I would probably order the same stuff, so who knows if that even matters for me.

This restaurant has a number of the things that this place has going for it. The first is fresh pasta. Not everything is made in-house. The stuffed pastas (tortellini, ravioli, etc.) are bought, but they make their own noodles. And they're tasty. There's a very different mouthfeel to fresh pasta, when compared to the dried. I think that it tastes a little heartier. I don't have a strong preference for the fresh pasta, but I enjoy the change of pace when it's there.

My personal preference is one of the two lasagnas that they serve - the seafood lasagna which layers spinach noodles with cheese, shrimp, scallops, and crab, and tops it off with bechamel (white sauce), and the traditional, which uses ricotta, beef and pork, and has both the tomato and bechamel sauce. Other solid dishes include the Papa Piero's Chicken, which is sauteed chicken in a garlic cream sauce, over fettuccine, and the Mardi Gras Pasta, which has chicken, shrimp, and smoked sausage in a creamy, spicy cajun sauce.

And another highlight is the service, which has generally been solid every time that I've been there, with a few instances of genuinely excellent service. The servers are knowledgable about the food, do a good job of bringing drink refills (and bread refills!). And when I am just parking it at the bar for a solo dinner, the bartenders have always been friendly and have made good company.

But that's not to say that The Great Impasta has it all figured out. Maybe there's not enough demand for it, but I'm a little dismayed that there's no risotto on the regular menu. And similarly, if I want polenta, it can only be found in a shrimp appetizer or in the Veal Piccata, and it's always creamy. I've never ordered the Veal Piccata, but the shrimp appetizer is generally wonderful. The current incarnation is a Shrimp Scampi, with 6 decent sized shrimp, served over a pretty generous portion of creamy polenta. In the past, it has been a spicy, red-chili shrimp sautee over the same polenta, which I actually preferred. However, if I wanted grilled polenta or polenta cakes, they are not available, either, which is unfortunate.

But, it's not like there isn't enough starch in your meal there. The bread service is good - solid bread with butter, olive oil, parmasean, and ground black pepper at your disposal makes a carbo-overload pretty likely. And if you want, they also serve a tasty Sausage in Crust, which is a big chunk of sausage (with no casing), wrapped in a rich, pastry crust, as well as a Mediterranean Stuffed Bread, which is basically a loaf of bread, with the interior of the loaf scooped out, and replaced with olives, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and a bunch of mozzarella, and baked again. So, there are definitely starch options.

I will say that the salads and soups are rather pedestrian. They are decent openers, but they aren't anything that are memorable, though I do remember that the bacon on the Spinach Salad was cripsy, which many places will screw up. The wine list is somewhat limited, and not a real attraction, though it has been functional for me (I'm not a super wine guy, though). I will say that I've always enjoyed the moscato that they serve for dessert.

The entrees could be a little more inspired. They seem very typical - seared ahi tuna, grilled salmon, chicken marsala, veal piccata, a steak dish. I would love to see places take more chances - slow cooked braised dishes like osso bucco, an Italian version of Coq au Vin, or pork shoulder would be a welcome addition, as would a variety of seafood like grilled calamari or octopus, and more shellfish options. Of course, the problem is that in a place like Champaign-Urbana, demand is likely limited, so places will tend to play it safe.

Which makes for pretty decent dining, but doesn't exactly capture the imagination.

-foodgeek

Rating: 1 star

The Great Impasta - 114 West Church Street, Champaign, Illinois. 217.359.7377. Lunch and dinner Tuesday through Friday. Dinner only on Monday and Weekends. Appetizers, Salads, and Soups - $3.50 - $7.50. Pastas - $9.50 - $13.50. Entrees - $13.50 - $20. Reservations recommended on the weekends.

Kitchen Happenings: More With Less

Well, the restaurant reviews are still on hold. Just not that motivated to write about these places right now. But, I've been opening up my kitchen a little more lately. The current plan is to go old school. I've taken the food trends that we see on the Food Network, and have gone pretty upscale in what I eat. Let's just say that it's time to go a little old school and see what I can come up with using some cheaper and more accessible ingredients.

Last week, I made up my first batch of chicken noodle soup for the season. Still tastes awesome. I'm not sure how it would taste with just plain water (probably not bad), but I think that cooking down the chicken bones is worth it for the extra flavor. Particularly since chicken bones don't cost extra, and cooking down the bones is so easy (I'm not worried about making the clear broth - a little cloudy is just fine with me).

Also, last week, we had some biscuits left over from our Cracker Barrell run, so I just had to make up a batch of sausage gravy. So easy, and so tasty. Brown sausage. Add flour to soak up the drippings. Add milk to turn into gravy. Season to taste. Call cardiologist with a smile on your face.

Currently sitting in my fridge are pork sirloin steaks that are marinated with soy, siracha, sugar, sour cherry syrup, lime juice, garlic, onion, and my Asian spice blend (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, onion powder, garlic powder). These are also very tasty, and have satisfied my craving for Korean barbecue.

