ddavis's Profile
Cooper's Barbecue in Llano
We were in the neighborhood yesterday about lunch time, so decided to try Cooper's again. Mueller's in Taylor is our favorite, but Cooper's was not bad. The brisket was excellent. Good smoke, tender. Both the regular and the jalapeño sausage were just grocery store quality. In addition to those we took some chicken and pork chops for last night. Both were good. Pork chop was the best I've had from Cooper's in a good while. Very moist, tender and great smoke flavor. Sides (pinto beans, cole slaw and potato salad) were just OK. The only thing Cooper's has that is better than Mueller's is the peach cobbler. That stuff is great. We won't hesitate to stop there again if we are in the area.
Holidays in the Eagle River Valley
Thanks for the correction, Phil. Don't know how I made that mistake! We're about a hundred yards from Splendido. Walking up there tonight.
When I was doing that post I forgot about Cima. We had Sunday brunch there whenI was out at Thanksgiving and we had lunch and dinner there the past two weeks. Everything we had, with one exception, was excellent. At dinner the Scottish Salmon was very dry. All the rest was great. Kathy, one of the front end managers at Larkspur up until over a year ago, is now at Cima. We loved her at Lafkspur and she makes Cima rock as well.
Thanks for the other updates. We will try Northside Cafe.
Restaurant suggestion in Beaver Creek
We had lunch at Spago last week and Furtago came over and started bussing our table. I don't know him, but his name was on his name tag. I asked him what he was doing bussing tables. He said he was just helping out, and explained he is now the sommelier there. I asked about his California wine venture and he said he ran out of money. He really picked a terrible time to start up an upscale wine business! Seems like a really nice guy.
Holidays in the Eagle River Valley
We spent a lot of time in the valley this holiday season. Following are thoughts about our experiences at the various restaurants we enjoyed.
Splendido at The Charter in Beaver Creek-- has become our favorite. Beautiful room, professional service and delicious food. We have eaten there four or five times over the past 6 weeks and it has been consistently excellent.
Grouse Mountain Grill at The Pines Lodge in Beaver Creek -- the best food we have eaten this season. Chef has prepared a new menu, keeping some of the favorites (pretzel-crusted pork chops and lobster/mascarpone appetizer) and bringing in some delicious new items (Fried Chesapeake Bay Barcat Oysters app and Culver Duck "prepared many ways" entree). Like Splendido, this is a place that is hitting on all cylinders.
Foxnut Slopeside Sushi -- had both lunches and dinners at this relatively new spot at the bottom of the main lift at Beaver Creek. Excellent rolls and both small and regular-sized plates. Squid salad is delicious. This is a great affordable (for Beaver Creek) place for either lunch or dinner.
Golden Eagle Inn in Beaver Creek Village -- another relatively affordable lunch or dinner spot right in the middle of the village. Although never spectacular, it is always consistently very good. Service is friendly and the space is comfortable.
Dish in Edwards -- It had been awhile since we ate at this lovely little place. Dish specializes in unusual small plates (and a few full-size offerings. We shared Manila clams on pappardelle, black cod on spinach, lamb chops and risotto pillows were all delicious. Very lively (read "loud") on a Friday night.
Fiesta's New Mexican in Edwards -- Fiesta's is Fiesta's. Consistently excellent New Mexican food. It is our "on the way to the airport" stop. My wife loves the chorizo burrito. I love the chicken enchiladas (although I really can't tell the difference between the blue corn tortillas, which they push, and the white corn tortillas) and enjoy the Tom Apple special, which is a blue corn chicken enchilada, a cheese enchilada and a chile relleno. Fiesta's is a local's favorite.
Restaurant Ti Amo in EagleVail -- a family owned and operated northern Italian local favorite. Good, solid veal, chicken, sausage and pork dishes. An occasional special veal chop is out of this world. Try the pollo scarpariello, medaglioni di maiale and insalata all a griglia. It's all good.
Sweet Basil in Vail Village -- an old favorite which we love for lunch. Good service and an interesting menu. Favorites include the deep-fried calamari and rock shrimp app (that can be eaten as a main course), which includes tempura onions, red, green and yellow bell peppers along with the shrimp and calamari. Their Hot Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake is spectacular.
