One of the things we promised to write about in the intro to our blog was restaurants, but we have not done so thus far because we've been sticking to our favorites the past few months - Thai, Indian, and sushi. But tonight we decided to go on a date, and finally tried out the BYO right down the road in Bryn Mawr, Sola. The yellow stucco interior, wine cork motif, and dim lighting supplemented with candles created a nice atmosphere.
The bread wasn't really worth it, and the amuse-bouche of hot-smoked salmon on a mini toast was decent, but nothing special.
We both ordered appetizers off of the daily special list: a rabbit, arugula, pancetta, and fingerling salad and a brandade (a cod cake) with slaw and stewed tomatoes. We enjoyed both, the brandade was like a gourmet fish stick, which to me (S) is a good thing.
The entrees were very rich, refined, and filling. The venison rack came with a horseradish spatzel (a German pasta and one of Des' specialties). Venison is usually a little too lean and gamy for Steve's taste, but the rack was tender and flavorful. Our other entree was a pork duo. The excellently tender tenderloin (served medium over a sweet potato puree and wrapped in bacon) was superior to the shoulder served with glaze and caramelized onions.
At the bottom of our bottle of zinfandel, ignoring the protests of our full stomachs, we ordered tea and dessert. The cherry tart on the menu was replaced with a pear tart served with homemade vanilla ice cream and a baklava cigar. Homemade maple-walnut chocolate chunk gelatto was served in what looked like a tea light holder with berries and dark cocoa sauce, and would have been amazing on an emptier stomach.The mint green tea was a good way to end and settle us. We probably could have split a dessert, and regretted eating a little too much during the walk home. Luckily, we had a 20 minute walk there and back, so we were able to walk off a bit of the fullness. We didn't end up stopping at Roach and O'Brien's Bar for a drink as intended, and made it home to find the cable still malfunctioning.
S & D
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sola
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A royal suprise?
According to our countdown (see left-hand panel), the Tudors shouldn't be back on for a new season for 9 days. But today, while searching on Showtime on Demand, we found that episode 1 of the new season is already out there. So if you just can't wait the 9 days left until the official broadcast, you are in luck!
By the way, the cable still doesn't work.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Top Chef goes to the Zoo!
Edits: For spelling and grammar because JSum is a nag.
Much jubilation in this camp as our kiwi favorite Mark won immunity during the quick-fire despite leaving his lettuce at the market. Maybe it was his sideburns. The quick fire challenge itself seemed a little uninspired this week. A visit to the farmers market had a lot of potential, but the rules limited each dish to five ingredients without any other guidelines to shape the outcome.
The chefs next faced a zoologically themed elimination challenge, which combined two of my favorite things, zoos and food. Teams of three were each given an unlikely animal totem (vultures, penguins) to emulate the diet as they catered hor doeuvres for the Chicago Zoo staff. I think Chef Collicio came up with the challenge concept considering his beaming inquiry of how the chefs enjoyed it.
Desiree's favorite spaz Andrew won the elimination challenge with a penguin-themed squid dish (although he got caught cheating during the quickfire). Somehow, an anchovy dish almost gave Mark his second victory of the episode, making converts of everyone's favorite judges, Padma and Gayle. (Well, they're my favorite judges.)
Valeri, who we didn't see or hear enough of to care much about, took the long hike after making blinis 24 hours ahead of service, but it looked like there were others just as worthy to go with her. It looks like tensions are beginning to build with some teams close to implosion by service time.
My early pick, Richard, had a lackluster performance (I had high hopes for the eucalyptus) even with a fellow student of molecular gastronomy as a guest judge. I still stand by my prognostication.
The Ardmorons Top Chef Archive
S