Archive for the 'desserts' Category

22
Jul

Voting begins for My Table awards

By Misha 11 Comments
Categories: chefs, desserts, houston and news

The annual My Table award nominees have been announced and voting begins this week.

I can’t bring myself to care about things like the bar service or best tablecloths, nor do I necessarily agree with all of the nominees, but there are a couple of categories worth a consideration.

Without a doubt, the Pastry Chef category belongs to Plinio Sandalio, currently with America’s in The Woodlands. You can get a good slice of cake almost anywhere in the city, but no one treats desserts as culinary creations quite like Plinio.

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lemon curd, sour cream cookie, blackberry confiture & lime pop rocks
from a recent tenacity dinner

It’s getting increasingly difficult to capture in words the interplay between flavors and textures in some of Plinio’s dishes (I have tried, here and here), but just try to imagine what happens when you combine a smooth, intensely flavored ball curd, a shard of a cookie and squirt of blackberry “sauce”, then finish with line flavored pop rocks. This is seriously cool stuff.

Chef of the Year is probably a toss up between Bryan Caswell and Chris Shepherd (more about him here).

I wish the menu changed more often at Reef and some of the food could use a touch of technical complexity just to make things interesting, but if this category is going to be decided on one dish and one dish only, the beet ravioli at Reef should put Bryan Caswell in the running. It’s one of the most interesting dishes I have come across all year with an absolutely brilliant contrast in flavors.

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beet ravioli at reef

I have been seeing beets on menus everywhere this year and order them almost every time I can, but this preparation at Reef and a completely different take on beets at Voice have been two of the best. What really stands out with this dish is how well the intensely acidic streaks of sauce and slightly bitter greens  work with the natural sweetness of roasted beets. The ravioli themselves are stuffed with beet tops, which might be the first time I have come across someone actually using those in cooking. 

The online menu (from February?!) on the Reef site does not list the beet ravioli, but according to Bryan you can still try it for another month or two, as long as he can get his hands on good product.

Cast your vote here.

20
Jun

Coming to America’s, part 2 - Plini’o Desserts

By Misha 10 Comments
Categories: South American, chefs, desserts, houston, molecular gastronomy, openings, restaurants, soapbox and tasting menu

In my last post I covered the food at the new America’s in The Woodlands. To cap things off, Plinio prepared a dessert tasting that turned out to be incredibly entertaining.

Quote of the day:

We (the royal "we"): So, how do you make this powdered peanut butter stuff, anyway?
Plinio: Oh, the same way you’d make powdered olive oil.
We: Um….. so yeah, how do you do that?

Plinio is a very talented chef who clearly spends a lot of time refining his craft, but that’s doesn’t quite capture what makes his food so interesting. The desserts Plinio creates could only really be made by a food geek, which is an emerging breed in the chef circles.

These guys get really excited about playing with food. I am talking Dungeons and Dragons excited. That sort of unbound enthusiasm is fundamentally changing how we eat the same way geeks in Silicon Valley changed the way we thought of computers a few decades ago. That’s what Plinio, along with a number of other talented chefs in Houston, are doing today. And it makes the driving up to The Woodlands more than worth the trouble.

The lineup:

Picaron, aji amarillo honey, peanut butter powder, frozen custard
One of my favorite desserts was served right up front. I’ve never had a picaron, a traditional Peruvian beignet that uses sweet potatoes for starch, so this was all new to me. Combined with aji chile flavored honey delivered in a tiny pipette this thing had a depth of flavors you normally don’t find with a fried ball of dough. I especially liked the aji flavored honey, which added a touch of heat to the flavor, but just enough to give the honey more dimension.

The powdered peanut butter had really interesting texture. Not quite dry, not quite viscous, but sort of fluffy, clumpy goodness in between. Combined with the frozen custard it created a really interesting flavor, temperature and texture interplay. I don’t know if this is on the regular menu, but it was awesome.

Lucuma souffle, candied bacon, granny smith apple juice
A riff on breakfast featuring lacuma - a fruit popular in South America, but not very common in the US.  Lacuma has slight maple undertones, so the souffle served in an egg shell and topped with candied bacon really is reminiscent of pancakes and bacon. I thought the souffle was a touch too sweet, until I took down the shot of apple juice and everything fell into place. The textures are new, but the flavors are familiar. Very nice.

