chemfemme's Profile
Mg rich water - where to buy?
Does anyone know where I can buy spring water with lots of Mg in it, in particular two French brands: Contrex and Hepar? Thanks.
Montreal hound needs comments on Paris food choices
Thanks - we were at Ribouldingue in the summer. Liked it, but were not blown away.
We are not necessarily looking for slabs of pork, and we actually would prefer some well-executed fish. Suggestions?
In Montreal we are big fans of Trois Petits Bouchons and Les 400 coups. Market fresh, a little bit of creativity, but mostly just good solid food.
Montreal hound needs comments on Paris food choices
Hi -
Heading to Paris Thurs-Sun. We want one major restaurant experience per day, to avoid food fatigue. Our choices:
Lunch Thursday: Au Lyonnais (we want to hit a Ducasse resto, since we have tried his NYC place)
Dinner Friday: Le Paul Bert (should I change this?)
DInner Saturday: (here's where I need help) Aux Deux Amis, Rino, or Jadis
Also, any other quick bites that are not too pricey, but are must visits?
We live in Montreal and we have excellent French food here - so we are looking to be blown away...
Thanks!
Rome report - mostly winners
Just got back from Rome and from this list and puntarella rossa, we had good-great eats, with no major disappointments (a couple of minor ones...)
Off the plane we checked in and we went to La Gensola in Trastevere. Partook of: cavolo nero with porcini, potatoes and fresh egg, spag with sea urchin, spag with fresh anchovies. It was lovely. The two pastas were revelatory - then again, I like sea urchin. We would have gone back again, but they were book for all of the nights were were there.
Dinner was at Trattoria Monti. My humble opinion: disappointing. Perhaps we ordered wrong, but for me, in a good restaurant, this should not happen. Had the budino of zucchini, which was good, but the texture was a little too crumbly, the rigatoni with sausage and pecorino, and the baccala in the style of livorno (pignoli, raisins). The fish was definitely not soaked enough, and was unpleasantly salty. Also had a contorni of radicchio, which was fine.
Lunch at Da Lucia in Trastevere. Fine for what it is: a small, once-family-owned trat, that feeds you if you are hungry. Their carciofi alla romana was, however, the best we had in the city. We had the puntarelle, bombollini al'amatriciana, and the spag alla grigia. The former pasta was better than the latter, though both suffered somewhat from the lack of pancetta/guanciale. What was there was a bit too crunchy, and overcooked. Nice coffee.
Dinner at unlisted ai Fienaroli (Trastevere). It was our second fave place. It was big, but all of the pasta was homemade, and delicate and delicious. Their cicoria contorni was impeccable, also had a carciofi alla romana. We had the ravioli stuffed with sea bass, zucchini flowers, the pasta with mini squid, and the abacchio, which was great. We had originally wanted to Da Felice but reservations were impossible to come by.
Lunch at Da Danilo in Merulana. Exquisite. We met friends and thus had more of a chance to eat around the menu. Tried their puntarelle (a little too much garlic, a problem I always have in the US, but never in Europe), their broccoli, carciofi. All good. I had the strozapretti with porcini, carciofi, and pecorino, which was great. Very rich, but not too much. The quality of their homemade pasta was the best. Also tried the beef, which was terrific, their carbonara (one of the 10 best in the city, apparently, and yes, I agree), and their rigatoni alla grigia.
Dinner - after an unsuccessful attempt at getting into Renato e Luisa, we went back to ai Fienaroli, and ate again. Unthinkable, I know. I had to have the cicoria again, which I did, and we also had their house prosciutto, which was just OK, their carciofi alla giuda, which was great, and their stuffed zucchini flowers, which tasted like very refined bar food. I think they have excellent pastas, however. For dinner, I had the tagliolini with seafood (gamberi, cozze and vongole) which was wonderful, husband had tagliolini with sea bass and eggplant. From what we understand, they have a great seafood contact, and it shows. The shrimp were sweet, and tender. It was terrific. Their homemade pasta was much eggier than at Da Danilo, but still really nicely done.
