Farofa and French Fries

Bandera

2008-04-29T14:24:00.006-06:00

This post is also from my Chicago trip last week. I was in town just for a couple of days and invited my friends from twitter to lunch. Luckily, the locals picked Bandera, which turned out to be great.

I was told I had to have the corn bread there because it was the best in town. I must admit that corn bread is not my favorite thing and prior to coming to the US I had never had it, but French Fries makes it often enough that I've gotten used to it. Still, not my favorite dish. Then I tried this:

I dont' know if it really is the best in Chicago, but it's definitely the best I've ever had. And I know that if I went back there I'd definitely have it again.

Since I couldn't just have corn bread for lunch (though I may bend that rule next time I'm there), I ordered their Bandera-style Roasted Chicken with Spanish rice:

The bird was tender and soft and though we talked way too much over lunch, I managed to eat most of the plate, which was quite large (half breast and drumstick-thigh combo). I didn't care much for the rice -- seemed a little overcooked -- somewhere between Spanish rice and risotto. The chicken was very moist so a more lose rice or even some farofa would have been better (but I'm biased, of course).

The restaurant itself was very pleasant. Reminded me a lot of churrascarias I used to go in Sao Paulo -- large display of rotating roasting chickens right as you come in and a oak decorated ambient with low lights and lots of waiting staff zooming around.

Farofa: *** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Excellent American Cuisine, perfect for lunch-time get together.

Grand Lux Cafe

2008-04-27T10:20:00.004-06:00

This is a cranky post. I was in Chicago last week and found myself alone one of the evenings so I decided to try the restaurant around the corner from my hotel, Grand Lux Cafe. This restaurant is part of the same organization as the Cheesecake Factory (which is only reflected in the generous portion sizes).

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the place or the meal I ordered (a tasty combo plate, half fillet mignon half braised lamb served with mashes potatoes, which despite it's deliciousness, was served somewhat cold).

What I'm venting about is the dessert. I am not really a dessert person, I rarely order dessert. When I do, it's because I'm really in the mood and expect to have something very satisfying. The moment I sat down at Grand Lux Cafe, the waiter told me that their dessert selection was amazing and I should be aware that many options should be ordered early as it took up to 20 minutes to prepare as they were baked to order.

That sounded like a dream since I was just in the right mood. When I ordered their famous Warm Rustic Apple Pie, he told me it would take 35 minutes, which is very different from 20 minutes. I asked for Molten Chocolate Cake, same result. Likewise with New Orleans Beignets. I asked if he recommended something else that took less time. He said most other items were around the same time. I copped out and ordered a Banana Cream Pie to go.

Upon arriving at my hotel, I was greeted with this:

It tasted like what I would expect it to taste if it had traveled in a car for 12 hours with someone sitting on it. The banana was completely raw, which is ok, except it was over-ripe. The cream tasted like egg and the crust was mushy. I'm not going to dwell in the presentation issues, I'll just let this image speak for itself.

Farofa: * out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Over-promise and under-delivery are particuarlly bad for restaurants as you have to eat the outcome.

Grand Lux Cafe
600 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(773) 276-2500

Pink Rose Pastry

2008-04-27T09:53:00.007-06:00

After Mustard Green, our Date Night continued on to Pink Rose Pastry before we hit the theatre to see Smart People. We had been to Pink Rose before under similar circumstances -- as I frequently tell French Fries, doesn't matter how much you have for dinner as we have separate stomachs for desert.

This time I ventured with a Chocolate Midnite, which disappointed me. I love chocolate and generally go for dark chocolate items. This was milk chocolate based and the buttermilk icing was too buttery and sweet. Still tasty, but almost made French Fries shriek when she tried it. It also looked like something bought at a supermarket pastry shop, not a gourmet place. We later learned that one of their pastry chefs had called in sick that day (to whom I attribute the chocolate cake strength now).

French Fries, the lemon bar fiend, went for, obviously, a lemon bar. It looked delicious and it must have been because it was no longer there when I decided I wanted to try it.

She also had a Cafe-au-lait which she said was "blah" and I had a cappuccino which was actually quite good. All in all, not the most riveting dessert experience, but a nice place to hang out and wind down.

Farofa: ** out of 5
French Fries: ? out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Nice end-of-evening hang out for your sweet tooth

Pink Rose Pastry
630 S 4th St
Philadelphia, PA

Mustard Green

2008-04-27T09:37:00.007-06:00

Last night French Fries and I had a date night. We've been wanting to do that for a while but kept putting it off -- likewise with the restaurant we picked: Mustard Greens. We love going there but the last time had probably been a year ago.

The menu is very simple and sophisticated. It's the a very healthy kind of Chinese menu (wouldn't know where from exactly), with a constant theme of garlic throughout, which is an easy win in Farofa and French Fries territory.

We started out with a nice and cold Tsingtao, which we love, and a pot of their standard oolong tea, which is delicious. I wish they sold it -- they probably do at their sister shop across the street, which sells teapots (haven't been there yet as we usually arrive around 7pm when they are already closed).

We generally wait for the specials to order and I always order the special; yesterday was no exception -- not only that, but my favorite dish in the menu was it: Scallops. Made in a clear garlic broth with black beans, it's served with toasted green onions, sweet peas and baby corn.

French Fries ordered the Chinese Brocolli special, which is a beautiful green that's hard to describe (and unfortunately doesn't come out as nicely on my cellphone camera).

We also ordered the house staple, Mustard Greens, which were really crunchy and delicious. The whole meal was a perfect combination of dishes that blended well together and yet had a distinctive taste about them. It made French Fries happy - which is the ultimate goal of Date Night:

Farofa: ***** out of 5
French Fries: **** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Flavorful, affordable, comfortable, enjoyable -- adjectives are quickly too numerous for such a delicious minimalistic eatery: just go and enjoy.

