St. John Hotel – Chinatown | London, England UK
St.John Restaurant and Bar Nov 10 2012
Devilled Pig’s Skin & Smoked Cod’s Roe
Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad
Smoked Mackerel Toast
Clams, Thyme & Pink Firs
Middle White, Chard & Mustard
Custard Tart
What a treat! Been wanting to come to this restaurant for a while. Based on it’s out of country proximity I honestly didn’t think I would be able to try it; had forgotten about this place for a bit until I watched Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover – London. The chance to eat here came up by happenstance as my cousin and I were waiting for Chrisine to finish shopping and decided it would be a solid time to figure out what to do for dinner. Called St. John Hotel and was able to snag a last minute dinner reservation! Was SO happy!!
But the food, as expected, was great and the overall experience was wonderful; thanks to our server Michael for being SO entertaining and helpful when making our selections. Typically I would give highlights but everything was extremely delicious. Especially the Custard Tart. Wonderful that the best of the meal marked the end of the meal. Smoothest custard I’ve ever had; very unexpected.
I really want to go back and do the Feasting option; it’s for larger groups who wishes to order a whole suckling pig. It looked like there were a few other things that one would get for the feasting option, but the pig is all I can think about. 🙂 I’m drooling just thinking about it.
St.John Hotel – Chinatown (information gathered 11/2012)
1 Leicester Street
London
WC2H 7BL
020 3301 8020
Hours
Breakfast 8.00 – 10.30am
Lunch Mon – Sun 12.00 – 3.00pm and then 5.30pm – Midnight
Parking
Took the tube to a nearby station and walked. Highly recommended to take the tube as anything else is quite expensive.
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| References:Thanks to my cousin Yim for setting up the reservation 🙂 St.John Hotel website |
Lineage | Brookline, Massachusetts USA
Bread with butter
Half bottle of Tyler Chardonnay 2009
Spicy Lobster Tacos
Lobster Pasta
Another recommendation from the app, Chefs Feed. I went for the Spicy Lobster Tacos and wow, they were amazing! Crunch taco shell, succulent lobster, and a sweetness from the mango salsa just rounded the dish nicely. After the tacos I found myself still a bit hungry and decided I should also get one more dish. With the help of the polite and helpful server, decided on getting the Lobster Pasta as well. A wrong move as it ended up being a bit more than what I should have ordered but c’est la vie; it was delicious 🙂
Lineage (information gathered 11/2012)
242 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02446
617.232.0065
Hours
Mon – Fri 5:00 – 10:00pm
Sat 5:00 – 10:30pm
Sun 10:30am – 2:00pm, 5:00 – 9:00pm
Parking
Found parking on the street side at a meter. Parking was free after the specified parking time. I would verify the parking time before to make sure.
Please be advised, all images and content are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. Got questions? Email me: mweats <dot> info <at> gmail <dot> com
| References:Chefs Feed chefsfeed.com | twitter Lineage website |
Empire State South | Atlanta, Georgia USA
Coffee. Black.
Roasted Padron Peppers
Pimento Cheese w/ bacon marmalade
Pork Belly; Anson mills grits, sorghum, coddled egg, pears, peanuts.
Steak & Egg; Anson mill oats, maitake mushrooms, kale, ESS hot sauce, sunny egg
Scrapple; Crisp sourdough, fried egg, pickled mustard seed, apple butter, radish and herb salad
While reading Chef Acheson’s blog on the finale of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters Season 4 (congrats btw to Chris Cosentino!), he made a mention of how there is a dish that is similar to the beef tartar dish Chris served. I’ve always wanted to check out ESS and figured this past weekend was the opportunity to do so. After a few back/forth tweets between myself and both Chef Acheson/Chef Smith, knew exactly what to order for the group! Chef Ryan Smith mentioned Steak and Eggs with the oats and hot sauce; while Chef Hugh Acheson just said anything with pork and coffee. Also during some researching around the net, saw that the Pimento Cheese with bacon marmalade was a must have. Just reading it made me salavate.
Favorite dishes: Steak and Eggs with the oats and hot sauce; also, the Pimento cheese w/ bacon marmalade (it was better than the name sounds, which is pretty freaking awesome!!).
Empire State South (information gathered 10/2012)
999 Peachtree Street Northeast #140
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.541.1105
Hours
Breakfast
Mon – Fri 7:00am – 10:00am
Lunch
Mon – Fri 11:00am – 3:00pm
Dinner
Mon – Sun 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Brunch
Sat & Sun 10:30am – 3:00pm.
Parking
Parking is bountiful! Either the parking deck in the Taco Mac deck or there are a good bit of meters that you can pay via cash/change/credit card.