Projects on tap:

-I have some chicken thighs sitting in my freezer, which are begging to be cooked up. I'm not sure if I want to go the coq au vin direction, or if I want to get creative and try something completely different. We'll see about that.

-And I also have some very good soy-based braising liquid sitting in the freezer, as well, just begging to be used to create the classic Chinese cold appetizer plates that some of you may have had the pleasure of tasting. I'm thinking drumsticks, boiled eggs, honeycomb and tripe, and maybe some squid or cuttlefish.

-Also sitting in the freezer is some excellent broth for Italian beef. I think that I need to hit the Asian store to pick up some sliced beef soon. Some sauteed peppers and onions, some good bread, and some provolone, and I can probably feed an army.

-There's a butternut squash that has been on my counter for the last 6 weeks. And there are some apples that aren't getting eaten. It's time to roast those guys up, puree them, and add stock, cream, salt and pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar for a nice fall soup. I think that I will probably use some of the sage that I have growing nicely in my herb garden, as well.

Anyway, that's what's happening out here in my kitchen. We'll see what works and what doesn't.

-foodgeek

How we eat

Well, apologies to both of our readers for the lack of authorship from Foodgeek of late. There are many reviews that are sitting in the Inbox, waiting to be written. But for now, here's a link to a NY Times article featuring one of my favorite marketing professors who does some awesome research on consumption.

-foodgeek

Kitchen Happenings: Herb and Renewal

One of the things that I lke doing is just looking over what I've got laying around and figuring what I can make out of it. So, recently, I've been playing around with my herb garden again. This time around, I've got the standard basil, oregano, sage, and thyme going. But I've added some peppermint and lavender to the mix. And of course, these two are the ones that are growing the best. So, I was doing a little trimming to the plants, and ended up with a bunch of peppermint and lavender that was too nice to just throw out. So, inspiration hits. Cook the stuff down in water to draw out the flavor and then add some sugar to make a syrup out of it. Perfect stuff for mixed drinks or even for starting a sauce or dressing out of. I was grilling over at my friend's place the other day, and I brought over a pitcher of mojito, made with more of the fresh mint, but also sweetened with the mint-lavender syrup. Stuff was awesome. Just a nice, mellow flavor that gave the drink a nice undertone.

The other thing that I was fiddling around was with a basil oil type of sauce. So, add a bunch of basil, some salt and pepper, some lemon juice, some mustard powder, and olive oil to a blender. Awesome. Light, sort of like pesto, sort of like a vinagrette, a little depth, a little tangy. The stuff would have gone great over some greens, as a dipping sauce for some warm, crusty bread, or as a sauce for pasta. Where I went with it was a little out there. Dipping sauce for king crab. It was pretty good stuff. I think that this new sauce could also go well with things like scallops or shrimp. We'll see if it makes the rotation in the kitchen.

Now, the most interesting thing that I've done in the kitchen lately was rediscover fresh ginger. Classic Chinese cooking uses a base of soy, garlic, and ginger as a starting point. And it's only been very recently that I've decided that I needed to learn to use ginger. It certainly adds a nice flavor to Asian-style marinades. But where I've neglected it until recently is with actually creating some tasty beverages. Making a nice ginger syrup is pretty easy. Cut up some ginger, and cook down the flavors. Strain out the ginger (you can really cook it down twice, I think, and get good flavor out of it) and cook down the liquid with some sugar to make your syrup. Again, great for mixed drinks, serving over ice cream, using as a start of a sauce, etc. But an even easier thing is to take the ginger water, without any sugar added to it, and using it as the water for lemonade. Basically, any can of frozen, lemonade concentrate will turn into a phenomenal drink if you use ginger water instead of normal water. You get this great ginger flavor that adds some body to the drink and then gives you that fun, spicy, peppery aftertaste that makes you want to drink more. And for those of you who need some alcohol in your summer drinks, some vodka and a sprig of mint makes this a really good hard lemonade.

Really, that's been the new and interesting happening in my kitchen. There are still a few restaurant reviews that need to be written. We'll get to them soon, I hope.

-foodgeek

Restaurant Review: Nobu - All Cheers From the Stands

Okay. Nobu Matsushisa is a Japanese dude who makes good food. He has over a dozen restaurants around the world, including Nobu 57 in NY, and other Nobu restaurants in places like London, Milan, Tokyo, South Beach and Aspen. I happened to find my way to Nobu Malibu a few weeks ago when I was off at a conference in Long Beach. Now Nobu is one of those places where the food often doesn't live up to the hype. And really, Nobu isn't known for it's sushi, but rather it's Japanese food that uses international ingredients. The idea is classic, really. Start with a base of knowledge, and then add whatever is local, fresh, and good. Of course, with the world made smaller, and more things available, you can get a lot of non-local ingredients that are still fresh and good. So, going in, I had high expectations for Nobu because of the hype.

And, happily, the food lived up to the hype.