Mustard Green
622 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 627-0833

Eggs Benedict

2007-06-08T11:47:00.000-06:00

Farofa likes Eggs Benedict. That is probably the understatement of the year, actually. It might be more accurate to say that Farofa tracks Eggs Benedict across the city with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile. Below is a sampling of Eggs Benedict dishes that she has consumed in Philly and a couple of ringers from DC & Maui respectively. For any of you who are similarly consumed with dreams of Eggs Benedict heaven try your hand at matching the following Eggs Benedict with the restaurants from which they came (no cheating by looking at flickr!):

1. the continental
2. creperie beau monde
3. jones
4. marathon on the square
5. more than just ice cream
6. morning glory
7. spices cafe
8. silver diner

a. b.

c. d.

e. f.

g. h.

Give up? The answers are
.
.
.
.
.
.
1d, 2e, 3h, 4b, 5a, 6f, 7g (maui), 8c (DC)

And yet - none of the pictured Eggs Benedict have achieved what Farofa considers to be the Platonic ideal of the dish, and some have even been bad! Quel horror! Can anyone out there help us find the best Eggs Benedict in Philadelphia?

P.S. We may be doing the same with guacamole in a soon-to-come episode if this is successful.

Pre-moving reminiscing (6/1/07)

2007-06-07T08:39:00.000-06:00

So it turns out that when, as a couple, you are simultaneously graduating from medical school, moving to a new city, buying your first home, angling for a promotion, starting medical residency and dealing with family health emergencies, it tends to make you neglect certain other things in your life. Things like blogs. But now that big moving day is almost upon us - it's time to reflect on the things we will miss about South Philly and Pittsburgh respectively, although we can't wait to explore all that NoLib & Fishtown have to offer. Part I: Pittsburgh, to be followed shortly by Part II: South Philly.

Pittsburgh

Chaya
Farofa will miss Chaya (www.chayausa.com) the most. We went here for the last (snif!) time right prior to FrenchFries' graduation and ordered everything we could fit on the table, as is apparent in the photos.

The fish here is always fresh and luscious, the service is wonderful, the ambiance is totally charming, as befits its status as a family run Squirrel Hill institution. The fact that it is closed on Sundays (which for some reason seems to be FrenchFries' default sushi-craving day) and that waits can sometimes be a little longer than is typical in the 'burgh (think 20 minutes, not the 2 hour Philly 'long waits') are minor annoyances at worst. One tip is to talk to the chef Yasu-San in advance if you want anything special. Far and away the worst thing about moving to Philadelphia is the fact that neither Farofa nor French Fries has yet found a sushi place in Philly that hits the sweet spot of consistently delicious fresh fish, affordable pricing, sweet ambiance and perfect service, the way that Chaya always did and are starting to fear that they never will. Adieu sweet Chaya - you will be missed.

The Quiet Storm
FrenchFries will definitely miss Chaya as well, but her biggest regret about moving away from Pittsburgh is no longer being able to go to the Quiet Storm (www.quietstormcoffee.com) at any hour of the day that she pleased and get anything off the menu, knowing that it will be incredible, super-filling and vegetarian or vegan without any hassle as well as not taking a big bite out of her wallet. FrenchFries actually has nearly no photos of the food at the Quiet Storm, mainly because it tends to be mostly inside by the time it occurs to anyone to pull out a camera. If you are lucky enough to get to go there, I reccomend ordering any (or all!) of the following: Ginger lemonade (sweet & tart lemonade with gingerrific syrup)/Ginger-lemon shake (lemon sorbet, soy milk & the same fantastic ginger syrup), Quiet Storm 'Home Fries' (a HUGE pile of mashed red-skin potatoes covered with tender scrambled eggs, soy sausage, sweeeet carmalized onions, cheddar and super-tangy aioli - my personal favorite), the big-as-yer-head breakfast burrito (stuffed with a lot of the same things as the 'home fries,' plus great black beans and minus sausage, onions and aioli and with the advantage of wicked portability), artichoke-green chile dip (defies description, addictive in a way that is impossible to quantify), apple panini (same really good cheddar makes another appearance, this time melted on sun-dried tomato bread with apple slices and apple butter - have you ever had cheddar on your apple pie? Well, this is better), Pierogi Quesadilla (the cheddar, smashed potatos and carmalized onions make another appearance [there may be a theme developing], this time with sauerkraut and sour cream in quesadilla form), home-made chili on or off the Dirty Nachos. FrenchFries doesn't mind long distance driving that much and is seriously considering a couple Pittsburgh pilgrimages this fall for the sole purpose of eating there.

River Moon Cafe
This has been our go-to place for romantic, just the two of us dinners for F&FF for so long now that we couldn't believe that we hadn't already blogged about it. The River Moon Cafe (rivermooncafe.com) is nestled in quiet, queer-friendly Lawrenceville and has the cutest chef we've ever met (in the cuteoverload.com sense rather than the L Word Soup Chef sense) as well as some truly fantastic food.

One of the real draws here is their enormous tea list - this is the place that can be credited with turning Farofa from an inveterate member of the 'hot chocolate is the only non-disgusting hot beverage' club to a bona-fide tea drinker (for anyone out there who is trying to turn their mate into a tea drinker, FrenchFries would like you to know that it was the Black Currant tea that did the trick plus lots of patient positive reinforcement over a matter of months). The menu is pretty traditional, relying on standards like filet minon, steak a poivre, pork chops and pasta but the execution is exquisite. This has also been one of our favorite places to go for brunch as they do a package deal that includes drinks, fruit, pastry, a side of crispy potatoes or polenta and a main dish for $15 - and is always very tasty. I hope that they start to get a little more business with the new Children's Hospital is opening a few blocks away as it is frequently a little too empty when we have gone.

