Rai Rai Ken

Ramen.

It's got to be one of my all-time favorite things to eat. The problem is that I live in Baltimore and there are not ramen joints at all in the city or surrounding area. Sure, you can sometimes find ramen at a local sushi place but it's typically outrageously priced ($13 up) and since it's not what they do, it's always an afterthought.

I dream of the day when I can finally go (on a regular basis) to a ramen joint for my fix of chicken katsu ramen (a Hawaii off-shoot of a Japanese tradition), but I made a promise to myself years ago that I would stop building businesses just because I was hungry!

We're back in New York City and trying to figure out a place to eat seems to be such a monumental decision. So many choices in the city and so little time. Fatty Crab? Ipanema? per se? Aki Kamozawa recommended Rai Rai Ken and so we were off.

Located on tree-lined 10th Street, Rai Rai Ken is nestled in the middle of the block and is pretty much how a Japanese ramen joint should be like: small, tight and confined. There's a long bar with counter seats only and just barely enough room to pass behind those seated. We make our way to the seats and the menu is wonderfully short. Just a few ramen selections and several side dishes.
We start off with an order of gyoza, little stuffed wontons that are quickly boiled and then pan fried. Tasty. They're pretty traditional so just a bit of soy sauce and you're good to go.

What we're really here for is the ramen. Shoyu Ramen. It comes in a bowl brimming with fish cake, nori and sliced pork, with half a hard-boiled egg for good measure. There are some sprouts in the bowl but not too much - some places like to heap it on. The broth is smooth and rich. Just right for this hungry traveler.

Fans of the movie Tampopo will know to start off by watching your ramen at eye-level and giving thanks while tapping the sliced pork twice before eating. Of course, you also know to move the fish cake to the side. The noodles themselves are chewy and tasty. They're not the best noodles I've ever had but they're good enough and I'm slurping away.

If you haven't seen Tampopo I strongly suggest that you go and find it. It's one of the best food movies ever made and the bit with the live prawns is certainly more sensual than the kitchen scene in 9 1/2 Weeks. Once you've seen it, you'll have a healthy respect and appetite for ramen.

To go along with the ramen, I ordered a can of UCC Kona Coffee. It's famous in Hawaii and Japan and very unusual to find on the East Coast. Not that the coffee was really good. It was more a drink of nostalgia than anything else.

While it's not the best ramen in the world, it's pretty decent and worth checking out in New York City if you need a fix.

Rai Rai Ken
214 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-477-7030

NinthTown

The move has received very little fanfare or gossip in the industry grapevine, but on March 24th Ninth Street Espresso switched from their long-time roaster (Counter Culture Coffee of North Carolina) to Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland, Oregon.

While it may sound like benign news to the casual reader of this blog, the arrival of Stumptown on the East Coast signals the changing tide in the area of specialty coffee. Stumptown has been a long-time stalwart of never bringing on wholesale accounts outside a 45 minute radius of their roastery in southeast Portland. Sure, they toyed for awhile in San Francisco and last year opened operations in Seattle, but shipping coffee across the continent? That's something different indeed.

Since we were in New York City, we decided to hike it over to Ninth Street's Chelsea location to have a taste for ourselves.

I've been a long-time fan of Stumptown since September 2003 when I had my first "real" coffee experience tasting that years' Ethiopian Harrar. A powerhouse of depth, complexity and the fabled "blueberry". It was a real eye-opener for me regarding the possibilities for coffee. Not to mention that we've modeled our french press coffee service on the Stumptown example, and their hardcore approach to quality.

Happily, former Washington DC barista Ryan Goodrow was working the bar and we were presented with some of the most exquisite coffees I've ever had from Ninth Street and a shot of Hairbender that I'll say was better than from Stumptown's own coffeeshops. That strong acidity was there with some nice fruity and chocolate notes. It was delicious.

Of course, a lot of that lies with the barista and I've come to realize that Ryan has got to be one of America's best. Humble, passionate and committed. There's no egotism or pretense, just focus. Then to taste what's in the cup and you can only be seriously impressed, or rather: blown away. In chatting with him, I realize we have similar ethos. Unlike other baristas who desire to be on the national stage performing at a competition, that is lost on Goodrow. He's focusing on the cup and customer in front of him and delivering a national-level performance for that jaded New Yorker or that tourist from Biloxi with the same passion and commitment. It's fantastic.

If you're in New York City, swing by and order a cup from Ryan.


Ninth Street Espresso
Chelsea Market
79 9th Avenue
New York, NY
212-228-2930
www.ninthstreetespresso.com

gimme! Mott Street

Swung by the new Mott Street location of gimme! coffee right before closing and the baristas were still quite happy to prepare us a macchiato. Nice stuff.

gimme! coffee
228 Mott Street
New York, NY
212-226-4011

Eleven Madison Park

It's been awhile since I read Danny Meyers' book Setting The Table but I found his take on hospitality thoroughly enjoyable and in tune with my own sensibilities. So I was more than happy with our choice of Eleven Madison Park for dinner tonight. Earlier in the week, I had been thinking that another visit to per se was in order but Spike was uncomfortable about arriving at the restaurant without a reservation, based solely on my firm belief that "if you show up, you will eat."

The one thing about Eleven Madison Park is that it's polished. Everything is thought out and just right. From the time you call and speak with someone on the phone (try doing that for a per se or French Laundry reservation) through the end of the meal, everyone is so cordial - so filled with hospitality.

Even the reservationist was suitably apologetic and told me that they were "already committed" to a full dining room on a Saturday night but there was availability at 10pm, with a tinge in her voice that led me to think that she didn't think we would be interested. "I'll take it," I told her. Of course we'll take it. We're just the kind of weirdos that don't have a problem eating dinner until two or three in the morning, if necessary.