Please be advised, all images and content are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. Got questions? Email me: mweats <dot> info <at> gmail <dot> com
| References:
Thanks to Ryan Smith / Hugh Acheson for the recommended dishes and the delicious food. |
Eli Kirshtein’s Pop-up at Versuvius’ The Music Room (feat. Livingsocial & Sweetwater) | Atlanta, Georgia USA
Christine and I checking-in with Livingsocial. (Thanks for having us!)
Really cool speakeasy entrance and exit (or was it vice versa!?)
All properly seated; waiting for the fun to begin!
Cous-cous stuffed mussels paired with Sweetwater 420
Peekytoe crab and cucumber salad with a Vietnamese Nuoc Cham sauce; with various herbs/spices (e.g. ginger, agave nectar, mint garlic, culantro, cilantro, lots of black pepper) paired with Sweetwater IPA
Painted hills hangar steak; roasted/braised king oyster and butternut squash puree, finished with some veal jus and black truffle butter. Steak was sous-vide at 55 celcius for 2 hours, seared them off with some homemade montreal style seasoning. Paired with Sweetwater LowRYEder
Magical Two Night Stand; because, what’s better than a one nigher? (p.s. why doesn’t the iPhone have some kind of auto brew-it-now app yet?!)
Spanish Queso de Valdeon cheese with pumpernickel bread. Sauce on the plate is comprised of: Agave nectar, miso, honey, sugar, rice wine vinegar. Finished with some chinese chives and zest of lemon; paired with a custom brewed Sweetwater ‘Two Night Stand’
Creamy Panna Cotta; coriander infusion, fig and exodus reduction. Paired with Sweetwater Exodus.
Eli Kirshtein
While on the road in Boston, was checking out my twitter and saw Chef Eli Kirshtein talking about a 5 course/Sweetwater tasting in collaboration with Livingsocial. A Livingsocial deal? Sweetwater?! Eli Kirshtein!?! Done and done. Favorite pairing would have to be the Spanish Valdeón cheese with the custom brewed ‘Two Night Stand’ by Nick Nock, the main brewer at Sweetwater. 1/3 of each in their flat form: IPA, GA Brown, and Sch’weat, then added some natural live yeast, residual sugar. Some said it was similar to an IPA with an extra bit of head; creamy because of the dry hopping. Panna cotta with the Exodus Porter was a great way to finish. mmm.. so good. Per Chef Kirshtein’s recommendation, I’ll need to get myself to the ‘Brew Your Cask Off’ competition by Sweetwater. Sounds like a tasty good time.
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Eli Kirshtein’s Pop-up at Versuvius’ The Music Room; 5 course w/ Sweetwater pairing; setup by Livingsocial (information gathered 9/2012)
Parking
Empty meter parking meters was your best friend that evening. A little on the crazy side since Edgewood had all that construction. Oh well, it was worth it.
Please be advised, all images and content are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. Got questions? Email me: mweats <dot> info <at> gmail <dot> com
| References: Thanks to Christine (aka Xteeener) for joining 🙂 xteeener | twitter And of course thanks to Livingsocial, Sweetwater, Vesuvius/The Music Room and Eli Kirshtein for the fun event! Eli Kirshtein facebook | twitter Livingsocial http://www.livingsocial.com/ | facebook | twitter Sweetwater sweetwaterbrew.com/ | facebook | twitter Vesuvius: The Music Room |
L’ESPALIER | Boston, Massachusetts USA
Dinner at L’ESPALIER is about to begin!
Finally found Pappy!!
Wellfleet oyster with American caviar and champagne gelée
Rosemary Chiabatta with whipped butter dallops
Apple Street Farm egg custard and Siberian Sturgeon caviar
Butter poached Casco Bay lobster with potatoes, linguica and sweet corn purée
Seared Hudson Valley foie gras “royale” with Concord grape, Chartreuse meringue, pistachio sable and port wine veil
Intermezzo; Chantilly and vanilla ice cream, granite flavored with gin and champagne; everything served over macha sable crumbs
Nova Scotia halibut with a warm Apple Street Farm new potato salad, pancetta, egg yolk, and creamed corn
Long Island confit leg of duck with Apple Street Farm baby eggplant, cauliflower purée and chanterelles
Lydia lamb cassoulet with beans, braised pork and roasted Vidalia
Grand Fromage; (from left to right) Pecorino Ginepro of Emilia-Rogagna, Italy; Robiola a Tres Latti of Piedmont, Italy; Lakes Edge of Blue Ledge Farm, Salisbury, Vermont; Tarentaise of Spring Brook Farm, Reading, Vermont; Maxx 365 of Canton Thurgau, Switzerland; Willoughby of Jasper Hill, Greensboro, Vermont; Roquefort of Gabriel Coulet, Rouergue, France
Apricot sorbet with croustillant and fluid gel
On the left: white peach sorbet w/macerated peaches served over a vanilla bomba cake
On the right: flour-less chocolate decadence cake; topped with a little buttermilk panna cotta
Milk bourbon fluid gel and peach fluid gel decorate the plate.