The first thing that I did was call to try to book a table for myself. No go. But, I figured that if I could get there, I could finagle my way into a table by turning on the charm, and/or threatening people with bodily harm. But, no need for either. When I go there, the tables were all still full, but there were a couple spots at the sushi bar, which is really where I wanted to sit, anyway. I prefer to see the guys who handle my food in action. Plus, it takes a lot of the service issues out of the equation. I'd get to interact with the chef, and get much of the food directly from him right when it's made. No point risking my meal to a lousy server.

And ambiance was a little noisy. A lot of people were there to see and be seen. I was there for the food. But the ambiance wasn't bad. It was a little noisy, the tables weren't exactly private. It felt a little cramped. But the place was clean, looked modern and not too ostentatious, and the energy was a good energy. It has a bit of a feel of a normal family restaurant, which sort of puts you in a mood where you wouldn't normally expect gourmet food. But, that didn't shake me. I was there for the food.

The first thing that I noticed was that these guys all worked fast and worked clean. The entire area behind the bar was spotless. Lots of running water all over the place, and everything stayed clean. The sous-chefs all worked fast behind the scenes, doing things like making the sushi rice, grating wasabi, and chopping tuna tartare. There was no yelling. Everything was calm and under control, but moved quickly. This had promise.

So, I sat down, and was looking over the menu, and made some small talk with the people around me. I got a couple recommendations from them, and found out that the jackfish was very good. I tucked that away in my mind, and considered just going off and ordering a bunch of sushi. But, I figured that would be a little boring. Instead, I took the safe route, and went with the omakase, or the chef's tasting menu. Basically, when you go with the omakase, the chefs will take a little extra pride in crafting a meal for you. You're trusting them to make a memorable experience for you. And they usually deliver.

Nobu has three tiers of omakase, each of which had the same amount of food, but had different quality food (like having foie gras or caviar for the highest tier, and not as many frills for the lower tiers). Naturally, I figured that if I was going to drop $80, I may as well drop $120. So, I went deep with the omakase. My chef for the night was Katsu, who I found out is from Tokyo originally, but has been in the states for 10 years. He asked me if there was anything that I didn't like. I told him that I trusted him completely. I figured that whatever he could throw at me, I'd eat. And that choice left no regrets.

So, Katsu opened me up with a trio of cold openers. One was a very nice oyster on a half-shell, topped with a little yuzu juice. Very fresh, very tasty. The next that I went with was the tuna tartare, served in a martini glass. I found it to be chopped a little too finely, but it was in a very nice ponzu sauce, and topped with scallions and osetra caviar, which was a nice touch. I personally prefer tartare to be a little chunky and have a little body, but some prefer the smooth, finely chopped texture, so no harm, no foul. The final cold opener was something that was new to me - monkfish livers. It's considered to be the foie gras of the sea. You steam the liver, and then cut it into little cubes. It has this wonderful, rich, creamy texture, much like foie gras does. And all this without force feeding ducks and geese (not that I really care about force feeding animals - I just care about eating tasty things). The monkfish livers that I got were served in a small glass, in ponzu. It was a new experience, and one that I do want to repeat at some point. But, strangely, what stole the show for me was the Japanese mountain peach that garnished the plate. It was a small, deep red fruit that looks like a berry (or maybe a lychee relative), and tasted incredible. It was sweet, slightly tart, very juicy, and had a small pit in the middle. This has become probably my favorite fruit. I could just sit around and eat these things by the bowlful.

So, I polished off the cold opener, and the next course that came over the bar from Katsu was Japanese snapper, that was pretty incredible - a little texture, but very smooth flesh. A few sashimi slices were served, each with a crunchy garlic chip and some micro greens on top. The place was surrounded by yuzu juice and some Hawaiian grey salt. It all came together in a wonderful way that tasted fresh, a little tangy, and a little salty (in a very mysterious way - natural sea salt can actually be pretty complex tasting stuff. As an aside, the next time you're tasting chocolate, try it with a couple different types of fancy salts - it'll be awesome).

While I was eating the snapper course, Katsu placed a large, live prawn on a plate on top of the bar. I figured that it was for me, eventually. I was curious to see how it was going to be prepared. I didn't have to wait long to see. He started preparing a sea urchin sauce, by taking a few pieces of sea urchin in a bowl with what looked like a little soy and a little lemon, and mixing it up a little bit. He split the prawn length wise, and poured the sea urchin sauce on top of the open prawn. The prawn then went on top of a small grill and was cooked just until done. The flesh was sweet and just tasted fresh. The sea urchin sauce on top was excellent (I'm a huge fan of uni). All in all, an excellent course.

After this, we started in on the hot courses. The first that came was a very clever sweet and sour king crab dish that had ponzu as the sauce base. The crab was topped with shredded, fried leeks, and dressed with a little gold leaf. The king crab was naturally sweet, and tasted wonderful in the sauce. I enjoy king crab, but it's become something that I have a hard time being wowed by. Sort of like lobster or shrimp. It's just that the quality of stuff that we can get is so high that I can do quite well with it. But what surprised me was the garnish. The fried leeks were a distinct upgrade to onion straws that you get at a lot of places. They had a similar feel, but were a little sweeter, and didn't seem as oily. If I can figure it out, fried leeks will become a regular addition to my kitchen.