Hors d'oeuvres

In spite of my incessant desire to put things off until the last minute (like travel arrangements), I hate to be late for appointments. I want to be on time and we were at the restaurant at 10 pm sharp. Of course, it's a Saturday night and the place is packed, meaning that our table wasn't ready yet. Even the way the receptionist/hostess phrased that conversation struck me as well thought out and perfectly approached. She invited us to relax by the bar while the table finished and was reset.

I decided to avail myself of the mens room where I was greeted by little terry cloth towels to wipe my hands after washing. Nice.

At the bar, we were greeted by a cocktail server who brought us a round of drinks, inquired if we were eating at the bar or waiting, asked for the reservation name and proceeded to bring us a round of hors d'oeuvres, which would end up being the first round in the tasting menu (that we hadn't chosen yet). While Spike continued his quest to find the proper pastis (this wasn't it), I decided to sample one of their house concoctions of champagne, vodka, passion and orange bitters. Nice drink but the champagne overwhelmed the other flavors.

No less than three times in the ten to fifteen minutes we sat in the bar area did one of the hostesses stop by our table to update us on the progress of our table. That was really nice. No more worrying if they forgot about us, or getting irritated about it taking such a long time. The updates were frequent and properly timed. And when the time came for us to move to our table, our hostess swept up our beverages onto a silver tray, just in case our arms might have been too fatigued for the journey across the restaurant.


Royal Sterling Caviar - Soft Poached Knoll Crest Farm Egg and Tapioca

Once settled in and greeted by our server, we were presented with the menus.

To be honest, I hate reading menus. Especially when a tasting menu is being offered. I'm not a vegetarian. I have no aversion to seafood. I'm not allergic to anything. Just bring it on and let me have it. I don't want to think. I want to eat. Eat and be cared for.

Spike, on the other hand, has scrutinized the menu and decided that the order as presented would be better with a slight modification to accommodate the wine selections. Truth be told, in spite of the years I pretended to know wine and the years I spent making wine, I really know nothing about wine. I'm forever derided for allowing them to serve me Louis Jadot at L'Arpege. I think I'm scarred.

Happily, the kitchen, our server and our sommelier are more than willing to accommodate our request and the champagne flows.

With a tasting menu this large, it's really quite difficult to cover everything, so I'll just hit you with short blurbs on my thoughts with each course.

The sterling caviar was just a wonderful way to begin the meal. Beautifully poached egg whose yolk added that luxurious mouthfeel with every bite. And the tapioca must have been cooked in a fish stock of some sort because the flavor just permeated each luscious and chewy pearl.


Heirloom Beets - Liquid Sphere with Lynnhaven "Chevre Frais"

First you eat the Chevre and then you eat the beets. Definitely one of the most exciting courses of the meal. The beets exploded in your mouth with such intensity that just surprises.


Cape Cod Bay Crab - Roulade with Avocado, Lime and Yogurt


2004 Mersault Desiree - Domaine des Comtes Lafon


Wild Atlantic Halibut - Seared with Cauliflower, Green Almonds and Crayfish

It was the description that caught our ears: "Wild Atlantic Halibut" Aren't they a bit overfished in the Atlantic and in danger? Perhaps not the best description (or sourcing) for a sustainably-minded chef and barista. But it was tasty and I did like the little pieces of crawfish on top.


Nova Scotia Lobster - Poached with Wild Nettles and Oregon Morels

Definitely one of the most exciting courses of the meal. Just an explosion of flavor. Chewy morels, chunks of lobster and a green sauce that I wanted to guzzle down. Spoonful after spoonful, it was chock full of stuff and I loved every bite.


Foie Gras - Terrine with Rhubarb, Celery and Pickled Ramps


The bread accompanying the Foie Gras.


2004 Volnay Santenots-Du-Milieu 1er - Domaine Des Comtes Lafon

Since I'm perpetually single and a decided bachelor, I'm usually party to some sort of tomfoolery or debauchery that gets my friends into some sort of trouble with their significant others. But this was the first time wine has led to infidelity.

The Volnay Santenots-Du-Milieu 1er is, evidently, Amy's favorite wine in the world. Her and Spike have been to the vineyard and drank the wine straight from the barrels with Mr. Lafon himself. Even Spike commented that this is her favorite. It wasn't until later when he told her about the wine that she told him that drinking the Lafon without her was akin to cheating.

Note to self: never tell your S.O. about the time you drank her favorite wine without her...


Nieman Ranch Port Belly - Sous-Vide with Peas a la Francaise


Black Angus Beef - Herb Roasted with Asparagus, Parmesan and Sauce Bordelaise


Our Man Works The Cheese Cart


Fromage - Selection of Artisanal Cheeses


"Vacherin" - Strawberries, Basil and Black Pepper


Chocolate-Peanut Butter - Palette with Popcorn Ice Cream


Cappuccino - Latte Art Rosetta


Mignardises

All combined, it was a great experience. The food was solid. Excellent even. But the service was top-notch. It seemed as though everything had been thought through and we were never wanting. Combined, it was brilliant. Had it been one or the other and the experience would have been flat.

I don't know if I'll be clamoring to rush back anytime soon but it was a wonderful and delicious meal.

Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10010
212-889-0905
www,elevenmadisonpark.com

Cendrillon

Beef Tapa Salad.

I've been wanting to visit Cendrillon in SoHo for probably ten years or so now. But the idea of dressing up to eat at a fancy Filipino restaurant was always a hard sell. The notion that jackets and ties were necessary for Chicken Adobo just didn't compute in my mind.

It's a shame I had been so obtuse.

