Chef's Week Part 1: Le Colonial

Man another week of prix fixe menus rolled around so quickly.  Initially, upon dining at Le Colonial, I thought that it was a French Vietnamese fusion restaurant.   This prompted me to do a little research since I had seen this them at another restaurant.  Soon I learned that Vietnam was a colony of France from 1887 to 1954.  That length of time in control of the country would explain the french influence on the Vietnamese dishes.

CHA GIO: Spring Rolls (Yes, I couldn't wait until after I took this
picture to start digging in...

Walking into Le Colonial, you would initially feel like you are transported into a French Bistro in the early 1900's. The romantic atmosphere is heightened by dim lighting and mellow jazz.  It is a quaint white tablecloth sort of place that is well decorated from the ornate red ceiling with very elaborate dark brown molding bordering it.  The vintage theme is further achieved via black and white photos dotted throughout the establishment.  The place does gain a bit of stuffiness by virtue of the fact that the servers are all wearing jackets.

I have an affinity for lychees.  They are one of my favorite fruits.  Naturally when I saw a Lychee Sangria offered on the menu I had to order it.  The drink was very tasty.  It was made with a moscato but some how didn't come off as too sweet. and the cinnamon was a nice touch.  The downside of the drink is it had waaaaay too much ice.  I felt like I was in a drive through or something honestly.  I wasn't offered another drink which saved me some money in  then in probably because it looked as though my drink was still near full because of the overwhelming amount of ice.

MI XAO DO BIEN: Stir Fried Seafood

The spring rolls were perfectly fried.  Frying can be difficult to pull off but these spring rolls were crispy on the outside and not greasy.  They were very light and refreshing as well.  It was served with lettuce, to wrap the spring rolls in with your choice of accompaniments.  The light slightly pickled cucumber and mint cilantro in the wraps, mean you could have total control over the intensity of those vegetal and herbaceous tastes.

The best part of my visit here was listening to the guy two tables over describe his encounter with the ghost that is haunting his apartment.  Apparently it's some lady that was killed in the early 1900's.  I don't believe in ghosts, but this guy sounded really convinced.  Eating alone you rarely get the entertainment of an interesting conversation going on two tables over.

The pho was quite divine.  I ordered it in addition because I'm a huge fan of pho.  What I wasn't expecting was the huge portions of beef that was included with it.  It has to be the best value on the menu there.  The beef was very tender but a little cumbersome to eat with the large chunks it was left in.  Still overall as a dish it is pretty satisfying.

I went with the seafood stir fry for my main it it was a dish that delivers nearly everything from the ocean.  Fresh tender sweet scallops, calamari and shrimp.  It was combined with broccoli, onions, mushrooms  snow peas and green beans.What made this dish unique that it was served over pan fried egg noodles.  This made for an interesting difference in texture as the noodles around the edge of the plate which were not under the rest of the stir fry kept a really crisp texture while the noodles under the stir fry had absorbed some of the very garlic and oyster sauce to get this nice chewy texture.

Miami

Southwest Airlines used to be my airline of choice.  Now they are an utterly abysimal airline.  They used to be very timely, early most of the time and I love the fact that they don't have change or baggage fees.   My last few flights I have had have all been delayed and I have grown tired of flying on Southwest airlines.  My flight arrived to Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL) on time, and I usually pay the little extra cash for the early bird check in.  Early Bird check in is usually a necessity because it's choose as you go seating on Southwest.  This time, my Early Bird check in got me seated in boarding group B, and I usually get grouped into group A.  When I approached the the counter to ask about this,  I was informed that "...if you are unsatisfied with your boarding group you can pay another $40 to get upgraded to A 1-15".  Why would I even pay the $10 in the first place just to have to pay another $40.  Not to mention that it is totally not worth it for a short flight.  When I pay for an early check in I shouldn't be getting seated after the family boarding time on a flight that leaves late.