Other favorites from the four years in Pittsburgh:

Mi Mexico (sadly closed - tiny little taqueria, replaced by Cuzamil, which is average americanized texmex)
D's SixPax & Dogz (ignore the name - go for the >900 beer selection and the fantastic hot dogs & french fries - far better than the Dirty O/Original Hot Dog Shop)
Green Mango Noodle Hut (the best Thai in Pittsburgh, order EVERYTHING)
Thai Cuisine (my favorite Thai until Noodle Hut opened, still very good)
Pierogies Plus (hot potato & cheese - if you have anything else, I don't know you)
Tram's Kitchen (divey Vietnamese, to-die-for spring rolls)
Square Cafe (dyke-a-licious, really good pancakes)
Mineo's Pizza (greasy, cheesy, oh so good)
Mad Mex (part of the Big Burrito group -Pittsburgh's answer to Philly's Starr empire - best margaritas in the 'burgh)
Kaya & the rest of the Big Burrito group (although Kaya and the other members of this group have had some misses as well as hits - see valentine's day for a reminder)
Abay (Great Ethiopian food, no more, no less)

If you are looking for more, I generally think the folks at PGH Micro-reviews do a good job, and I agree with most of the consensus opinions there. Soon to come - things that we will miss about not being in South Philly anymore.

Konak Turkish Restaurant (3/8/07)

2007-03-19T01:31:00.000-06:00

I know that it has been a while since either Farofa or French Fries has been here... this is mostly due to the fact that French Fries has had not much of an appetite for food (the eating of or the writing about) until this past Thursday, March 15th. As it happens, French Fries has been trying to secure a residency position in Emergency Medicine and the day that the match results (the aforementioned Ides of March) were announced was consequently one of great stress and ultimately exultation, as French Fries will soon be moving to Philadelphia to join Farofa in eating and cooking... and being a medical resident, but since when did that take up any time? After all, the kids on Grey's Anatomy always seem to have scads of free time, though they don't eat much.

Which is all to explain the spotty updating of this site. ~~But never fear - the remainder of March will be a season of restaurant reviewing like the world has never seen before.~~ Edit: Jesus gay - it's JUNE! Well, that didn't work out as planned.
And so, this world-shaking event starts with our visit to Konak. Farofa had been here once before, and French Fries has always thought of anything involving hummus as comfort food, so it was a good fit for the evening. The appetizer menu had a couple options we had never seen, and there is nothing Farofa likes better than ordering mysterious food, so we opted for the Sigara Borek (translated as 'cigar for non-smokers' on the adorable menu) and the Imam Bayildi (translated as 'priest fainted').

The sigara borek were delicate fried tubes of filo dough filled with the lightest, most delicate, soft feta cheese that either Farofa or French Fries has ever had. They totally blow out the idea that feta is always a firm, salty, aggressive cheese. French Fries felt like she could honestly have made an entire meal out of just them.

Farofa's heart, however, was already given over to the Imam Bayildi. The reason for the funny name is apparently debated - the menu said that some people think the fainting was because of how much olive oil is needed to make the dish, while others think the priest fainted due to how delicious it is. Farofa's sensibilities are definitely with the latter group. This is one dish that Farofa & French Fries are definitely going to try to re-create at home if they come across any sweet tiny baby eggplants just begging to be sauteed with pine nuts, garlic and peppers in their Reading Terminal excursions.

Farofa also had the skewered pan-fried mussels, which she described as tasty, but suffered from comparison to our other two fantastic starters. For our main, we succumbed, as we almost always do at the type of restaurants where such things are available, to the allure of the 'everything plate.' It's like Noah's ark but with food, and it addresses French Fries's near-crippling inability to order decisively when she is nervous about other things, so a good solution. While we devoured our falafel, grape leaves, hummus and the tabouli salad, the ezme and eggplant salad did not do so well. We may just have been full from what came before, but I think it mostly was that, compared to the star dishes that started our meal and the very tasty basics that filled it out (the hummus zesty with lemon juice and green olive oil, the tabouli tasting of all wonderful fresh herbs), dishes that would have been fully serviceable at another restaurant, at Kanak are outshone completely.

Farofa: **** out of 5
French Fries: **** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: The priest may really have fainted, and who can blame him with food this good? We'll be back soon for some more delicious Mediterranean chow.

Konak Turkish Restaurant
228 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-592-1212

Kaya (2/14/07)

2007-02-20T18:04:00.000-05:00

Farofa and French Fries will take almost any excuse to have a romantic dinner out - and Valentine's day is no exception... except that all our favorite restaurants jack up their prices to high heaven. We decided on Kaya because it's been a long-standing favorite of ours for evenings when Farofa knows that she'll want meat, and French Fries wants 'fancy vegetarian' and their fixed price menu was actually comparatively reasonable - $45 for a vegetarian tasting menu, and $55 for the meat-eater's version. In the past we'd been really impressed by Kaya's small plates, and the idea of a chef's tasting menu with lots of small plates seemed like a sure bet for good food, even on night that is apparently the restaurant business version of 'amateur night'.

First Course: Farofa got seared rare tuna with avocado, ginger-horseradish pickle, and shiso leaf, and French Fries the vegetarian starter of papaya and mango salad with romaine, dressed with a chili-lime vinagrette.

Farofa: Having been spoiled by my first sisho experience, I admit my hopes were way too high for such a standard dish. It was a fine piece of tuna (3 actually, which was 2 too many) and I really liked the shreaded ginger on top, but the sisho had no place in this plate and tasted like an elder house plant.

French Fries: In retrospect, I actually think that this salad may have been one of the better parts of an overall disappointing dinner. At the time, there was some grinching on my part about the not-quite-ripe mango, but the warm papaya, sweet corn and the cilantro and lime dressing made up for that slight failing. It was crunchy and fresh tasting - hard things for a salad to manage in Pittsburgh in the middle of a blizzard - and I cleaned my plate - which wouldn't happen again until dessert.