Now, the next dish was Kobe-style beef (I believe that it was actually from New Zealand), which was served teriyaki, topped with sauteed onions and micro greens. This dish was sort of the opposite of the last one, in that I was absolutely wowed by the beef, but underwhelmed by the garnish. I think that the beef was only a sirloin cut, but it was incredibly tender. It was cooked perfectly medium rare, and the sauce served to accompany the dish and did not overwhelm it. The onions were sweet and tasted alright, but it could have been a more inspired garnish (particularly after I was wowed by the fried leeks). But the beef carried the day, and it made me actually believe that $15/oz. may have been worth it for this stuff.

After the two hot dishes, we moved back to the raw dishes, with a sushi course. Katsu opened me up with two pieces of the sweet egg. Normally, it's served as a slice of egg on top of sushi rice. I like the Nobu way better, which was just two large blocks of the egg. It tasted cold, smooth, sweet, and eggy. Again, I could just eat this stuff by the plate. But there was more exotic sushi to be had. The first piece that Katsu offered me was a piece of Spanish mackerel, followed by a piece of jackfish, and a piece of seared toro, or fatty tuna, that was seared with a blowtorch. Then we went away from fish and I was given a piece of giant clam and a piece of live octopus. All of this was truly excellent. Possibly the best sushi that I've ever eaten.
It was all fresh, and tasted great. I have to say that the jackfish and Spanish mackerel were both memorable, and will be had again in the future. I've had toro before, and I've never bought into the hype. I actually prefer just normal tuna to the fatty stuff. But for those who dig it, Nobu offers the raw toro, as well as the toro seared with the blow torch. You get a different mouthfeel in each, which is a little different than many places.

So, after the sushi course, the closer was a large bowl of seafood soup, which contained a couple large shrimp, a couple large scallops, some pieces of fish, some shitake mushrooms, and a very nice broth (bonito, I believe). The soup was excellent, as the fresh seafood were very tasty, but the broth was just as memorable. I'm used to soup as an opener (which is common in American restaurants, as well as in Chinese dining), but this soup was a very nice way to close up before dessert.

And dessert was incredible. A huge platter, with a rich, creamy (and yet, somehow very light) vanilla panna cotta with fresh berries, half of a passion fruit, some grapes, and also three delectable egg rolls (think of a very thin crepe, cooked until just about crispy, and then rolled up into a tube so that it's sort of crispy and crunchy) filled with a yuzu cream, sort of like a very light Asian-style cannoli. All of it was excellent, and would be stuff that I would get again.

All in all, the whole experience was just fun. Lots of great food, lots of new things to try. One thing that I didn't mention was the fresh wasabi. Now, I didn't really add it to any of the food, since I just went with how the chef intended it to taste (which was quite good). But fresh wasabi is different from the stuff that you normally get in sushi places out here. It's a little lighter, not as strong, and actually has a light, sweet, almost floral flavor to it. It's darned good.

Looking back, I wish that I would have had some of the flavored sake or some of the Nobu cocktails to open up dinner. I don't think that I would've been able to drink much after dessert, but trying some of their libations before I got down to
business would have been good. And from what I read afterwards, I probably should have gotten the creme brulee sampler in addition to my dessert. Apparently they make a green tea creme brulee that's a standout.

But, all in all, I think that I actually got decent value for my omakase. I think that if I had ordered all of that food a la carte, it would have ran something like $180 or so. But, it was still a good amount to drop on a meal. And I really can't wait to do it again.

-foodgeek

Rating: 3.5 stars (it has a little too casual of a feel to really give the 4 stars, but the food is excellent)

Nobu Malibu, (310) 317-9140. 3835 Crosscreek Rd., Malibu, CA 90265.
5:45pm - 10pm (11pm on Friday and Saturday).
Omakase - $80, $100, or $120.
Sushi - $5.50 and up per order
Entrees - $18 and up
Expect to spend at least $45 per person, though the omakase comes highly recommended.

Food on the Road: Dog Days of Summer

So I was in Long Beach/LA this past weekend. And somehow the food that I ate the most of was chili-cheese dogs. Not that this was a bad thing. I wanted to get some seafood, and I did. But I also ate a lot of chili-cheese dogs. I think that the lesson from this week was that good food comes in all forms, in all locations, in all styles.

I can't remember if I've written about National Coney Island in Detroit. This is now where I have to eat whenever I'm flying through Detroit. They make some pretty good chili-cheese dogs. The chili is mediocre, the cheese is cheese whiz, the mustard is French's, and the chopped onions are just onions. But where it all comes together is with the hot dog itself. Awesome. Meaty, salty, and fried up with with this great natural casing that just snaps perfectly when you bite into it. I've become a believer in the hot dog as gourmet, if you can get a good hot dog like this, and cook it up properly.