Had plenty of gelati, and it was all fine, but the one taste that I really wanted to have again and that disappointed was Alberto PIca's gelato di riso. Though the flavour had a good rice-y depth and toastiness, the riso was tooth-breakingly hard. Oh well.
Rome report - mostly winners
Just got back from Rome and with suggestions from this list and puntarella rossa, we had good-great eats, with no major disappointments (a couple of minor ones...)
Off the plane we checked in and we went to La Gensola in Trastevere. Partook of: cavolo nero with porcini, potatoes and fresh egg, spag with sea urchin, spag with fresh anchovies. It was lovely. The two pastas were revelatory - then again, I like sea urchin. We would have gone back again, but they were book for all of the nights were were there.
Dinner was at Trattoria Monti. My humble opinion: disappointing. Perhaps we ordered wrong, but for me, in a good restaurant, this should not happen. Had the budino of zucchini, which was good, but the texture was a little too crumbly, the rigatoni with sausage and pecorino, and the baccala in the style of livorno (pignoli, raisins). The fish was definitely not soaked enough, and was unpleasantly salty. Also had a contorni of radicchio, which was fine.
Lunch at Da Lucia in Trastevere. Fine for what it is: a small, once-family-owned trat, that feeds you if you are hungry. Their carciofi alla romana was, however, the best we had in the city. We had the puntarelle, bombollini al'amatriciana, and the spag alla grigia. The former pasta was better than the latter, though both suffered somewhat from the lack of pancetta/guanciale. What was there was a bit too crunchy, and overcooked. Nice coffee.
Dinner at unlisted ai Fienaroli (Trastevere). It was our second fave place. It was big, but all of the pasta was homemade, and delicate and delicious. Their cicoria contorni was impeccable, also had a carciofi alla romana. We had the ravioli stuffed with sea bass, zucchini flowers, the pasta with mini squid, and the abacchio, which was great. We had originally wanted to Da Felice but reservations were impossible to come by.
Lunch at Da Danilo in Merulana. Exquisite. We met friends and thus had more of a chance to eat around the menu. Tried their puntarelle (a little too much garlic, a problem I always have in the US, but never in Europe), their broccoli, carciofi. All good. I had the strozapretti with porcini, carciofi, and pecorino, which was great. Very rich, but not too much. The quality of their homemade pasta was the best. Also tried the beef, which was terrific, their carbonara (one of the 10 best in the city, apparently, and yes, I agree), and their rigatoni alla grigia.
Dinner - after an unsuccessful attempt at getting into Renato e Luisa, we went back to ai Fienaroli, and ate again. Unthinkable, I know. I had to have the cicoria again, which I did, and we also had their house prosciutto, which was just OK, their carciofi alla giuda, which was great, and their stuffed zucchini flowers, which tasted like very refined bar food. I think they have excellent pastas, however. For dinner, I had the tagliolini with seafood (gamberi, cozze and vongole) which was wonderful, husband had tagliolini sea bass and eggplant. From what we understand, they have a great seafood contact, and it shows. The shrimp were sweet, and tender. It was terrific. Their homemade pasta was much eggier than at Da Danilo, but still really nicely done.
Had plenty of gelati, and it was all fine, but the one taste that I really wanted to have again and that disappointed was Alberto PIca's gelato di riso. Though the flavour had a good rice-y depth and toastiness, the riso was tooth-breakingly hard. Oh well.
Please check my list of eateries for next week's visit to Rome
Zerlina - you're right about the Liberatrice - but I have it as the street that Ditirambo is on. And Da Armando is on our list. In any case - do you have any other suggestions?
Please check my list of eateries for next week's visit to Rome
We're going to be in Rome for 3 lunches and 3 dinners (Thursday- Saturday) and we have the following list. It has been a few years since we were in Rome, and we ate almost exclusively in Testaccio last time we were there. Luna Piena, Tutti Frutti, Checchino - we did make it to Tram Tram for an outstanding meal by the university.
We are looking for nice family run trattorias, nothing too showy or constructed (I think this is anathema to good Italian food) and we certainly want some classic wintry dishes. Last time we were in Rome it was late May/June.