Cuvee World Bistro in Basalt -- not in our valley, but in the Roaring Fork Valley in the little town of Basalt. Wonderfully friendly service, good food, nice space. Don't miss their spicy french fries. (Basalt is a little town with several pretty good restaurants. Others are Tempranillo and Cafe Bernard.
I have to go back home and to work now. After lunch at Sweet Basil today, dinner at Splendido tomorrow night and lunch at Fiesta's on the way to the airport Saturday, it's back to the day to day, but already planning the next trip to the mountains.
Bon appétit!
Restaurant suggestion in Beaver Creek
The best restaurants in Beaver Creek are Splendido and Grouse Mountain Grill. I have eaten at both several times in the last couple of months and they both are excellent. Perennial favorite Golden Eagle Inn is a step below these, but is also excellent. At a lower price point, try Foxnut Slopeside Sushi, which is excellent. The same people who own and operate Foxnut have Blue Moose Pizza, Flying Pig Sandwiches and Beaver Creek Chophouse, but they are not places I would recommend. Down the hill from Beaver Creek, in Avon, Cima at the Westin (in the spot formerly inhabited by Avondale), is doing some nice things with food with a latin accent. Another close-by "name" spot is Spago at the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, but I cannot recommend it. Your mileage may vary.
We had a perfect meal at Flame, Vail, in Oct. 2011
Thanks for the report. Is Flame the Four Seasons' fine dining restaurant? I am surprised at the menu prices. Very low for Vail.
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Four Season's Restaurant
350 N Main St, Kalispell, MT 59901
Grand Cayman -- August 8-15, 2011
Funny you mentioned La Dolce Vita -- it was our first choice for that lunch but it was closed. Next tried Brasserie and it was closed. Casanova was our third choice.
I have been to The Wharf enough times to know better than to go. It was pretty neat when all our kids were small and looked forward to watching the tarpon feeding, but not really a place to go for the food.
Help with Vail restaurants
"stood up and applauded when KL walked into the room" ??????
Give me a break!
She has certainly done well and her accomplishments are to be admired, but she is not a candidate for the pantheon.
Anyone Tried Matsuhisa?
Nobu's newest place in Solaris at Vail. Just opened this week. Has anyone been?
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Nobu
303 E Main St, Aspen, CO 81611
Grand Cayman -- August 8-15, 2011
DINNERS (Only two -- cooked at the condo the rest of the time.)
Highly Recommended -- Blue by Eric Ripert -- Expensive. Great Service. Excellent Food.
Disappointing -- Pappagallos -- Been there many times before, but this time the service was
slow, food was mediocre.
LUNCHES
Highly Recommended -- Tim Buc Tuu -- Excellent Moroccan influenced food, very friendly,
competent service, inexpensive, funky.
Sunshine Grill -- Great fish tacos and burgers, relaxed and fun.
Grand Old House --- Expensive, fine service, extensive menu.
Calypso Grill -- Interesting blackboard specials, good food, attentive
service.
Good, Not Great -- Casanova -- Wonderful service, good location, mediocre food.
Not Recommended -- Lighthouse -- very disappointing. Service slow and surly. Food not worth
the trip.
Best Sushi EVER - Foxnut in Beaver Creek
We also had an excellent meal at Foxnut a couple of weeks back. Glad you had a good experience there.
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Foxnut
45 Thomas Place, Avon, CO 81620
best place to eat between denver and steamboat springs?
One of my favorite stops between Denver and anything west of there on I-70 is a casual Italian spot called Mangia! Have never been at dinner, but lunch has always been excellent and they certainly have lots of choices for adults and kids.
http://www.mangiamia.com/
Crow's Nest in Grand Cayman
I first went to GC in 1993 and went there every trip thereafter till the hurricane got it. Do you remember when that was? 2004?
Ortanique, Grand Cayman
Thanks. We'll be there in a month. I'll report when we get back.
Gashouse Keeps Getting It Wrong
Cool. I'll have to give it a try. Didn't even know it was there.
Gashouse Keeps Getting It Wrong
I've heard of Milano, but haven't eaten there. Have never heard of Cafe 163. Is it where the sushi place used to be?