Texas goat cheese, white truffle honey, shaved hazelnut, blueberries 
Another contrast in flavors in texture, but this time allowing very straightforward ingredients and clean flavors to carry the dish.  I especially liked the carefully chosen sprinkling of shaved hazelnuts, sesame seeds and other crunchy bits to add the necessary texture. The only thing I cannot identify from the description is the transparent gelee served with the goat cheese, which was similar to the striking dessert I had at Orson that was constructed exclusively from white and transparent elements.

Chicha morada sorbet, spiced pop corn
Another Peruvian specialty I have never heard of. Turns out chicha morada is a popular drink made from purple corn kernels, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spiced popcorn? Another example of very subtle play on contrasting texture and flavor.

Guanaja "Torchon", chocolate pop rocks, liquid açaí, creme anglaise
Absolutely brilliant dessert and the single coolest thing I have eaten in Houston. I am going to try to describe it, but you really have to try this to get the full experience. Here’s how it goes - you cut into the perfectly shaped torchon made of chocolate and discover that the cavity (there is a cavity?!) is oozing liquid açaí. What the hell is açaí? It’s a South American superfood that tastes like berry chocolate. Apparently Oprah digs it. Just as you think to yourself that this açaí stuff works brilliantly with chocolate, pop rocks begin to explode in your mouth and send things into overdrive.  The final effect is sort of like a chocolaty 4th of a July celebration (all fireworks, no hot dogs).

I asked Plinio where the idea for this dessert came from and the source turns out to be a foie torchon with beet juice created by Wylie Dufresne at WD-50. I think Wylie would have appreciated the remix.

Oaxacan hot chocolate, vanilla meringue, alfajore
Deeply flavored hot chocolate topped with a dollop of meringue and a Peruvian Oreo-line cookie filled with dulce de leche. Very nice finish to a great meal.

 

Is the new America’s a bastion of progressive cuisine? No, its still a populist restaurant with an established brand at the end of the day. Is it chef driven? I sense that it’s not entirely - yet. Somehow I think that given free reign over the menu, you’d see an even more radical departure from the original concept than it already is. It would be a positive turn of events as far as I am concerned, but I am not sure how long time American’s patrons would feel about it.

I am not sure I care about any of those things too much. I had a great time at America’s. By the time we were done, 3.5 hours had passed and I hardly noticed. The experience was good enough that I cannot wait to come back to explore more of the menu, which builds on flavors I have not come across anywhere else in the US. Not bad for a place deep in the suburbs.

The most exciting thing about what JJ and Plinio are doing at America’s is that it’s an opportunity to establish Houston at the forefront of culinary progress, rather than an also ran. The notion that we have to "compete" with other cities by emulating hyper fine dining in New York, farm to table eating in Bay Area or spacelab cooking of Chicago is patently absurd. It ignores the unique advantages awarded by our own geography and demographics.

Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the US. Besides creating our own indigenous regional cuisine (similar to Louisiana) and being a gateway to Mexico and South America, this is a true international city. I don’t mean international the same way United Nations makes NY international or the way proximity to Canada makes Seattle international. Houston is an immigrant city, where immigrants work with each other and cook for each other, rather than serve red wine reduction sauces to the highly educated elite class that frequents restaurants in leading cities in the US. The range of flavors you can experience here every day is mind blowing.

America’s is one of the best examples of highlighting Houston as a gateway to Latin America and creating something truly new - a place where you can taste flavors you have never seen before. Yes, they use progressive techniques when appropriate. But it’s the ingredients and flavors that are really exciting.

Go check it out for yourself. It’s worth the trip.

29
May

Sydney notes: Emperor’s Puffs

By Misha 4 Comments
Categories: Sydney, chinese and desserts

Via Alison Cook news service is a link to a great listing of fried dough creations around the world. I’ve had about a dozen of the varieties on the list and a good number they have not listed yet.

Not on the list are the emperor puff’s, which I have only came across in Sydney so far. These things are cheap, addictive and quite excellent. The texture closely resembles a soft doughnut, but the flavor is that of a vanilla pudding snack. A blistering hot vanilla snack.

More at Grab Your Fork, a great Sydney based food blog.

