Pane Di Recco (wood-oven baked flatbread, taleggio and provola cheeses, aromatic herb oil; added prosciutto for additional charge): definitely one of the more addictive bread-based appetizers I’ve ever had. Excellent.
Gnocchi (peas, prosciutto cotto, buffalo butter, and aged pecorino sauce): underwhelming.
Chinotto Mule (chinotto Italian ‘amaro’ soda, lime juice): very good NA drink.
Ferry + Main (New Hope)
Chef’s Selection of Cheeses (seasonal compote, toast points)
Icelandic Cod & Clams (spring pea, cherry tomato, fingerling potatoes, clam sauce)
Rating: 3/10
Nektar Wine Bar (New Hope)
Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwich (provolone, fontina, parmesan, bleu d’auvergne, tomato
Lobster BLT Sliders (Maine lobster, brioche, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo)
Honey Tomato Bruschetta (whipped ricotta, thyme, basil)
Ironbound Imperial Cider Flight
Ironbound Orange Blossom (chamomile blossoms, bitter orange, sundried sweet orange, lemon)
Ironbound Lemon Beebrush (chamomile, lemon balm, botanicals, reminiscent of Italian amaro)
Ironbound Cherry Burdock (botanicals, citrus, bittering barks, bitter-sweet aperitif)
Ironbound Campalec (farm-grown herbs, fruits, and bittering roots, notes of mixed berries)
Rating: 7/10
Despaña (NYC)
Tapas
Pulpo (Octopus): the octopus has zero taste. Not my favorite way of preparing octopus; that’s for sure.
Mini Brioche with Pork Tenderloin: very good. Wasn’t really paying too much attention while I was eating this (for unrelated reasons).
Toast
Anchovies + Vanilla Butter: second somewhat upscale place in a row where the anchovy toast was the best dish I had.
Goat Cheese + Pesto + Sardines: I was just talking about with someone what exactly the difference is between anchovies and sardines. Then I have them back to back inadvertently (someone else in my group ordered this dish). Not quite as exciting as the anchovy toast but a nice bite. If blindfolded, I’m not sure I would have recognized the difference between these sardines and nice tuna.
Croquetas
Chorizo Ibérico: so small I didn’t realize I had eaten it by the end of the meal. Not really worth it.
Rating: 7/10
The Loyalist (Chicago)
Escargot Toast (braised escargot, mushroom duxelle on puff pastry): I was excited for this, and it wasn’t great. The pastry part was as good as it gets, but the escargot was pretty tasteless and the texture was not pleasant.
Pâtés Maison (pork & pistachio, chicken & foie gras, sourdough)
Deviled Egg (smoked trout, pickled beet, dill): excellent, though the price is pretty ridiculous for one egg.
Anchovy Toast (milk bread, soft butter, yuzu): my favorite thing I ordered (happens to also be the least expensive). The rich buttery bread topped with the salty sharp taste of the anchovy.
The French Smash Burger (smash patty, escargot butter, cornichon, mornay, frites): not sure if I’d call it good or bad. The oddest burger I’ve ever had. At that point, I was too full to eat much of it.
Baba au Rhum (milk bread, creme anglaise, vanilla chantilly cream)
Rating: 6/10
Oriole (Chicago)
Tasting Menu
Scallop (jalapeño and yuzu), Morel Mushroom (ricotta and leek), Serrano Ham (jasper hill blue cheese and quince): these were small bites served together at the bar. I’m still developing my taste for raw seafood, but the scallop was good (I also ate another serving of scallop since my companion was uninterested). The other two were phenomenal and set the stage with high expectations for the rest of the meal. The ham on a bread stick was especially impressive considering I had essentially the same thing as an appetizer at a one-star restaurant a week ago. While the other version was tasty, Oriole elevated this small course far far beyond its quaint, cheap Italian-American appetizer origins.
Foie Gras (fraises des bois and anise hyssop): served at a standing table, looking into the kitchen. This is the favorite course of many, and I understand why. The best foie gras course I’ve had? Maybe. The tiny wild strawberries are a genius topping, and, although I couldn’t really taste them against the intense flavor of the rest of the dish, the Dippin’ Dots were a whimsical inclusion.
Golden Kaluga Caviar (snap pea and pistachio): not mentioned on the menu was a side of Japanese-milk-bread-inspired bread with a cute dollop of butter. This was my second least favorite course of the night (the peas and pistachios didn’t do much for me), but the presentation was beautiful, and it was one of their more untraditional dishes. Included pistachio-flavored foam.
Blue Prawn (virginia ham and Thai herbs): I did not detect the ham at all. But this was a great shrimp dish, maybe just slightly too fishy for my taste. Probably the least visually interesting dish of the night.
Beet (sake lees and sea buckthorn): this was an uphill battle for both my companion and me. We both greatly dislike beets. Ultimately my least favorite course, but I was impressed that I was able to even eat 75% of it. They really transformed the taste of the beet. But not quite far enough for us. I picked out the sea buckthorn though, and enjoyed that. Like uncooked rice. You start to chew it and it initially tastes like you’re chewing bark, but the middle and after taste is quite good.
Sea Urchin (furikake and egg): super heavy, the only course that I really liked that I would have been fine having a bit less of. The highlight was the stuff underneath the urchin. Reminded me of grits.
Fjord Trout (smoked roe and cabbage): absolutely incredible. Everything working in harmony. This is some of the highest quality fish I’ve ever had. Favorite course along with the foie gras.
