Restaurants have really come a long way in Scottsdale. I had an opportunity to revisit one of my favorite, Cowboy Ciao yesterday. It again surprised me with a variety of flavors.
Well known food blogger, Noshtopia joined me in the fun.
Started with the Johnny Apple – green apples, pecans, pickled onions over arugula.
Entrée Braised Pork Rib over Risotto with Truffles delicious!
Big Finish was a Cuppa Red Hot Chocolate ----beyond heaven
I enjoyed the stimulating conversation with Noshtopia about food, food allergies and how to eat well and not swell.
The last time I enjoyed Cowboy Ciao was several years ago; and returning to lunch was as special as ever.
Cowboy Ciao 480-946-3111 7133 E. Stetson Road Scottsdale, AZ 85251
I’ve been staying at a new place in Scottsdale called the 3 Palms which is a swanky converted motel. Next door to the 3 Palms is the Avalon.
The Avalon was a big surprise for me. In the middle of the desert is a modern European styled restaurant with all the charm of big city food.
I experienced breakfast, lunch and dinner
I specially enjoyed the Roasted Beet Salad with Figs and goat cheese.
Enjoyed the Seared diver scallops with blue crab risotto, gulf shrimp tempura, and the kicker is ginger fresh ginger emulsion.
The wine list is inspiring and holds a variety from the world over. Even boosts a delicious South African Rose.
Avalon 480-656-0010 7707 E. McDowell Road Scottsdale, AZ
Let’s just imagine you know you’re going die and you could have any meal in the world what would that be? This was the most interesting dinner conversation I’ve had in a long time. I was at the Publican. John started it when I asked him what his favorite daily eats is. He replied that would be impossible to answer and a better question is what would my last meal be.
I digress slightly from this dinner conversation to – over the past 6-12 months I’ve been noticing an up tick in tools for longevity online. The preservation of your Facebook or Myspace after you die, Deathswitch notify your family, friends, loved ones of your departure, the future me will send my family/friends an email of my thoughts from the past, the list goes on, and on. This thinking stems from the need for self preservation of your 0s and 1s even after dead. Science has corner the medicine for longevity of life if your life ends what happens to all that makes up your personality?
Elaine Paque mentioned some day science maybe able to save your DNA. If science is able to recreate your physical you will you still have the same personality that was you? My opinion is that I don’t believe so. But what if you were able to save you digital personality and then have it transferred into a new body or a body that is made up of your DNA? This is where I think Kurzweil has it right but wrong. The singularity is going to be man and machine and AI will provide the ability to download our digital bits preserving our personality, thought patterns, desires, education, and experiences. Chew on that was a while.
Back to the last supper discussion…
John said his last supper would be a cheese burger and a Schlitz beer at Charlie Binlich’s. I learned tonight this is the best place for burgers in the Midwest.
Dave had very unusual thought about his last meal, which would be sweet corn and butter. He described with the sensory detail the taste of harvest sweet corn dripping with butter. I can see from his face the joy in eating his last meal.
Elaine Paque wanted a destination meal. This would be Sun Lodge in Sun Valley, Idaho. She would order cream of wheat with brown sugar, raisins, and bananas and wash is down with OJ and coffee.
I opted for the sweet death that would be a tray of the best dark chocolate in the world and a glass of my favorite red wine. For me that would be so long and sweet dreams.
All this discussion made me think of my childhood. Growing up, my siblings and I would often question what would your last meal be if you had so many hours to live. I can’t for the life of me remember why this was a topic of conversation. But I do remember each of my siblings answers. And when it came to the last few days before my brother Tony died I had Maine lobsters and New England clam chowder shipped to his bedside for his last meal request.
Interesting dinner conversation, right?
It could have been the meal at Publican which induced such thought provoking conversation. Or the fact that the meal was high in cholesterol that caused pause and thinking about destiny. The Publican is a gusty eatery in away that brings back memories of my childhood. Yes there were several moments in which I was thinking about childhood tonight. Growing up I ate food which would be considered delicacies for today: cow’s brains, blood pudding, chicken bone marrow and calf’s liver and chocolate covered ants. The Publican is known for pork and oyster dishes and great selection of beer.