Second Course: Farofa had lobster beignets with a lemon-chili mojo and French Fries gobbled some shiitake mushroom dumplings with sweet soy dipping sauce.

Farofa: Yikes! This sauce was so hot the tears rolled down. Even though it was a bit too much to enjoy in larger amounts, it was tasty and zesty, a good combination with the would-have-been lobster beignets, had there been any lobster in them. At first I thought I couldn't taste it because the dipping sauce's flavour was too overwhelming, but it turns out it was just fried dough - maybe they had a lobster in the kitchen *while* they were frying it...

French Fries: I did gobble these - but it was hunger providing most of the appeal, as the balance of flavors was tipped way too far towards sweet, even for my notoriously limitless sweet tooth. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I like shitake and soy far better when they are savory and salty, respectively. I think most of the fault with this one fell on the dumpling wrappers rather than the actual choices made for the filling, but still, not an appealing dish aesthetically or gastronomically.

Farofa: The first thought that came to mind when French Fries plate arrived was how it looked like something from Top Chef, where every contestant used a porcelain spoon to serve sauce at one point or another.

Third Course: Farofa was given striped bass, served with littleneck clams in a coconut/chili broth with potatoes, corn and bok choy. French Fries instead had Tofu Pho.

Farofa: The Striped Bass was flavourfull and the the tasty coconut sauce made me wish for a nice piece of bread for dipping, but I could have done without the clams (which were a bit chewy).

French Fries: While I know that even the concept of vegetarian phở is blasphemy to true phở purists, I was looking forward to a nice big bowl of broth with, I had assumed, thin slices of fried or fresh tofu and lots of rice noodles and chile. Instead, I got a VERY large block of lightly fried tofu set atop some rice noodles that appeared to have had something of a passing acquaintance with broth in their past. I tried to keep my hopes up in the face of the lack of resemblance to the phở of my dreams - and, while the noodles were indeed flavorful and tender, the dish couldn't overcome the fact that the tofu hadn't been marinated (or had any attempt made to produce a flavor in it other than 'soy product') and the carrots were raw- their crispness in awkward contrast to the soft rice noodles.

Fourth Course: Farofa had a filet of beef with guajillo chili jus, served over warm chayote an hominy salad and French Fries had grilled tempeh served with fried pole beans, cauliflower puree and black olive mojo.

Farofa: Hands down the best piece of beef I have had in a months. Maybe one of the top 3 I have ever tasted in the United States. It was cooked to medium-rare perfection and and I delighted myself in it slowly and hapilly - the reduce wine sauce was a perfect match, just tangy enough but not too sweet - This was also my introduction to hominy, accompanied by seasoned carrots and chayote, complementing the stellar beef. The serving was probably larger than I needed, but I licked the plate clean.

French Fries: Farofa's meat came out before my 'main dish' and looked beautiful even to my vegetarian eyes. It looked even better in comparison when my dish appeared and the seitan not only suffered from the same lack of seasoning that the chunk of tofu had before it - it also had the addition of a centimeter of burnt char on the bottom. I tried a bite - it was inedible. I ended up eating the fried pole beans which were tasty, if a little over salted. I've never had burnt food at Kaya before, so I have to assume this was an aberration for the restaurant as a whole - but in the context of this dissapointing meal, it was the last straw.

Dessert: Farofa lived the V-day dream with a chocolate torte with raspberry-chili coulis and French Fries gratefully munched on Banana Cake served with caramelized banana compote and rum syrup.

Farofa: After this, I decided I don't like chocolate custards. I'm sure it was perfectly fine as a dish, but I need some flour in my chocolate dessert.

French Fries: Basically just banana bread with smashed, rum-drench banana on top, but it was filled with cinnamon and soft and tender in my mouth and so, blew the rest of the meal away by dint of not being burnt, bland or boring. If only the rest of the meal had stuck to these basics, I would have been so much happier. And while I haven't mentioned either the service of the ambiance up to this point (too distracted by complaining the crummy food) - both were warm and welcoming, especially nice because the weather outside was so lousy.

Farofa: **** out of 5
French Fries: * out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: An outstanding filet trumps any meal shortcomings. Unless you are a vegetarian.

Kaya
2000 Smallman St
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 261-6565

Delica rf-1 (2/11/07)

2007-02-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

Coming soon to this very spot, a review by the traveling Farofa of her lunch at Delica rf-1 in San Francisco 's inimitable Ferry Building. (French Fries didn't get to go along to San Francisco, and is shamelessly hoping that Farofa picked up some toothsome goodies that will survive the trip back well). In the meantime, nosh on these yummy pictures.

Farofa(F): As a first timer in San Francisco I was overwhelmed by the possibilities of places to eat, but having only one day of leisure I had to place my bet on a few options; I decided to spend the day walking around and ended up by the water at the inimitable Ferry Building, where I had lunch at Delica rf-1. Despite the bizarre name, it is a pretty outstanding place to eat.

Delicia rf-1 is the brainchild of Kozo Iwata, apparently inspired, as many other restaurateurs before him have been, by the Alice Waters 'fresh, local, delicious' mandate. The whole 'Japanese Deli' concept sounds a little funny at first, but it breaks down into a little bit bento, a little bit blackboard, a lot of very good produce made into very good food. It's in an ultra-modern space in the high-rent district of the Ferry Building just south of Chinatown), and the prices reflect that to a certain extent, but are overall pretty reasonable.

Though I generally don't care about vegan options, this might be a good place for those into non-dairy meat-free cuisine. The menu is vast and I wanted a little taste of everything... but restrained myself to a few samples – something fried, something soupy, something veggie, and something weird/different.