So, of course, since I was flying Northwest through Detroit, I got a couple coneys with cheese and bacon on the way out to LA. I was setting the stage for my adventure out to Pink's in LA. I figured that if the quality of hot dog (and by that I mean the sausage link itself) at Pink's was as good as it was at National Coney, then we'd be in business. I love it when you get a hot dog fried up so that the casing has a nice snap to it. I knew that National Coney would remind me of how it should be. And that really set the stage for my trip. Of course, I ate there again on the way back from LA. It's not that there isn't any other decent food in the Detroit airport. But very little else just screamed "Detroit" to me. Certainly not the Chili's or Panda Express in the airport.

So, I hit the ground in LA, and drove out to my hotel in Long Beach, stopping off at a 7-11 on the way. Had to get a soda, and I was getting a little hungry, so I actually got (you guessed it) a chili-cheese dog. The hot dog was a large, spicy dog, and tasted okay, but it just didn't have the snap in the bite that I'd come to expect. But since they let you put on all the free (and appropriately priced) fake cheese and chili you want on to this huge hot dog for only $1.89, I figured that I couldn't lose. And, as usual, I am an idiot. It wasn't that it tore up my insides (heck, I've had Mexican slushies that didn't bother me one bit). It was that it just filled me up. I lost motivation to actually find dinner in Long Beach. I just got some stuff together and hit up the Mai Tai Bar in Long Beach. I had a couple very nice Mai Tais, and some less than stellar (and undersized) Chicken Satay. The spicy, peanutty, ginergy, sauce saved the dried out chicken breast. But by the time I was ready to head back to the hotel, I was hungry. So this meant late night drive-thru. I was hoping for El Pollo Loco, but those seemed to close up by midnight. So, I went with a safe choice in Jack in the Box. And you know? Those ciabatta sandwiches they're advertising aren't all that bad.

So, I had spent the first day in California eating national chain fast food. This had to end. Friday was much more interesting. After sleeping way too late, I caught up with my cousin and her fiancee, who took me out to FuRaiBo, this little Japanese place that specialized in fried chicken that was marinated in a sweet soy type sauce, and then deep fried. I had a fried chicken leg/thigh which was okay, but a little pricey at $3.50 for an a la carte piece. Where this place did me well was with the grilled pike eel, which was excellent. The pike eel was just two whole eel, cut in half, and rubbed with some salt and pepper, and grilled just right. Simple food, tasting really good. It came with some nice miso soup (standard, though they gave you a lot of seaweed), a bowl of rice, and a cabbage salad that had some canned tuna, which was surprisingly good in the salad. Excellent deal for $6.50, though the service was pretty poor - with them forgetting our soup and rice.

I had my cousin show me around LA, making sure to tell her that we had to stop by Pink's so I could do my chili-dog tasting. So, we drove around, seeing some sights, including UCLA, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood. So, we took a turn on LaBrea and found Pink's. And sure enough, even at 3:30 in the afternoon, there was a line. No celebs, though. I was sort of hoping to run into Ari Gold or Vinnie Chase out there. But all we had were some regular joe's getting their grub on. And really, that's what you want in a hot dog stand. It doesn't really matter if some actor or actress eats there. I want to know if people who really eat like the place. And sure enough, they did. I had the 10" Stretch Chili-Cheese dog, as well as the Pastrami Burrito. The chili-cheese dog was awesome. Topped by chili, a slice of American cheese, and topped with more chili. Can't argue with that. I took a bite into it, and I knew that everyone else was right. The hot dog had the snap. And at $3.10, it was actually a pretty good deal, compared to what I was paying at the Detroit airport (though, I imagine what I pay there is jacked up a bit). Where Pink's really intrigued me was with the Pastrami Burrito. Big burrito. Two hot dogs. Chili. Pastrami. Swiss cheese. Onions. And all good. And at $4.95, it was actually a pretty darned good deal. So, for once, one of these fancy places actually lived up to the hype. This was going to serve as a wonderful portent for Saturday.

But, I still had Friday night. I made an appearance at my conference for the reception and working paper session. And I almost instantly found some dinner companions from the conference, an interesting little group from Minnesota. After a little wandering, we went out to Parker's Lighthouse on the pier in Long Beach. Decent food. For $23, I got a platter with seared Ahi Tuna (tasty, fresh, but slightly overcooked - a sautee cook that just forgot to flip, probably) and a kabob with 3 decent sized shrimp and scallops, and some red bell peppers and mushrooms, all over your standard zucchini/carrot medley and rice pilaf. The sides should have been a little more inspired, though they weren't bad. The kabob was very nice. And the Ahi Tuna was generally pretty good (though it would have been nicer had the sautee cook been on the ball). The server was very cute, but very flighty. And really, I'm all for having hot waitresses, but I'll take an ugly, old hag, who always makes sure that I have drink refills, the correct condiments, and swings by at just the right times to make sure that we're okay 10 out of 10 times over the hot waitress who is already thinking about what she's going to be wearing when she goes out after work. And of course, that's how it seems to work out. Oh well. I think that if I ever manage to get a really hot waitress who's actually a really good waitress, I may just propose on the spot. And you know that I'm not kidding about this.