One of the dishes served to us during this meal was beef marrow. Beef bone marrow was scrapped out of bone and spread over bread. It was extraordinarily rich tasting I could actually feel my arteries starting to backup. Beef bone marrow was once thought to have nutritious properties.
All served family style, we also enjoyed variety of oysters, Aged ham served with goat butter and peasant bread, Spinach salad, Scallops Nantucket Bay, Massachusets; maitake mushrooms, celery root & grapefruit, Country ribs from Slagel Family Farm, Fairbury, Illinois; kholrabi & pomegranate vinaigrette, Beets from Nichols Farm, Marengo, Illinois; ricotta & hazelnut, and Lamb Milanese. For dessert we shared Waffle with plum jam & honey butter and 7 Dark chocolare cremeux with almonds, passion fruit & jasmine. The menu is exquisite and atmosphere European.
If you visit the Publican you’ll enjoy the magnitude of the menu and hopefully have a stimulating conversation to complement the delicious food.
The Publican 837 West Fulton Market Chicago, IL 60607 312-733-9555
It was a wonderful Christmas at the Spataro home in Gilbert, AZ. My brother selected the recipes for Christmas Eve dinner. We had baked salmon, halibut mediterranean, baked stuff shrimp, lobster bisque, lobster pot pie with green bean salad.
My brother make home made chocolate candies. The truffled dark chocolates on the lollipop stick was amazing.
Joanne brought baby Tillman along.
For Christmas this year we all got Logitech video cameras now we can keep in touch via video calls.
Daily Eats wishes you a joyful and happy holiday and a pleasant 2010!
My brother, Tom gave Anita Chu's "A Field Guide to Candy" a try. For Thanksgiving, Tom made the Chocolate Peanut Butter candies. Tom's candies have a familiar taste almost similar to a childhood favorite: Reese's peanut butter cup.
But there is a freshness to Tom's candies and choices that can be made with chocolate and peanut butter. I could image swapping out milk chocolate for dark chocolate and peanut butter for cashew butter. Tom is going to try other candies from Anita Chu's book for December's holidays.
Wine and Candy, two great tasting foods, that are delicious and mysterious. To the average person deciding on a wine to purchase can be a mind boggling. Wine Secrets, Advice from Winemakers, Sommeliers, and Connoisseurs, by Marnie Old, provides a user’s guide to taking the overwhelming complexities out of the grape. Marnie Old takes the novice wine drinker from wine basics to paring wines with food. This treasure of a book features neat illustrations and photos and is stocked with great tips on purchasing wine from a retailer.
My favorite illustration describes the olfactory process which is essential in tasting flavor. Many people believe when tasting the wine for a first time an actual taste is required – it’s your nose that should be doing the tasting.
Old provides an all important lesson how you should hold a glass of wine – the correct posture is with the stem. The bowl of the glass serves the purpose of holding the wine; your hands contain scents and oils that could interface with the taste of the wine.
When order wine from a restaurant the sommelier is there to help. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This is a must have primer for novice and connoisseur.
Have you ever dreamed of making your own candy? I often wonder about the complexities of candy making. It must take hours in a kitchen and concocting the right chemistry to create the right texture, sweetness and scent much require a PhD. Field Guide to Candy, by Anita Chu distills the mystery of candy making in her very well thought out reference.
Chu brings to this delightful reference the history on candies and educates through step by step recipes. She considers her audience when writing so that the audience is compelled to try a recipe or two. Field Guide to Candy comes equip with tool description and chemistry lessons.
Beautifully photographed gallery provides an idea of how your self made candies should look. With Thanksgiving and December holidays approaching quickly this handy candy guide will make you the talk of your holiday celebrations when you show off you new candy creations. I’m inspired to want to try.
Both Wine Secrets and Field Guide to Candy are books that would make great gifts and holiday gifts. They both look so pretty on my traditional Japanese tea table.
Amuse is Amused or better yet a symphony for the tongue presented by master chief, Michael Carlson.