Here is our unedited list - please advise.
la campana
ninco nanco
settembrini
fernanda
lo sgobbone
liberatrice
Ditirambo
Remo (non negotiable - we're going for lunch on Saturday - love this place)
crescenzi
le mani in pasta
Need Chicago help - Montrealers coming for 2 days
Well - We went to Province last night and it was terrific - heading out for cupcakes right now. Will report back.
Need Chicago help - Montrealers coming for 2 days
I need a few recs for 2 dinners, 2 lunches and one breakfast (the latter in the loop). We would like a "locally-sourced" or at least provenance- based place (we were thinking Publican for one night but we would welcome other suggestions) and we would like a Mexican place for the other night - a step or two up from a taqueria, but nothing as high end as Bayless' places.
It is possible that a good sushi place could replace the Mexican.
We would also like to know the closest decent cupcake place to the loop? And a place for good takeaway sandwiches - last time we went to Pastoral (not sure if it is still open) and they were pretty good - anything similar?
Thanks
Rice Cooker advice
I should also add (with better grammar this time) that we like our oats more solid than liquid. I.e. I don't want to use the porridge setting on the cooker. Can I use the brown rice setting?
Rice Cooker advice
I ended up with the Zoji 5.5 cup fuzzy neuro - I have busted it out of the box, and we are planning on making our oat tomorrow morning with it, on a timer. I have had a look at the thread re: steel cut oats, but I do not want the splattering issue. I usually use a 4 - 1 water to oats ratio. Should I cut it to 3 - 1
Rice Cooker advice
I need to buy a new rice cooker as my National is starting to break down - the teflon is coming off the inner bowl. I LOVE the National (and I love the fact that I got it for $5 at Goodwill) but I am thinking of moving up to a Zoji. I want to be able to make steel cut oats in it, as well as barley and millet. Can someone give me some advice? Do I need an induction? A Micom? A fuzzy neuro, or just a fuzzy logic?
Thanks
Montrealer needs a dinner in DC and lunch venue near National Agricultural Lib.
I have all the smoked meat I need here! Thanks. I am also thinking of maybe trying Co Co Sala. Thoughts?
Montrealer needs a dinner in DC and lunch venue near National Agricultural Lib.
I love Peruvian chicken, so that sounds like a good option for the NAL lunch. (We have a lot of pho here owing to the French occupation of Vietnam once upon a time) Now, a dinner and a lunch in DC. The poster below seems to strongly suggest that Rasika isn't all that. (I used to live in the UK, so I am used to tasty curry) What are my other options. We could go as high as 20 for a main for lunch, and maybe 30 for a dinner main. Suggestions?
Montrealer needs a dinner in DC and lunch venue near National Agricultural Lib.
Hi all -
I am in DC for a grand total of 24 hours, and I need you to give me the best you have for a reasonably priced dinner and a solid lunch option in DC proper, and one lunch in or around the NAL or Greenbelt metro. No French food please. I would love something upscale Indian (Rasika?) and/or Mexican - which we don't have a lot of here. I have no expectations for the Greenbelt neighbourhood, and I have no problem tucking into a hole in the wall.
Thanks
Hubbards area eats?
We're staying in Hubbards for a week at the end of July and we are arriving after the farmer's market on the Saturday. We hope to do some exploring in and around Chester, and Hubbards, but we don't want to venture too far since we have young kids. I would prefer not to have to cook while we are there, but it seems like there isn't much to eat. Can someone point us in the right direction?
why montreal has no mobile food
I believe the law here states that all eating establishments MUST have a serviceable washroom for patrons. That said, I have been in some pretty skanky washrooms in Montreal restos, so I'd take a truck on many days! Anyone read about the mobile cupcake truck in Manhattan? Damn, they have street food and good cupcakes combined - we have neither!
Pink Salt aka Saltpeter needed
Thanks - I scored some Prague powder #1 from a friend, and I mixed in a couple of teaspoons just to kill anything nasty in the pig. This was a farm raised porker from Kingston, and weirdly enough, farm-raised pigs tend to have higher levels of bacteria. I know that most Italians will tell you that you don't need the nitrites...alas. Fortunately, I don't think the taste of the pancetta will suffer. I have it curing in my fridge as I type.