Above: Miso soup, Fried Oyster, Kakiage Tempura and Roast Beef Sushi

I like tempura and it’s often a sure bet for comfort food. There is only one way for tempura to be bad: if it's cold. The Kakiage Tempura (mix of shredded burdock root, carrots, onions, and edamame with white shrimp) was cold tempura. Is it too much to ask for tempura to be fried shortly before serving? Maybe I've been spoiled by the other 4,782 Japanese restaurants I have been to in my life, but it was most disappointing because the produce used was clearly fresh and good.

Fortunately, that was the only bad thing about Delica rf-1 (my mother would add that the tableware was also lacking, but I was hungry enough to not care). The fried oyster had a perfect crunchy outside and soft warm inside. I almost got another one because It had been a while since I had good fried Oyster (warning: stay away from Reading Terminal's Pearl's Oyster Bar in Philly). And while the tableware may not have been much, the view was spectacular.

I ordered Roast Beef Sushi for fun, it just sounded weird (and I’ve had successful experiences with weird-sounding sushi - fois-gras sushi being the best). The menu said “Our original sushi dish with Meyer Ranch natural, hormone-free beef, topped with baby arugula, minced shallots, and julienne radish, wrapped with Nori seaweed. Wasabi is included.” – and the result was a tasty sushi, though it had also been sitting on display a little longer than I would have liked. Interestingly, even though it was a two-bite investment, it filled me up the way a good roast-beef platter fills you in. I felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland.

Miso soup with Shimeji mushrooms, brown mushrooms, and age tofu. ($3.25)

I don't think anyone would consider Miso soup the highlight of a meal, but this one was a star. It was by far, the tastiest miso soup I have ever had - and I love miso soup. Miso soup is supposed to be served with sashimi to clean your palate in between different fish (among other things), but this one was made to shine: The miso was high quality, the shimeji and brown mushrooms were fresh, and even the age tofu (which I'm not a big fan of), was filled with the flavorful broth, making every bite as pleasurable as the last. I had a big smile on my face.

French Fries Note from Afar: Some bonus linkaliciousness with a recipe to duplicate Chef Iwata's sesame dressing (it says for over asparagus, I say for over anything)

Farofa: **** out of 5
French Fries: "Whining at the unfairness of the universe."

Forks Down Verdict: Farofa says YUM to this great lunch spot, but she hopes that if she ever goes back the tempura is hot.

Delica rf-1
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 834-0344

Ferry Building Marketplace

2007-02-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

Farofa is in San Francisco for a few days for a seminar and decided to take one day to explore the city. Having never been here, there is much to choose from but culinary explorations always come first, so with less than 6 hours to spare, the Ferry Building Marketplace seemed like the best choice.

The place is gorgeous and even though it only has about 40 fairly small merchants, it puts Reading Terminal Market to shame. Farofa is a big fan of open markets, specially the kind that mixes high-end cuisine and straightforward local produce. Mercado Municipal Paulistano is and always will be the number one on the list, but Ferry Building Marketplace has made its mark.

It's hard to walk around in a place like this and not be able to buy fresh produce (they wouldn't have survived the trip home 3 days later). Cowgirl Fromagerie was hard to stay away from - I looked like a Dickens character staring in from the window, hopeful and wishing for the wondrous contents of the display.

Creme Fraiche, Mascarpone, Ricotta...

For lunch, I decided to go to Delica rf-1, which deserved its own review. I also picked up two bottles of rosé (French Fries' favourite), a 2005 Bandol Terrebrune that was recommended to me, and a 2005 Mount Tamalpais Gris for a taste of the local variety.

All the walking around called for a snack; found one at the Golden Gate Meat Company in the form of a quarter pound of Hot Coppa - which was so unexpectedly spicy that demanded a full water bottle and a can of coke. Totally worth it!

The best stop was at Stonehouse California Olive Oil, where I got an 8oz bottle of their Lisbon Lemon extra virgin olive oil (made by crushing fresh, tree-ripened citrus fruit together with the olives at the time of pressing). Of course, this decision took a good half hour and forced me to try all of their various pressings and blends. Oh the hardship...

I learned that citrus oils make wonderful vinaigrettes when paired with white balsamic vinegar, which I had not tried yet (we did try the oil at home with rigatoni and fresh Parmesan and it was spectacular).

To wrap up the tour in style, I had to visit French Fries' preferred chocolate store, See's Candies and get a box of her all-time favorite, California Brittle (half dark, half milk chocolate). It was just what was missing to complete the pile of gifts accumulated over my long trip to get to snowy Pittsburgh for Valentines Days.

Farofa: **** out of 5
French Fries: approves of all the gifts!

Forks Down Verdict: Fun place to spend a weekend morning and have brunch - will come back next time in SFO

Ferry Building Marketplace
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 834-0344

The Continental (12/30/06)

2007-01-29T00:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, even the frenchiest of French Fries and the crunchiest of Farofas must Starr if they want to munch in Philly. We find our intrepid heroines brunching once again, the day after our Apamate visit, at The Continental (one of many Stephen Starr outposts) for some restoratives to recover from past debauch/prepare ourselves for NYE debauchery yet to come.

(photo credit: Messy & Picky - shamelessly YOINKED! because our outdoor photo turned out crummy)

On arrival, French Fries was in that still-half asleep daze that precludes wise menu-decision making while Farofa had already decided that she wanted to try yet another version of Eggs Benedict, as her former favorite (at More than Just Ice Cream) has been AWOL for too many weeks now. Farofa ordered a plate of Shoestring Fries hoping that her namesake dish of carbs + grease would force a meal decision from French Fries.

Shoestring Fries ($3.50)

The mountain of potatoey goodness woke French Fries up enough to order a Spinach and Feta omelette - just in time because the fish delivery alongside commenced shortly thereafter, and the banging and clanging of the cellar door made quite a dent in the otherwise fun, if olive-bedecked, ambiance. Food was quick to arrive and very generously proportioned (if you hadn't gotten that sense from the Swiss Alp of Spuds above).

