Recently I was invited to attend class at La Maison du Chocolat. Tamanaco, as the class is called, offered the opportunity to learn about the chocolate-making process in great depth, from the cacao trees and their differences through the production of chocolate for chocolatiers industrial and artisanal alike.

The tables in back of the shop were laid out with the hands-on materials for the night — chocolate and other cocoa products. Our lecturer and LMdC evangelist, Michael Olsen, clearly has a great love of chocolate and the process from tree to couverture (the ready-to-use large blocks of “finished” chocolate).

We were greeted with a cup of hot chocolate — literally melted chocolate, so it was thick and rich, with a bit of a bitter edge. This I drank while looking at the chocolate spread before me for the class.

Michael began with discussion of the three types of cocoa trees: Criollos produces the finest, most delicate cocoa beans, but its delicateness makes it tough to grow, so these trees represent just 4% of the worldwide market. Forastero is the workhorse, and represents about 70%-75% of production. Trinitario is a hybrid of the two, with the delicate cocoa of the Criollos and the robust growth of the Forastero, and makes up the rest of the cocoa planted in the world.

But then of course it was time to taste. Tasting requires small bites, letting the chocolate melt on the palate, and we dutifully followed the leader. First up was a disc of 41% cocoa milk chocolate, sourced from Trinitario trees in Ecuador, followed by the Bohéme, a ganache made with that chocolate. Both were silky and not overly sweet, a far cry from “industrial” chocolates.

The “shell” on LMdC’s ganaches is obviously more solid than the ganache, but it should adhere to that creamy center to give contrasting textures from the same chocolate.

In between all this, we had the opportunity to taste and feel some of the “parts” of the cocoa bean, including cocoa butter — just fat, no taste, and yes, used in so much more than chocolate production — and dried beans awaiting conversion into the chocolate we know, both as whole beans and as “nibs.”

Third up, we tried the disc of 61% chocolate from Madagascar. Despite the rising chocolate content, this was not bitter, a trait of the best dark chocolates according to Michael. This was created from 80% Trinitario and 20% Criollo cocoa beans.

This was followed by the Guayaquíl, a ganache made from that chocolate. This ganache proved to be my favorite of the three, just a wonderful flavor. This chocolate is a staple of La Maison’s line.

The last two chocolates from the table spread were made from the 65% Venezuelan chocolate, comprised of the same ratio of Trinitario and Criollo cocoa beans.

Believe me, this is a tasty ganache. The shape is dictated by the chocolate used, too. No attribute is unspoken for in the chocolates here!

We then sampled from the variety of chocolates that had additives. Rigoletto is the caramel, not particularly sweet, but a pure flavor that industrial chocolates never approach.

Andalusée was next, a lemon ganache, made from all Criollo beans. The lemon was not particularly strong in this, and tasted of the rind more than the juice — a drier sort of lemon to complement the ganache.

Finally, we tried the cinnamon ganache. Here Michael noted that if the cinnamon doesn’t come from Mexico or Sri Lanka (Ceylon), it’s cassia, not cinnamon, and, well, that’s just wrong. The cinnamon worked so well with the base chocolate in this one — I savored each bite (of which there were two), letting it melt in my mouth. It wasn’t overpowering and, being that they source the high-quality stuff, didn’t taste like the cinnamon we tend to encounter in our food.

After the tasting session, we were treated to a ganache demonstration. I’ve been afraid to try my hand at it, but it looked so easy when Michael whipped it up.

Warm cream (1:1 ratio by weight), is added to broken-up chocolate, whisking the whole time… voila!

He even showed a quick-and-dirty chocolate mousse, created by whisking whipped cream (from the aerosol can, no less!) into the ganache. So it didn’t really taste like mousse, but the consistency was pretty close, and the average party guest wouldn’t think anything was strange about it. At any rate, I ate my share with pleasure.

We wound down the session with informal discussion about the chocolate industry, and not a little bit of trash talking about various chocolatiers, enlivened the conversation as we polished off the ganache and went our separate ways.