We stopped into Cendrillon for a couple of snacks to carry us through the evening and found a warm, comfortable and, most importantly, casual kind of place. Not casual in the sense of how most Filipino eateries are casual with their florescent lighting, formica tables, metal chairs and turo turo style of ordering. Cendrillon was nicely done with wooden chairs, warm tones and an open kitchen. And, unlike many Filipino eateries, there were mostly white people dining.

Which, in some ways, is both good and bad. A yin and yang kind of thing. One cannot beget the other.

For a place that I had always known as "the fancy Filipino place in New York", I was slightly put off by the restaurants' pan-Asian menu. For me, there's something about "Pan-Asian" that just says "mediocrity." We're going to give you a "taste of Asia" but do none of them really well.

It makes me wonder if we (as Filipinos) are just not confident in our cuisine enough to only offer the flavors of our land. If I go to a French brasserie, I don't expect to see Pan-European items like Fish And Chips or Lutefisk amongst the offerings of Blanquette du Veau and Tartare. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

All that aside, Cendrillon offers a nice variety of Filipino dishes that read like "must try" items: Grilled Oxtail Kare-Kare and Chicken Inasal, being two of those dishes. Then there's the odd (to me) Pan-Asian items like: Goat Curry and Malaysian Laksa. Of course, being a Filipino restaurant, I have to wonder where crowd-pleasers such as: Pancit Bihon, Pancit Malabon and Daing na Bangus have gone?

Oh well, enough bitching about what's missing, they've got cold bottles of San Miguel Beer and that has to count for something.

And I'm thankful they didn't have chopsticks on the table.

Which leads me to another little bitch session: why do many of these Asian restaurants insist on placing chopsticks on the table? Worse yet are the people who come into an "Asian" restaurant and expect (and ask for) chopsticks. I want to tell them: Hey, DickHead: they don't use chopsticks in Thailand!!! Or the Philippines, for that matter.


Amy's Spring Roll with Achara.

We ordered a couple of plates. I wanted to order the Kare Kare (pronounced: kah-reh kah-reh but Spike reminded me we still had a dinner at Eleven Madison Park coming up, so we stuck to the Beef Tapa Salad and Amy's Spring Rolls.

When I ordered it, I just didn't notice (or pay attention) to the "Salad" part of the dish. It was the "Beef Tapa" that caught my eye and was wondering: what's up with all these veggies? when it arrived. Turns out, the salad was a nice accompaniment. Beef Tapa: dried beef strips, pan fried into delicious goodness. It was good. It was tasty and it was just right as a pulutan to go with my beer (pulutan meaning "beer-drinking food").

Amy's Spring Rolls were traditional fare. Bean sprouts, carrots, tofu, pork and shrimp wrapped in lumpia wrapper and deep-fried. I thought briefly about ordering the healthy Fresh Lumpia but decided that a proper beer needed a proper accompaniment that's deep-fried, crispy and greasy. Yum.

Service was a bit uneven. The girls in black didn't seem to know the menu very well but it was reassuring to see the owner running around, making sure things were rolling along on a Saturday night.

Overall, it was a good stop and if we didn't have a reservation in an hour at Eleven, I would have liked to try a wider variety of their dishes.

Guess that means another visit is necessary...


Cendrillon
45 Mercer Street
New York, NY 10013
212-343-9012
www.cendrillon.com

The Oyster Bar

Ancho tequila oyster shooter.

A simple trip to New York City with Spike is typically fraught with tough decisions on where to eat. In this city of millions, there are hundreds of thousands of places to eat - and a man can only eat so much.

Grotesque physics aside, we're hell-bent on sampling as many places as possible and our first stop this afternoon is the Oyster Bar in the basement of Grand Central Station. The place is a classic. You've undoubtedly heard of it before and I've heard of it for years and never got the chance to go. It's old and the tile-covered vaulted ceilings make for spectacular environs.

There's table seating and counter seating that resembles an old-school diner, but our seat of choice was right by the windows at the oyster bar itself where a crew of half a dozen prepared the oysters and panroasts.

Starting off with the ancho tequila oyster shooter, we were off to the races. The shooter was just okay. Nothing spectacular. Just tequila, oyster and some spice that tickled the back of the throat.


Oyster Panroast.

Up next was the Oyster Panroast. They make these dishes in custom-designed mini steam kettles that look straight from the 1930s. It's basically a light bisque with a brothy cream sauce that's light and refreshing. Inside are several very large oysters and it's really a wonderful dish served with oyster crackers. I wanted to power through the broth but the day was still young and there was more eating in store.

Along with that came two more dishes, fried whole ipswich clams that were breaded and fried to a deep brown crisp and served with tartar sauce. Nice. Again, nothing mind-blowing. Just solid seafood cookery. Add to that a plate of shoestring french fries and you've got a meal worthy of eating dockside somewhere.


French Fries.

But it's the oysters that lure you to the Oyster Bar and they do not disappoint. There are 27 different varieties of oysters for you to choose from - all served on the half-shell. All served extremely fresh. Depending on the day, they will serve between 2,000 to 5,000 oysters per day. That's upwards of 1.8 million oysters per year, which by any account is a lot of bloody oysters.

For our sampling, we ordered two dozen raw oysters. Six each of the Mattitock, Pebble Beach, Totten and Wianno. Now, when it comes to oysters, I'm no connoisseur. I just like to eat them. Give me good quality oysters, a shucking knife, some lemon and Tabasco and I'm pretty happy. For our rounds of Christmas Parties this past December, I lugged around with me a tub filled with 100 of some of the Chesapeake's best oysters and happiness ensued all around.

I learned recently that oysters on the East Coast are all from the same species Cassostrea Virginica and while you can buy oysters from many different parts of the East Coast, they are essentially the same. The difference in flavor and appearance comes from their environment. Their terroir, if you will.

Mattitock and Pebble Beach Oysters.