Farofa was only a single bite into her Eggs Benedict with Ham ($8.50) when she noticed that despite the fish delivery having completed its business, multiple passerby seemed to be tripping over something just outside the window. We peeked through the blinds and noticed that the fish guy had left one of the edges of the cellar door sticking up a good 2-3 inches from level. We mentioned it to the waiter but no sooner had we done so that a very loud crash came from outside. Looking out the window revealed the prone form of a middle -aged lady... not moving. French Fries hesitated, not wanted to jump in if someone from the restauraunt was already on top of it, but as no-one seemed to be moving, ended up going outside to help up the nice woman. She had had her face turned into quite the bloody mess by her trip & fall over the cellar door, but was otherwise intact. She came inside and the people at the Continental then started moving, getting her ice & whatnot. She didn't want an ambulance called for her but it was clear that she was going to have some nasty scabs for at least the next few weeks.

Emergencies inside the hospital and the work that needs doing in the middle of a non-hospital emergency are Farofa's stock in trade, and so it wasn't the blood or the accident that kept Farofa from enjoying her Spinach and Feta Omelette ($8.00) as much as she might have otherwise. Partly it was the adrenaline surge that resulted in her dropping both pieces of toast. Partly it was guilt about not mentioning the screwed up door earlier. And partly it was that the eggs, both in color and consistency were JUST a wee bit too cafeteria "egg mixture" for farofa, although the spinach was fresh and the feta pillowy and tasty.

Farofa: *** out of 5
French Fries: *** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Trendy olive light fixtures don't take away from tasty & affordable brunch food - but bloody accidents caused by carelessness outside do.

The Continental
138 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 923-6069

Apamate (12/29/06)

2007-01-28T17:42:00.000-05:00

Farofa and I had wanted to try Apamate for a while - it's just a few blocks from the house and I had been getting good tummy-feelings about it from the reviews I'd heard, so on a cold December day a few days before New Year's we wandered down that way for bunch-time tapas.

The ruddy red/orange walls and industrial fixings made the cold day seem less biting, and the wall of Spanish specialty products (including salt-packed anchovies for Farofa and yummy-looking Mebrillio for French Freis) made our mouths water before we even opened the menu. Farofa and French Fries are both kinda little, and have gotten spanked with the greedystick at tapas places by ordering above & beyond what their bellies can manage in the past. Determined not to make this mistake, Farofa stuck to a mere 3 tapas from from the list of about 15. French Fries always hopes for happy eggs to be a part of her brunch-time occasions and so was dissapointed to learn that they were out of the Spanish tortillas and was convinced to settle on quiche by the incusion of her favorite drunken goat cheese.

(Counterclockwise From L-R):
Setas Al Ajillo Shitake & Portabella mushrooms sautéed with olive oil, garlic, parsley & a Rioja reduction ($2.25)
Esparragos Con Jamon Asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham, lightly breaded and sauteed in olive oil ($3.25)
Carne Con Patatas Al Cabrales A slice of griled rib eye served with a cabrales reduction sauce & crispy potatoes ($3.25)

Quiche Vegetariano asparagus, piquillo peppers & drunken goat cheese from murcia semi soft goat cheese bathed in red wine ($7.95)

Memories of Food Past

2006-12-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

French Fries is on the interview trail for residency programs in Emergency Medicine and the food she has been eating has been pretty uniformly grim. At the pre-interview dinners with the residents it is usually great company but greasy undercooked bar grub to accompany it. At the interview day itself they do their best to keep the interviewee blood sugar up through the grueling process but sticky neon danishes and steam tray lunches of questionable provenance do not a gastronomic adventure make. With that and with the many Xmas shows on television referencing Ghosts of Christmas past, FrenchFries raided both her and Farofa's photo collections for some memorable meals of the past year.

New Year's 05: Sushi From Philly's Maki House and a HUGE fruity/cheesy salad with pear, Gorgonzola, dried cranberry and grapes

Valentine's Day: A giant box of Godiva Truffles with awesome flavors like candied apple, peanut butter & jelly, passion fruit and Mexican Hot Chocolate ("a little picante" remembers Farofa fondly).

Summertime Visit to Philly Faves: Off to Valanni for Brunch ("Steak n' Eggs" and a flatbread with spicy hummus) and La Creperie for Linner - meals at odd times to coincide with endless sunshine hours.

French Fries' Birthday: To a Pittsburgh's home of tapas at Ibiza where Farofa gorged on Osso Buco with Lentils but made the meat-fest up to French Fries with a home-cooked meal a few days later.

Hello Cafe (12/10/06)

2006-12-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

After a nice evening at the movie theatre, Farofa and French Fries were not really hungry but knew they should eat or they would wake up starving the following morning. Driving home, they spotted the small shopping centre on Washington Avenue, which they often talk about stopping but never do.

There are several Chinese/Vietnamese little restaurants in that strip, but Hello Cafe looked like the most appealing to Farofa, who decided to be adventurous and order something with an ingredient she has never tried before, the Beef with Bitter Melon ($9.95).

Hello Cafe's atmosphere was not the most inviting by Farofa's standards, but seemed like a good enough place to eat - the late hour and decreasing temperature called for take-out, however.

At home, French Fries savoured but was not overwhelmed by her Chinese Baby Broccoli with Garlic (Market Price). It was tasty but a little too oily for FF's taste (one that often finds Chinese food oily for that matter). Meanwhile, Farofa got used to the idea of this unexpected-looking (but delicious-smelling) vegetable among her beef strips, having expected something that looked more like a melon, but getting a cacti-looking mix instead. Both dishes had a lot of garlic, but not enough to mask the bitterness of either vegetable.

