cabking's Profile
Local Fare in Bali (Ubud & Seminyak/Kuta/Legian)
In Ubud, I really enjoyed Kafe Batan Waru (great version of Urap Pakis, veggie version of Lawar Salad, Ayam Rica Rica (yes, Manadonese, but if you're not going to Manado....) and, on saté night, the ikan lilit saté (hint: go on saté night!)): http://www.batanwaru.com/. Warung Ekat was also quite tasty (pepes lindung is exceptional, otak-otak teggiri, ikan batar sambal matah): http://www.warungenakbali.com/menus/index.html.
Warung D'Sawah in Kerobokan was the best traditional food I ate in south Bali, and it is a removed from the mahem of Kuta/Seminyak.
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 - Ep. #16 - 02/22/12 (Spoilers)
And the Terlato "Top Chef" wine. It's gotta rock! [snark]
Top Chef Texas Finale Part 1 - Ep. #16 - 02/22/12 (Spoilers)
I do agree with you, chicgail. Taking this further, though, I wonder what type of risk a restaurant or cheftestant takes in participating in Top Chef. I can't believe it is always "any publicity is good publicity". For example, I would probably not eat at Moto based on the poor performances of their chefs this season. And, although I may have wanted to eat a Spiaggia at one time, I think I would rather support Stephanie Izard or Rick Bayless when I visit Chicago than support such an unpleasant person as Sarah (even though I kind of like Tony Montuano from TV, hence the risk he's taking by putting a sourpuss like Sarah in the spotlight). In a similar vein, would love to eat at one of Harold's restos in NYC, not so much wherever Marcel is cooking. When these chefs cook well and are nice people, it probably makes sense to go on the show, but when they just cook well, might not anonymity be preferable?
Taipei: Shi Yang Culture Restaurant (食養山房)
Has anyone eaten at Shi Yang Culture Restaurant (食養山房) recently?
taipei: best bakeries?
I'm not going to Taipei until January, so I cannot be of service. And it does not seem like a lot of Taipei residents or travellers post here (my questions have gone sadly unanswered). But, I have found a couple of good foodie resources that include bakeries - best of luck!
http://www.diarygrowingboy.com/search/label/Taipei
http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/search/label/bakeries
Top Chef Just Desserts Finale
Hmm, perhaps Chris' plain bread was a calculated move so he could have time to win the bon bon, plated dessert and showpiece, and turn out a competitive entremet as well. I don't believe that Sally's plated dessert (a messy non-sealed chocolate sphere filled with a lot of stuff) was a better product than Chris' (which, while not as potentially pretty, was polished off by all of the judges, in contrast to Sally's). What I really do not believe is that the show is such a sham that the backstory bought Chris the win, or they would have milked it A LOT more. I think if Chris had burned his bread, made a dry entremet, etc..., he would certainly have lost, don't you?
Top Chef Just Desserts Finale
Discounting the showpiece entirely, I still don't think Sally necessarily won. Chris won the bon bon and plated dessert, was close in the entremet, and lost on bread. Including the showpiece, Chris' was more nuanced and creative than Orlando's in this instance (Orlando's looked like the "same old same old" competition-style showpiece), if slightly less well perfectly consturcted based on the brioche slip. And although Sally did have the color scheme thematic element running throughout all of her desserts, Chris had a similar situation with his structural element tie-ins. And, as always with any of these shows, we did not get to taste anything, so are relying on the commentary of others (albeit well regarded judges).
So, while I would not have been surprised if Sally had won, I did not find it strange that Chris did. It would have been strange had Matthew won.
Top Chef Just Desserts Finale
Sadly, this is, in part, Top Chef Just Desserts Showpiece, since showpieces have been an integral part of both seasons, even though they're bizarre non-edible historical vestiges from the days of Escoffier and Careme. OK, yes, they could be theoretically eaten, but they're not.
In the end, Sally lost because Chris beat her in bon bon and plated dessert (JI mentioned that Chris' dessert was the only one that all the judges at in its entirety) and did his own showpiece, even if one brioche fell off (and, in my view, that was really a "forest for the trees" criticism, given how awesome the piece was in its enitrety). I'm not sure he was trounced in the entremet (perhaps edged by Sally), and Sally won the bread. So, I think he clearly won from what I saw and the comments presented (again, all we have to go by). I had thoguht Matthew was a good third for the finale, but he seemed not to "bring it", really.