Ortanique, Grand Cayman
Thanks for the info. Have you eaten at Eric Ripert's place, Blue? We love Le Bernardin, but I wonder how that translates to the Caribbean. I am also thinking about trying Tim Buc Tuu and Sunshine Grill for more casual fare. Any other thoughts?
Ortanique, Grand Cayman
George, when did this restaurant open? Have not heard of it before. We are going to be in GC in August and I would love to find a couple of good new places down there that are not, as you describe, "tourist traps like the Wharf." Ain't it so! It has been several years since we were there and I seem to remember a place called Calypso, or something like that, that we liked. Do you know anything about it? What about (talk about tourist traps) Grand Old House? Is it still going?
Gashouse Keeps Getting It Wrong
A friend and I had lunch at Gashouse this past week. It was my friend's first meal there. It will probably be his last. I have eaten there several times before and know it to be inconsistent. On this occasion we went in about 1:30 p.m. There were diners at four or five tables on the patio. We chose to eat in the dining room and were the only people eating inside.
The advertised lunch special was chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. My friend asked the waiter if he could substitute a salad for the vegetables. The waiter didn't know. Said he would ask. I ordered a hamburger. Waiter asked how I wanted it done and I told him medium-well. A few minutes later he returned and said "We're not serving the chicken-fried steak any more but we have fried chicken." Bless his heart. He obviously has no clue what chicken-fried steak is. My friend just went ahead and ordered a burger -- medium.
The waiter left and in another few minutes he reappeared and asked if my friend still wanted the salad. No. Not with a burger. After a very long wait, in spite of their not being busy, our burgers were served. The waiter set them on the table and left. My medium-well burger was medium-rare at best. My friend's medium burger was rare -- parts of it were actually bloody, cooked inconsistently as if done in a microwave. By this time were dying to get out of there, so we ate what we could -- the fries were good. The next time we saw the waiter we asked for the check. While we were waiting for that, some other guy (don't know who or what he was because he didn't tell us) came over and asked us how everything was. We told him the burgers were undercooked. He offered to give us take-out boxes so we could take it home. No, thanks.
I'm just glad I didn't order the king crab legs that were posted on the chalkboard at $49.99 per pound!
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Gashouse
34185 Highway 6, Edwards, CO 81632
Pre-Show Dinner at Golden Eagle Inn -- Beaver Creek
Six of us enjoyed a pre-show meal last night at Golden Eagle, one of our favorites. We have been dining at this warm, welcoming restaurant for many years and it keeps on coming through with excellent food. The only complaint about our meal last night was that our server tried, somewhat half-heartedly, to up-sell us on cocktails and wine. We had no complaints about the food. We started with Greek salad, Organic Baby Greens salad, Caesar salad and Buffalo Carpaccio. All the starters were excellent. We had two mains -- Hazelnut-Pancetta Encrusted Idaho Trout, which was wonderful (as always), and Grilled Scottish Salmon, which was merely excellent. We will definitely be back as soon as we are back in Beaver Creek.
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Golden Eagle Inn
118 Beaver Creek Plz, Avon, CO 81620
Splendido -- Still Doing It Right
Four of us dined at Splendido at the Chateau in Beaver Creek this week. Chef David Walford, who has been Splendido's chef since 1994, was in the house (as usual) and the result of his hands-on style was evident. Every dish was presented beautifully and every dish was delicious.
An amuse bouch of edamame puree on toast crisps got us off to a tart start. Our starters were Hawaiian Tuna Poke with sesame crisps, Artichoke Soup with oven roasted tomatoes, gulf shrimp and goat's milk yogurt, a special Heirloom Tomato Salad, and Potato Gnocci with sage butter, peas, morels and pea tendrils. A much-appreciated gift from the kitchen was small portions of the Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo with thai basil, yuzu juice and frescobaldi olive oil.
Main courses were Whole Dover Sole a la meuniere with green beans amandine, caper pommes fondants and parsley brown butter, Wood Oven Roasted Maine Lobster on the half shell with butter poached claws and gold potato puree with cognac herb sauce, and Wood Oven Roasted Colorado Lamb Rack with curried cauliflower, panisse, nicoise olive and pomegranate jus.
Service was smooth and timely. A special treat was watching the Beaver Creek July 4th fireworks show from the restaurant's large outside deck between the apps and the mains!
