Christmas Eve and Christmas Dinner

Christmas Eve:

Oysters on the half shell with green apple and horseradish
Deviled eggs with chives, smoked paprika, and piment d'espelette
Roasted head-on shrimp 
Garlic bread
Champagne and eggnog

Christmas Day:

Porchetta roast
Creamed onion gratin
Roasted potatoes

Washington DC: Komi

I was in DC for two weeks during late January and early February. For a nice weekend, Andy made the trek out so we could eat some of what DC has to offer. The city did not disappoint!

By far the stand-out restaurant was Komi, located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. Komi has no menu and a set price. I really love restaurants that work in this fashion and love the surprise of not knowing what you are going to get next. I took notes and the chef and somelier were nice enough to write menus for us after the meal.

Courses were as follows:

• Taramosalata: Steamed bun with Greek yogurt and smoked trout row
• Crudo trio-Hamachi with onion, Madai (snapper) with sumac and caper berry, and Kindai (tuna) with wasabi
• Scallop trio
• Lobster, uni, buttermilk, and celery (basically a deconstructed lobster roll!)
• Spanikopita
• Egg ravioli with bonito
• Cured and smoked fois gras with onion jam and cranberry
• A half-smoke with ramp relish and spicy mustard (still thinking about this dish!)
• Dates stuffed with marscapone and sprinkled with sea salt
• Casarelli-Curly pasta with lacinato kale
• Roasted baby goat (with the crispiest skin imaginable!) with condiments and fresh pita
• Myzithra-Greek cheese biscuit with quince and apple
• Caramel
  
• Baklava-Greek donuts
• Lollipops made with lime and salt

We also went for the wine pairings and that was a really good choice. We tried:

• Sparkling Moscofilero "Amalia" Ktima Tselepos Tesea, Greece
• Givry "Les Grognots" Michel Sarrazin, Burgundy, France, 2008
• Loedo Beniaka, Japan
• Brunello Di Montalcino Armilla, Tuscany, Italy, 2004
• Rioja Gran Reserva, Beronia, Spain, 2001
• Moscato Blend "Bigaro" Elio Perrone, Italy, 2009

Other dinners were had at Ray's Hell Burger and Central Michel Richard. We also had brunch at Cafe Atlantico and lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl.

(Andy at Lexington #1, Lexington, NC)

I haven't posted since April. I kind of forgot about you blog! I'm sorry.

We did a lot of good eating in 2010, from dinners out to barbecue at home. Christmas was especially nice, as was our trip to the Carolinas that I did not post about. Talk about good barbecue! And biscuits! And country ham! And seafood!

For my birthday, I had peel-and-eat shrimp boiled in Old Bay with butter on the side at a bar on the North Carolina coast, along with crab claws and a couple of beers. Perfect really.

Some restaurant standouts:

Tanuki in Portland for Izakaya (I think this was my favorite meal of the year)

Bisato with a seat at the bar

Sushi at Maskiko with good friends Mia and Ryan

The lovely light coming in to the restaurant at Spinasse and the best egg pasta anywhere

Dinner at Staple and Fancy and not having to choose just a few things off the menu

I have also discovered my new found love for a good whiskey cocktail, particularly the Old Fashioned and that will be a good remembrance for the end of 2010.

So definitely looking forward to 2011! I have a trip planned to Washington DC and some great reservations already in the works. I think 2011 is going to be starting strong.

Las Vegas

, originally uploaded by gayle kingston.

Las Vegas was fun. Except for the food poisoning. Thanks RM Seafood! You will not be forgotten.

We made a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas to meet friends and EAT. And we did a lot of eating, especially a lot of good eating.

Places we tried:

RM Seafood
The Ice Bar
Lotus of Siam
Bouchon
Golden Steer Steakhouse
Several bars in several Casinos
Burger Bar

The highlight of the trip was definitely the Golden Steer. It's an old school steakhouse with red leather booths and pictures of John Wayne on the walls. We ate in the Burt Reynolds booth! I had a petite fillet, a baked potato, and Cesar salad made table side. So good! So retro! So awesome!

Second favorite meal was Bouchon. We went for brunch and I had a lovely fluffy waffle and country ham. Andy's chicken and waffles were by far the stand-out dish. Also the cocktails were very good. We went back a second time just to get pastries and coffee, which was also really nice. The cherry jam was a standout.

Because it is Las Vegas, we also paid to go to the Ice Bar in Mandalay Bay where they make you put on boots and a coat so you can have the pleasure of having a cocktail served to you in a glass made of ice and sit on ice chairs and drink at an ice table. It was ridiculous and also a lot of fun.

Other things consumed: Spicy Tuna roll and Seafood Escabeche at RM Seafood; Northern Thai Larb and Seafood Noodles at Lotus of Siam, a really great veggie burger at Burger Bar (actually probably the best veggie burger I have ever had), and lots and lots of ginger ale to make my stomach feel better!

Portland

Best dinner tonight at Le Pigeon.
September 26, 2009

• Little gem lettuce, green goddess,cherry tomatoes
• Foie Gras, gewürztraminer, grapes

• Lamb Neck, macaroni, corn, chanterelles
• Beef Cheek Bourguignon

• Corn meal cake with apricots, bacon, and maple ice cream

• Brut -- Methode Traditionnelle -- Charles Bove -- NV Loire
• Crémant de Limoux Rosé -- Domaine Collin -- NV Languedoc

• Beaujolais -- L’Ancien, Vieilles Vignes -- Jean-Paul Brun -- ‘08 Beaujolais
  

Chicago

Mado
Chicago, IL
August 16, 2009

Best meal of the Chicago trip: There were 6 of us and we shared everything so we all got a bite or two of each plate, plus our own entrees. The standouts were the pork rilette, my white fish, and the vanilla pudding, which was like creme brulee with a little rice stirred in. The restaurant was BYOB so we had some great wines to go with the meal. Good times!

Charcuterie platter with pork rilette, tuscan chicken liver paté, and country paté plus accompaniments

beets with ras el hanout crème fraiche and pistachios

shishito peppers fried in olive oil with sea salt

whitefish baccala with spring onion and chilies

wood roasted pig’s head, pickled white peaches and wild amaranth

whitefish with cucumbers, pea shoots and mint

mixed grill of pork sausage and pork heart with frisée, pickled cherry peppers and nectarine

vanilla bean rice pudding with raspberries

almond and cornmeal cake with apricot jam, goat cheese - mascarpone cream and candied almonds

migas bark

Other standouts from the trip, Hot Doug's, Lou Malnati's, Manny's and Pollo Express.

My new favorite drink that I concocted tonight

Juice of 1 blood orange
Shot of good Gin (I used Dryfly)
Shot of Cointreau
Splash of Grenandine
Splash of Rosie's
Ice and Tonic to fill the glass

I would pay $$$ for this drink!