Category Archives: restaurants

scarpetta

: baby heirloom tomatoes, sugar cube melons, chili oil, and cucumber

: spinach, mascarpone, and truffle

: roasted padrón peppers, conﬁt tomatoes, and Pecorino Romano

: polenta, peaches, and broccoli rabe

: ricotta gnocchi, tomatoes, pole beans, and rock shrimp

: ﬁg preserve, lemon curd, and honeycomb

mp (sans ellie), m and i went to scarpetta for their BBE prix fixe and i was nicely surprised. the dark horse winner of the evening was the spiced pork chop. i ordered it against my instincts – i love pork but the chop…not so much. even bone-in doesn’t do it for me. o.m.g. this was juicy and tender – words i don’t usually associate with pork chops, even professionally cooked pork chops. i was extremely pleased. and although m wasn’t partial to the cheesy polenta, i scooped it up in all of its smooth, creamy, cheesy goodness. also, don’t forget the grilled peach.

i was also pleased with my mushroom farfalle. it wasn’t as truffle laden as i expected and the mascarpone didn’t make the dish too rich. the farfalle had a nice chew to it – it was almost undercooked but not anywhere close to inedible. i thought i was going to prefer the agnolotti, but i thought the lamb was too ragù-y. the slightly spicy sauce and shishito peppers were money but overall, i preferred the farfalle. it had maitake mushrooms – ’nuff said

lastly, the torte was ok. it was better than ok, but i was in the mood for chocolate and there wasn’t a smidgen of chocolate on the plate. what really did it for me was the lemon curd which was awfully reminiscent of yuzu. i. love. yuzu.

primi piatti (choose one)
Bigeye tuna tartare—baby heirloom tomatoes, sugar cube melons, chili oil, and cucumber
Salad of Summer vegetables—farmers’ market vegetables with Parmigiano and herb vinaigrette (obviously, not chosen)

paste (choose one)
Lamb Agnolotti—roasted padrón peppers, conﬁt tomatoes, and Pecorino Romano
Mushroom farfalle—spinach, mascarpone, and truffle

piatti (choose one)
Pink snapper—ricotta gnocchi, tomatoes, pole beans, and rock shrimp
Spiced pork chop—polenta, peaches, and broccoli rabe

dolce
Torta della Nonna—ﬁg preserve, lemon curd, and honeycomb

tacos punta cabras

how did i not know about this place before?!? we ordered ceviche mixto, special uni tostada, tostada mixto, scallop taco, fish taco, chips and salsa. to accompany, we chose pineapple habanero (hot) and lemon habanero (hotter) salsas. they could’ve been hotter but they were oh so good. m dumped a whole lemon scoop in the ceviche and i slurped it all down to the last drop.

the uni tostada was money: that brininess of the uni with those pickles and the pineapple salsa. the green tomatillo sauce had nice heat but the puya (not guajillo) red sauce had a fruity/floral complexity to it that made it a standout. the chips came with a pico de gallo type salsa that wasn’t so much hot as full of flavor. let’s just say i wanted more of all the salsas. it’s true what they say: these are eastside tacos on the westside.

i couldn’t differentiate between the scallop and fish tacos. darn! i guess i’ll have to go back.

kaiseki at n/naka

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: surprise!

bouchon

: Chartreuse

: Seiche á la Provençale

: “Cavatelli”

: Bouchon (to celebrate)

joe’s a third time

took advantage of joe’s $19 prix fixe lunch with kl and ml. again, now for a third time, joe’s knocked it out of the park.

for the first time, we sat in the main dining room and our position in the front corner flanked by 2 windows allowed perfect light for food photos.

superba snack bar

ooh la la. is all i have to say.

: (l to r): chicken liver mousse w/ balsamic figs, pheasant rillette, smoked bacon, lamb tongue (#3 fave) w/ pine nut butter, quince jam

: w/ dashi broth and poached egg (m’s favorite)

: w/ braised lamb, ricotta

: w/ pistachio powder (#1 fave – too bad the chef rotates his menu)

: w/ smoked marshmallow, chocolate pudding, toffee graham cracker

: w/ smoked bacon and gorgonzola

: w/ thai bbq sauce and chiles. definitely free range – i can tell by the way the meat clung to the bone. so tender. also undercooked but i ate it anyway. :P (tied for #4 fave)

: w/ uni, crab, etc. (#2 fave)

: w/ cucumber and radish salad and green goddess (?) dressing (tied for #4 fave)

good bad ugly

tagline: “oh, how the mighty have fallen” or “when you’re at the top, the only place to go is down.”

first, the bad…eva (pronounced “eee-va”) restaurant is one of our favorite restaurants. clarification: one of our top two favorites – hatfield’s being the other. we had cap of the ribeye and amazing carrots using a gilt coupon. so, of course, we snatched up some more gift certificates for brunch and dinner. i suppose part of our disappointment has a lot to do with how high our expectations were, sadly. at first, there was so much potential: bottomless mimosas! eggs! fried chicken! a famous cinnamon roll! double chocolate pot de creme! but then the server took the mimosa glass away and never came back or mentioned anything to us. additionally, our gem lettuce salad with mustard vinaigrette became a hearts of romaine caesar. it was good, but wtf?

the disappearing bottomless mimosa

this is not a gem lettuce salad w/ mustard vinaigrette…

next, the ugly…the breakfast sandwich was greasy, soggy, waaaaay too sweet, soaked in butter, and tasted less like jam and more like tomato paste. on the flip side, the egg was absolute perfection. not a single drop of runny white. the salmon with horseradish creme fraiche and roasted beets was lovely and very cute nestled in its white bowl. (actually, as i look at it more carefully, it is dwarfed by that bowl. *sigh*)

this is what disappointment looks and tastes like.

the sandwich which must not be named

tasty, thankfully

finally, the good (which has absolutely nothing to do with eva restaurant)…this is my kimchi chigae that i made yesterday using year-old kimchi and ramen noodles:

kimchi chigae with medium firm tofu and ramen noodles