Over all, I spent a pleasant two hours-plus learning quite a lot about chocolate and understanding the passion of those who make chocolate their life’s work. I’m a fan of La Maison du Chocolat in the first place (especially their macarons), and sure, their chocolates are pretty expensive, but I think the care that goes into crafting each bonbon makes the price tag worth it. Who wouldn’t like receiving a box of their chocolates? Wrap that up with the exceptional customer service offered in the shop, and I give them the status of a luxury worth indulging every so often.

© BeerBoor for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: chocolate, La Maison du Chocolat

On yet another lovely Saturday date, the BF and I shot over to the Upper East Side to check out Southern Hospitality’s brunch.  Specifically, their ‘all you can drink’ brunch, which I discovered too late was actually an additional $11.95, not just $11.95 for an entree + drinks.  (In my defense, at Philip Marie, the charge for unlimited brunch is $16.95 and includes your entree.  How was I supposed to know?)

Despite that, BF decided we should do it anyway.  Okay, that’s fine by me!  We were pre-gaming before hitting up the Met anyways – museum browsing while intoxicated is pretty awesome, btw.  Here’s a photo of the menu, which is not listed on their website.  Pretty heavy fare, not your standard brunch stuff here. 

Our mimosas were a little weak, but chug enough of them, and the desired effect + vitamin C is achieved…

BF ordered the smoked brisket hash, which came redolent with lots of smoked brisket.  Tender chunks of smoky brisket, potatoes, and his scrambled eggs – I tried some – pretty damn tasty.  He was very happy and full – he didn’t even finish it, actually. 

I ordered something I never thought I’d order for breakfast – steak & eggs.  Chicken fried steak and eggs, with cheese grits, to be exact.  The eggs were fried a lil weird, but passable.  The cheese grits, though, were surprisingly really good.  Initially, BF had ick’ed at them, but after I began eating them and subsequently began scarfing them down, he tried some and was impressed as well.  Super cheesy tasting without being super cheesy, smooth and delicious…. mmm them’s some great cheese grits! 

The steak was satisfactory, I think it might have been cube steak f’real too, breaded nicely but really, not enough country gravy.  Yes, I said it.  Not enough country gravy.  Otherwise, I finished my entire platter – biscuit and all, actually – and you can say it.  This is why I’m fat.  But it was good and I don’t regret it one bit!  *burp

Yvo says: I like the brunch menu being different from standard brunch fare and instead showcasing Southern Hospitality’s own cuisine (BBQ/southern fare).  It makes this more of “when I’m in the mood for that sort of brunch” which makes total sense.  HOWEVER, I really don’t like their pricing structure for all-you-can-drink-brunch.  Maybe they are trying to discourage that sort of rowdy crowd for brunch (I somehow don’t think so, though, based on their Twitter and their general promotions), but honestly, even charging $20 total for all-you-can-drink-brunch, including your entree, seems more suited for this type of place and general clientele.  Paying $50+ for brunch for two is just exorbitant.  Having said that, I’d probably go back if I were in the area or really craving this sort of brunch fare (heavy!), but I would opt out of the all you can drink as just not a good deal. 
recommended, but not to start off your drunken days of debauchery

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: BBQ, Brunch

You’ve all heard of my fried pickle quest – I do so love fried pickles, you know – but did you know how much I love Justin Timberlake?  YouTube “Plasticville” or his “immigrant” SNL skit.. or any of his Digital Shorts like “Dick in a Box” – well look, I love JT.  Now that the hype has died down from his restaurant opening eons ago, I swung by to check out the place and see if the BBQ was well, any good.  Y’know.  Cuz I’m such an expert on good BBQ, being a NYer and all, y’know. 

As soon as I saw this item on the menu, I knew we had to get it.  Come on: BBQ glazed thick-cut fresh bacon, would you pass that up?  Even if you had about 15 more lbs of food coming per person alone?  Sweet, succulent, though it wasn’t quite what bacon is, in my vernacular – crispy, thin, crackly, – it was still damn delicious.  No knife required – my fork sliced easily through the tender meat.  Oh so good.  Oh sooo good. 

My dining companion chose to also order “jalapeno bottle caps” – deep fried sliced jalapeno peppers with ranch sauce.  I mistakenly assumed they’d be filled with cheese, like most deep fried jalapenos that I’ve experienced, but as these were not, I could eat only a few before succumbing to the heat.  Whoops.  My dining companion inhaled all of them so I would imagine they were good.