Thanks for the advice about wiping the mold off with wine, I'll think about that after I hang it up.
Pink Salt aka Saltpeter needed
Hi - I am looking to make my own pancetta, and I need some sodium nitrite aka pink salt aka saltpeter. Where is the best place to go for this?
Baguettes and Pain au Chocolat
Just happened by Au Four et Au Moulin on Beaubien just west of Papineau on the north side. Small, hole in the wall bakery. I usually get my staples from Autour d'un Pain, because it is closer, but it was a nice day and I felt like going for a little walk. Whoa, is all I can say. This was the best baguette I have eaten in the city. (I think A d'un P's has gone downhill of late), and by far the flakiest, loveliest pain au choc.
The baguette was crispy on the outside, with a lovely crumb - it was closer to the size of a ficelle than a Montreal baguette, but closer in size to what a Parisian might call a baguette.
The P au C avoided the ubiquitous problem of doughiness. The P au C was just flaky enough with a bit of the chewiness that I love, near the centre with the chocolate - two strips of chocolate, by the way, and none of the chocolate chip business like at Au Pain Dore.
Their croissants were good, same pastry as the P au C, but they put what tasted like a sugar glaze over the top. I wasn't so into it, but I was so happy with the quality of the pastry that I can't really complain.
There were a few hipster kids in there, and some youngsters from the pentacostal church, scoring some goodies before the fiery sermon, I imagine.
Has anyone else tried this place and loved it?
Liverpool House - disappointment
Went to Liverpool house last night and it failed to impress. After all of the hubbub around this place, my dining partner and I would only rank it a 5/10.
The ambiance was kind of like a hip chalet/boathouse, which was fine with me and the most ingenious part was the dishcloth cum napkin. It kind of went downhill from there. My biggest complaint was, wait for it, they gave us too much food. Every course was over-portioned. I was full after the appetizer...never a good sign.
I started with the gnocchi, which had a beautiful sauce and the gnocchi themselves were nice ricotta pillows, with good texture, but over top of the whole thing was a slab of chewy, tasteless mozzarella (not mozz di bufala, either). I couldn't finish the dish, but it was way too much food to whet one's appetite. Partner had the grilled octopus over lentils and frisee, which was good, not great.
For mains, he had the pork shoulder, which HUGE. Huge as in "I am somewhere in midwest America ordering a porterhouse steak" huge. The best part of his dish was the turned carrots and parsnips. I had the "pulled pork scallops." I should have asked for explanation. I thought that maybe they took the scallops and made them into something resembling pulled pork. I was thinking "how creative!" Nope. I got scallops sitting on top of pulled pork. The elements were good. Scallops not overcooked, pulled pork a little salty, but tasty nonetheless. But I got 6 scallops. Six. Waaaaaay too many for the dish to be enjoyable. I still remember Brunoise's 3 scallop portion fondly. Sigh.
Anyhow, there was nary a vegetable on my plate. Also a disappointment. Any good chef worth his/her weight in salt will figure out how to freshen up a plate with a veg, especially a plate filled with fish and meat.
Ordered a dessert - the marjolaine with pistachio and chocolate and a scoop of what the waiter said was mango sorbet, but was clearly orange. It was dry and kind of boring.
After all of the good press: NYTimes, EnRoute, Gazette, etc etc. This place was not worth it. It seemed to us like a destination restaurant, and not a place one actually goes to to enjoy the food.
Noodle bar - are there any?
By noodle bar I mean any place that has a decent selection of Asian noodles that are tasty. I do NOT mean any place in the Concordia ghetto. I work near there and those places are TERRIBLE. I have not tried Roi du Wonton, however.
Noodle bar - are there any?
We're looking for a good Asian noodle bar that serves straightforward, cheap, soup and pan-fried noodles - lo mein and or chow fun noodles. Please advise!
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Chicago is too. We had a great time, wonderful, warm people, great architecture and super museums. I am sure we just had bad luck.
