Twohearted's Profile
Extra Virgin [KC]
My wife and I had dinner at Extra Virgin a couple nights ago for her birthday. I gave her the choice or Le Fou Frog, Michael Smith or Extra Virgin (all places we had not been to yet) and she chose Extra Virgin since she's a fan of tapas.
The short: It was great for the money and we'll be back again.
The long: Personally I was dreaming of a quality tapas bar similar to the ones you'd find in Spain so I went into it with very high expectations. Of course, that's rather unrealistic for Kansas City. Anyways, we had quite a bit of food (keep in mind these are small plates):
braised pork cheeks - a bit tough and too much salt, but the white beans were good with it
beef marrow bones - excellent, but needed more radish on the plate
hamachi ceviche - very good and I especially liked the texture with the corn nuts
duck confit corstini - excellent, but something like this is hard to screw up
beef empanads - good, but I still like the ones I make more
braised escarole with rice and parmesan - just OK, but I'm not a big fan of escarole in the first place
white sardines - excellent with some garlic, tomatoes, oil from the can and a salad pepper
On top of this we had 4 glasses of wine between us. All told we spent $115 not including tip. Considering that we were ordering many of the more expensive items off the menu and had a couple drinks each, I was pleasantly surprised that the bill was only that much. Of course I had higher expectations and some of the dishes didn't meet those expectations, but considering what we ordered and how much we paid I think it was right on. You can certainly spend $115 at other KC restaurants and do much worse. We will definitely be back to Extra Virgin. We are both dying to go there for their half-priced happy hour in the summer time for a First Friday with friends.
KC - Wine Shops
I'm relatively new to the KC area (3.5 years now) and I finally just swore off Berbiglia for any sort of beverage tonight since Miller Lite is cheaper at Consentinos. Bebiglia is so awful.
We finally went to Wine tonight and I was thoroughly impressed. Excellent selection with many wines from regions other than California. The prices were also right on. I think it's now become my primary source for wine. Thanks to goroe for the suggestion!
KC - Wine Shops
Oh yeah, I've been there too. Seemed a bit pricey and, again, with a limited selection.
KC - Wine Shops
I am desperately trying to identify a good wine shop in the KC area that's reasonably close to the Brookside area. Right now I buy the majority of my wine from the Consentino's grocery store in Brookside, which has a good selection/prices for being a grocery store. I've been to other liquor stores in the area without much success. Here are my thoughts on the places I've been:
Berbiglia - terrible for anything other than low-quality beer
Rimann Liquor - decent, but small selection
Westport Liquor - Good beer selection, but horrible wine selection
Metcalf Liquor - decent, but small selection
Lukas Liquor - Great beer selection and probably the best overall wine selection I've seen in the area
Costco - Actually a great place for wine at great prices, but a limited selection
HyVee Liquor - Great beer selection, but very limited wine selection
What I'm trying to figure out is if my current Lukas Liquor/Consentinos/Costco combination is the best I can do when shopping for wine in this area. I am particularly interested in shops that don't focus so heavily on California wines (all the places I've mentioned are guilty of this in my mind).
KC: Restaurant Reactions to the Recession
The difference is that Aixois is not a chain, while M&S is. The conclusion to make here is to not eat at chain restaurants.
Good Places for Beer and Food in Rochester Hills/Troy
Alibi is pretty good. I prefer other places just outside the area you're in, but Rochester Mills is the best choice in the Rochester area.
Bluestem Kansas City
What a ridiculous review. I find the fact that you went to Town Topic afterwards, which only serves food that is palatable when you're drunk at 3 AM, very amusing. Perhaps you would prefer the mediocre seafood of Bristol?
Bluestem Kansas City
I'm cross-posting from a review I just posted on Trip Advisor:
My wife and I have eaten at Bluestem half a dozen times thus far and each has been memorable and thoroughly satisfying. My perspective is that of a foodie who enjoys fine dining restaurants and high quality food.
Bluestem is one of only a handful of contemporary fine dining restaurants in the Kansas City area and I feel that this restaurant stands out among all the rest. In particular, I find the use of seasonal ingredients and sustainable seafood particularly enjoyable. We find their desserts to be particularly inventive and innovative. On top of all this, the menu changes often enough to make each trip feeling fresh and new. Their sommelier is also very good and consistently pairs excellent wines with every dish. Personally, I find that the vast majority of restaurants in Kansas City lack either a real identity or the willingness to use high quality ingredients in their food. That is definitely not the case with Bluestem. Almost all the dishes I have had there were excellent compositions of flavors and aesthetics.
In regards to price, it is expensive compared to most Kansas City restaurants, but that is to be expected. The thing to remember is that dining well in Kansas City as whole is not a costly affair. Invariably when I receive the bill at Bluestem I find myself thinking about what a meal like this would cost me in Chicago or New York or Paris. Comparatively speaking, I think you're getting a very fair price.