Of course, I'm not the only one that likes oysters. So do many, many other people. So much so that only about one percent of the oyster population two hundred years ago remains today. The Chesapeake Bay has been so besieged by fishermen that the population was nearly wiped out and now the oyster lives on in cultivated farms and some natural fisheries.

While I sometimes ponder what the oyster tasted like a hundred years ago before pollution and decimation arrived, I'm just happy that the oyster still tastes good today and that I'm now able to try varieties from across the nation.

With an eye towards a proper tasting of oysters, we sampled (ate) them in this order: Mattitock, Pebble Beach, Totten and Wianno. As one progressed through the oysters, the flavors changed an intensified. The early two were light and tasty, but the Totten and Wianno were just jam-packed with intense flavor - especially the Wianno. For those not well-acquainted with oysters, perhaps the Wianno will be "too much", but I found them delicious with just a squirt of lemon and a touch of Tabasco.


Totten Virginica and Wianno Oysters.



Oyster Bar
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10017
212-490-6650
www.oysterbarny.com
Subway Lines: 4 5 6 S 7

Testing One, Two, Three...

Pondering bacon.

It's finally happened. After years of participation and relative enthusiasm, the desire to compete in the United States Barista Championship has reached an all-time low. I hate to say it, but my enthusiasm as a competitor is practically nil.

I was on the phone with Eileen from Ritual Coffee in San Francisco the other day when it really became clear to me. Winning a competition just isn't that important to me. Sure, the egotistical side would love to dominate, but the soul side of me knows that the competitions mean very little - I'm interested in the customer and how we perform on the front line on a day to day basis. That's were it matters and that's where I want our reputation to be built.

People like Keller and Ripert didn't build their reputations on winning competitions, they built them through the experiences of their customers, and it's that approach that appeals to me most.

That said, I thought I would share some of our latest forays in our journey of finding some ground between coffee and cuisine. As with any journey, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Lately, we've been experiencing a lot of the latter, but it's all been in good fun, which makes it worthwhile.


Corn flakes.

First up, after receiving great feedback from the judges at the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition and selling out at Woodberry Kitchen to rave customer reviews, I've been re-thinking "Breakfast In Bed" and wanted to see if we could encapsulate the french toast infusion. Isaiah suggested a corn starch based technique he had been reading about.

Essentially, you take lots of corn starch, bake it dry, poke holes in the starch and pour your liquid into the holes and bake again. The corn starch reacts with the liquid and encapsulates it. We tried it with some maple syrup and the infusion and baked it overnight.

Which was several hours too long it seems. The next morning, we ended up with these crystallized pieces that were just plain disaster. Although a couple of them formed a spherical shape and had some moisture within, leading us to conclude that it might be possible with a shorter bake time - and larger holes in the corn starch.


Don't touch my bacon.

If you remember the first image, we've also been pondering bacon. How to deliver a better bacon flavor without being too obvious. Of course, this paper-thin, nearly translucent slice of bacon is rather obvious but I'm in love with the idea of creating a paper-thin strip of bacon that's stiff enough to stand on end but delicate enough that it breaks up in the mouth. Even better yet would be a method of it breaking and dispersing across the palate once placed in the mouth. Kinda like what foams do but without the foamy texture.

This one worked out decently enough and we ran one night of the "Breakfast in Bed" special at Woodberry with a light toffee glaze on the bacon and it propped up in a toffee-topped chantilly.


It looks quite nasty and feels weird too.

The idea of a consomme has always appealed to me. Especially consommes of things that should never be made into consomme. This is gelatinous residue from an attempt at a donut consomme. It just didn't work out. The finished liquid was a golden umber and crystal clear but the bread-y-ness of the donut was missing and dominated by sugar. Somewhere in the background was a faint taste of the donut. Just simply not strong or compelling enough.

I'm thinking the key is in the donut and we're just going to have to experiment with different donut recipes as well as different sources for donuts.

Meanwhile, we're starting up tests on a French Toast Consomme tomorrow.


The lonely sphere, er, gnocchi.

Continuing on our journey of encapsulating the french toast infusion, we turned to the obvious contender: sodium alginate and calcium chloride. We portioned it out and created the proper bath but the dairy in the infusion seemed to have a gelling reaction to the sodium alginate. We countered by lowering the concentration of the alginate to .03% and we still were not able to achieve the desired results. It resembled a french toast gnocchi rather than the desired spherification.

More testing will need to be done before we achieve the desired result.

Oh well, at least I had a nice lunch at Central Michel Richard yesterday.

Sunday Steak and Potatoes

As you can see from this image, I don't always have access to grass-fed cattle and, every once in a while, must resort to commercial meats. It's the nature of our industrial economy.

At the risk of Wegman's-bashing again, I just have to vent a little. Yes, the meats are nicely arranged and look rather tasty in the cold case. And I'm glad I can choose the cut I want and have it wrapped in butchers' paper. But it would be even better if the butcher knew the provenance of his meats. When I asked him if it was "commercial", he said it came from "Colorado" but didn't know where. Corn fed, maybe? His reply was "the last two weeks." Well, what does that mean? Are you being purposefully vague because you don't want to admit that the meat comes from feedlot cattle in Colorado? And that by answering ambiguously I'll think that the cow has been eating something other than corn feed?

Oh, the sacrifices one must make in pursuit of his craft...

I've had the idea of sous vide steak in my mind for some time now and finally decided to give it a try and borrow some cues from Heston Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection" television show.


I'm certain that you can use practically any cut of steak out there but the goals are to cook a steak that's got the caramelized characteristics of being cooked in a pan or on a grill while maintaining an even and consistent interior throughout. If you ever noticed on your steaks that it's pink on the inside and gradually greying towards the exterior, I wanted to eliminate that and have an interior that's like a center cut of prime rib and wonderfully soft and meaty inside.