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
No need to get touchy. Listen, if you think a meal at Blackbird is worth $250, by all means, chow down. However, I can get you much better and more original food in Montreal, for less than half the price and pretension.
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Hmm - interesting. Listen, I wish them the best of luck - we just wouldn't recommend them after our experience. We ended up going to Salpicon last night and had another ok meal. Everything tasted the same. Sigh. We'll have to come back and try Alinea, Adobe Grill and a few others...thanks for all of your tips.
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Where to begin:
Amuse bouche - flavourless "crab salad" with toasted wild rice and pistachios. I mean really flavourless. If you are planning on making your own house mayonnaise for a meat "salad" please make sure it is good
Bread: clearly not made with a sourdough starter (like the very tasty baguette I had today at Pastoral - great place by the way). Tasted very commercial.
Appetizer: Scallops - well-cooked - firm but not rock hard. The mixture of other flavours on the plate were, frankly, not tasty together.
Main: Cobia with celery spaetzle. The spaetzle were disgusting - and I mean this in a very objective way. They were day-glo green and tasted nothing like celery (which would have to be radioactive to be that green). My partner had the guinea hen which was OK, not great, OK.
Dessert: mine was the highlight. I had the chestnut financier with medjool dates (spelled incorrectly on the menu - madjool). Very banana-y ice cream. Dates tasted as though they had been pickled, which was weird, but the financier was nice. My partner had the fig beignet that was surrounded by several very unripe figs. Beignets were very tasty, unripe figs were not. Bacon ice cream tasted like it was made with liquid smoke, a big no no.
Post-coffee cookies/treats: A lemongrass and something macaroon - macaroon was executed well, but the flavour was off and, the low point of the meal, a kalamata olive and pistachio nougat. It was AWFUL. Sadly, I nearly spit it out into the only piece of paper that I had in my purse, a dollar bill. My partner looked at me and asked if he had to swallow it. There are things that taste good in nougat at the end of a meal, mild things, and they don't even have to be your standard nuts or honey. I could have dealt with parsley, or rosemary. After a meal, dessert, and a mint tea the last thing I want in my mouth is a kalamata olive.
I respect the fact that I may have ordered wrong. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last, but I was really very disappointed. Clearly there is a very creative person at the helm, but I am really questioning whether they are being creative for the sake of being creative, or if they have the patron's tastebuds in mind. I can think of many restaurants where the chefs "play" with the classics, and even mix flavours (Susur Lee in Toronto, Laurent Godbout in Montreal, Wylie Dufresne in NYC) but they have to execute well - in that category Bb disappointed.
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Well - we went to Blackbird last night and it was nothing short of AWFUL. I have this sinking feeling that because we live in Montreal we are really spoiled for highly stylized, well-executed food. Bb gets an A for effort (I mean, bacon ice cream!) but the execution was just not up to New York, and certainly not Montreal standards. I will write up a longer post later. So far we have hit:
BomBon - great lunch spot - I loved their flavoured waters
Fox and Obel (breakfast, fine, but nothing mind-blowing)
Blackbird - ugh. I am planning on writing a letter to them.
Honey 1 - GREAT sauce. We had the ribs and the tips/links - no atmosphere, and I thought the sides were disappointing, but good, honest food. I think I ate the equivalent of 3 portions of sauce. At first I thought the ribs were dry, I think because we ordered sauce on the side (as was recommended). Once I started dipping it all came together!
Tonight it is a toss up between Thai and Mexican. I was originally committed to Thai, but we are looking for a mind-blowingly good meal. Adobe Grill? Salpicon? Nuevo Leon? We would also happily go to a real hole in the wall Mexican taco joint, but we never know which one is good. On our way to Honey 1 along Western Ave there looked to be a few places, ( and a great Mexican grocery store - Dannys?)
So, Thai or Mexican?
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Well - I have reservations for Blackbird on Friday night. I let my partner choose the fancy place since it is his birthday. We'll divide up the other places over the other nights.
How are my choices - Chicago next weekend?
Re: Sol De Mexico - It was number one with a bullet, but it is just too difficult to get to.... Glad to hear the choices are good. We're really looking forward to visiting such a great eating town!
