My review on Yelp
We had a late lunch at the Tap Room the day after Thanksgiving. My wife's comment says it all - "Judge away, Tom, judge away" - a reference to the fact that many people complain about the way Tom judges on Top Chef. The entire experience (service, food, everything) is exactly what a restaurant should be.
A 25$ prix-fixe for lunch (two courses) is a STEAL for a restaurant of this quality.
I had a frise fig and walnut salad (I typically wouldn't enjoy frise) and it was amazing. My wife had the bean soup and fell in love with it. Then I had the ricotta cavaletti with oyster mushrooms. Delicious. My wife had a flat-iron steak (something she doesn't usually eat) and loved it.
The service was spot-on - dishes arrived as soon as we were ready for them, impeccable timing and perfectly casual. Wine was expensive but well worth it. Saw lots of pizza and burgers being eaten which made me very excited to come back.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Mesa Grill (Thanksgiving) - Not Recommended
Check out my full review on Yelp and Open Table but the Thanksgiving prix fixe was so disappointing that I wonder if I would go back to another Bobby Flay restaurant.
They promoted it as Southwestern Thanksgiving Bobby Flay-style and my wife was crushed.
Service was indifferent (I don't care how busy you are for that) - and the initial course was surprising. The pumpkin soup tasted like overdone pumpkin pie before it was put in the shell. The shrimp and couscous was dry after the sauce disappeared.
Worse, my prawns weren't cooked --- to the point where I had to spit it out. The server even noted it (we were comp'd one prix fixe which we didn't expect) - it was inedible and unfortunately made the entire meal disappointing enough we didn't want to finish it. There were only 6 items on the entire menu - that one of the them was completely undercooked still amazes me.
They promoted it as Southwestern Thanksgiving Bobby Flay-style and my wife was crushed.
Service was indifferent (I don't care how busy you are for that) - and the initial course was surprising. The pumpkin soup tasted like overdone pumpkin pie before it was put in the shell. The shrimp and couscous was dry after the sauce disappeared.
Worse, my prawns weren't cooked --- to the point where I had to spit it out. The server even noted it (we were comp'd one prix fixe which we didn't expect) - it was inedible and unfortunately made the entire meal disappointing enough we didn't want to finish it. There were only 6 items on the entire menu - that one of the them was completely undercooked still amazes me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tom Colicchio Interview
If you like Top Chef, you will definitely want to read this interview with Tom Colicchio.
Great interview - full of insight on the Top Chef All Stars Season.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Not Recommended: Stella Osteria (Ottawa)
The Byward Market in Ottawa is the obvious tourist hot spot in the city, boasting the latest and arguably, greatest restaurants. Stella Osteria has been around for a few years, affiliated with Luxe Bistro and the Blue Cactus.
Rated highly by the local paper and magazines, we had high hopes. The hostess at the front was wonderful and attentive - if she was the standard for their service, the evening would have been wonderful. Sadly, she wasn't.
From Wikipedia, "Osteria" in Italian literally means a place where the owner "hosts" people.
Food is generally regional and prepared with local recipes, and often served at shared tables. We've been to Mozza Osteria in Los Angeles - that felt exactly as described above. I'm not sure if the owners of Stella truly have that in mind, because the experience didn't hit that tone at all.
Food
First off, the portions are very large. It would be enough to only have three appetizers for a table of four. It was impossible to put all four plates on the table and still eat comfortably. We started with appetizers. The Caesar salad was over-acidic and served in the equivalent of a kitchen bowl. The "Stella special" fried zucchini is an interesting spin on an old roadhouse classic, using wide thin slices rather than sticks but otherwise was nothing new. The seafood platter wasn't very good - with the batter appearing sickly white instead of a golden brown. One exception was the prosciutto di parma platter which was wonderful. It combined aged prosciutto with fig, pecans and parmigiana.
Because the platters are so large, it would have been enough to stop there. Instead we opted for something a little smaller, some light pasta.