When I got to Miami, I went ultra cheap with the rental car and went with Fox.  I know FLL pretty well, and went right over to search for the counter only to find out that Fox doesn't have a counter in the airport and I had to take a short shuttle ride over to get the rental car.  This was a minor source of annoyance, but the fact that I was saving about $60 relative to the next cheapest rental car company for my two day trip, I was ok with it.  They tried to upsell me into a Camaro, for an additional $80, but to me even though $65/day isn't outrageous for a Camaro, it isn't like that car is absurdly better than the Corolla that I had booked so I stuck with it.  I gotta say though, they didn't do the best job of cleaning that car, as when I dropped my phone in between the seats, I retrieved it with a bunch of nasty stuff that looked like old lettuce and food on it.  I hadn't even eaten in the car at all.  Hey, I couldn't beat the price though.


My first stop was at Shaker's Conch House.  I feel remorseful every time I have conch since it isn't sustainably fished, but sometimes I can't resist.  Shaker's is a chain that's dotted through South Florida.  They sell a variety of fried seafood.  My only source of annoyance for Shaker's is that they don't offer fresh lemon anymore but packets of lemon juice from concentrate.   They go straight to the trash for me.  The sauce that comes with the conch which is sort of like a remolaude is pretty tasty as well.  The food is cheap, fresh and fried to perfection.

I would spend the night enjoying the Spring Break crowd at Fort Lauderdale Beach.  I stayed at the Doubletee Bahia Mar.  I love this particular Doubletree.  It has that perfect distance from the bar scene so that you are still within walking distance but away from all of the riff raff.  There is also a short walk over the bridge that takes you down to the beach.  My room was on the corner of the fourth floor and it overlooked the Marina.  You also had a partial view of the beach and a full balcony.    The air conditioning unit sounded as if it was struggling to keep up in my room, but it was still kept cool, just a little loud.

The next day I wanted to eat at Mr. Chow before heading to the basketball game, unfortunately they don't open until 6pm and it would have been a stretch to get to the game on time.  After circling around the Downtown Brickell area for a bit, I finally decided to eat at Morton's Steak House.  I have had good experiences with Morton's in the past, but this time it just kinda sucked a little bit.  Not to say that the food wasn't good, just from a value perspective it was  far overpriced, and I usually don't get this from their restaurants.

For $240 (not including gratuity) I got a crab cake appetizer, which was very tasty and had very little filler, and I could argue that it was probably worth the price.  The drinks were well made, and I enjoyed a Manhattan.  For the mains my mom had the 8 oz Fillet, and I had the bone in Ribeye.  We had sides of Grilled Jumbo Asparagus and "Twice Baked" Au Gratin Potatoes.  The Potatoes were quite tasty, but these cheese laden potatoes could easily be replicated in a home kitchen.  My steak was cooked to perfection and perfectly moist, and it was a pretty good steak.  I wanted a great steak.  It didn't have the quality that I was expecting.  All it did was make me want a great steak.  I was also kind of upset by the fact that contrary to my previous experience at Morton's where they bring out all of the cuts of meat and lobster to explain to you the menu, that I was just handed a paper menu.  That experience is part of why you pay a premium to eat there and we missed out on it.  Needless to say I won't be a customer again.

Feel The Heat

American Airlines Arena, is one of my favorite arena's for basketball (Yeah the fan in me is talking a bit).  You have all sorts of food you can enjoy there from the normal fanfare to sushi and Chinese food. The arena is right near the ocean in Downtown Miami, and  has this awesome red glow at night.  The greatest part of going to a heat game is watching the amazingness that happens on the court.  Even if the Heat loose, they typically do it pretty stylishly.  Fortunately the Heat won their nineteenth game in a row that night.

Muse

I had never been to Detroit before.   I didn't do much research before I got there since the primary purpose of my trip was to see Muse.  I made the drive in like three and a half hours and stayed at the Doubletree downtown.  There is nothing to brag about as far as the room goes,  but it seemed as the hotel was an excellent value.  It was within walking distance of the Joe Louis Arena where the concert.  Whenever I am planning on going to sporting events or concerts I usually try to get a hotel within walking distance of the venue, so I can save on parking.  In this case it worked to my detriment since parking was pretty cheap almost everywhere.  Still I liked the security that the valet parking of the hotel offered.