To start off, sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper and let the steak sit out at room temperature for about half an hour. Next, take a blow torch and use it to quickly caramelize the exterior of the steak. Char it as much as you desire, but do it quickly. You want to char the exterior without warming up the interior and causing it to grey. Be sure that your torch and nozzle are clean - better to have one for the kitchen rather than pulling the one off your metalwork bench.


From there, take the steak and seal it in a vacuum bag. You'll need a vacuum sealer for this. A nice chamber vacuum sealer is ideal, but if you're not into spending $3,000 on a lovely Minipack-Torre or Bosch, a simple FoodSaver ($175 at Costco with extra bags) will suffice. In fact, it's what I use at home.

From there, it's pretty simple. Bust out the PolyScience Immersion Circulator - what? You don't have one at home? Sucks to be you... But seriously, doing this sous vide thing seems terribly difficult unless you've got some sort of device that can accurately regulate and maintain temperature. Admittedly, the PolyScience model is on the pricey side, but it's top-quality and well worth the money. Though you can find similar models at laboratory supply houses and on eBay.


For this test, I decided to cook the steak for 12 hours at 55 degrees Celcius (that's 131 degrees Fahrenheit).

Twelve hours is a long time for something to cook. But at least it gave me time to drive to Hanover, Pennsylvania, have brunch, attend my nephew's First Communion, meeting the aunt of another first communion-er and getting her phone number , eat lunch, drive back, hang out, make chicken stock and finish the potatoes. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.


The potatoes were relatively simple. Take the potatoes, peel them, cut them into chunks and run under cold water to remove excess starch. Cook in boiling salted water for 20 minutes - until the potatoes start to become craggly. I like to include the skins with the boil for extra flavor. And be careful when you reach the 20 minute mark. Cook it too long and the potatoes will break down and make potato soup (keep some leeks on hand).

Drain in a colander or china cap and set aside for about ten minutes to let the potatoes cool and the moisture to evaporate. Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the potatoes. They should sizzle because of the heat. Make sure the potatoes are coated in the hot oil and toss the whole thing into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for one hour. A nice, brown crust will form. Add some salt and rosemary during the last ten minutes of the roast.


After twelve hours, pull the bag out of the water and rip it open. There will be lots of jus that you can reserve and use or just discard - but what a shame that would be. The steak looked marvelous and had cooked in it's own juices the entire time. A strong beefy aroma filled my nostrils. Luxurious. Intoxicating.

Looking at the image above, the meat was just right. Wonderfully pink throughout and very even in tone. Caramelized exterior and the texture was soft, moist and just like a slow-roasted prime rib. The flavor was also very beefy and rich. It was so rich tasting that I couldn't believe it was commercial. I'm not excited to see how our usual grass-fed beef will turn out with this process.



One thing to note, there is some question in my mind asking just how long should the cook time be? How long is enough to cook the meat all the way through and break down the fibers for the desired texture? Five hours? Ten? Twelve? More? If five hours will work, then all the better. Would a higher temperature work better? For the restaurant operator, this method produces very little heat shrinkage, increasing yield.

What I would like to improve is the caramelization. It was a bit soft. I wanted a little more of that caramelized flavor to come through. Next time I'll give it a harder application of the blowtorch to get a little more charring.

But the real question is how applicable is this for the small operator? Meaning, could this be a viable route for a joint without a traditional cooking line? Does this now allow us to offer steak at places like The Spro? Can we viably start a hot menu with only an immersion circulator and an Alto Shaam? Compelling questions indeed.

NOTE: One thing I want to note for those of you who are going to try this on your own. Remember that 131F is within the Food Safety "Danger Zone" where bacterial contamination is very possible. Proper handling of the meat and cleanliness all the way around is extremely important. Heston Blumenthal says that the blowtorch helps to kill any surface bacteria that may be present, but use extreme care. For a production environment, I would prefer to use a temperature above the "Danger Zone" (40-140F), somewhere above 60C to reduce the possibility of contamination.

And if you're eating it yourself, you're still on your own. Don't blame me if you handle your food improperly and are killed because of it.

A great resource for sous vide cooking is "Sous Vide Cuisine" by Joan Roca and Salvador Brugues. It's an excellent reference that costs a pretty penny but if you're serious, then it's a 'must have' tome. I used it for some reference points for this test.


See? I even had time to whip up six quarts of chicken stock using ten pounds of free-range chicken backs from Springfield Farm, onions, carrots, celery, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

Curry In My Cuticles

As I was sitting at home watching more clips of Gordon Ramsay rip into another hapless chef regarding his inability to cook mussels, it hit me: I need mussels. Specifically, moules mouclade a la Les Halles.

Capitol Swell and I were at Les Halles last Saturday after my shopping tour that morning. The mouclade that day was spot-on. Rich, creamy, thick and with just the right balance of curry notes. A perfect sauce for sopping with our bread. That had to be one of the best serving of moules I've had yet. Today was going to be my chance to replicate that brilliance. So off to Wegman's I went.

Long time readers of this blog know that I'm really not a big fan of Wegman's. It's big and huge and filled with a lot of stuff, but they always seem to not have the stuff I'm looking for. Caul fat? No. Hangar steak? No. Thoughtfully sourced products? Not really.

At least this time they had everything I was looking for - but I did get one of the last two bags of mussels. Though I can't fault them for that since I didn't hit the store until 7pm. Of course, I'm trying to time it so that I'll miss the worst of the crowd on a Saturday, but it seems that no time is a good time for low volume at Wegman's.

With a bag of mussels, some parsley, a baguette, creme fraiche and other odds and ends for later projects/dinners, I make as quick an escape as possible and head home.