So, Saturday rolls around. I actually had to do some work at the conference -
two presentations at 8:30 in the morning. I got that taken care of, and decided that I needed to eat at some of the places that I had seen in the movies, had heard about in rap songs, or just otherwise needed to eat at. So, first, I grabbed a couple of my dinner companions from the night before and headed off to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Long Beach. I ate a ridiculous amount of food there. For $14.50 you get two waffles (which are excellent, by the way - hint of cinnamon in the batter makes them awesome) and half of a fried chicken, smothered in gravy and onions. The fried chicken was pretty darned good - juicy and crispy (though the breast piece was a little dry). The gravy was tasty (though it could have used some heat) and helped the breast piece out. Now I can see how Trent and Sue were able to smooth things out with House of Pain and the rest of the crew after Sue pulled the gun on them. We need to have a chicken and waffles place out here in Champaign. If nothing else, so I can smooth things out with people after I pull a gun on them.

After a little nap, I got inspired. I actually dug around online to see what the story was in Malibu. I decided that I wanted to head out there to see what the big deal was. And of course, I found out that there was a Nobu there. Naturally, I had to go. But, that deserves it's own post, which will happen later. But the story was, reservations were not to be had. But, they had a sushi bar where it was first come, first serve. I knew that I could talk my way into a seat there. And really, I prefer sitting at the bar, so I can chat with the guy who's making my food. So, I had time to take the senic route out to Malibu (normally a 45 minute drive, but I had to stretch it out a couple hours, so I could get there by 9:30 or so and avoid the rush). This was definitely a good idea. I had a chance to drive around, so I just took the Pacific Coast Highway up to coast to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach, taking a few random turns to see some of the area. Why's this on Foodgeek? Because I also ran into a Fatburger in Redondo Beach. They claim that it's the last great American burger stand. And I'm not one to argue. Had a very good, huge burger (of course, topped with chili and cheese), some mediocre onion rings, and one of the best milkshakes of my life. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't expensive, either, you know? I think that it worked out to something like $15 for everything. But really? It would have cost the same at Chili's, and this was better. Ice Cube never sang about how it was a good day because he went to Chili's. And the Cube knows. The milkshake alone was worth the stop.

So, this was my fallback plan, in case Nobu didn't work out.

But of course, things did work out, and I just ended up eating too much. But it was well worth it. Next post - Nobu. After that - finally catching up on some reviews that I haven't had time to get up.

-foodgeek

Kitchen Happenings: Beef Short Ribs

Alright. Back at it. First post since my Boston trip... long time, no see. I've still been eating well. I just haven't had the gumption to post. That ends now. I still have restaurant review that I've promised, plus a new one that I really have to write. I think that I may have stumbled into the best restaurant in Champaign-Urbana. And I don't think that anyone under the age of 50 knows about it. That'll be next time.

So one of the dishes that has been pretty established among the restaurant circles is beef short ribs. A typical dish would be braised beef short ribs in some sort of a red wine sauce (which is even on the menu at Olive Garden, for heaven's sake!) or a Korean-style, marinated in a sweet soy/garlic type sauce and grilled. The braised short ribs are a nice, meaty chunk of beef, and typically have been trimmed of the fat that goes right above, and is generally boneless. However, with the Korean-style short ribs, you get a very thin (maybe 1/4") slice of short rib, and it includes the bone, as well as the fatty layers above the meat. So, naturally, I'm curious. First of all, you have different ways of cooking, different types of flavors going on, and even different cuts of the same cut.

The first thing that I realized is that braising isn't as slow with this cut as it is with something like Osso Bucco, where you have it cook all afternoon. There isn't hardly any connective tissue to break down, this is just some really nice meat that's marbled very nicely. So, my first attempt at this wasn't good at all. I mean, it tasted okay, but the meat wasn't anything special - just like stew meat. Nice, but not what everyone's raving about. I actually just browned the meat and cooked it in this spicy, tomato/corn/bean soup (almost Mexican style). But where I went wrong was in cooking it too long. The meat ended up drying out as I slow cooked it. It just got sort of stringy. I think that if I would have kept it short, it would have worked.