I also have to credit the owners with expanding the restaurant, which was badly needed, and opening their lounge area. The lounge offers cheaper fare and a very chill atmosphere for enjoying some post-work, pre-dinner or pre-night-out cocktails. The restaurant is owned by Colby and Megan Garrelts. Colby is the chef and Megan is the the dessert chef. The fact that this restaurant is chef-owned means that the chefs will have a vested interest in the dining experience of their customers and that is something you won't find at most restaurants.
In conclusion, I recommend this restaurant to anybody looking for a very good meal for a special occasion or if they enjoy fine dining. It's very hard to find better in the Kansas City region.
Caviar Paired with Rose
Admittedly, I am a caviar newbie so this was a learning experience. I've only previously had it when I was much younger (couldn't appreciate it) and my wife only just recently had it for the first time in a dish at l'Ambroisie in Paris.
I went forward with having the rose with the caviar and eating on the crackers. It quickly became apparent that the crackers were not ideal and we eventually just started eating the caviar off the crackers. The rose's flavor was not great, but not horrible, with the caviar. A dry brut would have clearly been better. Much like the crackers, however, we ended up not drinking much of the rose with the caviar.
So, lesson learned. If I were to do it again, I'd go with blinis or just eat the caviar with a spoon (thanks for the tip about metal spoons). I definitely wouldn't go with creme fraiche since I think it'd really take away from the flavor. A dry brut would also have to be involved. Overall, my wife and I wanted to experience the pure caviar flavor and I think we achieved that. Next time around we'll be more interested in experiencing the combination of flavors that come with an appropriate wine pairing and delivery method (blini).
On the plus side, the Jermann was excellent with the risotto and the rest of the rose was amazing with the fruit and whipped cream.
What's the real Zingerman's (in Ann Arbor) like?
I too feel compelled to weigh-in on the Zingerman's discussion:
I have been eating at Zingerman's since my eldest sister first started at the University of Michigan in 1991. I have seen the sandwich prices go up, I have seen them expand their inventory and I have seen their business expand from just the deli to the coffeehouse, bakery, creamery, etc. My brother in-law now works at their creamery. Overall, it is a family institution for us and a trip home to Michigan involves at least one stop at Zingerman's.
Is it expensive? Yes. Do they utilize the best ingredients available? Yes. Becoming a customer of Zingerman's is a question of taste and opportunity cost. Some people don't like good food and those people won't like Zingerman's. Along the same line, some people refuse to pay Zingerman's prices because they don't see the value in paying for good food. This is not an issue that is restricted to Zingerman's alone, however.
You must also keep in mind that Zingerman's is very service oriented and the associated cost is rolled into their prices. I can provide a prime example of their level of service. Recently one of my friends was stuck in SE Michigan one evening due to a flight cancellation. He called me up wanting for some recommendations for places to go in Ann Arbor since he was going to get a hotel there. I, of course, told him to go to Zingerman's. He got there just before they were about to close and he just happened to run into Ari Weinzweig, who is one of the owners. Ari was more than happy to give my friend the true Zingerman's experience by having him sample various cheeses, breads, oils and vinegars. It is that kind of experience that sets Zingerman's apart from other delis and other gourmet grocery stores.
Personally, I am not inclined to order much from the catalog. Some of the same products they carry can be found in local shops depending on where you live in the country. On the other hand, certain products are so rare or unique that it'd be very hard to find them. Furthermore, the products that they produce in-house (cheeses, breads, brownies) cannot be found in stores outside SE Michigan. So for me, I only order things out of their catalog that are true rarities or that they produce themselves. For example, I cannot find good bread like theirs where I live so I'm willing to order that. After all, their Parmesan Pepper bread truly is a gift from the gods.
Caviar Paired with Rose
I just picked up some Siberian sturgeon caviar from Dean & Deluca today. I have been hanging on to a bottle of Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial for a while now and I was thinking about pairing it with the caviar. Does this sound like a good idea? I also have a bottle of Jermann Chardonnay as another option. I want to avoid purchasing a bottle of Brut.
In order to provide some more information, which may help people providing advice, here is what I'm doing for this dinner:
Siberian sturgeon caviar on flat-bread crackers
Risotto with leeks, mushrooms and truffle oil
Fresh fruit with whipped cream
For wine I have the Rose and Chardonnay at my disposal. I have some other bottles, but none of them would be great pairings with any of these courses.
Caviar Paired with Rose
I just picked up some Siberian sturgeon caviar from Dean & Deluca today. I have been hanging on to a bottle of Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial for a while now and I was thinking about pairing it with the caviar. Does this sound like a good idea? I also have a bottle of Jermann Chardonnay as another option. I want to avoid purchasing a bottle of Brut.
In order to provide some more information, which may help people providing advice, here is what I'm doing for this dinner:
Siberian sturgeon caviar on flat-bread crackers
Risotto with leeks, mushrooms and truffle oil
Fresh fruit with whipped cream
For wine I have the Rose and Chardonnay at my disposal. I have some other bottles, but none of them would be great pairings with any of these courses.