Now, I don't know how to make mouclade and since I couldn't find any recipes in my cookbook collection (damn you Bourdain for not putting Les Halles' version in your cookbook), I scoured the Internet for a suitable recipe. The one I decided to use as my guide is from the blog La Recette du Jour.

I pretty much followed Steve's recipe and procedures but made substitutions of my own. Instead of a dry white, all I have by the range is a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Reisling and I used a Jamaican Curry Powder instead of Madras. Otherwise, it's free-range eggs from Springfield Farm, Vermont's Finest Creme Fraiche and unsalted butter from Trickling Springs Creamery.

Things went well. No problems. Popped the baguette in a 350F oven with a half cup of water splashed into the bottom for texture and we were off. In the end, I thought the mouclade was good, but it could have been better. I thought that my results were a bit watery. Not enough "punch" in the flavor. A bit too much acid from the lemon and the riesling was definitely too sweet for this dish. Could have used a little salt too. Maybe a sprinkle of salt just before serving. The next time I will definitely have to source a can of the Madras Curry Powder cause I think the Jamaican one was just a bit softer and I wanted more bite. I wanted to yearn for the juices. I want to fight to slather my bread in the stuff.

One thing I would like to note is how much I enjoy eating at home. While I do enjoy going out to eat, the beauty of eating at home is that you can eat like a savage and no one will notice, or give you weird looks from across the dining room. Yes, you can use your hands. Forget the fork. Forget civility. Forget propriety. Forget your heritage, upbringing and how this behavior is "unbecoming." There's nothing like working the curry from your cuticles afterwards...

The Name Game 2

The Name Game for the new place continues. There are some seriously sick and twisted people out there. Here are some of the suggestions:

- Spiral Jetty
- Persephone
- Level
- entonces
- kayumanggi
- talyer
- kabura
- Rover 21
- Cibo e Latte
- Liberty City
- C.H.U.D.
- Cloverfield

The Name Game

Yes, it's been awhile since I've written and I'm still in the midst of writer's block. My birthday was a couple of days ago and I had quite a nice time of it, but someone was missing. A call would have been nice, you know?

Oh well, so much for those hopes and dreams.

I've been watching a lot of Kitchen Nightmares on YouTube, so my mind (and therefore my world) is filled with Gordon Ramsay's "fuck this", "fuck that", "fuck me", "fuckin' hell" and "you're a fuckin' donkey." I mean really, this is not a healthy way to live. Everywhere I eat now, I want to ask the chef: "did you even taste your fucking food before serving this shit to me?"

And unfortunately, I've endured some disappointing meals lately.

Like the God-awful "Fried Kim Chee & Tofu" at the ill-conceived Aloha Tokyo here in Baltimore. Warmed kim chee, topped with nori strips on top of a sliced tofu cake. There's nothing "fried" about that dish. Just limp-dick bland tofu and warm (what the fuck?) kim chee. I really did wonder if those people bothered tasting the food before putting it on the menu. How about deep-frying the tofu for some texture? That might have been exciting.

Of course, I knew we were in trouble right off the bat when I asked the sushi chef for a spicy tuna temaki, or hand roll. He looked at me like he was a deer in headlights. He didn't have a fucking clue.

Then there was the sad "bulgogi roll" - a sushi roll filled with cold bulgogi Korean-style beef. I really felt as though I was in Gordon Ramsay's Nightmare. I could go on but I'll only piss myself off and rant about my house shouting "What the fuck were you thinking?"

Imua.

Today, we checked out Baltimore Pho. Finally, supposedly good Vietnamese has landed in Baltimore by Hollins Market. The place looks just like a Las Vegas nightclub should look. In my usual jeans and black t-shirt, I was decidedly underdressed for this decor. Bright red leather seats with matching chopsticks and eye-catching logo'd tableware, it was stunning.

The first thing I noticed was that this pho restaurant had no Asians anywhere in sight. In fact, I was the only person of Asian ethnicity in the dining room. It didn't bode well.

Since my seat had a view of the door to the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of what might have been the black hair of an Asian man (hopefully Vietnamese) who might have been making out food. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with a team of Mexicans or Latinos cooking my French meal, but I'm comforted by a Vietnamese guy cooking my pho.

The food was pretty good. Fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, fish cakes and beef pho. Unlike my favorite places in Columbia and Honolulu, the pho selection is quite limited - but at least they will serve me a side of raw meat (which I love). Their pho is missing the tripe and tendons that make a good pho and maybe that's why I found the beef broth to be lacking. It lacked body. It lacked "ooomph". It lacked soul. I put the usual basil, sprouts and lime but it was still lacking. Hell, I even added a lot of salt - and I've never added salt to my pho. Ever. Still lacked the body. The chili pepper helped but wasn't enough.

When it comes to pho, I want to guzzle the broth. It should be rich, beefy and with that weird almost sweet twang that sets it apart. Again, this pho was like it was tuned down for white people. Jesus Christ, it's like the Outback of pho.


But enough about those food adventures, the reason for this post is to ask your help. Once again, I'm looking to open a new joint and have started discussion with several developers for a proper location and I need a name. It needs to be a good one and one that communicates. It's going to be a coffee and cuisine concept that will bring the vision of the barista chef together in a forward-thinking, progressive and delicious way. We're planning on utilizing as many sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices as possible, as well as sourcing top-quality ingredients from local suppliers. Casual but serious, though not a white tablecloth environment.

As far as names go, the sky is the limit - just so long as you don't suggest those fucking stupid coffeeshop names you find in every city like: Daily Grind, Common Grounds, Central Perk, Perking Lot. No cutesy coffee puns. And nothing that ends in a fucking "Z", like Grindz. Bloody Hell. Nothing that ends in "coffee" either - no Spro Coffee, Hines Coffee, Stumptown Coffee, etc. It's meant to be more than that.