Every experience at Schwa is probably unique to the patron. For me Schwa is a legendary adventure, where taste makes taste. You have to have an incredible palette to understand the complexities of this type of cuisine. I have never experienced combinations that are art yet are science too.
I tried to find a definition for Schwa instead found it described as a very ancient sound, though there is something sensual about saying it as sensual as the experience I had when eating there, it reminded me of my studies of antiquities of Rome’s decadence period – a phrase comes to mind: Schwa is an orgy for your taste buds.
The menu was titled Amuse. Each dish was presented like a work of art each had its own story to tell. The risotto came first – not any risotto but beet risotto with horseradish and taleggio - was an abstract design but scientific combination. My mouth exploded – it was all about the coming of spring.
Sunchoke soup – organe, sunflower sprouts – was gently sipped and has a smooth velvety flavor. There were steps leading to the Pad Thai which had a mixture of unique fragrances and tastes. My favorite tasting was a mouthful of Artic char roe – white asparagus, avocado, guava. Symphony of unusual Lobster chestnut, persimmon, prosciutto, Chicken liver – rutabaga, turmeric, beer – which I did not try but my friends said was exquisite. For me a first time ever Pork belly to die for.
The Duck – pumpkin, chocolate was an art piece Georgia O’Keefe would have been proud of. The Cheese was rather difficult to describe salty though sweet. The dessert special sweet breads another first time try for me. Schwa was a totally wonderful experience which refueled my love of art and my interest in science.
Schwa is a BYOB experience. My friend with inspiring wine taste sponsored the wines for the evening. These wines included:
2007 Heidi Schrock dry white blend – I especially loved this one
2007 Heidi Schrock Muscat
2007 Heidler Riesling
2006 ScholiumNaucratis – equally loved this one
2004 Bocce Chianti – a little weak though a good palette cleaner
1997 Williams SelyemOlivet Lane Pinot
2001 TorbreckDescendent Shiraz
Though they were all delicious!
The uniqueness of the food did not spare the conversation nor the music. The conversation ranged from the arts to quantum physics to science fiction while the music started off with as soft and sensual changed as the evening progressed to acidity sounding Hip Hop from Harlem NYC. I totally in love with the sensuality of the evening I could only hope to have another experience at Schwa.
Yeah that’s right I hulu too. I hulu while I’m cooking, but I’m not watching cooking shows I usually watch sci-fi. According to some researchers women don’t usually watching sci-fi…yeah right.
Here's a list of my favorite sci-fi on hulu: Firefly – why did they ever cancel the series when it was on tv? Battlestar Galactica – finally! A sci-fi show with guts Total Recall 2070 – which is really so bad it’s good Eureka American Gothic Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – I think it’s better than the original Medium New Amsterdam Chuck
Old favorites like Highlander. I even watched The Sixth Sense - was weird.
Movies I watched Astro Viz: Black Holes Naked Lunch Titan AE While not cooking and watching I’ll watch and eat. While watching the season start of the Battlestar Galactica I prepared a pesto penne with a mixed green salad. I poured my self a glass of sparkling apple cider. For dessert I had double chocolate chocolate chip cookies.
BTW hulu doesn't require a TV just a computer and I don't have TV.
I went to Market Café for the first time. I read about the quality of food from this Hell’s Kitchen eatery. I also heard about the service. Despite the pros and cons I wanted to experience this for myself, this is my neighborhood after all.
First Market Café is all about the food and the food is awesome. I had the fresh fish of the day which was Tilapia with golden potatoes and green beans. It was great!
Since this is a neighborhood place the service is the same service you expect from a “hometown” diner, waiter tries to make small talk and has to manage all the tables in the restaurant.
But Daniel was full of surprises. When I ordered the chocolate cake I was expecting “just” a slice of chocolate cake nothing exceptional. When Daniel finally brought me the chocolate cake, suspected they were still baking the cake when I ordered it, I gasped, it was the biggest slice of chocolate cake I’ve ever seen. So big even I was embarrassed.