Taipei area: Shi Yang Shan Fang (食養山房) or Da Shan Wu Jia (大山無價)
I will be visiting Taipei in January, and was strongly considering eating at either Shi Yang Shan Fang (食養山房) or Da Shan Wu Jia (大山無價) one evening. Is one preferable to another in terms of food quality? Service? Also, I will not have a car - will this make a visit to one or the other too challenging? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
NY Chowhound coming to Taiwan. Need some help please
Is the dian xin at Celestial only offered on weekends?
Lunch near the Guggenheim
I am looking for a good place to have a light lunch near the Guggenheim Museum. Great pizza (slice or small pie) woul be my preferred choice, followed by top class deli, followed by sushi or good ethnic Asian. Looking to go relatively light and not fancy since dinner will be EMP.
EMP 4 course option - satisfying?
I was wondering whether the four course option at Eleven Madison Park (versus the Tasting Menu) is still a pinnacle NYC dining experience, or if the Tasting Menu is the only way to get a top flight experience there. Money is a consideration, and for two the former is considerably less pricy. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010
TC Just Desserts: Finale [spoiler]
It is actually super simple to make a souffle (few ingredients and standard timing), which is why he lost. I'm guessing it had more to do with the crummy GE ovens than Morgan, but at this point in TC history, everyone should figure in the poor performance of the sponsors equipment (GE ovens, ice cream makers, heck even the Dawn probably chaps your hands!).
TC Just Desserts: Finale [spoiler]
Morgan must have, at one time and another, made reference to hitting or punching. He was not talking about dough. These words were not made up.
He was either a complete fiction or a jerk. I'm guessing the latter only beacuse I'm certain that a low budget snooze fest like TC JD would not have spent a lot of time completely and thoroughly fabricating his persona down to the dislike of every contestant or the piecing together of every sentence out of his mouth to make him seem like someone he was completely not.
Top Chef: Just Dessert Episode 8: CelebriTea
It is a game, and TCJD (and TC as well) can set the rules how they want. However, it does not make sense to me that the chef eliminated in team challenges is always one on the losing team. That having been said, I'm not sure Danielle's food was worse than Heather's last episode - it was kind of hard to tell. Her food overall, however, has been pretty uninteresting, suggesting that there is some inherent flaw in these shows that allows certain mediocre middle-of-the-road contestants to persist well past their due dates.
Just Desserts 7: Dessert Wars!
Morgan does not remind me of any alpha males I know, and I work in an industry with many of them. He has poor impulse control and is borderline violent in both thought and action. And, it does not take a big man to apologize. It takes a thoughtful human being, and certainly Morgan does have this side of his personality (it just is not all that special). He should let this side of his personality take over his other far more unpleasent side.
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
It is the drama of the cooking to which I was referring. There is not enough cooking shown, and what is shown is often intentionally deceptive through editing or deceptive by omission, at least until the extra judge's table videos or Tom's magically informative blog postings. In agreement with you, mariacarmen, I also do not enjoy the "drama for drama's sake", but do enjoy the suspense of finding out if what looks like the best dish will win. Too often this season, it was not possible to tell based on what was presented; hence, more a "gotch ya" type surprise than well documented and presented suspense based on the purported core competancies of the show.
Volt, Restaurant Eve, or???
Everyone,
Thanks everyone for the advice. I am booking Restaurant Eve for the dinner, and planning later than 8 PM based on previous comments.
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Restaurant Eve
110 South Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Volt, Restaurant Eve, or???
I am looking for a great restaurant for my mom's b'day. I will be arriving into Dulles at 6 PM on a Friday in November, and would like to try to dine aound 8 PM or so. I was thinking about Restaurant Eve or Volt, since they woudl not require Beltway drives and my mom apparently has not been to either. Is it worth going to Volt if not choosing Table 21? Ditto restaurant Eve and the Chef's Tasting Room? Anything better in town currently? Hoping to spend less than my last parental birthday meal at Komi, if that helps.