So, back to the drawing board. The cuts that I was able to get at the store were just the trimmed chunks, not the Korean style, large flat pieces. But I decided to try the Korean way, and trimmed the meat into about 1/4" think strips. Went with the classic marinade of soy, honey, garlic, ginger, lime, and I added some siracha, sambal, and Bull's Head (see my Hot Pot posting) into the mix. Frenched some onions, added the short ribs, and let it marinate for a while. This time, cooking it over high heat, I was able to get a nice little caramelization and char on the meat, but the meat just wasn't doing it for me. Tasty, but a little too tough to get excited about. Really, on par with the Korean restaurants, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

So, I decided in a moment of serendipity to combine the styles - Korean marinade, leave the chunks whole, and grill it outside. Now, what happened was that I didn't get a chance to grill for a while, so the meat marinated for about 48 hours. Which actually was the best thing. The flavors just permeated throughout the meat, and also kept it incredibly tender. So, fired up the coals, and put on the meat. It wasn't the hottest grill in the world, I'd say about medium-hot, really (you could leave your hand above the grill for about 5 seconds before it got uncomfortable, instead of the 2 seconds that BBQ U would have you go for, but that's just a function of my little grill). But by cooking for longer over the grill, you got more of the smoky flavor of the grill into the meat. So, I tried a variety of doneness for the beef ribs. I personally preferred it at medium-rare, though for the masses, I would guess that medium would be perfect. Incredibly tender. Still had some texture there, so you knew that you were eating meat. Awesome flavors. Now I understood what the restaurants were seeing in this cut. Easy to prepare. Flavorful meat. Very spicy or rich sauces wouldn't overpower the meat (like it can do in chicken, pork, or even something like a sirloin).

It took me a few shots at it (which is strange - normally, I can churn stuff out pretty well on the first try, but this cut was brand new to me) but we came out with something pretty darned awesome. What came out was easily 1 star quality food (though admittedly, I wasn't worried about plating or even using anything other than my hands to eat), but with a just a tiny amount of effort could be made into a 3-star type dish. This cut of meat can be that darned good. If you get a chance, give it a shot.

-foodgeek

Food on the Road: Bad Puns and Good Clams

So I'm off to the Northeast for the week, hanging out in Worcester. So, I figure that since I'm out east, I need to eat seafood. Lots of it. It's just not the same in the Midwest. You can get some decent stuff away from the coasts. Particular if you're in a larger metro area. But it's not quite the same. And despite the cost of living being much higher in this area, the price for some good seafood isn't outrageous.

First stop - Legal Seafood. It's been suggested that this place is the best seafood restaurant in the country. Their clam chowder has been served at presidential inaugurations since 1981. And there's no doubt, that it's good. It's not transcendent. But it's good. Honestly, I think that there's a lack of expectation when it comes to soup, which is why solid attempts are considered to be transcendent. Honestly? The stuff that comes out of my kitchen is just as good, if not better. But the rest of what Legal served? I just didn't have access to that quality seafood to even compete. We opened up with some soup - clam chowder and lobster bisque. I'm always disappointed at bisque. Just not as much flavor as I would like. I know that it's supposed to be subtle, but the cream (and sherry, I think) get in the way of the lobster, crab, or shrimp. And really, same with most clam chowders that I taste. So, I always try, and I'm always disappointed.

After the soup, we went with an appetizer sampler. A few slices of sashimi-style seared tuna. Excellent. It's all in the tuna, really. And they got the good stuff. Not the flash frozen stuff that I'm used to seeing in the Midwest that's sort of pinkish. This was a deep, crimson, and just tasted wonderful. There were a couple shrimp wontons - mediocre. For someone who grew up with dim sum, this was a poor attempt. A better attempt was the shrimp cocktail - two decent sized, well cooked shrimp, though the cocktail sauce tasted like it could have come out of a jar. But the best part was the two mini-crabcakes that came - jumbo lump crab, a minimum of breading. Just what it should be. But all in all, this was just overpriced.

The entrees were better. We went with the seafood casserole and the fried seafood sampler. The casserole was generous amounts of scrod, scallops, shrimp, and lobster all baked together in a cream and cheese sauce, and topped with a cracker topping. The first attempt was off, as it came out undercooked. But after it got sent back, the second time, they got it right, and the dish was great. The fried seafood platter was also excellent, with clams (the good ones, not the cheap clam strips that you get from the store), calamari, scallops, shrimp, and haddock. The quality of the seafood just makes a huge difference. But they did a great job with the breading and the frying - the seafood came out just right, the breading tasted good, and none of it was too greasy. The sides were pretty standard, except for the cheddar-jalapeno polenta, which was served grilled slightly crispy on the edges. This was a very pleasant surprise, and a big plus for the meal.

All in all, I'm not sure that it's the best seafood restaurant in the country, but the quality of the seafood was solid, and the delivery was of high quality. What shook me was the spotty service. Waiters took forever to come around, and drink refills had to be acquired at gunpoint. This was probably enough to knock Legal down from 2 stars to only 1 star in my book.

Another dinner adventure took me to the Sole Proprietor in Worcester. This place was also supposed to be good for seafood, though not like Legal. But you know what? I thought that you got a better value for your money, and that the food was of equal quality. First was the bowl of chowder. You got a slightly bigger bowl for only $4 (rather than $6 over at Legal), and it was just as good, in my book. The flavor still could have been augmented with better stock, but it wasn't the thick, white gravy-ish chowder that Legal had. That was my opener, along with a sushi roll (crab, tuna, crunchy fried sweet potato, mango, papaya) that was solid, though not spectacular.