And of course, no names that are already being used in another city, like: Starbucks, French Laundry, Alinea, etc.

Some of the names that have already been suggested are:

- Spiral Jetty
- Persephone
- Level
- entonces
- kayumanggi
- talyer


So please, any ideas you have, drop me a line or leave it in the comments. I'll compile a list and report back and maybe you'll have a hand in naming our next venture!

Poking The Poke

Part of this weeks' bounty from the Waverly Market.

It's a beautiful (if cold), sunny morning in Maryland and as I spent the day lounging around, arranging the library, doing the laundry and finishing my deep prep for the week to come, I've also been reading The River Cottage Meat Book and it's gotten me a bit hungry.

For fish.

Not that the stories about commercial meat have turned me away from meats, not at all. It's just that I've been immersed in meat this past week and now it's time for something different.

For those of you unfamiliar with The River Cottage Meat Book, it's a wonderful read about all things meat (vegans should run away - fast). Author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has written a gospel on the art and practice of meat, as well as an honest look at commercial meat processing and the reasons why properly raised animals simply taste better. It's not a book for one reading but rather a tome for reference. I think it's going to be my in-car companion for the next couple of weeks.

Two quarts ofKalua Pig.

Like I said. I've been immersed in meats and yesterday was the culmination of several weeks effort. After seasoning and vacuum-packing a beef brisket from Springfield Farm and letting it sit for a couple of weeks, it was time to smoke it up. That and a pork shoulder picnic (also from Springfield) spent 15 hours in the smoker getting just right.

After the brisket cools in the fridge, it's sliced paper thin on the slicer and bathed in an espresso-jacked beef stock. The kalua'd pork is shredded and adjusted for seasoning. Once it all cools, they'll be portioned out for my eating pleasure. I don't know about the rest of you, but there's something very comforting about a freezer full of portioned meats and stocks ready for consumption.

Frozen, fresh ogo

But this isn't about that. It's about the fish.

I enjoy fish and seafood. Tremendously. In fact, I once used to like a girl from Hawaii who didn't like seafood of any sort. Wouldn't even try it. Sheesh, here's a girl from Hawaii (where seafood is a fact of life) and she didn't eat it? In spite of my enthusiasm, I knew deep down in my heart, right then and there, that any relationship was doomed for how could I share a life with someone with whom I couldn't share the pleasures of raw ahi?

Needless to say, that never worked out.

I'm going to share with you my "top secret" recipe for Ahi Poke, the ubiquitous raw fish dish from Hawaii. It's so popular that you can find some version of poke in just about any market in the islands. In different styles, with different fish. Truth be told, poke recipes are hotly contested and, if the Hawaii people weren't so relaxed and friendly, wars would have been fought over it.

So by no means is this a definitive recipe. It's merely one in a sea of millions. Feel free to add and omit as your tastes desire.

First off, here's a list of ingredients:

'Ahi - Yellowfin Tuna
ogo - Seaweed
Alaea Sea Salt
Aloha Shoyu Soy Sauce (shoyu)
Sliced while onions
Sliced Scallions (green onion)
Chopped garlic

Ingredients

As you can see, it's a pretty simple ingredient list. Some of it may be hard to find (unless you live in California).

Yellowfin Tuna
As always, it's a good idea to go with fresh. One of the problems is that tuna, in general, is turning unsustainable because of over-fishing. Sushi is so popular today around the world that we're literally killing our tuna supply. The battle of whether or not to stop buying tuna is one you'll have to wrestle with on your own.

While fresh is a good option, there is also very good quality frozen tuna, you just have to seek it out. I've been to Tsukiji in Tokyo and a lot of the best grade fish there was frozen. As with anything, it's important to have a good relationship with a fishmonger. I've got a friend who wholesales fish in Jessup, and he knows my penchant for quality tuna which means that every once in a while, I'll get a cryptic phone call from him about a new arrival and should he swing by my shop for an envelope? I haven't turned him down yet.

Usually the tuna is cut into cubes but lately I've been digging it cut into small dice. It's more manageable and I like the flavor pronunciation better. Plus, you can get a little more serving yield when you're sharing it with friends.

Ogo
I have no idea what kind of seaweed ogo is or what its' name would be in English. i just know it as "ogo" and it's twig like, salty and tasty. It's also impossible to find on the East Coast (or so it seems), so I have it imported by friends from Hawaii and I keep it in the freezer. The ogo in Hawaii is harvested locally and usually comes with a little sea water. I keep it all and chop off what I need. The little bit of sea water lends an authentic taste of Hawaii.

The finished ahi poke

Breakfast In Bed

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Breakfast in Bed on the February 16th Specials Menu at Woodberry Kitchen.


Since this will end up being my signature drink for the up-coming 2008 United States Barista Championship being held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from May 2nd to 5th, it's probably a bad idea for me to post this.

But, oh well...

The idea for Breakfast in Bed has been floating around in my mind for a couple of months now. When I mentioned the idea of pairing toffee with bacon in a drink, the typical reaction was one of horror or disgust - like, how could I even think of doing something so ridiculous.

Like any "original" idea, this one is rooted in the teachings, lessons and wisdom of others. I'm not the first person to think of this crazy combination. The initial idea was sparked by Chef Jesse at Abacrombie Fine Foods in Baltimore with her dessert called "Breakfast for Dessert." An interesting combination of fruit, maple syrup, bacon and brioche.

The problem was that I really wasn't sure what form a drink inspired by that dessert should take and how I should approach it. Plus, I've been so darned busy with running The Spro that details like a competition signature drink just fell to the wayside.