Oh my goodness.. The combination of service, attention to detail, quality of food, and presentation were all top notch and worth every penny! I even got to enjoy Pappy Van Winkle!! I’ve been looking everywhere for that guy!! 🙂
Upon arriving and looking at the menu, I knew immediately what I was going to have. The Chef’s Tasting Journey. When a chef has such respect and understanding of the ingredients, there should be no doubt that the meal will be amazing. No substitutions, no allergies. I’m all in! And wow, when each dish is gorgeous, it makes for shooting food so easy! As you know, I’m all about showcasing the food as you would see it at the restaurant and wow.. you’re definitely in for a treat. Favorite dish was definitely the farm egg custard as the flavor was just superb! A special mention goes out to the intermezzo.; such a pleasant way to cleanse the palate. Honestly, all the dishes were fabulous.
A must try.
Fun fact: I was the first to enter the restaurant and one of the last to leave. Total dining time = 5 hours; a true journey that I would gladly do again!
L’ESPALIER (information gathered 9/2012)
774 Boylston Street
Boston Massachusetts 02199
617.262.3023
Hours
Lunch
Mon – Fri 11:30am – 2:30pm
Sat & Sun 12:00pm – 1:45pm
Dinner
Daily 5:30pm – 10:30pm
Tea
Sat & Sun 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Salon – Cocktails & small bites
Sun – Thur 5:00pm -10:30pm
Fri & Sat 5:00pm – 11:30pm
Parking
Parking anywhere in Boston is rather tough; ended up parking at the a deck off of Massachusetts Ave and Newbury. I’m sure there is somewhere closer but I actually wanted to do some walking along Newbury St. Would recommend just doing valet. They can give you details at the number above.
Please be advised, all images and content are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. Got questions? Email me: mweats <dot> info <at> gmail <dot> com
| References:L’ESPALIER lespalier.com | facebook | twitter |
Island Creek Oyster Bar | Boston, Massachusetts USA
At Island Creek Oyster Bar waiting on a table; queue your name with the bartender if you want a bar seat.
RAW Bar – ordering oysters
RAW Bar – Island Creek Oyster, Duxbury, MA, Skip Bennett; Beach Point, Barnstable, MA, Mark Begley; Taunton Bay, Acadia, ME, Mike Briggs; Wild Belon, Harpswell, ME
Crispy IC Oyster Slider; brioche roll, lime chile aioli
Pan Fried Crab Cake; corn relish, dijon aioli, frisee
Local Clam Chowder; hand dug clams, buttermilk biscuit, house-cured bacon
Lobster Roe Noodles; braised short rib, grilled lobster, maitake mushrooms, pecorino
Bouillabaisse; swordfish, salmon, littlenecks, PEI mussels, rouille
Honey-Sweet Buttermilk Biscuit
Been wanting to come here for a while actually. It was one of the first places that caught my eyes while using the Chefs Feed app.But a really fun atmosphere with a sophisticated touch; great date place! That night I went with a small group and originally had a reservation for 9:30 on a Thursday, but decided to try our luck to get an earlier table. Was told that for busier nights it’s required to check-in with the bartender and check-in we did! Were able to snag a row of three stools around 8:45 and commenced our gastro-tour through some wonderful dishes. Favorite dish would definitely have to be Clam Chowder! Had some good bowls of the stuff, but this place’s chowder was wonderful! The biscuit was freaking impressive as well! Flaky as if it were rolled of filo dough and that little bit of honey was a nice touch. Besides the amazing decor, the service there was the best I’ve had in a while. Constant changing of utensils after each course, never had an empty water glass and the bartender Andrew was super friendly and helpful; learned a fun fact that the Wild Balon are unable to be farmed but must be harvested in the wild instead. A great time!
Island Creek Oyster Bar (information gathered 9/2012)
500 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
617.532.5300
Hours
Mon – Sat 4:00pm – 1:00am
Sun 11:00am – 12:00am
Parking
Street parking or valet were the only things available. At the time of driving there, street parking was near impossible to find; valet is $16.
Please be advised, all images and content are copyrighted and may not be used without permission. Got questions? Email me: mweats <dot> info <at> gmail <dot> com
| References:
Chefs Feed chefsfeed.com | twitter |