The pasta isn't fresh or home-made - which for an Italian restaurant should be considered a crime. The spaghetti bolognese comes with a single large meatball, made with breadcrumbs and extremely dry. The carbonara was very heavy with garlic, to the point where one of our companions felt it was burnt. The egg on top was done well but when placed in the large bowl, it was lost. The vegetable ziti featured a whipped goat cheese which brought a unique taste, although not quite becoming to the dish. Both the bolognese and ziti had a layer of oil at the bottom of the bowl. I didn't have the black cod but it wasn't received with great enthusiasm.
Service
The service was pretty poor. The waiter was indifferent and inattentive. He was somewhat friendly when he was there but didn't make us feel welcome. Initial drink orders took forever to arrive and when they did, they were wrong (gin and soda, really?!?!?). The selection of beers on top isn't huge but not impressive. With two choices of Nero d'Avola, the waiter didn't offer the choice but immediately assumed the most expensive. If the basic service to that point had been great, I could have appreciated it - but it wasn't. At times, I felt they wanted to rush us out of the restaurant because they were getting busier, but the slowness of the actual service contradicted that impression. Even getting the bill was a chore.
Dinner for four with two bottles of wine came to $269.
Overall
In your own city, heading into the Byward Market should be a special occasion, coming away with the feeling of getting away from your regular day with an exceptional evening. Stella's didn't hit that mark; in fact, it fell way off the mark.
Rated highly by the local paper and magazines, we had high hopes. The hostess at the front was wonderful and attentive - if she was the standard for their service, the evening would have been wonderful. Sadly, she wasn't.
From Wikipedia, "Osteria" in Italian literally means a place where the owner "hosts" people.
Food is generally regional and prepared with local recipes, and often served at shared tables. We've been to Mozza Osteria in Los Angeles - that felt exactly as described above. I'm not sure if the owners of Stella truly have that in mind, because the experience didn't hit that tone at all.
Food
First off, the portions are very large. It would be enough to only have three appetizers for a table of four. It was impossible to put all four plates on the table and still eat comfortably. We started with appetizers. The Caesar salad was over-acidic and served in the equivalent of a kitchen bowl. The "Stella special" fried zucchini is an interesting spin on an old roadhouse classic, using wide thin slices rather than sticks but otherwise was nothing new. The seafood platter wasn't very good - with the batter appearing sickly white instead of a golden brown. One exception was the prosciutto di parma platter which was wonderful. It combined aged prosciutto with fig, pecans and parmigiana.
Because the platters are so large, it would have been enough to stop there. Instead we opted for something a little smaller, some light pasta.
The pasta isn't fresh or home-made - which for an Italian restaurant should be considered a crime. The spaghetti bolognese comes with a single large meatball, made with breadcrumbs and extremely dry. The carbonara was very heavy with garlic, to the point where one of our companions felt it was burnt. The egg on top was done well but when placed in the large bowl, it was lost. The vegetable ziti featured a whipped goat cheese which brought a unique taste, although not quite becoming to the dish. Both the bolognese and ziti had a layer of oil at the bottom of the bowl. I didn't have the black cod but it wasn't received with great enthusiasm.
Service
The service was pretty poor. The waiter was indifferent and inattentive. He was somewhat friendly when he was there but didn't make us feel welcome. Initial drink orders took forever to arrive and when they did, they were wrong (gin and soda, really?!?!?). The selection of beers on top isn't huge but not impressive. With two choices of Nero d'Avola, the waiter didn't offer the choice but immediately assumed the most expensive. If the basic service to that point had been great, I could have appreciated it - but it wasn't. At times, I felt they wanted to rush us out of the restaurant because they were getting busier, but the slowness of the actual service contradicted that impression. Even getting the bill was a chore.
Dinner for four with two bottles of wine came to $269.
Overall
In your own city, heading into the Byward Market should be a special occasion, coming away with the feeling of getting away from your regular day with an exceptional evening. Stella's didn't hit that mark; in fact, it fell way off the mark.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Jason Mraz Site: Common Pleasure (Recommended)
While the main fan site is on RKOP, Common Pleasure is a great site for Jason Mraz audiophiles, wanting to go through his entire discography and perhaps better, all of the songs he has ever performed.
The site host (Jon, I believe) has amassed one of the most complete listing of Mraz's work (he also records some of his shows with amazing quality).