Capellini (truffle and yeast): incredibly rich. The pasta itself isn’t anything new, but the sauce is fantastic, and the presentation was mind boggling. They somehow had the pasta all wrapped up in this tight diamond-shaped cocoon. You stick your fork in, and it just comes apart immediately. So delicate.
Squab (asparagus and ramp): this was the best course that I felt was like things I’ve had before. Very similar to how most restaurants prepare duck or steak. It was like very fatty duck. Obviously immaculate preparation.
Rosemary (lemon and olive oil): I’d heard that the desserts at Oriole didn’t live up to the rest of the tasting menu, but I didn’t really find that to be the case. The desserts didn’t have any extremely strong standouts like the sea urchin or foie gras, but they were all very solid. This icy treat was a good way to wind down the night.
Chocolate (lapsang souchong and black currant): pretty plating, but it sort of led me to not get a proper bite at first. I stuck my spoon in and got a mouthful of chocolate. Certainly not a bad time, but at first, I wondered why this course tasted so plain. Then I went in for another spoonful and managed to get all the other ingredients on the spoon. The rest of the course was delicious. This course might have leaned more toward form over function, or maybe I’m just incompetent with a spoon (very likely the latter).
Mignardises (canelé and tartelette): the last two bites, presented together after they moved us to a place near the exit (one of the comfiest chairs I’ve ever sat in). The tartelette was topped with the same wild strawberries as the foie gras, creating a subtle full-circle experience for the tasting menu. And then the canelé, the least attractive but tastiest dessert of the night, topped things off.
Spirit-free Pairing
Ochre (saffron, wild osmanthus petals, lemon)
Rosé (berry-fennel verjus, spiced chamomile)
Effervescent (Japanese sakura blossom, lemon zest)
Woodsy (coriander seed, black lime, indian tonic)
Violet (seedlip spice, crystallized violet, ice wine vinegar)
Tangy (carrot, orange, sumac): my second favorite.
Whisked (schizuoka matcha, calamansi, black mustard seed)
Malty (nutmeg, chrysanthemum, banana)
Mistral (tart cherry, green peppercorn, violet sugar)
Inky (cassis, chicory fooibos chai, yuzu olive oil): my favorite.
FOH service was incredible. I think they’re really trying for that third star. I get up to go to the bathroom, come back, and my napkin is delicately folded on the table with a server appearing behind my chair ready to pull it out for me. They knew an answer to every question asked (except for the artist of a painting that had just been installed in the dinning room; of course he knew the name of the artist of all the other paintings). They were obviously watching us like hawks, but you never felt it, and they kept things moving along, but we never felt hurried. The pacing of courses was perfect. Felt like an hour had gone by, but by the end, we left three hours after we had arrived. Also, and this might seem silly but it isn’t to me, they had the best music curation of any restaurant I’ve ever been to. Playlist was basically snatched off of my Qobuz account. Disintegration played when we sat waiting for our table (we arrived early) and more from The Cure later. Then they played a ton of The Smiths. And then Cocteau Twins. And then ended the night with Dance Yrself Clean. The sound level was perfect—I could lightly groove to the music but also easily hold a conversation with my companion.
Rating: 10/10
Bosphorus Istanbul Cafe (Indianapolis)
Iskender (slices of döner on grilled bread cubes, covered with tomato sauce and served with yogurt on the side): incredibly good, the bread cubes are absolutely black magic. I also had some chicken from my companion’s entree, and it was fantastic.
Rating: 9/10
Son of a Gun (Los Angeles)
Tuna Melt (cheddar, tomato, crème fraiche, rye): pretty basic sandwich
Lobster Roll (celery, lemon aioli): about three or four bites. Kind of enough for me, but overpriced for sure. Solid lobster roll.
The service was unspectacular, and then when the check came, it had an 18% “service fee” that said very plainly that it is not the tip. Then I had to scan a QR code and pay through the Toast app. It auto recommended 20% tip on top of the service fee—ridiculous. I’m not paying 38% over what the menu prices say.
Rating: 4/10
andSons Chocolates (Beverly Hills)
12 piece box (six bonbons, six chocolate squares): the first two that I tried, I was like oh no, these aren’t really doing it for me. Then I came back to the box later that night and had another two, and it blew my mind. People who recommend eating these in one bite are maniacs. I greatly enjoyed eating each one in about three bites. The subtlety of flavor…
Rating: 9/10
Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles)
Amaro Bar Pasta Tasting Menu
Small starter that wasn’t listed on the menu: fun little thing, very much not fine dinning, meat wrapped around a bread stick.
Spaghetti (marinated anchovies, Calabrian chile & parsley): great, but in the end, I’m not a spaghetti man. I love me some anchovies, though. About as good as spaghetti (the worst pasta) can get.
Bauletti Ricotta (English peas, Spring onion & lemon): very good, and I’m slightly inclined away from lemon pastas. The lemon sauce was very buttery and smooth rather than acidic.
Torchio (pepperonata, Sicilian oregano & Taggiasca olives): ultimately did not like this one, though it’s definitely personal taste. Olives work for me when they’re embedded in a meal well, but I have never had a pepper in a course that hasn’t taken away from the experience. The only course I didn’t finish completely.
Doppio Ravioli (brasato, sunchokes & morels): this was definitely the best in the tasting menu (and not-coincidentally the only one that is also on the a la carte menu). They could have easily done this with mushrooms, but the morels take it to the something special category.
Meyer Lemon Posset (vanilla meringue): delicious. Also really good looking presentation.