The table next to mine sat four, one of the gentlemen, Richard Schoeller, offered to help with the cake if I joined his table. It was all kind of magical. There is something about chocolate cake which makes most people smile and something about a big slice of chocolate cake which makes most people want to help dig in. I loved to offer to share.
The chocolate cake lived up to my expectations of delicious cake. Go to Market Café go there to relax and enjoy the food, remember relax and enjoy! And try the chocolate cake with a friend or two.
Market Cafe 496 9th Ave New York, NY 10018 (212) 967-3892
Surprise and delight at the detail of all things spring. This is a restaurant that not only believes in sensory experience but provides a seasonal twist. This is a smart fresh concept and I love it.
From the awning at the entrance to the hallway bar nook your senses are engrossed in all things spring. The menu is the season.
It was Wednesday evening I went Park Avenue Spring with Elaine Paque. It was our wind down dinner but who would have guessed what a delight this experience would have been.
I learned about Park Avenue Spring while in a cab on my way to a meeting on Wednesday. I fascinated by the attention to detail the creation of the seasonal atmosphere and experience. Everything gets changed to fit the season perfectly. It’s brilliant.
For dinner I started with Citrus Fruit Tartare, main entrée was Wild King Salmon, Crispy Quinoa, and Passion Fruit Yogurt. Citrus Fruit Tartare was refreshing like soft cool spring air that has the aroma of new blossoms. Wild King Salmon, Crispy Quinoa, and Passion Fruit Yogurt was a complete surprise. It woke me up. The salmon was perfectly cooked and it was sweet. Quinoa was something I never experienced before. According to Wikipedia the Incas held Quinoa as a scared crop and referred to it as "chisaya mama" or "mother of all grains". Eating this dish was a scared experience for my tongue, mind and spirit.
The special of the day was this amazing Truffle Risotto which Elaine had. It was special.
Even more special was the Chocolate Cube. I apologize for the photo I was not prepared for this evening and left my camera at home. The Chocolate Cube is an “architectural wonder” that Frank Gehry would be proud of. There are surprises in this chocolate wonder; the cube is hard on the outside and delicious mousse filled on the inside.
Elaine made a wonderful aesthetic comment about the loveliness of our table, yes we had the best table, and beauty of the design, music and food and right down to the waiter staffs’ attire.
This is an experiential restaurant that I enjoyed and I can’t wait to review Summer, Fall and Winter.
It was a lovely evening with hosts Tim Brown, owner and eventeur of Park Avenue Bistro and Nancy Swiezy, personal relations and 1st generation internet entrepreneur. Executive Chef, Gonzalo Compos cooked up a delicious feast for New York’s most famous food bloggers.
The evening started with puff pastry with caramelized onions and sardines with fresh basil, mini taco of tuna tartar tartar with ginger soy in sauce, toasted jumbo coconut shrimp with rum honey dipping sauce. Caramelized onions and sardines were refreshing I think it could have been the basil which added to the flavor.
The first course started with Salmon Gravlax homemade cured gravlax accented with a smoked trout mousse with black caviar. A delicious melody, which rocked my tongue, the surprise was the very thin potato pancake which came at the very end. This appetizer was served with a Chassage Montrachet Clos ler Crus and has a smoky flavor going from sweet to dry.
Then next appetizer was Wild Muschroom Ravioli. Homemade ravioli stuffed with wild mushrooms covered in white truffle sauce with shaved aged parmesan. Ravioli were light wild mushrooms and white truffle sauce made my tongue dance. Dancing Bear Pinto Noir Sonoma was an excellent pairing and enhanced the flavors of the truffle sauce. Pinto Noir has a lovely hint of vanilla.
Main course was Striped Sea Bass slow baked in natural tomato broth placed on sautéed leeks with fingerling potatoes. The slow baked sea bass retained the rich flavors and remained very moist.
The second main course was Crispy Duck. I’ve always had problems eating duck or goose because the oils are often too heavy for me to digest. This would have to be the first time I was able to enjoy such a richly prepared duck. Oven brown breast of duck sliced over braised red cabbage with a port wine sauce. The read cabbage was a wonderful surprise. I thought the port wine sauce could be a little sweeter. I would even be so bold to suggest adding a dark chocolate the port wine sauce. Paired with 2000 Chateau D’Arvigny Haut-Medoc which is very very very bone dry.