The forums don't have a lot but the information contained within the site (which is remarkably well updated - details from shows from April 2010 are all there). This is really the kind of site for those fans who want to catch up on older tunes but also any fan who wants to find the latest shows and what was played.
Highly recommended.
The site host (Jon, I believe) has amassed one of the most complete listing of Mraz's work (he also records some of his shows with amazing quality).
The forums don't have a lot but the information contained within the site (which is remarkably well updated - details from shows from April 2010 are all there). This is really the kind of site for those fans who want to catch up on older tunes but also any fan who wants to find the latest shows and what was played.
Highly recommended.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Recommended: Mozza Osteria (Los Angeles)
Mozza Osteria is a restaurant co-owned by celebrity chef Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton.
Our experience was amazing. Expectations were high - and they did not disappoint - in fact exceeded. We were 5 mins late for our 5:45 reservation - and they got us in (lineup after 7pm ) and made my wife's birthday dinner a meal to remember. Our daughter said "most amazing meal experience in her life". Every bite was an amazing set of layers - and the service was phenomenal. Not rushed - amazingly helpful and the price was actually lower than expected. We could not have asked for a better evening.
Served by a group of professionals all of whom were exceptional, the experience felt like a tour. If you had been there before, you felt they would have let you do your own thing - but as first timers, they didn't push all of the food, making simple but amazing recommendations ("you don't need four dishes, only take three and mix them").
Including dessert, wine and cocktails, dinner for four came to approximately $350, not including gratuity. The meal and restaurant made you feel like a million bucks.
Our experience was amazing. Expectations were high - and they did not disappoint - in fact exceeded. We were 5 mins late for our 5:45 reservation - and they got us in (lineup after 7pm ) and made my wife's birthday dinner a meal to remember. Our daughter said "most amazing meal experience in her life". Every bite was an amazing set of layers - and the service was phenomenal. Not rushed - amazingly helpful and the price was actually lower than expected. We could not have asked for a better evening.
Served by a group of professionals all of whom were exceptional, the experience felt like a tour. If you had been there before, you felt they would have let you do your own thing - but as first timers, they didn't push all of the food, making simple but amazing recommendations ("you don't need four dishes, only take three and mix them").
Including dessert, wine and cocktails, dinner for four came to approximately $350, not including gratuity. The meal and restaurant made you feel like a million bucks.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Jason Mraz: Highly Recommended
Always recommend Jason Mraz (an amazing song-writer and great guitarist) - but even more so with his final performance of the Gratitude Cafe tour in San Diego, CA, singing the following:
(In My Life, the Beatles) - although some lyrics were missed, this was beautiful. But it also reminds me of one of his original songs, 1000 things. A slightly different sentiment but somehow quite similar, about how after all , there is one thing you remember:
"But I stopped my counting when I saw your face
Erasing memory, well I feel as though I've never seen a face before
Until I saw your eyes
And they're smiling back at me through my tears
I've been counting all these years, oh
Suddenly the thousand things I've seen were nothing more than dreams of
Of you and me"
--- Jason Mraz
Mraz is often considered fairly egotistical in his writing - but with the renditions of these songs, I think he shows what a wonderful guitarist and lyricist he is.
I'm sure, I'll come back to this post and comment more on how much we recommend Jason Mraz, but for now, this is something I highly recommend, even to watch, if not to purchase and buy.
(In My Life, the Beatles) - although some lyrics were missed, this was beautiful. But it also reminds me of one of his original songs, 1000 things. A slightly different sentiment but somehow quite similar, about how after all , there is one thing you remember:
"But I stopped my counting when I saw your face
Erasing memory, well I feel as though I've never seen a face before
Until I saw your eyes
And they're smiling back at me through my tears
I've been counting all these years, oh
Suddenly the thousand things I've seen were nothing more than dreams of
Of you and me"
--- Jason Mraz
Mraz is often considered fairly egotistical in his writing - but with the renditions of these songs, I think he shows what a wonderful guitarist and lyricist he is.
I'm sure, I'll come back to this post and comment more on how much we recommend Jason Mraz, but for now, this is something I highly recommend, even to watch, if not to purchase and buy.
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