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Restaurant Eve
110 South Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Komi
1509 17th St NW Ste 1, Washington, DC 20036
Tasting Room
101 N Market St, Frederick, MD 21701
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
Unfortunately, TC no longer has drama or suspense (heretically, even though it is a much worse show, I think that Hell's Kitchen was more suspenseful this season than TC). TC does have surprise, yes, based on a lot that is unseen and not spoken (at least until the Bravo.com extras and blog postings). If they win the Emmy this year for anything, it'll be because it was the least bad TV show, not because they have done anything well.
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
FWIW, the single best piece of fruit I ever ate in my life was in Singapore (a Thai mango according to the server). It was almost a psychedelic sensory experience. So, a fruit dessert probably would have been a good idea (as evidenced by Kevin's winning dish).
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
Actually, we will never really know if this is true, not because Michael V. "made" Kevin's dishes or won for him, but because we do not know if Kevin would have still won had he had Ilan as his sous chef. I think that might have been a BIG game changer, with Ilan messing up some of Kevin's food and Michael V. or Hung helping Ed out with some hints.
I think TC needs to stop recycling old winners/losers/etc... and level the playing field somehow during the finale. In this instance, the playing field was not even close. Perhaps Ripert, Chang and Feninger (or three of Colicchio's sous or???) could have done the sous cheffing--then, perhaps, we would have had a better indication of the true winner. The disparity of Michael V. and Ilan will taint this finale for me, unfortunately.
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
Oddly, Tom appeared to like this dessert while eating it, and decided he disliked it at Judge's Table.
Top Chef - D.C. - Finale, Part 2 (Ep. #14) - 09/15/10 (Spoilers)
Colicchio must have the same issue as the guy in the movie Momento, given that the food from last season's finale looked a lot better. His blog spin is usually pretty dishonest, IMHO, and serves to justify all that has gone before. It is very easy to say how we the TV audience did not see everything or taste everything, but then that actually speaks poorly of the show if the only "truth" we receive is Tom's oracular blog report each week. Frankly, the food from last week's penultimate episode looked a lot better than the food from this episode.
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
I completely agree with this sentiment, thew. However, improvisational musicians, abstract artists and great chefs, amongst others, master basic techniques (scales and arpeggios, knife skills) or experiment intensely with new ones (molecular gastronomy, drip art) so there is some possibility of soaring once the cliff has been dismounted. Not sure if Angelo's inherent weirdness adds anything to his cooking--it seems unrelated (although he does have technique for sure). This is getting a bit off topic, so I'll stop here.
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
Read the original post. All weird is not good (or creative or interesting or artistic or full of inherent integrity or...), and the wide-ranging quality of the Fringe Festival is one of the clearest examples of this truth. Pieces range from insightful and fantastic to dreadful and utterly painful to watch.
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
Exactly. Last season, I would have eaten at either Voltaggio brother restaurant,or Woodfire Grill (or Le Bernardin, of course). This season, I would have eaten at Tiffany's restaurant if I found myself in Beaumont, but certainly would never plan to eat at Xie Xie, Plein Sud or Restaurant Kelly Liken
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
Very sadly, Tiffany did have a bad night. However, although her dish may have been overall the weakest, is it fair to make the criticism about unskinned peppers? I eat a lot of Thai and Indian curries, and do not seem to remember preparations with skinned peppers. I don't think Tom is very hip to non-European ethnic cuisines in general (and doesn't like them much either), but thought that Boudain or Padma might have spoken up about the peppers. Maybe the rest of the dish was so sub-par that this did not warrant mentioning?
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
Weird is not in and of itself good (see Fringe Festival, Bobcat Goathwait, etc...). In fact, Angelo's weirdness has hobbled him as much as it has inspried him, so I can't say I would want to eat his food on an off night of being weird.
Top Chef - D.C. - Ep. #12 - 09/01/10 (Spoilers)
Bourdain's looking more and more like Herman Munster every day. In fact, with "Grandpa" Buzz Aldrin, "Lily" Lakshmi, etc..., they were a few cobwebs away from the original.
