spasticrobot

Bourdain's 50th Birthday

If you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain's oeuvre be sure to check out Michael Ruhlman's account of the surprise 50th birthday party which was recently thrown in his honor. All kinds of characters were there from all of his works. The grillbitch, Big Foot, zeropointzero, Siberia bar, Tony's mother and Ruhlman himself all make appearances. Great stuff!

Also, the "lost" episode of Bourdain's A Cook's Tour, Decoding Ferran Adria, premieres a week from today as an episode of No Reservations on the Travel Channel. This is the episode that Tony and his crew made, renegade style, after the Food Network decided not to renew his show. It profiles legendary chef Ferran Adria, he of El Bulli fame, researching in his food "atelier" in Barcelona, foraging in the stalls of La Boqueria and cooking at the restaurant itself. Not to be missed!

What the Pros Use

This NYT slideshow of chefs' toolkits is pretty neat. I like the contrast between the very organized and the very cluttered. If I were a chef my kit would probably fall somewhere in between, which I guess is still cluttered.

My Summer Eating List

With temps climbing into the 90's Summertime is officially upon us. I thought this year I'd create a list of food & drink that will make the long hot months a little more enjoyable. I'm going to try to consume all of these things before September:

• Artichoke Salad, Pizza and a pitcher of Root Beer at Pizza Man in Covington
• BBQ at the Joint
• Cochon du Lait at Cochon
• Breakfast at Elizabeth’s
• Bun & Jasmine Iced Tea at the original Pho Tau Bay on the WB
• Burger & a Monsoon at Port of Call
• Cuban Sandwich and Jalitos at Vazquez in Covington
• Dinner at Dick & Jenny’s
• Ferdie Po-Boy at Bear’s in Covington
• Giro Plate and a Lebanese Iced Tea at Mona's
• Happy Hour cocktails & appetizers at the Marigny Brasserie
• Lunch buffet at Taj Mahal
• Mojitos at the Bridge Lounge
• Muffaletta from Central
• Oyster Po-Boy at Domilise’s
• Pate Maison and a bottle of Casa Santa Maria at Etoile in Covington
• Plat du Mer and a nice bottle of white wine at Bourbon House
• Pimm’s Cup at Napoleon House
• Reuben Sandwich from Stanley!
• Roast Beef Po-Boy at Parkway Bakery
• Samosas & Pakoras at Salt n’ Pepper’s before a movie
• Seafood Platter and a Barq’s at R&O’s
• Tacos at Taqueria Sanchez or any of the other Taco Trucks around the city
• Tapas lunch at Rio Mar
• Vino Blanco at Bacchanal on a Sunday Evening
• Whatever Tuscan delights are on the menu at Del Porto in Covington
• Whatever our gift certificate + $100 will buy us at Antoine’s

It's a pretty good mix of old favorites and spots I've been wanting to try. I was also sure to include lots of places in Covington as I'm sure I'll be spending lots of time evacuated or just chilling out there this summer. If you are interested in joining me for any of these or have any other suggestions let me know.

An Early Summer List

Jorge Ben Jor "O Telefone Tocou Novamente"
Cafe con Leche
Gal Costa
Caipirinhas, Mojitos & Margaritas
Gilberto Gil
Jamon Iberico
Caetano Veloso
Spanish Goat Cheeses
Alton Ellis
Black Beans & Rice on Grilled Tortillas
Cava
Vino Blanco
Grilled Meats & Vegetables
Deadwood, Season 2 (and coming soon, Season 3)
Agua con Gas

Cinc Sentits

The highlight of my entire Barcelona experience was our very fine meal at Cinc Sentits. Cinc Sentits means five senses in Catalan and fittingly our meal there stimulated all of them. We made reservations for their special anniversary tasting dinner which featured 9 courses with 7 wine pairings. Here were the courses served:

Amuse Bouche - Maple Syrup, Cava Sabayon, Cream and Rock Salt served in a shot glass. This was a thoroughly surprising and delicious treat. I found myself wanting to lick the bottom of the glass but didn't. The first gigles of delight were heard around the table after this course.

1. Poached Quail Egg served over Parmiggiano Reggiano cream and topped with candied lemon. This was served on a spoon and eaten all at once. The combination of flavors and textures was nice but overall I was least impressed with this dish.

2. Spring Pea Soup with Trout Roe and Mint. This was a cold soup that was served in a tiny bowl with a miniature spoon. The cool, smooth soup and the exploding, salty roe was a fantastic contrast of flavor and texture. Everyone at the table loved this one.

3. Foie Gras Terrine Coca: crisp pastry base, balsamic-glazed leeks, sugar crust This dish featured a seared piece of Foie topped with a sugar crust, chives & rock salt and served over balsamic glazed leeks and a puff pastry crust. This provided the first belly laughs of the night at its absurd deliciousness.

4. Seared Galician Scallop served on a puree of Jerusalem Artichoke topped with a crispy piece of Jamon Iberico. Everyone at the table took time smelling this before we even took a bite. The flavors, especially the combination of the Jamon and Scallops was brilliant.

5. Grilled Monkfish with Asparagus Tips served over a black olive tapenade, lemon caramel and parsley oil. This was one of my favorites of the night, mostly because it took a flavor that isn't one of my favorites (black olive) and did something imagintive with it that I totally loved. This was another major hit with everone.