There was a pause for more delicious conversation. The décor was lovely and gives view into the kitchen. The dining room wall space is often used for galleries to show works of art. The dinner for us food bloggers was held in a spacious private room with a view of the entire restaurant.
Now for dessert. There was an assortment of desserts from a chocolate mousse which was an architectural wonder mixture of cream shaved nuts fresh strawberries. More desserts arrived including a bread pudding, apple tart and dark chocolate flourless cake. All delicious.
It was a nice gesture bringing us all together to talk about food, art, life and everything. It was a lovely evening, and I hope to return to try out the rest of the menu.
Park Avenue Bistro is perfect of date night, great place for business lunch. Located: 377 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10016 Phone: 212-689-1360 Parkavenuebistronyc.blogspot.com
Lately the winter blues have me down. I feel unmotivated and uninspired. Right now I'm staring into a big mug of coffee and looking for a sign in the stream as it whirls around. If only coffee talk. Maybe tea leaves have the response I'm looking for.
What I'm really looking for is purpose, isn't that what we are all craving? Beside dark rich chocolate now that's a cure for the winter blues.
I also find comfort in pasta. How about rigatoni with broccoli rabe and sweet and spicy sausage? I know I had this sometime this week but I can't remember where. I remember it was HK on 39th and 9th Avenue. It was great.
I also had risotto primavera with chicken at a little Italian place in Chelsea. I was there the other night with Ellen Sragow.
Lately I've been on risotto kick. Looking for a new recipe because I've exhausted Ruth Reichl's recipe for risotta primavera. Maybe that's what I need to shake the winter blues?
I had a turkey burger at the Better Burger in Hell's Kitchen the other day, I thought that would help ease me out the winter duldrums. But I was disappointed I thought I was getting ground meat turkey instead it was white meat paddy charcoal broiled. I asked the clerk at BB who assured me it would be a ground meat turkey burger. I should have ordered the burger.
Maybe a combination of dark chocolate, pasta and meatballs will do the trick?
NY, NY -Early morning train ride I can not resist getting my favorite smoothie and chocolate crossiant from Dishes located on lower level of Grand Central. The lower level of Grand Central has some fabulous places for food! Take a look for yourself...
Daily Eats Breakfast: Norma's Zillion Dollar Breakfast
Midtown Manahattan, NY - I had breakfast this morning at Norma's at the Parker Meridien. I love Norma's and been going there since the mid 90's. I confess it's been a couple of years since my last visit. When I arrived the dining area was the same wonderful light airy atmosphere I remember so well. The host and wait staff always so charming and pleasant. I sat among a variety of beautifully dressed people speaking various languages and in English with lovely accents. Oh I was in heaven surrounded by fine looking men dressed in Paul Smith suits, Thomas Pink shirts, and Ferragamo shoes.
Norma’s is the place for the tantalizing breakfast. Known for unusual blends of herbs and spices, Norma’s chefs take the usual and make it special. Like the eggs Florentine sautéed spinach, smoked apple wood bacon with fingerling potatoes and the Arepa with Columbian corn cake and eggs sunny side. I did desire the Chocolate Decadence French Toast covered in strawberries, pistachios and Valrhona Chocolate Sauce but held back making plans for a return for a late brunch on the weekend for that item.
But much to my surprise, or I just don't recall from my earlier days visit, was listing on the menu for the Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata. My mouth gaped as I gawked at the price. Norma's does a lovely tasty breakfast. Well I’ll have to return some day with my fine man dressed in his Paul Smith suit, Thomas Pink shirt with Ferragamo shoes and 8 figure income for that brunch treat.
Started with the Johnny Apple – green apples, pecans, pickled onions over arugula.
Entrée Braised Pork Rib over Risotto with Truffles delicious!
Enjoyed the Seared diver scallops with blue crab risotto, gulf shrimp tempura, and the kicker is ginger fresh ginger emulsion.