Where things took a turn for the better was with the generously portioned cold seafood platter. Five large cocktail shrimp, which were definitely tasty, and a half-dozen each of smoked mussels, raw cherrystone clams, and raw oysters. I'm not a huge fan of the smoked mussels, but these were done well, and were still slightly warm from the smoker, so it was actually pretty pleasant. The oysters were also very good - fresh, tasted like the ocean, really. Thought they were a little sandy. But what can you do? What really put it over the top for me was the raw clams. I had never had clams before. They're not nearly as rugged as oysters, so don't survive transportation as well, and don't seem to be as popular. Which is too bad. Because they were great. Similar idea to the oysters, but meatier, and lighter in flavor. I am definitely enamored with these guys. Unfortunately, I'll have look a little harder when I'm back in the heartland.

What separated Sole Proprietor and Legal Seafood was the service. I was sitting at the bar, and was called by name by two different bartenders. I always had my drink refilled once it hit halfway, and they were always there to check on me. The food was brought out quickly, and it was very good. And best of all? The price was probably about 2/3 of what Legal Seafood charged. This place is good at what it does. Further inspection of their menu may even get them into refined territory, but for the time being, they get 2 solid stars.

-foodgeek

No contact info - you'll have to Google it yourself. Besides, this isn't my town. But if I'm ever back, I'll keep in mind:

Legal Seafood (multiple locations) - 1 stars
Sole Proprietor (Worcester, MA) - 2 stars

Kitchen Happenings: Where's the Beef?

A happy New Year to my reader(s?).

Over the last couple weeks, beef has been front and center in the Chairman's Kitchen. Beef, done three ways has made for some fine dining in the ol' apartment. The first, braised beef shanks, sort of leads to the second, beef-vegetable stew. The last is an awesome rib-roast that became Christmas dinner this year.

The braised beef shanks, or osso bucco, is my take of the traditional Italian dish that's generally made with veal. Beef is more affordable for those of us on a budget, but still makes for a tasty dish. Here's the rundown - season it aggressively with salt and pepper. Brown the shanks in olive oil, and place in a roasting pan. I like to sautee a traditional miropoix (celery, carrots, onion) in the leftover drippings to pick up some additional flavor for the dish. This gets seasoned with salt, pepper, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, onion powder, dried sage, rosemary, and some italian seasoning. After some of the liquid has been cooked, the veggies get dusted with maybe a teaspoon or 2 of flour, which needs to be cooked for a little bit. After the flour gets cooked, the addition of some red wine follows. Then, add a can of diced tomatoes. Let this cook a bit, and then pour the liquid into the roasting pan, and taste the liquid, and adjust seasoning as needed. Slightly salty is OK, and you want to make sure that you just cover the top of the meat. Cover in foil, and bake in the oven at 250F for a few hours, and you're good to go. You can serve this over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, polenta, or just about any starch that you want.

So what'll typically happen is that you'll end up with a lot of the braising liquid left. This gives you a great start to an incredible beef-vegetable stew. But set that aside for now. When you want to make the beef stew, go with a chuck roast, and cut it into about 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks. Season these, and brown the pieces in some olive oil. Pull out the beef, and add the traditional miropoix, as before. Season, cook in the drippings, and add a little flour again. At this point, you've done something very similar to what you had before with the beef shanks. I think that here is where you should diverge. Remember that you're using the left-over braising liquid. If you added more red wine, you end up win an almost too elegant flavor for what you'd want from beef stew. But, you can change it up a little bit and instead add a bottle of beer. This gives you a nice flavor that just seems right for beef stew. Now, add a can of diced tomatoes, and then bring the pot up to a simmer. Then, you can add the beef back in, and let the whole pot simmer for a couple hours. As always, taste as you go, and season as needed. When the stew is just about ready, you can add in some more veggies that don't cook long (corn, peas, green beans is my preferred mix). Let it go for a little longer, and bingo, you've got a nice beef stew.

Over the last few years, I've preferred to make rib roasts, in lieu of the traditional turkey or ham for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. I think that I've finally gotten it down. The first step is a marinade. Coarse salt, pepper, finely chopped rosemary, finely chopped garlic, and olive oil. You want a nice, thick mixture that you slather on to the roast (that you've already patted dry, of course). Where I think that you can get a nice, flavorful, tender roast is by letting it marinade for 24 hours (or a little more, if you like). When you're ready to go, let the roast come to room temperature (or just don't pre-heat the oven). Roast, covered at 350F until the internal temperature reaches about 100F, and then finish it off uncovered, until the roast hits about 115F. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes, and the internal temperature will get up to 120F or so. Perfect rare rib roast. Slice that baby up, and you've got some great eats going. Leftovers make incredible sandwiches, as well.

Anyway, that's the latest in my kitchen. I think that the next entry will be a review of The Great Impasta, which should have been done quite a while ago.

-foodgeek