The sauce was very tasty, and later both figured it was made with Douchi (fermented and salted soybeans). Lesson learned: Bitter Mellon is one of the most bitter vegetables known. And bitter it was. Farofa was happy to have ordered this to learn this lesson.

French Fries prepared some Japanese green tea (Genmai Cha) made of rice to go along with the meal, which proved a perfect combo, soothing the bitterness and pleasing the palate. Overall, F&FF are not sure they will go back to Hello Cafe when there are so many Chinese/Vietnamese options to explore in Philadelphia, but they now know what to expect when a dish with "Bitter" in the title.

Farofa: *** out of 5
French Fries: **1/2 out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Fast service and good serving size for late weekend munchies.

Hello Cafe
600 Washington Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 467-7008
Everyday, 11:00am - Midnight

Raw Sushi And Sake Lounge (12/9/06)

2006-12-10T00:06:00.000-05:00

French Fries was in the mood for a fancier Philly outing and was craving protein, so we decided to go to Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge (about as pedantic a name as you can pick for a sushi bar). Having been there before, Farofa knew a reservation was in order and made a same-night one for 9:45pm.

Despite that, F&FF arrived at Raw to find several other people waiting around for the hostess, who was nowhere to be found. Eventually, she emerged to announce they were behind schedule and the reservations would actually result in a table about 20 minutes later, which irritated the very hungry French Fries to no end.

Once seated, though, French Fries' eyes shone with happiness when she saw the extensive menu with a plethora of fish and vegetarian options, which made up for the wait and even the absolutely horrible music that the DJ chose to play through the night (but it didn't prevent some eye rolling as the music varied between 70's Hustle, Motown and Red Hot Chili Peppers with the occasional dropped record squeak to liven things up).

The restaurant is oddly designed with tables crammed close together, and the noise volume of the aforementioned questionable soundtrack such that shouting was needed for your table partner to hear you, adding to the chaos of the crowded space. Farofa felt a submarine was the best metaphor to explain the feeling of being in a narrow and long enclosure where merely looking to the side makes you uncomfortable about invading other people's personal space.

Still, Farofa's enthusiasm grew when French Fries' choice of beer, a Hitachino Ginger Ale ($7.00), was served in a lovely tulip glass at a cold enough temperature that met her strict Brazilian standards for coldness (not a standard in Philadelphia). The sake list was quite impressive and the descriptions made it accessible for the newbie to sake, but neither Farofa or French Fries were in the mood for the hard stuff.

After much debate over what to order, with every option sounding better than the next, (and Farofa trying to restrain French Fries due to her previous experience with Raw's large rolls), F&FF settled on the White Tiger Special ($16.00), the Sweet Potato Tempura Maki ($6.00), the Umeshiso Maki ($4.50) and the Tai Sushi ($3.00).

The White Tiger roll (in the center in the upper picture and lower right in the lower) was composed of juicy white tuna with flying fish roe on the inside of the roll, topped with more white tuna that had been run quickly under a blowtorch to caramelize and slightly cook it. It was garnished with 3 (!) sauces, eel sauce, spicy sauce and a creamy (sesame and mayo?) sauce, as well as scallions, and even more roe. A roll this big is rarely without some structural integrity issues, and this one was no exception, falling apart under the chopsticks a little bit but the flavor more than made up for it. The sauces were the good kind of overwhelming, and the white tuna (FF's favorite fish) was perfectly fresh and sweet. The run under the blowtorch made the tuna topping the roll near enough to sushi perfection as FF wants to get.

The Sweet Potato Tempura roll (back row in upper picture and upper left in lower) was just that - warm and crunchy sweet potato tempura wrapped in a roll. The tempura coating was crispy and the sweet potato not overcooked nor soggy - but next time both F & FF agreed, they'd get the tempura on its own and save rolls for focusing on the very high quality fish and vegetables.

The third and last roll was the Umeshiso roll (Lower left in upper picture and upper right in lower) which while appearing very unprepossessing on the plate was the surprise of the night. Farofa was pretty suspicious of it, thinking that it was another boring cucumber roll. French Fries had trouble not laughing when after her first bight, Farofa had changed her tune, singing the praises of the minty shiso and sweet plum sauce, which balanced out the crisp cucumber in almost 'zen-like' harmony. French Fries stole most of them, though, to pay Farofa back for being so doubtful about the order. Farofa took the Tai (red snapper) which was nothing special to her palate but tasty nonetheless - if it had been in a crowd of sushi she doubts that she'd remember it.

Miso soup ($2.50) usually goes unnoticed in Japanese restaurants, but Raw's deserves mention because it was not only unusually good but unusually generous with the seaweed, much to Farofa's delight.

At the end of the meal, Farofa, who rarely orders dessert, could not resist the Mochi Ice Cream ($8.00). Having appreciated mochi (cake made of glutinous rice) with red bean paste for most of her life in São Paulo, Farofa often seeks for a substitute or any Japanese desert that may resemble the traditional sweets from the streets of Liberdade. She was not let down.

Raw definitely lived up to it with an impressive assortment of mochi filled with strawberry sorbet, green tea and red bean ice cream (Above, L-R: red bean, green tea, strawberry, red bean again). For reasons that continue to puzzle Farofa and French Fries, the waiter brought - in addition to the mochi - two scoops of ice cream (ginger and green tea) and a small but unnecessary bowl of cinnamon whipped cream, while professing "just in case...". Both wondered what that case might have been, but other than the case of there being a plague that would force all to live off their body fats for the following three weeks, it was still WAY more dessert than any two people could have possibly eaten.

Raw serves really great food and is certainly a place Farofa and French Fries will return to, in the hopes that the restaurant and its logistics will catch up to the quality of the fish. Enjoying really great food, weird ambiance notwithstanding, is always a joy.

Farofa: **** out of 5
French Fries: **** out of 5

~~Forks~~ Chopsticks Down Verdict: Any of the daily roll specials are a certain good call, but come hungry.