Shoplifters Of The World Unite And Take Over
Things really started churning during my London trip to visit reigning World Barista Champion James Hoffmann and his faithful Irish sidekick, Stephen Morrissey (of Square Mile Coffee Fame, not of The Smiths Fame). During my short few hours at the new Square Mile Bat Cave, James shared with me the approach to his "doughnut" drink from 2006, as well as kicking around ideas on how to make the "Frozen Cappuccino Experience."

Determined that "Frozen Cappuccino" was more stunning that some silly breakfast drink, i returned to the United States and got cracking. With only a week left before the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition, I started experimenting with freezing coffee and cream and how to deep-fry it oil. The idea was to have a molten center surrounded by a french toast fried exterior a la Wylie Dufresne's "Fried Mayonnaise."

It was sheer and utter disaster.

With only three days to competition, I decided that maybe the Fried Cappuccino Experience wasn't quite ready for prime time and started to focus on Breakfast In Bed.

Getting In Bed With Tiffany
It took two days of experiments, but making Breakfast In Bed is really quite simple and straightforward - especially if you have kitchen resources at your disposal.

Like the previous competition signature drinks I've been involved with, the most important factor for the drink is that it must be repeatable on the line. It must be a drink that can be made on a daily (or at least regular) basis. It cannot be one of these one-off extravaganzas you so often see at barista competitions that are so complex that no one wants to make them ever again.

No, this drink has to be formulated in such a way that it can be duplicated and repeated. Otherwise, it's just stupid and an exercise in masturbation.

Note: I still consider this drink "in progress" which means that I'm providing you with a rough formula for making the drink. Like most cooking, there's some wiggle room. Just pay attention to the general ratios and you can size it up or size it down. Remember, the batch sizes here are to supply the line for service and not just four drinks for four judges.

Here's the list of ingredients I used:


FRENCH TOAST INFUSION

3/4 loaf Pan de Mie - Stone Mill Bakery, Baltimore
4 large eggs - Springfield Farm
1qt Half & Half Cream - Trickling Springs Creamery
3qt plus 3 cups Whole Milk - Trickling Springs Creamery
1 Madagascar Vanilla Bean, split and seeded
Unsalted Butter - Trickling Springs Creamery
No. 1 Amber Maple Syrup - Quebec, Canada
Organic Cane Sugar

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl, mix in 3 cups whole milk and vanilla bean with seeds to make the French Toast Batter. Dip Pan de Mie slices in batter and pan fry in batches with butter until golden on both sides. Dredge cooked toast in maple syrup and cool in a large sauce pan until all the bread has been cooked. After, break French Toast into chunks.

Note: Avoid the temptation to eat your ingredients. Or perhaps use the remaining 1/4 loaf to make French Toast for your breakfast.

Add Half & Half and remaining milk to saucepan and heat on medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer. Do not boil. Once the mix begins to simmer, remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer to a cooling container (like a Cambro) and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, strain and squeeze bread solids from the liquid. I like to strain twice with a fine holed China Cap and then strain it twice more through a Chinois. The more you strain the infusion, the better the texture. You could do it ten times a la Thomas Keller, but I think twice is just fine.

Sweeten with organic cane sugar to taste. Like salt with savory foods, the sugar here helps to "pop" the flavor of the infusion. Otherwise, the flavor will remain "flat."


TOFFEE CHANTILLY

1 pound Organic Cane Sugar
1 pound unsalted Butter - Trickling Springs Creamery
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream - Trickling Springs Creamery

Heat sugar and butter in saucepan over medium-high heat until the two have combined and darkened to the right flavor for toffee - roughly 350F to 400F degrees. You can do this with a thermometer or by taste - just be sure to let the sugar cool before tasting. However, be careful not to burn the toffee. Once you get close, things really pick up speed and you can easily lose control of the process.

Once you've reached the right point for your toffee, add the heavy cream. There will be boiling, bubbling and sizzling. The toffee will seize into a hard glob. This is okay and perfectly natural. Lower the heat to medium and keep stirring. Once the liquid heats, the toffee will loosen and emulsify into the cream. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Transfer to a Cambro and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, expect a layer of fat to have formed on your chantilly mixture. Skim the fat and strain mixture through a chinois. Pour a portion into an ISI Whipper and single charge the container - you can double-charge the whipper for a more foamy texture.


BROWN SUGAR GLAZED BACON

Applewood Smoked Bacon - Springfield Farm
Lite Brown Sugar - Domino

Spread bacon on a parchment lined (or silpat covered) baking sheet, dust with brown sugar and bake at 300F degrees until the bacon has cooked through and the sugar has carmelized into a glaze.

Cool and chop into bits. Store.



Getting Down with BREAKFAST IN BED

Now that your mise en place is ready, it's time to get cracking. Grab a 3z demitasse cup, preheat then pull a single shot of espresso into the cup.

Steam and froth a portion of your French Toast Infusion and add to espresso a la macchiato.

Top with Toffee Chantilly from the whipper and sprinkle bacon bits on top.

And serve.



During the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, I also decided to serve Breakfast in Bed with an accompanying fresh-squeeze orange juice chaser.

The drink should be pleasantly sweet with a delicate balance between the french toast and the coffee. The idea is to combine all the good things about waking up in bed - sans the pretty girl next to you. While I was proofing the drink at The Spro, I used the La Marzocco ACF demitasse cups which were the ideal size for a single shot and french toast infusion. But for the competition, I pulled out the old Crate & Barrel glassware which I used for the 2006 USBCs' Coffee and a Cigarette. The problem with the glasses is that they are a bit larger than the demitasse cups, which throws off the balance slightly and the judges reported that the coffee was being "lost" in the mix.

Personally speaking, I dispute those claims because i tasted their drinks backstage, but they're the gatekeepers.

Chances are that you will see Breakfast In Bed again at the USBC. In the meantime, check in at The Spro because it's going to hit our menu there soon.