DEEP FRIED PICKLES!!!  I was super excited to see these and even more excited by how crispy they looked.  And they were super crispy!  And better dipped in the ranch that came with the jalapenos than in the sauce that came with the pickles… BUT.  Someone super-dried these pickles pre-deep-frying (safety concerns, perhaps? – to prevent spatter?) so the pickles were super crunchy, but no burst of briney goodness issued forth in each bite and therefore… no pickle taste.  Who wants fried pickles that taste just like fried anything?  You want the pickle taste!  You want the briney goodness!  So while these were tasty as potato chips, they were not fried pickle delicious.  Sadface FAIL.  (That isn’t to say I wouldn’t eat them again, but it is to say these are by far not the best fried pickles I’ve had.)

What is that saying?  Your eyes are bigger than your stomach?  I do have pretty big eyes… and this case proved no exception.  I will maintain, however, that 1- I intended to have leftovers, ANYWAY and 2- it was the fried foods in the beginning that helped me hit the wall.  I mean, really, my stomach turns when I eat too much grease or oil, so I have to ease back… really!  I ordered the King’s Combo, which included Memphis-style dry rubbed spare ribs, sliced brisket, fried chicken, two sides and a biscuit.  I chose tater tots (cuz who can resist tots? REALLY!) and creamed spinach as my sides. 

A brief moment to say that I basically ate a small piece of brisket, one rib, looked at the fried chicken, and then a couple of tater tots… but had to stop myself from eating all of the creamed spinach.  I mean MY GOODNESS that was GOOD creamed spinach.  Buttery, garlicky, creamy… I could bathe in this stuff and die happily in a big vat of it.  WHOA. 

I actually wound up taking pretty much everything home… but the waitress forgot or just straight up didn’t bother packing my creamed spinach.  I was REALLY sad about that; this seriously was the best creamed spinach I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot, seriously).  Mmm.  Everything held up nicely to reheating (gently), and I liked everything from my platter a good deal, though I prefer saucier BBQ – which may be blasphemy to some of you, but it is what it is, I like what I like.  So, yummy.  And definitely on the creamed spinach. 

An order of mac & cheese goodness.  I didn’t find this terribly interesting actually – alright, it sufficed – but my dining companion really liked it and basically inhaled it.  Wow. 

Corn bread with honey butter.  I was in love with the honey butter.  The corn bread, not so much, but I don’t usually find myself dying for corn bread anyways. 

Last but not least, my pig of a dining companion ordered the fried chicken & waffles.  Not really many places on the UES that will have this, so it was total WIN – and look at that giant bowl of syrup accompanying!  Ridiculous!  But somewhat awesome.  I know these were good cuz I tried some of the waffle – crisp, slightly sweet, tender insides.  And the fried chicken was legit.  Pig destroyed the platter and then some.  Nom.

Yvo says: While I can’t comfortably say this is a must visit for any BBQ connoisseur (return trips needed!), I did enjoy my food and would definitely go back to try more stuff.  The place is comfortably casual, with lots of wood paneling, imitating what this city girl thinks feels like a ranch dining or a roadside stop… the service was super friendly, and if you read their Twitter, you can get discounts using a secret password, which I’m totally down with.  The place was pretty empty on a Monday night, which I prefer… and they have bottled root beer (I believe it was Abita), which is always a win (non-Pepsi/Coke root beer is usually a good thing, in my book, even growing up loving Barq’s as I did – before Coke bought them).  I definitely enjoyed myself.
recommended, though no need to go out of your way to try it

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: BBQ, fried pickles

For HB’s recent birthday (it seems all I do is post about birthdays anymore! haha), I searched for a long time for a brunch place that would take a reservation for 10.  Unfortunately, all the places we really wanted to try (Danal, specifically, which sounds so good!, or Eatery) would not give us reservations, so we settled on Park Avenue Autumn.  I was a bit wary if only because of my previous experience at its previous incarnation as Park Avenue Cafe, but the menu sounded quite delish and they were willing to give us last minute reservations for the prime time of 12:30 pm, so off we went. 

The interior decor hasn’t changed much from my memory, though we were seated “to the left” of the door, in an alcove, whereas I sat “to the right” last time.  It still had a slightly stuffy air to it- Park Avenue and all that, though the menu nearly made me spit out my water. 

click to enlarge

Fried chicken’n'waffle sandwich?  Really?  I wasn’t sure if they were giving props or mocking it. 