Raw Sushi & Sake Lounge
1225 Sansom St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 238-1903

Morning Glory (12/2/06)

2006-12-09T11:00:00.000-05:00

Farofa and French Fries have wanted to do a foodblog for ages. The Gastronomer, Messy and Picky, PhilaFoodie, even Farofa's mom, all have been food blogging and inspiring us. So when, for a change, we woke up before 11 AM on a weekend, we realized it was the perfect day not only to start the food blog, but also to go to the brunch spot that we've been lusting after for ages, but haven't been to due to fears of the wait (and usually waking up on weekends with growling wait-prohibitive tummies).... the inimitable Morning Glory.

We arrived on a sunny but cold Saturday at 11:40 or so and expected a major wait - it seems that the pleasant note on the menu that suggests that diners be mindful of the people waiting and leave promptly actually works, as our wait was a mere half hour despite the significant number of people ahead of us. The patio has two gas-burning pole-heaters that helped keep it actually pretty cozy despite the below-freezing temp. We had decided before going that we wanted both sweet and savory munchies this morning, and Farofa wanted to try her favorite morning beverage, a big mug of hot chocolate, whereas FrenchFries wanted tea (having already decaffeinated herself with a Coke Zero before leaving the house).

After looking through the menu, there were actually two sweet things we wanted to try - the chocolate cherry bread and the 'Monkey French Toast'. The latter had been recommended multiple times by everyone FrenchFries had talked to about Morning Glory. As for the savory, the Frittata special with feta, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts caught both our eyes, olive freaks that we are. The waiters were pretty busy but took our order promptly, and much to FrenchFries' joy, the restaurant was actually warm (FrenchFries loves Philly's many BYOBs but hates how COLD most of them are).

Our Chocolate Cherry Bread ($3.50) arrived first, and unfortunately there is no picture of it, primarily because we got outside of the three pieces of it with an embarrassing amount of speed. The chocolate cherry bread had a nice crust and big soft pieces of real cherries and semi-sweet chocolate throughout. The table was pretty crowded with Farofa's hot chocolate, FrenchFries' tea, pots of jam and butter, sweetener/sugar, salt/pepper, milk and our water glasses, but when the food arrived we were more than happy to make room.

Farofa took on the challenge of the Monkey French Toast ($7.50) - it was thick pieces of challah french toast drenched in caramel sauce with chunks of mango and banana between each slice and a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream beside it, all sprinkled with powdered sugar. It was very sweet, but the mango was not as prominent as Farofa had hoped, as the dish was more banana heavy. Still, Farofa is hard to satisfy on the mango front, coming from Brazil, where delicious mangoes as big as your head are common. She did note that the caramel sauce was perfect, not cloying at all, and you could still taste the other flavors. Farofa neglected the whipped cream because she doesn't like it, but on the bites FrenchFries stole, it was also perfectly balanced on the sweet-but-not-cloying precipice.

FrenchFries is generally hesitant of egg dishes for breakfast - like Gail Simmons, she loves eggs, and can't stand to eat them when they are cooked to a rubbery mess as they often are at busy breakfast places (Marathon on the Square, I'm looking at you). But the frittatas trotting past looked fluffy and lovely, and it is always hard to resist the lure of the purple & juicy kalamata. That was the wisest choice FrenchFries has made in a while, because the Frittata Special ($8.50) was PERFECT. The kalamata/artichoke heart/feta combo was the ideal combo of salty/savory greek flavor and there were also some soft greens mixed in (which the menu said were arugula but tasted more like baby spinach to us). The egg around each whole olive was stained a faint lavender and tasted heavenly, and the artichoke hearts were a far cry from the greasy oil-packed ones that plague our local grocery store. It came with a hearty serving of tasty, not-too-dry roasted red rosemary potatoes and a small cup of cinnamon baked apples as well as rye toast. FrenchFries had asked for the rye toast instead of the standard biscuit so that she could slather on the strawberry-rhubarb jam from the pot on the table, which was one of the tastiest jams she can remember ever tasting.

Everything was so good that FrenchFries didn't even need hot sauce and ketchup like she sometimes does to get outside a dry potato/rubbery egg combo, but if she had needed some, the Cholula hot sauce and homemade vinegar-ey ketchup would have made it no hardship.

Some diners around us seemed less blissfully happy with their choices - it may end up being the kind of restaurant where your happy tummy factor depends a lot on your order. Farofa and FrenchFries both think they are pretty happy with the idea of having to go back a bunch more times to test this hypothesis.

Farofa: ***1/2 out of 5 - FrenchFries: **** out of 5

Forks Down Verdict: Worth the hype and the wait for a tasty food-coma brunch.

Morning Glory
735 S. 10th St @ Fitzwater St
Philadelphia, PA 19147-2741
(215) 413-3999
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Tue-Fri: 7:00-4:00pm and 6:00-10:00pm
Sat-Sun: 8:00am-3:00pm

About Farofa

2006-01-01T01:00:00.001-05:00

Farofa is a transplant from Sao Paulo, Brasil, currently employed as an Information Architect at a giant corporate behemoth in Philadelphia. She is also a giant slacker who doesn't write her own bios, and therefore is doomed to have French Fries make up unwholesome lies about her. Like: Did you know that Farofa is totally bigoted about molluscs? She refuses to consider their molluschood in anything but the light of how tasty they might be. Also, she has an accessory nipple.

About French Fries

2006-01-01T01:00:00.000-05:00

French Fries is a medical student in her last year of medical school in the OTHER blue city in Pennsylvania. She and Farofa commute back & forth across the state nearly every weekend, and look forward to culinary adventures in each city. Currently French Fries is waiting on tenterhooks to hear where she will be starting her Emergency Medicine residency training next year - as soon as she knows, she can start planning where to eat on her very very rare evenings off!