6. Roasted Suckling Pig served with a poached apple slice and an apple compote. The crispy skin on this was incredible and the pork was roasted to perfection.

7. A scoop of Cabrales and Marscapan Cheeses over a round slice of pear and topped with a toasted slice of garlic melba toast. This was an ingenious cheese course. Another smart and delecious combination of flavors that left everyone at the table smiling and moaning with delight. Shanna especially loved this one.

8. 5 Textures of Lemon: This was a lemon cake covered in lemon cream, lemon powder, lemon foam, and lemon vodka granita. It was served with a chilled shot of Grey Goose Vodka. One of the best desserts I've ever had, anywhere.

9. Chocolate Valhrona: brownie base, hazelnut and neule crunch, hazelnut ice cream. This was paired with the most unusual of all the wines, a sherry that tasted like raisens.

All of these dishes were paired with amazing wines from various regions of Spain and delivered with some of the most intelligent and delightfully pleasant service I've ever had. The Artal family have one of the best restaurants anywhere and I highly recommend going for the entire tasting menu if you ever have the chance.

Reluctant Jazzfest

I've been going back and forth on whether or not I will attend The Fest this year. Today I woke up and read this article in the Times-Picayune and have been swayed a bit closer to going. This post on Looka! is also making me want to go pretty bad.

For all the fuss made over the music and the atmosphere, the food is the real draw for me. A brief list of my favorite Jazzfest eats would include:

• Boudin & Boudin Balls
• Crawfish Bread
• Mrs. Wheat's Nachitoches meat pie
• Oyster Puffs
• Crawfish Beignets
• Vaucresson Hot Sausage Po-Boy
• Cochon de Lait Po-Boy
• Shrimp Bun (Vietnamese vermacelli salad)
• Pork Papusa
• and of course Rose Mint Tea

I've always wondered why the organizers can't get some Abita Beer in there or what would it take to set up a big Snoball tent. I'd love the ability to get a large Wild Cherry Snoball with condensed milk to drag over to the next show at Congo Square.

So yeah, I'm probably riding my bike up there this weekend. Now I just need to decide which day to attend. If Shanna wants to go we'll definitely be going on Sunday to catch Elvis Costello, The Boss, The Meters and more. If it's just me I might head over on Saturday to catch Juvenile, Etta James and Herbie Hancock.

Taqueria Sanchez, where are you?

I've been anticipating the arrival of taco trucks since the huge influx of Mexican day laborers began. Recently, Ryan reported that one had finally landed on our shores in the form of Taqueria Sanchez, an outfit out of Houston led by the infamous Doña 'Root'. He ate there twice and sampled Tacos Carnitas and al Pastor, both served with steamed corn tortillas, chopped onion, cilantro, radishes and hot sauce with nary a shred of cheese nor dab of sour cream in sight. In other words Taqueria Sanchez is the real deal!

Well today I drove out to the Daiquiri's & Cream's parking lot on Vets, with fantasies of spicy tacos and refreshing agua fresco running through my head, but alas Taqueria Sanchez has vanished into the humid vapor of Metairie. Keep your eyes peeled. We need to find that truck!

9 Roses

Last night I had the pleasure of dining at Hoa Hong 9 Roses. I've been wanting to eat at this restaurant for a few years and with our other favorite Vietnamese restaurants still out of comission our friend Heather made the brilliant suggestion that a bunch of us go.

9 Roses is physically the largest Vietnamese restuarant I've been to in the city. It's huge, nearly banquet hall sized, with giant tables set up with lazy susans and occupied almost entirely by Asian families out for a big dinner. Like the restaurant itself, the menu is enormous. There must be at least 150 items on the menu and choosing what to order is a daunting task.

After much deliberation I finally settled on the Crepe appetizer, a large egg crepe filled with herbs, chicken, and mung bean sprouts, a bowl of some of the best Pho I've ever had and delicious ground pork balls which were grilled and served with pickled carrots, various herbs, lettuce, peanut sauce and spring roll wrappers. The resulting rolls had some of the best flavor contrasts I've enjoyed in a while.

The plates came out in waves and everyone at the table shared. I was able to constantly sample all kinds of different treats including delicious spring rolls, a fantastic sweet and sour catfish soup, chinese broccoli with ginger and grilled lemongrass and sweet onion Bun.

It was so nice to experience authentic Vietnamese flavors again, something that I have come to associate with living in New Orleans but has been lost to me since the storm. 9 Roses is a new favorite and I foresee many pleasant evenings spent there in the near future.

Hubig's Pies Are Back!

According to their site, the first batch of Hubig's Pies are finished and are making their way to store shelves as I write this. It's going to be a tough decision whether to use my cheat of the week to eat a Lemon Hubig's Pie or a slice of King Cake on Twelfth Night.

Mid-City Melancholy

There's a really sad article in this week's Gambit about the restaurants of Mid-City and Faubourg St. John. Sounds like the St. John ridge did alright with restaurants like Lola already open for business. But the area around Canal and Carrollton, my old and much beloved hood, fared much worse.

Angelo Brocato's, that much loved emporium of hand made gelatos and sweets, may never open again! That is truly heartbreaking news. Here's what one of the owners has to say: "At the present time we have no idea as to how long it will take for us to reopen or if it is a viable option for us," says Brocato. "Mid-City had made such a great comeback over the years; what a shame it would be if it were left to die by those in power."

It's a sad day in America to read those words.