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Photo courtesy of Shutterbug 

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24
May

Why I am going to Gravitas instead of America’s tonight

By Misha 7 Comments
Categories: desserts, houston, restaurants, soapbox and vegetarian

The plight of vegetarians and people who live with them is a personal issue for me - I happen to fall into one of these two categories. So, yes. I care. Even if it’s for purely selfish reasons.

I have been looking forward to visiting America’s in the Woodlands for weeks now. While I have no desire to go to America’s next to my office, there are plenty of reasons to drive an hour just to have dinner in the Woodlands. First, combining a talented chef like Jonathan Jones with the South American leaning (and slightly tired) theme of America’s has potential to produce some really interesting results. Looking over the menu I am still worried that the relentless drive to preserve the America’s brand might get in the way of great food, but I have hope.

More important, Plinio Sandalio takes deserts to the new level and the only way to sample his creations is to trek all the way up to America’s in the Woodlands. The three desserts I sampled while he was at Soma were outstanding, rivaled only by Elisabeth Faulkner in originality and flavor. Desserts are often overlooked at restaurants, so you rarely see something that breaks convention. Nana in Dallas does a good job of this. Alinea in Chicago pushes the envelope more, though not always with great results. So America’s really did sound seem worth the drive.

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Despite only being open a few weeks the restaurant is regularly booked out for dinner, so my first few attempts failed. I finally got a reservation this weekend and convinced 5 friends to go with me, but things came to a grinding halt when I looked at the menu. Not only are there no vegetarian options on the menu, but when I called the grilled vegetable plate described to me on the phone seemed like one of those things vegetarians loathe to eat. So now I am going to Gravitas instead.

Last time I bitched and moaned about this, Chris Shepherd from Catalan took time to comment. Here’s what he said:

We don’t have a lot of vegetarian options on our menu, but not many restaurants do. We will actually go out of our way to make sure that each individual will get everything they need, just ask. We are one of the largest supporters of our local farmers and are at the markets 2-3 times a week. We always have amazing locally grown vegetables in house. We don’t want to give you a steamed veggie plate like most will. We like to do different things for vegetarians, don’t feel that your options are limited. Just ask to talk to me, I will work an entire menu around you.

I believe Chris when he says that he will go out of his way to accommodate his diners. And he is absolutely right, the steamed veggie plate is a bad cliche that allows places with crap food to be in business simply because they don’t treat vegetarians like lepers. But in my experience, showing up on a random night and directing the chef to whip something great with no notice is not the best way to guarantee a great meal.

More often the not, you do get the grilled or steamed veggie plate. Sometimes an undressed pasta (I am not making this up) with a couple of hunks of steamed broccoli. At Restaurant August, the kitchen sent out what looked like a collection of sides off every dish on the menu, which seemed like some macabre combo plate you’d get at a really upscale homeless shelter.

Perhaps more important, no diner wants to design a dish when they go out for dinner. When you go to a place like Catalan, America’s or Reef, you go there because you want to experience something created by the chef, rather than a random veggie surprise of the night you have to design yourself.

Working without a protein that used to walk or swim is an under appreciated art and something mostly uncommon in restaurants until very recently. It is happening in very few places, but vegetables are taking center stage in dishes. My experience at Manresa was exceptional all around, but it was the vegetable dishes that really blew me away. At French Laundry I was presented with a printed vegetable tasting menu that made me seriously consider ordering it over the main tasting. In hindsight, I should have made the leap. At least one highly ambitious restaurant in Bay Area is focusing exclusively on vegetables (notice I didn’t say vegetarians) and receiving critical acclaim.

If Ferran Adria can deliver an absurdly complex multi-course vegetarian tasting at a place like El Bulli (yes, I have looked into it and it’s a standard option), why can’t we have just a couple of non-meat dishes at a restaurant in Houston?

Update: Plinio just wrote to tell me that they were making a special vegetarian entree for us tonight. Now I feel like a total pain in the ass. Sorry guys. I really appreciate it.

11
May

*17 keeps on chugging

By Misha 2 Comments
Categories: american, chefs, desserts, houston and restaurants

I have been meaning to try *17 since the Wes Morton took over the kitchen and finally got a chance this weekend. Minor flaws aside, the restaurant is in solid hands. Food seems as good as ever, serving the same brand of American cuisine that it’s became known for.