Crow's Nest in Grand Cayman
Thanks, George. It's a shame it's not still there. We loved the place.
2010-2011 Vail Valley & Beyond Restaurant Reviews by ALEDM (on a frugality chic budget)
Claire is correct. Visitors who are planning a trip to the Vail/Beaver Creek area should not set their budgets based on aledm's posts. Most diners (those who each have an app, main and dessert and who drink a whole glass of wine each) will find their cost will be, at a minimum, double those prices during low season and much more than that between July 4 and Labor Day and during ski season.
Copper River salmon at Tom Thumb $9/lb.
My wife ordered the Copper River Sockeye last night at Oceanaire. The waiter suggested it be served raw, as sashimi. It was fantastic (and $39.95!) I bought a filet at Central Market this morning for $14.95/lb. Grilled it tonight and it was great as well.
Crow's Nest in Grand Cayman
Is the Crow's Nest Restaurant in Grand Cayman open? I think it was destroyed a few years ago in a hurricane, but don't know if it was rebuilt. Any help would be appreciated.
Best Colorado-made products?
Olathe sweet corn. Available for a few weeks starting about the first of July.
Specials at Larkspur in Vail
Larkspur is offering three courses for $39 or two courses for $29. All wine is 50% off. It's a good time to get a great meal for a good price. Here's a link to a sample menu.
http://www.larkspurvail.com/documents/051911Dinner.pdf
Exciting Introduction to Rambla
We had never been to Rambla, but I wanted to give it a try, so for our last dinner of the Jazz Fest weekend trip we took a chance and gave it a try. There were four of us. After a weekend with meals at Galatoire's, Brigtsen's and Commander's Palace, I was afraid we would be disappointed. To the contrary, we loved Rambla!
We were unfamiliar with many of the menu items, so we relied on our server, who really knew the menu. After consulting with him, we ordered three items from the Snacks portion of the menu: Marinated Olives in Jar with Burrata Tomato Balloons, Grilled Marinated Artichokes with Preserved Lemon Basil Aioli and Pickled Louisiana Shrimp with Shrimp Deviled Eggs. We also ordered two of the Flatbreads: Roasted Fig with Valdeon Blue Cheese, Serrano Ham and Bitter Greens and Oven Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Herbed Chevre, Garlic Mousseline and Piquillo Peppers.
The three Snacks came out at the same time and we dug in. All of them were excellent. As we were enjoying these, the server came out with "gifts from the chef" which were two items from the Small plates: Smoked Lamb Ribs with a Piquillo "Hoisin" and Petite Herbs and the Roasted Pumpkin "Ugly Dumplings" with Wild Mushrooms and Baby Vegetables. Two more hits!
Then they brought out another complimentary offering, the most interesting dish of the evening -- a large platter containing the restaurant's house-made charcuterie, consisting of Pate de Campagne, Moroccan Spiced Pork and Duck Rillette, Truffle Scented Chicken Liver Parfait, Spiced Hogshead Cheese, House Cured "Face Bacon," Housemade Morcilla and Duck Prosciutto. These were served wth various vegetables, dipping sauces and fruits. This was a really spectacular platter and it forced us to at least consider some things we would never have ordered on our own. No way would I have ordered Hogshead Cheese or Morcilla! But we gave it a try and most of us enjoyed most of it -- I loved all of it.
By this time we were stuffed, but had to eat the flatbreads we had previously ordered, so we soldiered on and enjoyed that as well.
We tried two desserts: Churros Orleans came with a banana-rum caramel dipping sauce and were light enough I could have eaten more in spite of the vast amount of food I had already consumed. The other dessert was a Basque Chocolate Mousse served atop olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. It sounded odd, with the oil, but it was truly delicious.
Our first visit to Rambla will definitely not be our last. The four of us had a great meal and a great time. And we never made it to the Large plates on the menu, which included duck confit, steak frites, lamb loin and lemon fish. Maybe next time.
This food would be good eating it alone, but it really does lend itself to groups. At least four people make possible the ability to order (or have served to you) many dishes and sample and enjoy more than you would be able to do with fewer people.
High praise for Rambla!
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Commander's Palace Restaurant
1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130
Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130
Brigtsen's Restaurant
723 Dante St, New Orleans, LA 70118
Rambla
217 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