When I visit a new place, I go through three different apps/websites in order to find what I want to eat.  First I look on TV Food Maps.  It is a well organized website that shows you pretty much all of the restaurants that have been featured on TV.  The next is Yelp, I usually comb through Yelp reviews unless I am set on a place reading a few positive reviews as well as a few negative reviews.  The last is Open Table which I obviously use to make reservations but sometimes I use it as my primary means of browsing nearby restaurants. 

I didn't get much time to explore the city, but it seemed to me as I looked for something to eat before the show, that Detroit suffers from the problems that having a casino central to a big city causes.  I abhor the idea of having a casino in a big city, but as I looked through the yelp reviews it seemed as though the higher rated places nearby, were also in the casino.  I had a cold and mostly lost walk over to the MGM Grand, only to not be able to find the restaurant I was planning on dining at.  I ended up settling for Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina.

The design of Wolfgang Puck is nice, that is after you get past the choking on cigarette smoke on the way to the restaurant.  I hate smoking indoors and walking through the casino floor for a little bit just gave me another reason to hate casinos in big cities.  I was seated fairly quickly and the odd thing about the menu pricing was that the beer seemed pretty cheap, the food fairly overpriced and the service was subpar.  I had to ask for a drink menu.  My bread came out after the appetizer,  my drink came out alongside my main course.  Needless to say I think that nearly sixty dollars is way too much to pay for a small portion of kind of bland calamari,  an oversized pork chop that was cooked in some places and a little underdone in others, and tiramisu that was ruined for me with the overwhelming amount of chocolate powder on top.  Nothing was bad enough that I would want to send it back, but looking at the meal from a value standpoint, this meal didn’t even come close to living up to the prices. Ten dollar desserts and 30 dollar entrees (sides sold separately) should wow me.

Live at Muse Concert

Then there was Muse.  I made it to the concert in time to know that I wasn’t disappointed that I missed out on a  majority of the opening act.  I saw Muse once before at Lollapolooza, so I knew that they were a pretty awesome live band, this time they totally exceeded my expectations.    As the concert started and they preformed their first couple of songs and you see the smoke and lasers and stage light up, you’re impressed and are thinking that it is going to be a pretty good show.  When a pyramid of LCD screens comes down from the ceiling, you realize how epic of an experience it will be.

My ticket was $70 and I would have gladly paid that amount to just sit and watch the amazing light show.  Combine that with the great music and a Muse show has to be one of the best values concert wise I’ve been to in quite some time.  It’s one of those shows that I think you have to see in order to appreciate how great it was.  I can say now I’m a huge fan and I will be seeing them every opportunity I get.  The next time will be in London this summer.

Chicago Restaurant Week 2013: Part 3

Some might now chef Rick Bayless from his series on PBS.  In order to conjure up that memory you would have to reach way back to 1979, six years before my birth.  You also may know him as the brother of ESPN announcer Skip Bayless.  Others might know him as the very first winner of Top Chef Masters, also how I remember him.  He went into that season and is portrayed as an underdog that rallies in order to win with his pedestrian Mexican dishes.  We all want that which is comforting.    I must admit it is hard for me to think of Mexican cuisine as something to be bought to a fine dining level.  Once you taste the food here, you will be a believer.

It was my first time at Topolobampo since Restaurant Week a year earlier, and I wish I would have went more often.  In the meantime, my fix for Bayless dishes has been satisfied by eating at Tortas Frontera in the Chicago O’Hare airport.  If you ever fly through O’Hare, it is a good place to stop in for a quick bite before your flight leaves.   I often stop there if I have bags to claim on the way back as it gives just enough time for the bags to start at the baggage claim carousel.

Guacamole at Topalobampo

Dinner at Topolobampo is definitely a classy white tablecloth fine dining experience.  The octagonal brown floor tiles break through any since of pompousness that may be present and bring things back down to earth.  Combine that with the beautiful low hanging blue lights and comfortable booths and you feel as comforted as some of the amazing dishes you will eat.

You would be remised to come all this way and not enjoy one of the signature Margaritas.  I went for the Blood Orange Margarita.  They are shaken for you tableside.  These drinks are dangerous as you taste the sweetness of the blood orange with a little tanginess from the lime juice and subtle floral notes from the tequila.  All in all a pretty awesome drink.