I was expecting to see at least a few changes to the style of cooking that put 17 on the map, but the menu reads as if Ryan Pera was still at the helm, right down to the poached seafood dishes served in flavored broth. No signs of Michel Richard influences on this menu. It’s really too bad. I hope *17 has a chance to evolve, now that Wes Morton has proven he can handle a kitchen on his own.

Here’s what we had:

Pork rillette amuse bouche
More toast than rillette here. It might have been good. Couldn’t tell either way.

Pan-seared ahi tuna / local beets / leeks / beurre rouge
I didn’t get a sample, but my friend liked the tuna quite a bit. I am generally bored with seared tuna, spoiled completely by tuna cheeks I had at Manresa that tasted like they were imported from another planet filled with delicious animals and fish, but this might be something I’d order myself. I’ve never had beets paired with tuna before. Seems like something worth trying.

Poached Scottish salmon / spring vegetables “a la grecque” / green garlic broth
Another dish I didn’t try, but I did catch a big whiff of the garlic broth. Any chef that completely ignores practical implications of what happens after dinner is either clueless or has a bold vision for his food. I think it’s vision in this case. Garlic makes things taste good. Keep on rocking, Chef Morton.

Moulard duck foie gras “terrine” / preserved rhubarb / organic strawberries / toasted almonds / 25-year balsamic / brioche
A very well prepared foie gras dish, marred by a couple of perplexing choices. The terrine was served on a warm plate and had began to melt by the time it hit the table. Not a major problem, but details matter when you serve premium ingredients. The strawberries were excellent, but you really couldn’t taste the balsamic vinegar, served as a microdot that had no effect on the flavor at all. I know, 25 year balsamic is expensive, but it’s not that expensive.

Salt was a bigger problem. The first few dabs of foie seemed ok, but as you worked through the dish the salt began to overwhelm everything else. This is why in many restaurants foie gras is sometimes served with flavored salts on the side, which really helps to accentuate the subtle flavor of the liver when used in moderation. Add too much salt or even try to use a salt variety with an unusually large flake and the complexity of foie flavor is diminished, as it was in this case.

Handcut tagliatelle / berkshire pork ragoût
Great pasta dish, not too mushy not too al dente, just right. The ragout was quite good, but seemed under seasoned. Or maybe the foie gras salt assault ruined my taste buds. Who really knows?

Braised beef short rib / potato puree / sautéed arrowleaf spinach / sauce bordelaise
The waitress told us, with a certain amount of misplaced pride, that as many times as the chef has tried to remove this dish off the menu the general manager has refused. I can see why. Spring, summer or fall, when people keep on forking over almost $40 for some braised short ribs (NY Strip costs less, strangely enough), give the masses what they want.

The short ribs were well made. Then again I am no longer surprised when I find a restaurant with competently made ribs on the menu. Maybe it’s time chefs start putting "short ribs" in quotes and serving bison or kangaroo instead of beef to break through the monotony a bit.

Bananas foster sundae / vanilla crème brulee / warm bananas / caramel ice cream
Mixed reviews on this one. I thought it was an interesting idea and quite good, if you ignore the creme brulee that got a bit warm when the bananas were flambéed. Almost everything on the plate was too sweet, but combined with the slightly salty ice cream (hope that was intentional) it worked pretty well.

Sticky toffee pudding / candied kumquat / mascarpone gelato
I liked the gelato and the kumquat more than the pudding itself, which was a bit like dryish shortcake. Ok, but not great.

Granola petit four
A truly awful end to an otherwise good meal. This thing tasted like a slightly less chewy Cliffs Bar. WTF is the idea here, exactly?

Downtown dining seems to be bouncing back, although I am not sure if people know or care. By the time we left at 10 the restaurant was empty, except for some guy in a red Ferrari with a "chino-x" license plate. Just as downtown was winding down, Midtown was just getting started and absolutely packed with the bar hopping types.

If I had my choice, downtown would someday become a destination for cutting edge food and movie theaters showing nothing but indie films, while midtown remained an enchanted place to drink and get laid. But before that happens, *17, The Grove and others have to step up to the level being set by Michael Kramer at Voice. Right now, downtown restaurants seem to have the talent, but maybe not the ambition to be the dining destinations they aim to be.

No photos this time, kids. Use your imagination.

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