Of note is how annoyingly they assume you know what some things are, such as the “Upper East Sider” which turned out to be a bagel with lox and eggs Benedict both. 

The first was just a listing of what breads we’d get for our table, a nice round offering.

I tred the pistachio scone, which was much drier and crumblier than I expected and did not like.  The brioche and pecan sticky bun was quite lovely though, and the other items must have been yummy since we ate all of it.  (They gave us two trays of the bread for 7 of us.)

The Autumn Haystack was a bunch of julienned veggies, pomegranate arils, and crispy shrimp scattered around the bowl.  We all agreed that it was tasty, but that we could have done with more shrimp; the shrimp was really yummy and I can’t figure out how they must have coated it or seasoned it.  I don’t even normally like shrimp but this was perfect- I think it may have been rock shrimp, even. 

Garden salad with fresh fall vegetables.  I didn’t hear any complaints.

AM actually ordered the chicken’n'waffle sandwich, a boneless fried chicken cutlet between two waffles, and enjoyed it.  She said it was good, though I don’t believe she raved about it. 

The three boys all ordered the “steak & eggs”, filet mignon and sunny side up eggs.  I heard no complaints except that the filet could’ve been bigger, but what do you expect?

The remaining girls, HB included, all ordered the smoked salmon & eggs, creme fraiche, caviar and pressed potatoes.  My bed of eggs was super soft and undercooked, which kind of skeeved me- I’m not into overcooked and dry scrambled eggs, but I also do not like “wet” scrambled eggs, I like them to be just right, moist, but not … goopy like these were.  The salmon wasn’t bad, but way too little creme fraiche.  Caviar was to be expected only so-so.  And what’s up with the potatoes?!  I don’t think anyone was wow’d by this dish nor upset, but it really wasn’t anything great. 

Service was okay, not fantastic or horrible, so I can’t really recommend this place or tell you not to go here.  I can tell you, however, that the food was astoundingly mediocre and completely not worth the prix-fixe price of $32 + tax & tip per person.  (As it was HB’s birthday, we treated her and paid $53 a person [she doesn't read this blog! it's okay, and anyway, she was right there, it wasn't a big secret, I hope I'm not being tacky though], which included three teas and a bottle of still water; everyone else had tap water.  And at that price, brunch was a complete rip-off, not even a complimentary mimosa or bloody mary!)

Yvo says: So not worth it.  Overpriced, mediocre, and really, I don’t see any reason to go here.  They’ve changed their game plan, now changing the name with the seasons- soon to be called “Park Avenue Winter” and supposedly use all seasonal, fresh ingredients but it didn’t make anything taste better, per se, so why bother?  It was very, very mediocre, and I give it a resounding “middle of the road” rating but with the prices in play, it really is just simply….
not recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2007. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Brunch

After my yearly Yankees/Mariners game (Chien Ming Wang nearly pitched a perfect game) with HB, we met up with SpB, who’d been sitting with her other friends at the field level.  After a few hours of mindless TV, we felt a bit munchy and so, set off to find a restaurant that appealed to us in SpB’s ‘hood, the UES.  We finally stumbled upon this place- not too packed, as many places had been, nor completely empty…

Great choice!

We chose to split a side dish of steamed spinach, which was fairly standard, not overcooked at all.

SpB ordered the calamari diavlo, which she said a touch spicy and very yummy. 

HB and I wound up ordering the same thing- tagliatelle with bolognese.  The tagliatelle was thick, chewy, and extremely hearty- both of us didn’t finish our dishes, but felt stuffed with only about 1/2 to 3/4 of the dish in our bellies.  I loved this dish, and thought it was well done. 

An interesting point to note- they didn’t offer us any cheese with our pastas.  None of us wanted any, but we did notice this.  (I would even say I appreciated it, since a few times, I’ve partaken of the cheese a pasta restaurant would offer and then gotten sick…)

Yvo says: Though I consider this way far out of the way to travel just for an Italian meal, I did think the food was particularly delicious despite my not being that hungry to begin with.  I highly recommend this place if you’re in the area, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2007. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Pasta