Guacamole and chips, take the place of the bread and butter here.  Their Guacamole (Capital G used on purpose because Bayless’ guac is so good that should be referred to as a proper noun) is the best I’ve ever tasted.  If a place like Topolobampo seems a little out of your price range, you can also try this dish at Tortra Frontera, or at the neighboring (and much cheaper) restaurant Xoco.

Soupa Azteca at Topalobampo

The restaurant week menu started off with Beet Salad.  It was pretty tasty, and you had the yummy bit of peanut oil.  To be honest though the beet salad at Aria was a little bit better, but not by much.  I also found the orange in the salad slightly too bitter.  I added in the Soupa Azteca between the appetizer and main course.  It is essentially a Chicken tortilla soup so good that in the middle of a Michelin star restaurant, you have to use tons of restraint in order to prevent yourself from picking up the bowl and licking up the tasty broth.  The elegantly plated thin strips of crispy tortilla along with tender chicken get the wonderful earthy broth poured over them tableside from a beautiful copper saucepan.  One stir and you can scoop up a  bit gooey melted cheese at the bottom with each bite.  (A similar soup is also served at Tortas Frontera, but I’ve had it and it is great but not quite as good)

Pork Shoulder at Topolobampo

The main course was pork shoulder.  It was served with this tasty earthy black bean sauce.  The dish also had corn tortillas.  I’m not a fan of corn tortillas at all to be honest, but Rick Bayless is kind of like the Godfather of Mexican cooking, constantly making you offers that you can’t refuse.  The tortillas are light and don’t have that heavy, overpoweringly strong corn taste to them.  For dessert you get these very rich and buttery crepes, served with a nice sweet cinnamon ice cream.

I got checked into my second hotel the Hilton Chicago. A little known fact about the place is the roof of the Hilton Chicago was where the helicopter scene in ET was shot.  Yeah, not at a hospital.  Anyhow, I do have one complaint of the hotel.  There are twelve elevators, and on the bottom floor there is a  button on each side where there are four elevators, at my floor however, there was only one call button.  There was also this ridiculous couch that you had to walk around once you realized that there was no button on that side (and back around if an elevator opened on the opposite side).  That being said the elevators were incredibly quick.  

Room at Hilton Chicago

The hotel had recently undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, and the floor I was on having been recently renovated, had these new keys that you only had to touch the door rather than swiping them.  I was even able to just keep my key in my wallet and touch the wallet to the door which was very convenient.  The room also had this new computer screen thing that I found to be painfully slow and useless.  Would probably come in handy if I forgot my laptop, but I wouldn’t go through the trouble of paying to use that thing.  How is the internet free, but yet costs money on their crappy device. 

Mushroom Soup at Boka

Dinner would be at the dimly lit Boka. It’s old-school design style is brought into this century via black tablecloths, and bright silver tablemats.  The mostly candlelit restaurant gives off a romantic vibe, but that doesn’t stop the many hipster and business types I saw from dining there.  It is a place that you would dress nice too but isn’t one of those stuffy jacket required type of places that I abhor.

Pork Cheeks at Boka

After ordering my meal I was brought out a rosemary focaccia, with a perfect connel of room temperature butter.  I am sort of picky about my bread and butter at restaurants.  I like warm bread and room temp butter because it is easy to spread.  Sadly both were room temp.  Not to say that the bread wasn’t quite tasty though.  The first course was this very earthy mushroom soup.  Hidden in the bottom of the bowl was a nice tangy shallot marmalade that added acidity and brightened everything up.   You got additional meatiness from a confit chicken thigh that was beautifully tender.  The creamy soup was great for this winter night.

Next up was pork cheeks.  The pork cheeks was almost like a grown up version of pork chops and apple sauce that works so well.  You get this good blend of sweetness and saltiness with the perfectly tender pork.  It was well complimented by the shredded brussel sprouts and that tangy sauce pulled the entire dish together and made you want to go back for bite after bite.

When the carrot cake arrived at the table in it's deconstructed glory.  I thought I would be totally put off by the little pieces of fresh carrot.  They actually ended up being my favorite part of the dish next to the five spice peanuts which also add complexity and crunch to the dish.  A bit of levity is added by the orange sorbet so that brings everything together in this not too sweet carrot cake.